Most profitable uni course to change career?

mrsbmartin

Hi all,

So I'm thinking of having a change in career and possibly supporting that career by doing an undergrad course but I can't decide what to do....

I am 25 & a successful fashion store manager. I absolutely hate my job...I don't want to move up to area manager and I don't want to move into a lateral position at head office. I need something new to get my teeth into and to become a long term career.

When I was 18 I went to uni to study Egyptology...it was mostly just an excuse to leave a bad home situation (I only stayed at uni 3 months before quitting and going to work full time). I have very good A level grades in respected subjects (A's with distinctions) so entry level requirements shouldn't be a problem. I have also kept myself in an educational frame of mind by doing free online courses etc.

The problem is that I don't know what course to do. I obviously need to find something that will make me happy but the financial issue is massive too...I don't want to study for 3 years and pay thousands in fees to fail to see a decent salary at the end of it.

So - does anyone know what sort of courses end up being profitable in terms of graduate positions? I am very academic, far more so on the literary side than mathmatical/science based, though I am still very capable in those areas. It is in my nature to want to become an expert in my chosen field and I like to either lead or be led (not too keen on joint decisions!!). I am very practical and manual labour/diy etc...

I've thought of everything from Law to plumbing...I'm just at a loss at to where to go from here so any suggestions would be appreciated (I think I would like to do something with property - working in planning or the like).

Thanks all,

englishrose19

Sorry but what's an A with distinction?

Not something available with my A Levels so intrigued.

I'd suggest something with transferable skills like geography.

weavedribbon

Dr or dentist? Even nursing's not badly paid now and that's a shorter degree then being a dr. Architecture or engineering?

mrsbmartin

I did extra exams to 'upgrade' my A levels in English Lit and Economics...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Extension_Award

I finished in the top 1% of A level students in the country for both those subjects (out of those that took the exams).

They don't offer them anymore.

mrsbmartin

I was thinking Architecture...I guess I need to work out if I would be better off going down the route of a traditional subject like architecture, or a more specified one, like Town and Country Planning...

cockaleekee

What do you enjoy? No point in doing something you don't enjoy, you'll burn out very quickly.

What subjects are your A Levels in? No point in applying for medicine etc if you don't have any science subjects.

mrsbmartin

No...I once toyed with the idea of going in to nursing but it's not for me (DH is a paramedic so I have a good insight into the role). My A levels are in Economics, History and English Lit (AS in Business Studies, Critical Thinking and English Language). I like to know everything about a subject and take charge of it, I like to work with others that care about their job, I tend to become slightly obsessive about my role in order to impress clients/bosses...so my future role would need to take all of that into account. I have always worked at serving others and I really enjoy customer service, being 'handy', being relied upon by others etc...

I could be happy in lots of roles...I just need to pick the right path and I want to do it soon due to wanting to start a family in the future, currently buying a house etc (all based on DH's wage so doesn't affect things with this), wanting to start before costs go up even more etc...everything is telling me to do it now otherwise I won't do it for 20 years!!!

cockaleekee

Teaching?

What interests you in architecture? Your A Levels do not seem to indicate an interest in this area. Many universities would expect a more technical leaning than you demonstrate.

Voyager2002

Why do you use the word "profitable"? How important is money to you, as opposed to other kinds of job satisfaction?

The obvious careers for someone who is intelligent but not very "mathematical" are things like Law, policy work (such as the Civil Service 'fast stream', or a think-tank, or some charities), journalism or being an academic. Architecture is not a good move at the moment (less than half the people who qualify ever get a job in the field).

p00hsticks

mrsbmartin wrote: »

I was thinking Architecture...I guess I need to work out if I would be better off going down the route of a traditional subject like architecture, or a more specified one, like Town and Country Planning...

According to this it takes seven years to qualify as an architect including five years at University and two years practical

http://www.architecture.com/EducationAndCareers/BecomingAnArchitect/Becominganarchitect.aspx


By this time you'll be 32 and - from what you say - probably be thinking of starting a family.

InsideInsurance

Relatively few jobs require vocational qualifications and given you have already been to university once before you will need to check if you are eligible for students loans as 9k a year is a fair amount of money to find if you arent.

Given you dont want to move sideways into HO then you dont want to do anything to do with business or IT at all. You arent into science so that rules out a lot too.

You however need to do strategic planning rather than operational, so work out what you want to be and then backwards from that to how you get there rather than operational style planning where you plan each step in sequence and see where you end up