Interdisciplinary

Interdisciplinary degree programs incorporate many disciplines, allowing students to design their own majors. They provide students with the chance to pursue an extensive range of careers. Specifically, this degree enables students to focus on more than one area of study so that they can meet their own professional and personal goals. The employment outlook for these careers varies widely. If you are able to thoroughly design an interdisciplinary program, you will be able to acquire a combination of skills and understanding that may be beneficial in the job market. With so many different combinations available, it is no surprise that the employment outlook ranges broadly.

Common Career Paths:

Lobbyist

The general job description for a lobbyist is that they present the interests of businesses and or certain groups of individuals to legislators. Lobbyists are depended upon by all types of organizations, whether they are a large corporation or a small civic group. They need lobbyists to help them in promoting their agenda. In speaking with legislators and their staffs, lobbyists describe to their clients what the effects of a certain bill or law would or could be. A few of the typical job responsibilities of a lobbyist include staying current on all issues that may be coming before the legislature, interacting with members of congress to collect factual information, and knowing which bills will be appearing before committees – this also entails being present at meetings as well as hearings. Lobbyists are expected to be well-versed in all current events and any relevant news being broadcasted on television, or any other media, such as blogs and newspapers. They need to study how a proposed legislation will impact the organization they represent. Other job duties entail reaching out to legislators and their staff to present research for or against a bill, as well analyzing how policy ideas would affect any problems and suggesting possible solutions. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary for a Lobbyist is $45,000. The top ten percent earn more than $100,000, while the lowest ten percent earn less than $30,000. Average earnings in the industries employing the largest number of lobbyists are lobbying firms ($47,983) and non-profit organizations ($49,717).

Politician

The job of a politician is to run federal, state, and local governments. All politicians are elected into their respective jobs. Once they are in these positions, they have the ability to create and pass laws that directly impact an entire community, state, or country. While the main politician positions everyone is aware of, the president and vice president, get a lot of attention, governors – men and women looked to run states – also are extremely important and significant in the structure of America. Going down the line, there are senators and representatives in congress. Next, there is the mayor of a town, and the members of your county council and school board – all of which are also elected positions. Certain politicians act as an executive – i.e. mayor. They are in charge of carrying out all laws that are passed by legislators. These politicians create goals for their community and figure out ways in which they can reach these goals. They create budgets and make nominations for people who they think could do a good job in other positions in the government. Politicians lobby bids from contractors to do public work, such as building roads. They converse with other politicians in an attempt to solve any problems that are facing their community. In reality, a politician needs the help of many other people to assist him or her in getting the job done. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2008, politicians who were legislators had average yearly wages of $37,980. The salaries of politicians that were executives, such as mayors and county commissioners, stretched from little to nothing for a small town council member to $400,000 a year for the President of the United States.

Journalist

Journalists collect information about current events (going on locally as well as worldwide), sports, politics, business and other topics. They take all of this material they have gathered and use it to report to their audience. Many journalists specialize in a particular area, such as sports or weather. They are typically hired by newspapers, television stations, web sites, and other forms of print media, such as magazines. Journalists have the ability to increase their work load and income through freelance work – selling individual stories they write to various media outlets. By becoming a journalist, you give yourself the opportunity to gather information and prepare stories for all different types of media. Not only that, but you are able to get your content out to people on a local, state, or even national stage. Successful journalists with a keen interest for their profession strive to cover international affairs and events. They present to their part of the world, reports on current issues facing varying communities. These individuals tend to travel a great deal, always following the news and going to where ever there is a story to cover. With print journalism being a dying breed, slower job growth is expected. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2004, the median annual income for journalists ranged from around $30,000 to $34,000. Of course, the salary of a news analysts and a news reporter tends to vary significantly. For 2008, the average annual salary for a news reporter was $34,850, whereas it was $51,260 for a broadcast news analyst.