5 things I wish I knew before getting a COMMUNICATIONS DEGREE 

“A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.” Is the full quote btw. It is not a negative quote towards talented people, people just turned it into one.

By the time I realized how important it was to get involved in school activities, clubs, school magazines and other activities I was locked down in my room in the middle of a global pandemic... And how I wished I would've gotten more involved while I had the chance to. Sadly there were no club activities that worked online or remotely that I could join, most clubs were in person and during pandemic most of them weren't functioning. Makes me feel like I didn't get to enjoy the University experience I wanted.

I think Communication Studies can be a great degree if you put in the time with internships, involvement, and choosing courses that will apply to a future career. If you just randomly choose courses that don't teach you a lot of tangible skills and try to apply for jobs you aren't going to find much.

I studied communications and cannot stress enough how much I regret not taking advantage of all the internship opportunities. Even though communications isn't a "master" of something, you can *become* a master of something by doing more internships. For example, a friend of mine did a lot of qualitative and quantitative programs as well as some internships related to them -- he is now working for statistics Canada. I managed to land a decent job after graduation after obtaining a high level of Chinese. But I do plan to go back for my masters and tailor my experience to something more suitable for my interests.

This video is like a godsend. I'm a graduating high school senior and I've been really torn between a marketing major + comm minor or comm major + marketing minor. Your vid really clarified some things for me. Thank you!

The most informative video I’ve watched in my life

Great video! I was a COMM/PR major in undergrad and I got a masters in Integrated Marketing Communication. I did do social media management and SEO. I would say at least 15-20% of that job was me researching changes on social media platforms and studying SEO strategies. I graduated in the Great recession and it was sooo hard to get established. If you are interested in the job, do multiple internships, very early! Take any experience you can get because the major is growing, and the jobs are competitive. You can even double major or minor just in case you want to pivot and take on a new career. I switched to education a few years ago and I love it! Those times doing social media management were great too. All in all, be focused but also be flexible when pursing this career. Start early and network! Good luck everyone!

hey yall, as a person who graduated with a communications degree, she was on POINT WITH EVERYTHING!!! its not only centered around english speaking countries too. Im currently doing a masters because degree or experience isnt enough unfortunately. HOWEVERRRR I dont regret doing my degree in comms as it really helped get a feel of a little bit of everything! and if your able to get those internships during your breaks and get more after your degree, u will get a job! Experience is truly the key!!

Getting an internship or multiple internships is key; find your niche area within the Communications field; try to seek some additional, 'technical' areas either as academic minor(s) (Info Systems, Computer Science, Statistics, etc) or better, through industry certifications to augment your academic degree.

I have a degree in communication, I’m currently in grad school for communication (focusing on organizational communication as well as PR) and deciding I need to be prepared and trying to get an internship. I’m very scared of the real world, that’s actually the reason why I’m in grad school.

Very good tips! I wish I had this years ago. I have been done with my undergrad since 2001, not knowing what I wanted to do. I spent over a decade in middle school teaching, and after a lot of hard work and stress, I learned it wasn't for me, and that I was in the wrong field. Copywriting, Communications, and Digital Marketing is what I should have been doing all along. I am interested in this field, and I am a super hard worker who likes to learn and apply myself and write. I didn't know writing was my best transferable skill until I was 39. Now I am in my 40s with an uphill climb ahead of me trying to get into this field. I hope that there is hope for me!

