Tonight with Trevor McDonald (degrees worth it?) 24/11

studentphil

As one of my lecturers said, it took him 3 masters degrees, a teaching Certificate, 10 years teaching in schools, a BA and then a PHd-- to get his dream job as a lecturer. So that is just case of showing dream jobs do not naturally come at 21.

I think the interesting thing is a lot of people who go for these top grad jobs in Accounting or city often have no desire, knowledge or interest in business and they just chase the jobs for the salary. So whilst you might say they have a good job; it is debateable if it is their dream job.

Jersy

is there a stream of this online?

i would be interested to see this

as i commented in another post, now that i am in final year, im strongly thinking i did the wrong thing going to uni. its not the work (well thats a pain in hte !!! to, but thats all part of it, and it is rewarding to get it done) but more that theres so many people go to uni, and all of them think that they are in the "elite" and that they are smarter than everyone else there

again as ive said else where i fell REALLY badly at 16 and at 18

both of these through being lazy, and wanting money (working part time in mcdonalds for 3.75 ph and thinking that it was great)

at 20 i did particularly well, and at 21 im determined to do the same, better it if possible

right now i dont know how ill do in this course because im entering the university at such a late stage, if i had of been there for year 1 day 1 (with the attitude that i have now) i would have been competing for a first

ive had no feedback (well major feedback, 2 minor bits coming back both firsts, but over all worth relatively little)

the problem would be that if i had of gone into the uni @ day 1.. i wouldnt have had the attiude i do now, i only think the way that i do because i have done things the hard way, and can blame no one but myself

anewman

Jersy wrote:

is there a stream of this online?

Can't find it but found a great man on Tonight with Trevor He talks a lot of sense

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UhJytk_5io&mode=related&search=

Voyager2002

studentphil wrote:

There is no logic for that!

Writing a good English exam or an English Essay will not make you a good employer, there is no logical connection betwwen the two!

I'm puzzled: a good employer is a person or company who arranges reasonable pay and training, good working conditions, fair disciplinary procedures. Is that what you are talking about?

I suspect that you were discussing what makes a good employee, or a person who does a job well. An essential part of most jobs is communication, and the ability to use the correct words for what you are discussing, which is part of what you learn by writing a good essay, is the foundation of the capacity to communicate.

I think you have just proved what you tried to deny.

Voyager2002

Bamber19 wrote:

The main problem is that going to University has become the norm, and the government is constantly trying to get people to go who wouldn;t have went otherwise...but regardless of this, the number of jobs available remains the same, so you now find that jobs that you could get without a degree in the past now requires a degree. On top of this universities are creating degrees which would never have been a degree before to accomodate these extra students. Another problem is that the majority of students i know don't seem to think about the job prospects of their degree (also many lecturers lie about these) I have friends studying Philosophy, whilst it's an enjoyable degree if anyone asks them what they're going to do with their degree the answer is that they don't know, they're not going to use it to be a philosopher are they?

Well, I work with a good few people who are professional philosophers, so it is a career path for some.

As I write this, I am in my office in our new building. It was donated by one of the former PhD students of our head of department (a philosopher). The former student became a multi-millionaire in the IT boom of the late 1990s, and firmly believes that it was his PhD training in philosophy that developed the powers of thought that enabled him to make so much money (and keep it when the industry later slumped).

As for lecturers lying: why do you expect them to know about labour markets? Obviously they have opinions, and because of their position they are likely to be fairly up-beat about the value of what they are doing, but for hard evidence you should talk to a careers adviser.

black-saturn

I left education with 7 A levels at grade A and a degree in Publicity and Marketing. The only job I have had since then using these skills is a part time publicity job in a back street theatre on a very low wage. I finished my education in 1991 but apart from that theatre job I have had no other work or interviews relating to my degree at all. I think any qualification (be it diploma, degree, national certificate or whatever) restricts you too much into one career. With the work climate as it is at the moment you need a more generalised background to get into any job.

I started up my own online business about a month ago and only now am I drawing on some of the things I learnt from my degree but it's hardly rocket science, anyone could do it.

Looking back I really wish I hadn't done my degree or A levels. All that time of scraping and saving, studying all the hours god sends and the stress of it all really hasn't been worth it. I wish I'd have gone straight onto a YTS scheme like some of my friends did and worked my way up in a company from the bottom. Most of them now have managerial jobs. Employers look for work related experience when they are looking for employees now and you only really need a degree if your doing something in the medical profession.

I also think too many people go to university now so it's de valued the degree. When I did mine hardly anyone ever went to Uni, now your considered thick if you don't get A levels.

Lakelady_2

My DD went to uni this Sept - she`s doing a 4 year vocational course with a 100% employment at the end of it (or so they said on the open days!)
If she hadn`t got on this course she was going to try to be a joiner although this would probably be more difficult to get into.
She felt getting a different degree wouldn`t be worth the investment, and there might be nothing at the end of it.

black-saturn

Lakelady wrote:

My DD went to uni this Sept - she`s doing a 4 year vocational course with a 100% employment at the end of it (or so they said on the open days!)
If she hadn`t got on this course she was going to try to be a joiner although this would probably be more difficult to get into.
She felt getting a different degree wouldn`t be worth the investment, and there might be nothing at the end of it.

Everyone on this thread is going to think I'm mad but I'm going to try and steer my daughters away from going to uni if I can :eek:

melancholly

black-saturn wrote:

Everyone on this thread is going to think I'm mad but I'm going to try and steer my daughters away from going to uni if I can :eek:

tbh, i think you'd be mad to try and steer them in either direction..... whether they go or not, it really has to be up to them. the people who are only there for their parents often resent it or just don't enjoy it, and if you talked them out of going then they might resent you afterwards for doing so..... it's dangerous either way!!

Montymoo_2

i must admit my degree has been practically worthless, graduated over 4 years ago and cant find a job that will pay more than 17k

I would advise anyone to have a good hard think as to if it is really worth it