Big dilemma for DD - what would you do?

[Blackenedsoul]

DD has accepted an offer for her Uni of choice to study Media in September. She’s been looking forward to going, had planned to live at home and travel the 20 minutes in every day.

She had a part time job for a few months in a local office attached to a very small but very busy manufacturing company. She’s very well thought of and works in the office on a Saturday, doing admin, answering enquiries, emails, booking appointments etc.

Today they’ve offered her a full time, permanent post in the office and have offered to start training her up in the use of their accounts systems etc, give her more responsibility. The salary is 18k to start rising to around a max of 25k once fully trained.

This has come as a bolt from the blue, DD really enjoys the job and thinks she’d be happy doing it full time but at the same time was also happy to go off and have the Uni experience, make new friends and study and have fun.

She’s aware that lots of students leave Uni and end up falling into admin roles vey much like this and is now wondering whether bothering with Uni is worth it.

We’ve told her the decision is entirely hers but she’s really finding it hard to decide.

So, the great of mumsnet - what would you do?

Job and training over uni any day.

I was in this situation except I was local authority temping and my colleagues said there was a job coming up and offered to coach me through the interview.
I went to uni. It might not have been the cleverest choice. I wanted to be a teacher. After my pgce and a very short teaching career I ended up in (a different) local council! I'd be earning loads more had I stayed with the department I had been in!
Bloody loved uni though!

@Blackenedsoul I’m currently a (mature) student. I’ve had less than 20% classes face to face this academic year. We haven’t been allowed back on campus since Christmas. The only courses running ‘normally’ are medical training and some practical sciences. I suspect next year will be similar for a least one term.

So I would only recommend anyone with a passion for their subject and a drive to complete in a particular timescale (or no alternative available) to go to University right now.

If your DD defers for a year, she can hold on to her place, save some cash, and maybe get a real uni experience when she goes.

If she has a passion for media studies, she should take that degree, but otherwise she should take a look at other options. Also, loads of people in the media do not study general media degrees.

Deferring is a really good idea, she can save some money and hopefully start uni in more normal times! But I'd definitely still say uni.

She sounds like she's similar to me, my degree included media and everyone I can think of from my course is in an interesting, well paid role 10 years on. If she's already being offered an admin job with a salary of up to 25k now she'll be able to find something similar after her degree, and she'll have the opportunity to grow a career in something she's interested in rather than something she fell into because it seemed like great money as a teenager. Media will teach her a different way of thinking and interpreting things, really flexible stuff she can take over a wide range of career choices rather than pigeonhole herself at such an early point!

If she was going away to university for a more vocational degree I'd say go to Uni 100%.

Staying at home for a media degree appears to be two negatives. Staying at hone she's not gaining the benefit of studying away from home and the learning that provides (and the fun and lifetime friendships)
Media is an overpopulated degree and the degree itself alone rarely leads to a media profession. Often takes lots of internships and work experience.

Tough call as I think University has so much to offer - but not at a stay at home Media degree.

yes small businesses can be really useful, for learning about everything and having broad transferable skills. If she is driven and likes to think on her feet, then she could soon fine a direction that she enjoys and pays well and work towards that.

I understand the loyalty thing, but it can soon wear off. side stepping and moving companies becomes easy when you know where you want to go. But the question is she that sort of person once focussed?

I have nothing against media degrees as long as you know exactly what route you are aiming for after. In your DD case I think it would be a waste of money.

For your DD I'd say take the job, keeping an very open mind to possible going to Uni getting a degree in something she knows she wants to do, in the next 4 years at some point.

She should not think that taking the job means the door to HE is closed. The 'either or' mind set is too easy to slip into.

Theres nothing wrong with going to Uni to do a degree without a clear career plan in mind, but in that case its best to do a traditional academic subject - English, History, Geography, Biology etc.

Those would lend themselves better to just going for graduate training schemes later.

However given how rubbish the world is right now, id definitely consider taking the job for a year, getting it on her CV, building some savings and then looking to go to uni next year.

If she can do the social media,blogs etc for the company this is good experience for a media career
So a year working can be useful before going to uni plus money saved up along the way
Or it may help her decide which uni degree is right

Defer for a year on the basis that the uni experience will likely be crap next year. Loads of students take a year out so she won't be unusual in being older.

Then look into whether her employer would consider an apprenticeship. They are great now and can lead to professional careers. If she doesn't fancy accountancy she might like something like business management, HR, Auditing, business development, IT systems, marketing, property management or something related to the business she works in.

She can still do the degree in future if she wants to but will have some money saved a pension started and some life experience that might influence what she wants to do in future.

University!!! The experience is something every young person should have of they have the ability and the opportunity. Sounds like she's capable of a much higher salary too with a degree under her belt.

Take the job and training opportunity.

It will do far more for her future prospects than a (frankly useless, sorry) degree in "media".

I have a great job now with a good salary and I didn’t go to uni however if I had my time again I would definitely go, no question. But then hindsight is a wonderful thing 😊
I have completed OU courses but once you start earning you have to be disciplined to do both and it’s hard to go back if you change your mind.