Super great video. I want to add a little more details as well. I'm majoring (senior graduating in 3 months) in Integrated Marketing Communications. Much like in the video, this degree teaches you to be a jack of all trades as opposes to a "master" in one subject. I learn how to run campaigns, conduct research/analyze data, film/edit videos, take photos/photoshop/graphic design, write for PR/news, analyze markets/conduct basic marketing/digital marketing. With that said, I've also taken electives like HTML/web design, crisis communication, political science research, stats, speech communication and more to make me more viable in the field. My degree (and my school's regular communications degree) does not require most of these extra electives. Some of these classes make ALL the difference when applying to jobs. Particularly stats/conducting research/web design. These are crucial in our big data/digital age. Also being a "jack of all trades and master of none" is actually extremely beneficial, at least from a managerial perspective. Knowing how everything works, enough that you can do it yourself, will allow you to lead people in a management role. You don't have to be the best at something but knowing what IS good and how to communicate a marketing/communications campaign to your team is extremely vital. With that said, having all these random skills also makes it extremely easy to get an internship. Because you mostly only need basic knowledge of a skill as an intern. Having such diverse skills makes you muxh much more appealing as an intern, since you'll typically be thrown around a lot. After you get your first internship getting your 2nd or 3rd is much easier, since you alresdy have that experience. Internships, like the video said, is absolutely crucial. Most schools will have an internship available to you, weather its in the newspaper, teacher assistant, local non profit or biz your school operates, etc. Another thing that's rather important is a Master's degree. You will most likely want one of these in this type of field (communications/marketing). My one summer internship paid me 16.50 an hour. Now that I'm getting my masters I'll be paid 22$ an hour per company policy, to do the same job for only having a masters degree. 5.5$ more to do the exact same job (AS AN INTERN) for just 1-1.5 more years of school. Trust me, it's worth it. However I'm more focused on marketing/strategic communications. Not so much journalism, tv/film, or any of that-- mind you. This video just painted itself more as a marketing/communications degree, which is literally what my degree is (as opposed to strictly just communications), so I thought I'd chime in too! Hope this was even more clarifying!

Wow, I feel terrible :) lol.

Hey y'all. I just want to say that I know it's a really weird time right now for everyone, including college students, and a lot of these tips won't be possible right now for college students. This is just a video I've been wanting to make for a while and I felt like posting it today lol. It's mostly intended for when things in the world get back to somewhat normal!! I feel for y'all in college.

This video is confirmation that i am CLEARLY not in the right major or at least not in the right specialization love you for that ✨🙏🏻

communication studies is more like monologue: 1. You can't really stare at the manuscript 2. You must know what's need to be told live on air 3. You must have confidence and be ambitious 4. You never should forget news 5. Finally, know production off and in air news, and business. Business is what makes the media rich and famous!

Very interesting video.. am 41.. used to be PE teacher... them decided to get a masters degree to change Carrier... I did master's in information and communication (which it was really vague eventhough I got a lot of personal knowledge and education from it) and I made all the mistakes that you mentioned... I fluently speak Arabic, English, French and Spanish and been learning German for fun for the last year... never got a job in communication... I did many call center jobs(CS, tech support and fraud) I ended up doing a trade DEP and am a proud plumber now :D I would do it differently... but life happens... am still 100% sure that all the learning i carry, will get me somewhere sometime... for now am making a decent living and a family.. tnx for sharing your story.. sharing mine is an way to show you my appreciation :)

Honestly, this video says it all! Your lucky if you watched this in time. I had exactly the same issues after graduating

This is sooo important. In my first job... I was like ummmm I’m so sorry but I have ZERO CLUE what ANYONE is talking about lol

Your video was gold! I earned a bachelors in communications in 2016 and soon after that, learned that digital marketing was the way to go! Now, years later, at 31, im going to school to earn a Master’s in marketing. I wish I would’ve pursued marketing sooner but I’ve learned a lot about the workforce because of this experience! I just pray that im able to land something I truly love! It really sucks that entry level jobs expect candidates to have like 3 years of experience! And now im running into the same issue with some companies with internships! It’s like, okay ppl, how are students supposed to get the opportunity to grow and learn if companies aren’t willing to take a chance on you to begin with?! It’s sad!

I think you really nailed it. I majored in COMM, but I always gathered new information through Google Certifications, Hubspot, Linkedin Learning, so I really didn't have any problem finding a job after college. I also took numerous Advertising/PR/Strategic Comm courses that taught me a lot of the Digital Marketing lingo that you talked about so shout out to my professor.

Thank you so much for your helpful advice and tips! I am an incoming freshman in college, I was having trouble with the career path I wanted to take in my future. I appreciate you!!!!!!!

I’m planning on studying media and mass communications and this really helped me out thanks

Heck yeah, excellent advice! I graduated with a journalism degree and a second BS in agronomy. I am a science writer today. But I coulda and shoulda done a lot of these things during college, especially the internships. I didn't have a car in college so it was super hard to do that. I was involved on campus though at both the radio and newspaper. Good advice about the data analytics. There has definitely been a learning curve for me on that one. Good luck! I hope you have found a great job by now.

Go after what your heart tells you. a college degree isn’t really going to be as valuable in the future as it is now. Do not stress yourself out.

