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Original poster

Big dilemma for DD - what would you do?

686 replies

Blackenedsoul · 21/04/2021 20:49

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?

OP posts:
Harmonypuss · 22/04/2021 20:38

NRTWT but it's her life and no-one can make the decision but her.
Don't even make suggestions because if she does as you suggest and it doesn't work out for her she'll blame you forever.
So, just let her make her own mind up and support whatever she chooses.

Haas19 · 22/04/2021 20:48

@TheFlis12345

Can she defer her uni place for a year and give the job a try? If she doesn’t like it she can go to uni the following year.
I agree with this she should give the job a year and see if it’s still what she wants. If after a year she decides she wants to go to uni then she still have the option
PotholeHellhole · 22/04/2021 20:54

The problem is less the student loans themselves, and more that your opportunities to take out a student loan are strictly limited.

Using your student loan for a degree you're not really sure about, during the pandemic period (it has been awful for current students) when you could postpone for a year and earn money, is MAD.

Blueskiesdazzleme · 22/04/2021 21:09

@MissLucyEyelesbarrow

This is difficult. If it was 20 years ago, I would say take the job. But the workforce has changed - most employers now ask for a degree, even for entry level admin roles

Agree. She will be extremely limited without a degree. I'm not saying that a degree actually makes you a better employee, only that it's a minimum requirement for many, many jobs. I used to work with an HR manager (as one example) who was brilliant - far better than her more qualified seniors - but she was forever stuck in a lower grade because she had no degree. Don't let this be your daughter.

I would also worry that accepting the job will make her very beholden to the company. As an employer myself, I am suspicious of their motives. Without a degree, they will be getting her on the cheap (not immediately, but longer-term) and she will have few other options. If they were really committed to her professional development, they would be offering her part-time work while she does the degree, not trying to divert her.

Having said all that, no one who is unsure what degree they want to do should be choosing media studies. It's fine if you want to work in the media (and is actually a much more rigorous degree than most people realise) but it has a terrible reputation outside the media. For the love of god, if she does go to Uni, try to swap her either onto a more traditional subject or something directly vocational.

This. Entirely this.
roxanne119 · 22/04/2021 21:47

Defer uni place try the job if it doesn’t work out nothing lost 😊

MrsHastingslikethebattle · 22/04/2021 22:01

Job, all day long.

With everything going on at the moment, jobs are few and far between.

Media, if she does that, there is just no saying she will have a job at the end of it.

I would take the job and she can work her way up. With the experience she will have from the job, she can look further a field for higher salary.

Weemovitchski · 22/04/2021 22:04

My daughter went to Uni, living at home. Changed courses three times and graduated with a Business Accounting degree. She was employed by a company that paid for her ACCA Accreditation, whilst working. She is now a fully qualified professional accountant, specialising in the music and media business. She would not have got the job offer without the degree. Her current salary is around 80,000pa. Hell of a lot of work but she's happy now.

NamechangeApril21 · 22/04/2021 22:05

Can she take the job while studying part-time with the open university?

I went to uni, but wish I'd went straight into work and worked my way up and studied and got qualifications on the side.

Luckymum82 · 22/04/2021 22:07

I fell into a job I thought I’d like at 17 and for my age and the responsibilities I had at the time the wages were great. 21 years later I’m now finally returning to study and kicking myself for not doing it before I got used to the salary and had 4 kids to juggle. It is her decision but if it was my daughter I would encourage her to go to uni and maybe ask to take the job part time.

headintheproverbial · 22/04/2021 22:08

1000000% tell her to go to uni.

blueshoes · 22/04/2021 22:24

@partyatthepalace - thanks for the tips Smile

oknowimscared · 22/04/2021 23:16

Defer the offer, take the job. She’ll either love it or hate it, but she has a back up (and one of the big things about Uni is learning to live independently, so encourage her to save her wage and have enough to move into halls for her first year)

SpringTides5 · 22/04/2021 23:28

Unless she’s absolutely sure she wants to spend the rest of her life in this job earning £25k max, she needs to go to uni.

Even if she doesn’t end up going into media, lots of employers in lots of different sectors simply will not hire someone now without a degree. It’s a way of filtering applications out.

Don’t get me wrong- £25k is a very good salary for a young person but it’s no good if there are no opportunities for progression beyond that.

jakeyboy1 · 22/04/2021 23:38

If she was set to do a degree in media does she really want a job in accounts? I would stick to the original plan.

Cannot believe some of the comments on here about media studies degrees. As a marketing director I would hire people with media studies degrees over many other subjects. I didn't do this degree myself but I have many friends who did who are now in roles including;

  • Communications Director of a major big pharmaceutical company
  • Press secretary to an MP
  • Account director in F1

You are seriously naive if you think media studies doesn't get you places, especially in today's world of digital media.

mumda · 22/04/2021 23:44

She needs to write a pros and cons list herself. She's old enough to accept that it's her decision and you can support whatever she decides.
I almost wish I'd not bothered with a degree. It had very little impact on my main job. The friends I met I am sure I would have met similar good friends in the real world.

