Best Electives for Communications Majors
- Web Design
- Photography and Videography
- Business
- Writing
- Social Media
Students pursuing a Bachelor’s in Communications complete key major courses, as well as general education courses and elective courses. In order to make an undergraduate record as appealing as possible to potential employers, one should select electives carefully to ensure that they complement or add to the professional skill set. Here are five areas of electives that will enhance the marketability of any student majoring in communication studies.
Related Resource: Top 20 Best Online Communications Degree Programs
1. Web Design
When applying for jobs, having a professional-looking and bug-free website can enhance an application. Many communication jobs ask for professionals to help with designing or updating company websites. Courses in web design can improve a student’s ability to create visually appealing websites that have functionality across multiple platforms. This will particularly enhance employability in fields such as web content editing.
2. Photography and Videography
Communication strategies for many companies exist in an online environment in which visual impact is just as important or even more important than words. Being able to take and edit photographs and video will enable a communications major to use multiple formats to get across a message. This will be especially attractive to smaller firms or non-profits which may not have specialized staff for such tasks. Also, if one intends to have a freelance or entrepreneurial career, the ability to produce such visual materials enables one to become a “one-stop shop” for communication solutions.
3. Business
Whether a student’s long term goals involve working for a large company, freelancing, or entrepreneurship, business courses help with understanding fundamental issues such as bookkeeping, finance, business record keeping, taxation, strategic planning, workflow, and leadership. A cluster of elective courses or even a minor in business can be important for students who are interested in management or leadership roles, as such positions require not just technical or communication skills but understanding business fundamentals.
4. Writing
Not only do the vast majority of jobs require writing, but even successfully applying to obtain jobs requires skill in writing cover letters and resumes. No matter what the focus or emphasis of a degree in Communications, extra writing course will always develop important skills and appeal to employers. Courses in copy editing and proofreading develop skills in editing one’s own work as well as contributing to one’s attractiveness for content editing positions. Business and technical writing courses also can lead directly to jobs writing anything from internal reports to user manuals.
5. Social Media
According to Monster, an online job search site, over half the postings for jobs they receive ask for some experience with social media. Just as importantly, networking on social media and having a professional profile on major social media sites can land interviews and enhance a job candidate’s visibility to employers. Communications majors with extensive coursework in social media can find positions as social media managers or staff.
Elective choice during a Bachelor’s in Communications degree should not just be a matter of selecting several electives at random, but rather should be a strategic way of creating a coherent narrative about one’s skills and interests. Students are better off having several electives that create a coherent skill set, such as four or five courses in videography or a cluster of courses related to web design, rather than a collection of unrelated electives.