10 toughest career dilemmas - solved
With advice on everything from how to get a raise, to where the tech jobs are now, to the best way to get a rude co-worker to shut up, here are excerpts from some of the top Ask Annie columns of the year. By Fortune's Anne Fisher
Is a liberal arts degree a waste?
Is a liberal arts degree a waste?
Do business employers see a degree in English as useless and irrelevant? Is it harder for college grads with a liberal arts degree to get hired? Is it better for college students to major in business instead?

Actually, liberal arts majors are often more marketable than they think.

"Most employers look for candidates who are bright, well-rounded, and have some practical experience under their belts," says Steven Rothberg, who speaks with hundreds of corporate recruiters every year as founder and president of CollegeRecruiter.com, an online matchmaking service that connects new grads with employers. A liberal-arts degree, plus good communications and computer skills, signal to recruiters that you'll be adaptable to a wide range of jobs.

"It's the students who graduate with very specialized degrees and little job experience who struggle to find a position," he says.

Indeed, strong communications skills are the single most important attribute a candidate can have - and also the one most lacking among job applicants, according to a recent poll of hiring managers by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

"An English major with good work experience, who can think critically and write effectively, is a very attractive candidate," and should have no problem landing a job as a general-management trainee, or in marketing, public relations, consulting, or retail, agrees Brad Karsh, head of JobBound (www.jobbound.com), another site for college grads.

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.