When somebody asks what your profession is, and you didn't go to university…

[Hellokittymania]

How do you answer? Like if you work at Starbucks, but you do really well at working there, how do you answer this?

I have tried to study, but I've never been able to finish. And I do quite a lot, I have special needs, but I have a job that I really love and it has allowed me to do A lot. But I always get upset when people ask me what qualification I have… And I don't have a qualification. I have done internships, and done different small jobs, and I've learned a lot from these things.

You say 'I work at Starbucks' and if they're sniffy or rude about it then you stop talking to them and have saved a lot of your time by not continuing a conversation with a massive twat

Agree with NewAccount. I tell them the truth. I’m not embarrassed or ashamed that I didn’t go to university or have a degree or fancy qualifications, why should anyone be? People who sneer or look down on anyone they perceive as beneath them isn’t worth bothering with.

I'd say "I work at Starbucks/in retail". I'd view it as a slightly stuffy/pretentious version of asking what your job is, that's all. They might be a twat, but be careful you aren't over-projecting your own feelings about not earning your degree on someone.

Lots of people who went to University don't have a profession though as they have chosen something else. It's a weirdly wording question but if you love what you do I wouldn't lose any sleep over it at all

Hello kitty, I can relate to this, not for myself but for my DP. A colleague was bragging that her husband was a pilot and cornered me into saying my DP works in a factory. Snotty snob. My partner is clever and well informed and excellent company.
The only things I can suggest are these. You could say that you are still deciding what to do as a career and in the meantime getting some experience working with the public. If people are very pressing, you could try the Miss Manners approach of asking why they want to know.
All the best x

OK, thanks.

Nobody has ever asked what qualifications I have outside a job interview. Tell them it’s none of their business. Who asks that in the first place.

It doesn’t matter if you didn’t go to uni. Plenty do and then don’t work.

Just tell them what your job is factually, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about as you are working.

I don't think I've ever been asked what my profession is. People ask me where I work or what I do but not what my profession is. I wouldn't worry.

Lots of people work in jobs that has absolutely nothing to do with what they studied at university.

Your profession is what you do for work, not what you studied at university. I know lots of lawyers for example who studied English or History or Classics etc at university. I know an accountant who studied Chemistry. If you work for Starbucks behind the counter then yiur profession is retail surely? If yiu work in head office its marketing, or HR, or IT or whatever.

This frustrates me. Obviously work is a big part of lots of people’s lives, but so much emphasis is put on it.

When I meet people I try to ask “what do you do with your life” “what do you spend your time doing” rather than what is your job.

Usually makes for much more interesting conversation. OP.

Most People who go to university don’t have any qualifications unless it’s a vocational degree. People don’t ‘say my qualification is an English degree with a minor in drinking beer...’ they just say what their job is. Most people climb the ladder through experience.

Third aid kit, I like your question much better. A lot of my friends who have special needs or unable to work, but they find other things that they enjoy. And I really wish people wouldn’t make such a big deal of where you want to school, and what certificates you have etc. etc. I am doing a dental project now, for people with special needs, because of my own disability, there wouldn’t have been a way to study this anyway… But I found an internship with a special care dentistry team, and it was fantastic. My friend is the special care dentist, so I stayed with her and her family. So I was able to get experience this way.

I did a degree at university. The first two years of it I pratted about.

And then when I left uni I found it extremely difficult to actually get a job due to "no experience".

So qualifications aren't what they're cracked up to be.

Say, "I work in Starbucks and I love it."

No explanation necessary if you ask me. Be proud of who you are and what you do - folk will respect you more for it (not for how many certificates you've got stashed away in the loft somewhere!!)

You'll find plenty of university graduates in similar job roles too.

I went to uni and did law. Did the course to qualify and hated it. Am now an unqualified accountant as can’t be bothered with more study but I know what I am I doing but I am quite specialised. Still call myself an accountant as that is what I do.

Nobody has ever asked me what my profession is, they just ask me what I do 🤷‍♀️

BAnd I really wish people wouldn’t make such a big deal of where you want to school, and what certificates you have etc. etc

I don't think they do. No one has ever asked these things of me. People may ask where I work, I would tell them. If anyone actually has a problem with me working in Starbucks (example) then they are not the kind of person i particularly want to know. Sneering and judging isn't an attractive way to be.

DH has a couple of degrees and no profession, he does have a well paid career which he is extremely good at.
I have a profession and earn a fraction of what he does at a much more junior level when not trailing round the world after him.