This was sooo incredibly helpful and informative, thank you so much for taking the time to make this!! ❤️

You are 110% right about every point you made. The traditional communication degree is of little use these days, I am from a different continent where technology isn't as big yet as it is in the US but even here digital marketing, search engine optimization, data analytics are the kind of jobs that pop up for Communication graduates.

I’m impressed you’ve gotten 0 thumbs down. I honestly couldn’t give you a thumbs down either. Thanks for being so down to earth and easy to listen to.

Good advice. Things are different now than when I graduated with a Journalism degree in 1988. There was no Internet then, no social media, no digital marketing. However, the advice you give on getting on the school paper and having more than one internship are still spot on now as they were when I was in school. I wasn't on the school paper, but I did have three internships: two at PR agencies and one at a daily newspaper. The PR agency internships SUCKED big time. Mostly I sat staring at the ceiling. But I guess they were worth it because it was something I could put on my resume. The newspaper internship was great. The paper was down a full-time reporter when I started, so rather than have me do useless interny things like I did at the agencies, I was actually reporting from the field each and every day.

Super helpful! I am doing comms major with environmental science minor. But for me this is helpful because I've done tv production, professional copywriting, and right now I'm building a digital marketing and sales for a local radio station. I want to do communications for non profits, especially for the environment. So now I can learn different communications, enjoy my electives, do more internships, and have a wide base for the future.

This was so helpful. I am majoring in Communications and this really cleared things up. Thank you!

I’m glad I watched this before going back to school

Also for the experience on an entry level position i learned that you can use your extracurriculars class assignments ( ex a capstone project) and of course the internships coops etc. Also you can do post grad progrmas and use those as experience aswell! Look at companies you have an interest in working for and see what post grad programs they have. experience for your jobs. This is what i was taught that people get confused with then they see 3 years experience for an entry level job

I am a first-year Comm major. Thank you for this very helpful clip!

Thank you so much for this video! I plan on taking my basic classes at a Junior College & will plan on working for a Communications degree in a few years!

I couldn’t agree with this video more. I graduated in 2015 with a PR degree, I did internships, newspaper, and PRSSA and it’s still so hard. I’m currently going back to school for my masters in integrated marketing. Watching this makes me feel like maybe I’m slight crazy to return to COMM, but we’ll see lol

Thank you for making this video so others don't make this mistake. I did my bachelor's in development communication and then pursued master's in mass communication with specialization in advertising and PR. The college from where I did masters had this 75 percent attendance rule. I wish it was not so and the curriculum was more flexible which allowed more internship space and opportunities. Most of my classmates after the masters were lost and did not know their interest and we all ended up doing different internships for 1 year after our master's ended. So with mass comm, it's better to have hand on experience than just a degree

Yes to all of this 🙌🙌🙌🙌 I’ve graduated in 2020 with a major in Communications and wow it’s been so hard to get a job. Way to general and behind those who concentrated in college. I want to add COMMUNICATION DEGREE ISNT THE SAME AT EVERY UNIVERSITY!! I didn’t realize this until it was too late but my college focused on theoretical communication building students for college teaching and didn’t focus at all on media production etc… so now I’m in a spot where I need to either go back to college and get a different bachelors degree or try to turn it into a teaching certification and teach English or something. I’m just so far behind other applicant’s and didn’t get the experience in college to get the entry level positions. I interview and still can’t get the job and I understand in conversation or when I present projects to them just how much catching up I have to do.

This is a great video. If I could add something about internships- Make them diverse! Having a broad understanding of your degree will help define what is and isn't included in your interest, and that will help later when you're narrowing down what exactly you liked doing within the grande scheme of things.

Great tips, I really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience and knowledge with us. Blessings to you!

Thank you for this video. I just graduated with a general comm degree but it's good to know ❤️

Thanka for this! I'm a senior and will be entering college soon and I'm confused if communication arts is for me. I mean i'm not good at math and wanted to do marketing or advertising. Is there any difference?

I can relate when you (Quarter Life Crisis) said when you majored in Agricultural Communications with a concentration in Journalism, you experienced a watered down version of journalism, I got my Associates in Communications at Stark State College, and I had way more classes that had to do with interpersonal communication, how people communicate, body language, how communication works for others etc. then I had classes that had more to do with journalism (Interviewing class, Intro to Mass Communication, Effective Speaking, Writing for the Media, and Stats), this is the only major at Stark State that has to do with Communications (they don't have any other communications degree (mass communications, agricultural communications, telecommunications) and Stark State doesn't have a journalism or media degree, what should I do to find a great job?

