Does anyone know the earning potential of a Philosophy graduate?

adindas

samc1234 wrote: »

I have been offered a place on a degree in Philosophy at a redbrick university. I was also offered a place on an economics and politics degree at the same uni and I refused it.
I want to be a lawyer- but I am generally interested in what the earning potential of philosophy graduates generally is, in case the whole law thing doesn't work out.

Does anyone know?

Unless you are extremely lucky or you are in possession of what is so called "social capital e.g. not what you know but who you know" because you have family, relatives, friends that could assist you in employment after graduation, the likely chance is that you will be working in Tesco and will not be using your degree at all.

I have met few people with MBA, MSc/PhD degree in these areas along with other social science degrees, they are still doing menial jobs which does not need a degree at all.

So it it up to you whether you want to do an easy one to complete or to do degree which is in high demand. Sometimes I feel sorry to see graduates who have been spending a lot of time and money. Finishing their degree they end up stacking items on the shelves. Nowadays the tuition fee for home student is rocketing. Wise student should be able to study this carefully before doing a degree course.

Why not try doing degree which is in high demand such as engineering, medicine, dentistry.

This is the shortage occupation list published by the home office.
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/workingintheuk/shortageoccupationlistnov11.pdf

These are the areas which have been identified by the home office to be in high demand and not enough available in the UK and therefore expect the immigrants to fill in this gap.

If you do degree in one of this area you are more likely to be in employment and therefore use your degree after graduation.

NiceGuyEddie_2

A maths degree is definitely not required for auditing, it's not even 'a plus' for recruiters. Auditing is a dark art, not a science

Heck, you don't even need a degree!

prowla

notanewuser wrote: »

DH, computer science graduate, 37, £100k+ per year.

Me, late graduate in HR, business and finance, 35, potential earnings £60k+ (part time)

Friend 1, optician, 34, earnings around £75k per annum

Friend 2, partner at law firm (law degree), 35, £80k+ per annum

Friend 3, marketing manager for a uni (English degree), 35, £40k per annum

Do I need to go on.....?

Could I borrow some money, please?

rageagainstessays

NiceGuyEddie wrote: »

A maths degree is definitely not required for auditing, it's not even 'a plus' for recruiters. Auditing is a dark art, not a science

Heck, you don't even need a degree!

those were my thoughts, why would I need a maths degree? I've got a calculator. Btw, I'm not implying its easy

WolfSong2000

If I were you I would look into studying at a Scottish Uni. Gives you much more flexibility...for instance I went in to Uni to study philosophy, but ended up defecting to the history department after the philsophy department had a melt down. The department is still standing, but I ended up graduating in history instead .

I also took some law courses - now, obviously Scottish Law is different to English law, but you could take some law modules alongside a philosophy degree for the first 2 years (which is what I did), just to get some experience.

I am not a stupid person by any means (masters degree from a very well thought of UK uni), but I didn't do well in law. When I questioned why I was told that whilst I understood the concepts, I simply wasn't able to memorise enough case detail - and there is a lot to memorise! So that is worth bearing in mind.

Dunroamin

Might be useful.

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/options_philosophy.htm

rageagainstessays

adindas wrote: »

Unless you are extremely lucky or you are in possession of what is so called "social capital e.g. not what you know but who you know" becasue you have family relative friends that could assit you in emplyement the likely chance is that you will be working in Tesco and not using your degree at all.
I even met few people with MBA, MSc/PhD degree in this area and other social science degrees, they are sill doing menial jobs.

So it it up to you whether you want to do an easy one to complete or do degree which is in demand. Sometimes I feel sorry to see graduates who have spending a lot of time and money and finishing their degree they end up stacking items on the shelves.

Why not try doing degree which is in high demand such as engineering, medicine, dentistry.

This is shortage occupation list published by the hoe office.
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/workingintheuk/shortageoccupationlistnov11.pdf

If you do degree in this area you are more likely to be in employment and therefore use your degree after graduation.

Because my background isn't scientific- I did have a brief moment where I considered dentistry as one gets up and makes about £3k in a day But in reality none of those subjects in demand are for me.
I could do an economics degree- I was in fact offered a BSc hon degree in economics by 3 universities, including one at which a Nobel Prize winner attended. But I ultimately decided that my best chance of getting a first was in Philosophy

[Deleted User]

samc1234 wrote: »

Because my background isn't scientific- I did have a brief moment where I considered dentistry as one gets up and makes about £3k in a day But in reality none of those subjects in demand are for me.
I could do an economics degree- I was in fact offered a BSc hon degree in economics by 3 universities, including one at which a Nobel Prize winner attended. But I ultimately decided that my best chance of getting a first was in Philosophy

Well i hope you do... I have a theory on degrees, that they fit into 3 main categories:

1. "Skill based" - Scientific/Business/IT/Engineering ect - teaches you 'career related' skills
2. 'Cleverclogs' - (e.g. English, Psychology, Philosophy, Classics) - Shows people that you're clever, but you need to get a good grade
3. 'Interesting but not great for getting you a job' - Egyptology, Social science. Might be interesting, but you'll need to be quite specific to find a job that uses or one where they think you're clever because you have a 1st.

But for the love of god, don't do a degree because you think you'll get a 1st. Do one because you're interested in the subject

Voyager2002

WolfSong2000 wrote: »

If I were you I would look into studying at a Scottish Uni. Gives you much more flexibility...for instance I went in to Uni to study philosophy, but ended up defecting to the history department after the philsophy department had a melt down. The department is still standing, but I ended up graduating in history instead .

I also took some law courses - now, obviously Scottish Law is different to English law, but you could take some law modules alongside a philosophy degree for the first 2 years (which is what I did), just to get some experience.

I am not a stupid person by any means (masters degree from a very well thought of UK uni), but I didn't do well in law. When I questioned why I was told that whilst I understood the concepts, I simply wasn't able to memorise enough case detail - and there is a lot to memorise! So that is worth bearing in mind.

Surely it is not necessary to study in Scotland in order to take modules in a range of different subjects? Perhaps the key factor is that an Honours degree course in Scotland normally takes four years (as opposed to the usual three in England and Wales), so there is more time available for exploring other subjects.

You give a useful warning about Law: I have heard several times that in Law, like Chemistry, there is a great deal of hard slog required, relying on memory rather than understanding. Of course, this is particularly true of the post-graduate conversion course, where the dry and factual content of a three-year degree is condensed down to a single intensive year.

rageagainstessays

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Well i hope you do... I have a theory on degrees, that they fit into 3 main categories:

1. "Skill based" - Scientific/Business/IT/Engineering ect - teaches you 'career related' skills
2. 'Cleverclogs' - (e.g. English, Psychology, Philosophy, Classics) - Shows people that you're clever, but you need to get a good grade
3. 'Interesting but not great for getting you a job' - Egyptology, Social science. Might be interesting, but you'll need to be quite specific to find a job that uses or one where they think you're clever because you have a 1st.

But for the love of god, don't do a degree because you think you'll get a 1st. Do one because you're interested in the subject

I'm going it because Aristotle is my mate and I love him very dearly.