One-Third Of College-Educated Workers Have Jobs In Fields They Did Not Major In

Although choosing your college major is a huge decision, it may not define your career path.

A large number of U.S. college grads work in jobs that are not strictly related to what they majored in at college, according to a study CBS News reported.

"A college education will give you a significant advantage in the job market," Rosemary Haefner, vice president of Human Resources at CareerBuilder, said in a statement. "In a tough economic climate, college graduates must be flexible and open to taking positions outside their area of study. Taking the knowledge gained in college and branching out with it in unexpected directions is common after graduating."

A national survey from CareerBuilder, suggests that many workers never work in the field they majored in at college. Among the 2,134 workers surveyed, nearly half of college graduates said their first job after college was not related to their college major and 32 percent of workers said they had never worked in a field related to their majors.

While finding employment unrelated to a college might seem like a let-down, 64 percent of employees say they are happy with the degree they pursued and 61 percent said that they believe they can still find their dream job.

"In most cases, workers who went into a new field ended up liking the new industry," Haefner said. "Odds are you won't get that dream job right out of school, but it's important to remember that there are many different paths."

A little more than one-third of college educated said they wish they had picked a different college major. A related study done by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York earlier this year showed the same trend.

They found that 62 percent of college graduates with a bachelor's degree were working in a field that required a college degree, however only 27.3 percent of them were working in a job directly related to their college major.