You can meet the love of your life in the real world or at university.

Runnerduck34 · 22/04/2021 23:46

I would say go to uni, a lot of employers now look for a degree and its limiting not to have one, many jobs you used be able to do 20 years ago with 5 GCSEs now wont consider you unless you have a degree so it can really limit your opportunities if you dont have one.
Its also harder to go to uni and study for a degree later on when you have financial commitments and are used to an income.
However taking a gap year, working , saving and getting experience isnt a bad option but I wouldnt want to give up on degree completely,

AntiHop · 23/04/2021 00:06

I had a similar dilemma. Just before I was due to go to uni, I was offered a full time job with training attached. I was desperate to get away from my parents and start a new chapter in my life, so it was easy for me to say no.

In your daughter's case, and given the current Coronavirus situation, I'd take the job and defer for a year.

me109f · 23/04/2021 00:41

I resat 'A' levels when I left school, although I had a uni place (but not a particularly good one) and did a part-time job for a year. I then was accepted to do an undergraduate apprenticeship, and deferred the new uni place had had been offered on a decent university course to do the first year of my apprenticeship.
So I then went to university 2 years after I left school. I never regretted that for a minute. I was just 20 when I started and fitted in fine, but I was also a bit more mature, had passed my driving test and acquired a great rubbishy car and had saved a bit of cash and been living away from home a year.
I loved university in London; I had great fun but was sensible and never looked back. Incidentally 3 of my sixth form school friends went to the same university straight from school and by the time I arrived 2 had dropped out through not attending, drinking too much and failing exams. They never graduated.
If you like your job do it. But do go to uni if you can but look for a useful course and in a big social city where the best bands perform and there are lots of other colleges. They all party and it is very important to have a choice of venues to go to at the weekend. Never take drugs and limit your drinking to what is enjoyable and affordable. It will all be over too soon!!!

blueshoes · 23/04/2021 01:02

I would have thought any senior office-based job would require writing, critical thinking, analytical and presenting skills which a university education prepares a person for better than a job in a small company. Taking the job would limit the OP's daughter in 2 ways: first, she will pigeonhole herself into the 'small company' mindset and miss out on the corporate track. Not going to university does not give the space and time to nourish the mind and train the mind to think in a certain way i.e. asking yourself 'why' as opposed to 'how' and finding out the answers and coming up with solutions, documenting and implementing them.

Any big corporate will require mid to senior management to have these skills. It seems a shame to limit yourself so young.

Todaywillbegood · 23/04/2021 01:22

There's a lot of negativity towards media degrees on here. Having seen your update OP, I don't think the job is something your daughter is going to remain motivated for for long. I did a journalism degree and that paved the way for a decent career in journalism and then PR/comms.

There's no way I would have got the jobs I've got without directly relevant experience. It's very competitive. As she's not sure what to do and her employer thinks so highly of her, can she talk to them about her long-term plans? I'm wondering if there's any scope for the job to include any PR work? Then it could become more viable as a 'year out' option. And if she's upfront with them they might even consider offering an ongoing part time job during her degree. She could also use the extra time to check that a media degree is right. Industry-accredited journalism and comms degrees might be more useful to her long-term. Many include work placements and are run by people with industry links too.

Tzimi · 23/04/2021 01:45

I agree with many other people on here, I would take the job, defer Uni, and review it after a year. I was in a similar situation myself, and found that Uni wasn't all it was cracked up to be. I had very little money, and ended up with debt from student loans & overdrafts. If she's enjoying the job, I'd stick with that 100%.

JFD0201 · 23/04/2021 04:33

Take the job.
If not 100% committed to Uni, its not place for you. Uni is very trying and you need a lot of discipline and integrity to see it through.
Take the job - she can go to uni when fully committed

Angelil · 23/04/2021 06:45

Defer and take the job.

espressoontap · 23/04/2021 07:02

My DH is in PR after being a reporter for years. He did history at uni then a journalism course.

I would want my DD to go to uni. Once she starts this job she will get stuck in the routine of it and never want to go to uni. She's young. She (and possibly you) could regret not going to uni.

JournalistEmily · 23/04/2021 07:05

I can’t believe ppl are saying £25k is not a great salary. She must be 18/19!! It’s a great salary. Starting at 18k is a pretty good salary if you’ve just finished school. As you can tell by my name I’m a journalist. Is that what she wants to be? If she knows what she wants to do and it needs a media degree then go to uni. But if she’s just doing it for the experience I think I’d be tempted to defer. I went straight into work at her age (trainee journalist) then got a degree from 23-26 when I knew i wanted to study for studying’s sake. It worked really well that way round. I felt much more focused on learning and not just getting pissed! And working so young made me more well rounded I think as I could appreciate lots of different types of people. I def think it made me a better person, plus I earnt some money so didn’t get in loads of debt when I did go to uni. Bless her, she sounds sweet but I think it’s fair to say that she’s so young if her heart isn’t in uni at the moment it will make no difference to her long term if she works a while first and decides what she wants. Good luck!