I keep "what do you do for work"/"what are you majoring in" lines completely out of any discussion unless there is a really good reason to go there. I find that this is such a common question that it is immediately associated with boringness. I use to have a hypothesis in college that if someone asked me about my major within the first few minutes of us meeting then we were unlikely to be friends/romantically involved. It could have been a self-fulfilling prophecy but it was pretty accurate. After college it has now transitioned into work instead of major.

I'm not saying NEVER go there, but if you go out and you make a rule where you will not ask that person about their work/major, you will find yourself forced to discuss different things (which are generally more interesting). It is also pretty cool when you do finally become friends with someone and you have established rapport/connection and you finally are genuinely interested in what their major/work is. There is more substance behind the question and answer when you have built up other interests first.