Great video! Really usefull, practical advice and comparison between the studies and real life work. Thank you so much for making this video! :)

This is very informative. Thank-you for sharing your experience!

Thank you for this! Straight to the point and FRESH!

This is so helpful girly thank you so much!!! I am almost out of community college to transfer into a cal state school and this is so much to think about.

Great advice, and being someone who is a little older than you, so very, very true! Hope you are well.

thank u soo much for making this video. i'm gonna be a college student this year, but I'm still confused about which major that I want to take. like between communication or public administration, but it helps me a lot. thank u

one thing i am super grateful for is that at my uni i was admitted into a specific program that teaches you how to get internships and requires you to get one before the end of your sophomore year, the more i hear about my degree the more i hear about how important internships are so thats a relief

Hi! This is a great video! I have all of the same feelings graduating with a B.A. in Communications this past December... I wish I had a more creative emphasis, perhaps doubled in psychology, and had spent more time finding internships and building career skills. Having a general degree seemed like it would open up a lot of doors, but it was just a broad sample of careers and theories that aren't very applicable to a real world career. Could you please do a video on how to change career paths if you got a degree that isn't quite what you wanted to do, without going into more debt for a new degree? What are creative jobs for people in communications who want to make a difference?

I want to do my BA in communication science with my focus on PR and international communications, I want to work in the entertainment industry but I'm not sure how effective having this degree will be when being employed

thank you so much this really helped me understand going in my senior year 2020

Now these are some GREAT tips! Thanks for sharing =)

Super helpful video! I'll sub. I'm headed for a master's degree in marketing communication. I studied media and communication studies before which is very theory-heavy and has very little of what is generally asked for when I apply for jobs.

Some of these tips are super helpful for any degree. Thank you

love this video so much, thanks for the brilliant tips for us !

Love this video! I’m in my first year of college and am torn between a communications degree with a concentration in public relations (very creative and easy classes) OR business administration with a concentration in marketing (very number based)! Based on what you just said I can’t help but think that a business degree will open more doors for me.

Really interesting perspective! As a fellow comm major, i just want make sure everyone in the comments knows that Communication, CommunicationS, and Communication Studies are all different. Depending on your institution's approach, they can all be taught in a variety of ways! Both from perspectives (social scientific, critical...) and classes. A major research university with Communication as a Social Science will be vastly different from a CommunicationS major at a state school. Many people go into Communication thinking it will lead to a job in social media, PR or marketing when it was never designed to do that! Most education is not designed for a job and I wish more students understood that. Like you said, internships are really key! But for any incoming freshman, make sure you know why "kind" of comm you're studying because every school is so so so different!!

I had just graduated with an associates in communications. What job would you recommend for people to get introduced into the industry?

i’m graduating soon with a major in Human Communications in the business & professional track and my minor in Psychology. Any opinions on this? I became really interested in marketing but thought it was too late to switch to any other major, but i’m not sure if my major would be a great fit for that.

hi I'm watching this right now and I'm a freshman in college would it make sense to be a communications major with a marketing minor to get more of a background on data analytics?

Wow thank you so much! Perfect timing!

I earned a communications degree and I started looking for a job in the PR field, but I could not find one. Looking back, I wish I would have taken advantage of the internship opportunities that were related to the communication studies field. After being out of school for a long time with no job related to my degree, I decided to go back to school to earn a second bachelor's degree in computer science. I got a job related to computer science and I've been doing that ever since I earned my second degree.

Good information I graduated college with Communications degree. My advice is you arent willing to do interships through out college this probably isn't the field for you because you probably won't find a job unless you have connections at a company. Communications is a fun degree with a whole of different paths. I would still say of you have any interest in html code, dream weaver. I would go for a computer science degree the classes will be a lot harder, but the money you can recieve right of college is amazing. All of my computer science and engineering friends had no issues finding jobs after graduation. With out doing any interships. Now all of my friends in those fields are six figure earners. Money isnt everything, but it starts to become more important as you age, because you eventually want to retire comfortably.

