How to pick
a major that is right for you
Business
magazine co-founder offers tips on choosing the right career
By Jennifer Palmberg
The Collegian
But Kevin Salwen and his associate
Anita Sharpe have dedicated their lives to breaking down the essentials
to choosing a great career and have turned it into a magazine.
WORTHWHILE magazine is a publication that is dedicated to the idea that
“it is impossible to have a meaningful life without meaningful work”
said to the magazine’s co-founder Salwen.
Salwen worked as a journalist with the Wall Street Journal for 18 years.
While there, he wrote two columns and worked as the National Small Business
editor. He left it all in 2000 .
Sharpe is the co-founder of WORTHWHILE magazine with Salwen. Prior to
WORTHWHILE, Sharpe was a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer for the Wall Street
Journal. Before that, she was the editor-in-chief of Atlanta Business
Chronicle.
“Sharpe and I decided that we needed to create a magazine that focuses
on the heart and soul of business,” Salwen said. “We designed
[WORTHWHILE] for people who care about their business.”
Their magazine is centered around the idea that your career should be
full of purpose and passion as much as it is with profit, Salwen said.
The first tip Salwen has for college students is to read the book “What
Color is my Parachute?” He said the book is a great guide for connecting
your interests and values to a career or major.
The second tip he gave was to be constantly aware of the fact that money
doesn’t buy happiness.
“When I first got out of college I was lured by money,” Salwen
said. “I took a Public Relations job over a job in journalism because
it paid more. And journalism is my passion. I was a journalism major,”
he said.
Salwen worked in public relations for two unhappy years.
“I was an unsatisfied person,” Salwen said.
Salwen got back into journalism and found that he was much happier.
“Work felt like it had a meaning again,” Salwen said. “It’s
important to remember that a job or a major should be fulfilling to the
individual and not necessarily fulfilling to everyone else.”
Salwen suggests building passion from the inside when job searching. Don’t
look for a job based solely on money or you will find yourself ultimately
unsatisfied.
“It is difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work,”
he said. “Your job should mean something to you, it should be based
off the things that motivate you. You would never do anything socially
for 50 hours a week if you didn’t like it, so why do that with your
job?”
A good place to start looking for job ideas or major choices is to first
look at “what lights you up.” He said a college student should
be well aware of what inspires them by that time in their life.
“You should take what motivates you and be increasingly moving towards
it,” Salwen said.
For more tips on picking a major that is right for you, or tips on how
to stay motivated in your major, visit www.worthwhilemag.com.
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