Definitely uncertain times to start Uni and as she’s staying at home she won’t get the whole ‘uni experience ‘ anyway.
Others have said to defer for a year - great idea.

University.

She'll regret giving up a degree course for an administrative job in 5years time.

Defer for a year while she decides. Or do part time with uni - but that is very hard work and she'll still miss out on quite a bit. Media quals aren't a huge benefit workwise (I worked in media for ages) but very interesting. Oh dear! Difficult one.

She could consider doing the job for a year to begin with, to see a) how she feels about it, b) whether she can see a future in it, and c) whether she feels she's really missing out on uni. Lots of students will struggle to find work after graduating at the moment, but the flip side is that uni is a great life experience in itself. She could always study media later (as someone who worked at a uni until recently, there are probably professional media courses that are shorter and cheaper than a 3-year degree - look at NCTJ courses etc).
That said, lots of careers require an undergraduate degree at least. But doing a year of the job won't preclude her from studying next year, if she wants to.

I was working in a Bank as a cashier while finishing Uni and they offered me a full time job which at the time seemed a lot of money as I was living at home. Instead I went into professional training and moved away from home which meant a massive pay cut - fast forward 3 years and I had more than doubled the Bank job salary when I qualified and I now earn a v good 6 figure salary - which I could never have done if I had taken that job. 25k when you're 18 seems like a LOT of money - 10 years later you may be on 30-35k which will not seem so much. Uni is always a gamble but if you can make it work then you not only get the experience and fun and higher level of education but also - better job and salary prospects - not to mention the regrets you may have by not going. I had the best years of my life at Uni and made the best friends ever....... wouldn't change it for a minute!!!!

Go for the job, hoover up all she can in training for tasks, computer skills everything..

After a few years she then might want to go to Uni and take accountancy or law or business or something no one has thought of yet.
At uni in the future she will find it easier and get more out of it.

With the pandemic i just don't think uni it's great normal experience atm..I'd say take the job, save as much as possible, if things are better next summer maybe spend a couple of months travelling, then go to uni. I had a year off before uni (doing voluntary work abroad) and it was the best thing I ever did.

I'm at uni now. Take the job. You say she has no particular passion, so I'm assuming she's going for the experience - and there is absolutely no social scene at most universities at the moment. No clubs, no societies, no parties. She can always go back later. One of my close friends started uni at 22, and being 'mature' didn't stop her from having a blast. (Until covid struck in her final year!)

It's difficult.

At her age I would be worried about missing out on the university experience. Now that I'm older I actually really reget going. I came out with no real life experience with a similar degree that really does lend itself to a particular career path and it was impossible to get a job the first few years.

If I were her, I would at least defer a year. With the pandemic still not over it's probably best not to go next year - she can at least build up some money, see what career prospects this job really offers her, see if she feels like she's really missing out, and then make a more informed decision. University can wait, a job opportunity in difficult times might not.

Bloody hell. So many people falling over themselves to say uni. Its a media degree. Not medicine. You have ONE shot at funding for university. I'm sick of seeing women wasting it on psychology, criminology and media. Work, save and figure out what you want to do later. There are many many decent degrees out there which most 18 year olds don't know about that lead to well paid careers. Its never too late to study but for the love of God don't blow your student finance on a crap degree for shits and giggles.

"I came out with no real life experience with a similar degree that really does lend itself to a particular career path"

^^ that should say didn't, not does!!

I know I am late to the party, but I would really implore her to go to university. For those being sniffy that she is studying media, it really doesn't matter what subject she studies. She just needs to be really interested in it.

Unless it is a job with a specific degree, most employers don't care about the subject as what it shows is that you can work to deadlines, write to a certain standard and often work in teams.

While she is there she will meet a diverse range of people, get opportunities that might change her outlook on life and her future ambitions.

The job might seem tempting now, but if she had the skills and work ethic to get promoted, she will easily land another job after uni. Yes she still might be at the bottom of the ladder, but with a degree she will have more options.

Those saying she can do it later. She can of course, but there is nothing like the experience when you are with people of your own age.

It is a unique experience that she won't get elsewhere. The job can wait.

@Blackenedsoul

She has no specific job in mind after her degree. It took her ages to decide what course to do at Uni as she doesn’t have a particular passion. She loves creative writing and was thinking along the lines of web content writing, copywriting, marketing, PR type work. She’s not really interested in doing an official accounting course (she hates maths and got a B at GCSE). I also worry that long term she’ll be bored and wish she’d gone to Uni. I know DD and once she’s accepted the job she won’t want to leave and let them down - she thinks the world of her employers and as they are a small family company she’ll end up staying out of duty.

Besides the point I know, but she doesn't need a media degree for that kind of work, she needs a marketing one. I don't think she should take the office job though unless it's absolutely what she wants to do though, OR if there is scope to take over the firm's website/copywriting etc as part of the permanent role and she can learn on the job.