Honestly I just want to study communication bc it offers me filmmaking classes and journalism classes, Im from Mexico I wanna be a film director when i get enough experience, but if it doesnt work out id like being a journalist Maybe its about the different countries or schools By the way youre so pretty and the way you talk is very relaxing, i like your vids

I'll be honest, I graduated from college with a Bachelor's of Science in Communications but never took advantage of any internships. I was too busy trying live the college and have fun and I regret it. So basically graduated with a degree but with no experience. I'm 35 now and working at a manufacturing plant where I make good money but its not something that would want to do the rest of my life. I mean my degree dis help me get a job with enterprise rent a car and drivetime but those companies just wasn't for me. I understand that from the time I graduated college up until probably last year, I just just jumped from job to job and didn't take life seriously and I regret it alot. At this age, is there no hope for me to find a good job with my degree?

Is a communications major with a concentration in public relations good? My university does not offer public relations as a major alone so it has to be a concentration

That's awesome! Thanks for the guidance - wondering what are you up to now? I'm curious :) Also, love how this video flows, what camera, mic and editing software did you use?

Thank you, this video was really helpful. I’m stuck between choosing a communications or a marketing degree. I’m not good at math and like the communications courses much more, but am willing to work hard if it would help me. Do you think it is worth it, since most communication jobs are in marketing?

This is such an informative video ♡ Thank you so much ♡

Thank you so much for uploading this video..it's very helpful🥰🖤

Could you please recommend me a book that you think everyone whose major is communication should read? I mean a book that gives readers fundamentals, principles or things like that (like the book "Marketing 4.0" by Phillip Kotler for marketers). By the way, your advice in the video is really helpful. Thanks a lot.

I have several questions. Im starting studying this in October, so; is subject statistic hard for comincology and pr? Is something like maths? Im really scared. Im so bad in maths and computer sciences

I just got in this year, so happy Im seeing this. please can you do another one😭

I’m going to college this fall to major in PR/ marketing and Im wondering if you recommend an iPad or a computer?

Very insightful and coherent information !!!

The most famous journalists in my country (Peru) don't study journalism. The bad ones have contacts and the best studied other careers, in some cases took some courses in journalism but no more. I studied communications, specialized in journalism but, when I started in the real life, I prefered work for Development projects until now. With time, you choose the best courses depending of you and the market. Your sugestions are awesome. Thanks for share.

hi! :) At a college i’m considering, they offer communications with a concentration in digital communications and the classes are like editing, media production, and publications type classes in that concentration. Do you think those are good? i’m not even sure what i wanna do when i graduate but i’m choosing comm since it seems to be broad.

Is this allowed on COMMUNICAYION & MEDIA ARTS???

THANK YOU. Maybe changed my major choice with this 😮

Good to know there are a lot of key points you touch on there. 👍

I interned a year in communications, and I am about to go to grad school in communications but I didn't know what to expect, and this video helps a lot! I have been bad at data, so after this video, I decided to use my summer to familiarize myself with Excel/analytics. Thank you this is really helpful :)

Hey! Loved this video it helped a lot. Just wondering, did you ended up finding a job out of college without those experiences or are you still searching?

I did Journalism and Media & Communication in my undergraduate degree. I tried to do a marketing degree, but I couldn't do the Maths subjects. So I transferred to a PR postgraduate diploma, and I'm trying to apply for Internships at the moment.

For anyone considering this degree. Please think twice before doing it, look at the careers, job availability and salary. Because if you do marketing or anything similar it will be much better for you. Communication degrees have a bad reputation and is considered one of the easiest degrees

could you suggest some good courses? like the ones you mentioned on skillshare and stuff? Thank You! :)

This was super helpful, thank you!

Can I get a communication studies degree in college first, then study marketing major after transferring to a university? Thanks

Can I take communication with language? Im wanting to be a representative of two countries that speaks languages and do the transaction tasks or operations.

This really helped. Thanks a lot!

Thank you so much. This video was really helpful to me.

Thank you for this video I did get some helpful tips I didn’t know anything of. I think I have a more clear direction now

i loooooved so much your video. Congrat!

I was debating on switching my business major to communications but after this im not so sure. lol

Hey there, I am thinking of studying business journalism, any recommendation on this?

This was so helpful!! Omg thank you!

Just loved your video! Hugs from Brazil! 🥰

Thank you soo much. Now I really need multiple interns.

Great information. Thank you.