should you still get a degree if you want to be

missk_ensington

talksalot is right, employers ARE people who go home and chinwag with their husband/wife over who they interviewed that day and probably laugh at some of the applicants (we do in our office!) and no matter how PC you try to be you cannot help bias. Same with age, race, gender, how someone looks, their accent, whether they have kids.... you aren't allowed, ever, to officially say those are the reasons so they just say 'not suitable'. Same with degree's, I hate to say it, but when I'm interviewing and shortlisting I look at degree's and if its film studies, criminology or something equally as crap they don't get the job.

I'm far more impressed with someone who has a degree in history, english, politics, science, maths.... something that requires both talent and hard work.

talksalot81

mrcow wrote:

I'm not disputing that some people are more mathematically or scientifically minded than others and would find such courses less of a challenge, but going back to the original post, I just can't agree with the idea that anyone doing a degree in a less traditional subject is "wasting years".

Having never studied "TV Studies" (and I'm still unsure whether there is actually a course called this ) I couldn't tell you how I'd personally do. If it involved me watching any significant amount of the car crash drivel that is beamed to my house throughout the day, I doubt I'd do too well

I started my degree time in Aberystwyth, many of my friends were television studies students, so there is at least one Uni doing this course and it is a well subscribed course.

I am sure you have looked for jobs before and been through interviews. In a non specialist area, experience is frequently more important than having a totally unrelated degree.

talksalot81

missk_ensington wrote:

I'm far more impressed with someone who has a degree in history, english, politics, science, maths.... something that requires both talent and hard work.

I think you have very elegantly summed up the point of an individual doing a degree which they will not necessarily follow. You do it to show talent and motivation to potential employers. Doing a degree like 'TV studies' does not show any special talent (unlike those you mention) and getting a 2.2 or similar does not show either talent or hard work....

missk_ensington

Sometimes having a degree is useful regardless of the discipline, to fast track into jobs at higher levels (It was a long time ago, but my Mum went into civil service as HEO or something like that with a law degree, and mightily pee'd off her co workers who were still AO's after 20 years. They couldn't understand why a degree should give you automatic promotion)

If you're thinking of doing a job unrelated to your degree, it can still be useful for fast track purposes, but is anyone likely to fast track you with a film studies degree??

It's a bit like people who say they passed 10 GCSE's but they got 10 E's! Well yeah its still a pass, technically.

[Deleted User]

Funny how my degree in genetics (that resulted in a 2:2) was pretty hard work, substantually more difficult than other degrees - turns out I wasn't as good at it as other people so I got a lower grade. Not everyone who got a 2:2 farted around and did nothing, some of them just weren't all that good at their chosen subject.

Funny how my MSc in Biosystems and Informatics is slightly hard to bash. The only problem with it is that employeers have no idea what it means

We found that on my MSc course, those students who'd previously studied biology subjects out-performed (by a rather large margin) the computer science students, even when doing computer science exams.. turns out biologists have to work a hell of a lot harder for their exams as the majority of the information needed for high marks is not actually taught - you have to go find it out yourself.

mrcow

ringo_24601 wrote:

.. turns out biologists have to work a hell of a lot harder for their exams as the majority of the information needed for high marks is not actually taught - you have to go find it out yourself.

:rotfl:You must have had my tutors

jago25_98

Degrees aren't efficient use of your resources in my opinion.

Think what really puts you in front of the crowd.

mrcow

jago25_98 wrote:

Degrees aren't efficient use of your resources in my opinion.

Think what really puts you in front of the crowd.

A boob job?

talksalot81

jago25_98 wrote:

Degrees aren't efficient use of your resources in my opinion.

Think what really puts you in front of the crowd.

That does depend, if you are good at it then it can put you in front of the crowd. Getting a first class honours with certificates for coming top of your class in brain surgery is rather likely to get you some attention, certainly moreso than what most people can otherwise achieve in that time.

Voyager2002

missk_ensington wrote:

Same with degree's, I hate to say it, but when I'm interviewing and shortlisting I look at degree's and if its film studies, criminology or something equally as crap they don't get the job.

I'm far more impressed with someone who has a degree in history, english, politics, science, maths.... something that requires both talent and hard work.

Such ignorance! Criminology is a reputable discipline, and getting a degree in it involves developing skills in mathematics and statistics, as well as a fair amount of social science. Definitely NOT a soft option!

Politics, on the other hand...

I am just thankful that I am unlikely to be assessed by anyone who is so ignorant, and allows themselves to be guided by prejudice.