University Courses with good career prospects

Aryndeneth

tunde10 wrote: »

That's what i mean though. Doing a degree in Media usually does not lead or give you significant advantage to a person that didn't go University so why bother? I was thinking it's better off to do something more relevant e.g graduate scheme related courses.

It can give you an advantage though, however not all advantages from a degree are seen at the point of graduation or hunting for first roles. Some advantages become apparent later. Yes, you might get into a sector without a degree but then find it's not possible to progress further. As I said in my original post, the advantage of a degree is not always just to get you into a job, it can be to help you progress in your career.

If you're researching advice for someone, consider what it is you want for them? Just to be able to get into a 'good' job or to build a 'successful' career. Only once they have an idea of what career/job they want can they begin to define what 'good' and 'successful' means for them and ascertain if and when a degree will be of value.

heretolearn_2

Hi

I would say there are three types of degree subjects.

Traditional academic - for example maths, economics, history, geography, English, PPE, sciences etc. Good degrees to get, well regarded by employers, and acceptable for career in unrelated fields especially graduate entry schemes. If not sure what he wants to do in future, one of these is probably his best bet, as they are the most versatile as far as future career prospects go. And there's a wide range of subjects to choose from, far beyond what he may have done at school.

Vocational leading to very definitely accepted professional qualifications - for example medicine, pharmacy, architects, teaching, engineering, accountancy, and squillions more...some more obscure than others. Great if you WANT to do that career and have checked out that there is a demand for it. Less flexible as far as employers see if you want to change to a different type of career, than general academic careers, but still good ones to have. But ideally because you want to go into that field. It doesn't sound appropriate for him.

'Other' degrees. Don't lead directly to a career with demand for new recruits, or less traditional general subjects like the above mentioned media studies, that may not be as well respected by employers. I think a lot of these courses are mis-sold to be honest to you, kids are told they will lead to a career in X, when chances are they won't apart from a very few lucky ones. You can end up with a degree that employers don't understand and so don't appreciate. A riskier option, still worth considering, and if you have a real passion for one of them go for it, but people have to be realistic.

Thomas_Hardy

tunde10 wrote: »

There is no forcing going on. I just wanted to make a list really and givd it to him as suggestions to research. However i now think it is better for me to point him to the right websites to do his own research.

Or you could just leave the poor lad alone?

tunde10

heretolearn wrote: »

Hi

I would say there are three types of degree subjects.

Traditional academic - for example maths, economics, history, geography, English, PPE, sciences etc. Good degrees to get, well regarded by employers, and acceptable for career in unrelated fields especially graduate entry schemes. If not sure what he wants to do in future, one of these is probably his best bet, as they are the most versatile as far as future career prospects go. And there's a wide range of subjects to choose from, far beyond what he may have done at school.

Vocational leading to very definitely accepted professional qualifications - for example medicine, pharmacy, architects, teaching, engineering, accountancy, and squillions more...some more obscure than others. Great if you WANT to do that career and have checked out that there is a demand for it. Less flexible as far as employers see if you want to change to a different type of career, than general academic careers, but still good ones to have. But ideally because you want to go into that field. It doesn't sound appropriate for him.

'Other' degrees. Don't lead directly to a career with demand for new recruits, or less traditional general subjects like the above mentioned media studies, that may not be as well respected by employers. I think a lot of these courses are mis-sold to be honest to you, kids are told they will lead to a career in X, when chances are they won't apart from a very few lucky ones. You can end up with a degree that employers don't understand and so don't appreciate. A riskier option, still worth considering, and if you have a real passion for one of them go for it, but people have to be realistic.

Wow, thanks for that reply. That was exactly what i wanted from making this post. thanks for breaking it down.

It seems the first set of degree's are more ideal for him currently since hes unsure what to do plus they are all acceptable for most graduate schemes.
I'd also suggest some of the second lot in case he is interested in any of them. Ultimately he'll have to research and eventually make a decision when the time comes himself.

WolfSong2000

He sounds a bit like me when I was his age...knew I wanted to go to uni, but wasn't sure what I wanted to do. In the end I settled on going to Uni in Scotland (I was raised in England) as although the course is 4 years, not 3, for the first 2 years I was given a free reign to try out a load of different courses.

I went to uni to study philosophy (great degree to have because of the transferrable skills you learn) and ended up coming out with a history degree (another great degree - gave me excellent analytical and research skills, both very useful). In between I studies English literature, criminal law, celtic civilisation and a few other courses...it gave me a really broad education and helped me settle into finding what I really enjoyed - which turned out to be history.

I then went on to do a Masters at another University in Peace and Conflict Studies which has in turn led me to doing some impressive voluntary work with a country in the Horn of Africa. I just kind of fell into each of these things, but uni, for me, was definitely worth it - I learned so much! My only regret is not getting more involved with societies.

tunde10

Thomas_Hardy wrote: »

Or you could just leave the poor lad alone?

I really don't understand this forum sometimes. So many people come on here to make silly comments & act all funny on the internet. I'm sure you made a couple of people chuckle, well done.

All i was doing was thinking up of a list of courses with good potential career prospects. Nowhere in my posts have i said i will be directly telling him what to do. Infact all i was gonna do was give the list to his brother along with the useful websites others have mentioned. Ultimately he doesn't have to follow it.

Anyway i've got some useful replies already so all this was worthwhile.

haycorns

Dunroamin wrote: »

Teaching should never be a fall back option but there are actually shortage subjects where jobs are available.

http://www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching/subjects-age-groups/teach-maths/path-into-teaching.aspx

Regarding the rest, this is only true if you plan to do a vocational subject for a degree. For the really academic, higher level study is worth it for its own sake and there will always be career options (regardless of the degree subject) for those with excellent results who have used their time at university wisely to build a rewarding and positive CV and having developed transferrable skills in the wider university life.

I work in local government in teacher recruitment. There definitely are shortages of GOOD teachers in some subjects in the SOuth East, but you can only be a good teacher if you love the jobs. To teach at secondary level you need to have studied subject to degree level ( and ideally get a 2:1 in it) Georgraphy is a shortage subject , but also is a very versatile degree as it has a lot of data anaysis/ project work etc as part of the course. if he is not clear on what to do at uni and is good at georgaphy I would steer him that way.

tunde10

haycorns wrote: »

I work in local government in teacher recruitment. There definitely are shortages of GOOD teachers in some subjects in the SOuth East, but you can only be a good teacher if you love the jobs. To teach at secondary level you need to have studied subject to degree level ( and ideally get a 2:1 in it) Georgraphy is a shortage subject , but also is a very versatile degree as it has a lot of data anaysis/ project work etc as part of the course. if he is not clear on what to do at uni and is good at georgaphy I would steer him that way.

Thanks, i knew there were shortages in some subjects as ive read about it recently. I think teaching is a good option in the future depending on what degree he picks

Dunroamin

tunde10 wrote: »

Thanks, i knew there were shortages in some subjects as ive read about it recently. I think teaching is a good option in the future depending on what degree he picks

It might be a good option for you - it might be a terrible option for him!

tunde10

Dunroamin wrote: »

It might be a good option for you - it might be a terrible option for him!

Haha, well either way its an option.

I must sound like a parent interferring to some of you. But maybe if more people helped advice younger people they know before picking useless degrees, there wouldn't be record number of unemployed graduates right now. But that might just be me...