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?

[Dontfuckingsaycheese]

Is the job she's being offered media related at all? The 2 options appear to be so vastly different I don't really get what her long-term ambitions are. That she is torn between two similar choices. One, what, admin and accounts. The other media. If the first is something she is seriously considering why was she going for media. I too advise keeping both her irons in the fire by deferring a year and taking job. Then in a year she can reassess as at the moment she really sounds a little unfocused. If she starts a degree if she's not really committed she could come a cropper.

[DaftVader42]

How academic is she ? Predicted grades? If Bs and above, I’d say uni. Below that , I’d defer and work for a year. But I’m not sure she should tell employer she was deferring as they’re less likely to then train properly / offer apprenticeship ?

[spotcheck]

@Christmasfairy2020

Tbh media can be a bit of a micky mouse degree. I'd either take the job she has been offered or do social work or nursing etc that will lead into a job

And yet, here we are- on a social media platform, surrounded by ads. Probably watching Netflix in the background.....
The world's a changing

[Lollypop701]

Alsoto progress to progress degrees help... so if it’s the job she still needs qualifications

[allthequeenshorsesandmen]

Defer degree for a year like others have said

[iamthesandstorm]

defer....earn some money. ..,With covid who knows what uni will be like next year...Make a decision later

[Dontfuckingsaycheese]

dissimilar!!

[AZisgreat]

I'd be very tempted to take the job, if I were her. Show her this Guardian Table of Media Studies courses. Get her to look at the employment column for the University which has made her an offer.

[AZisgreat]

www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2020/sep/05/the-best-uk-universities-2021-league-table

[NameChangedForThisFeb21]

A media degree isn’t very well respected at all and she’s right, upon graduating this is the sort of job a lot of Media graduates will be looking for. Purely due to the subject she intends to study, I’d suggest the job and night school/college studying for a qualification like AAT, Prince2 etc.

Otherwise I’d say university if she was reading a better regarded subject with better job prospects. How does she feel about some of the ITV and BBC schemes for school leavers and also for graduates? Does she have her heart set on a Media career? If so what field?

[Allgirlskidsanddogs]

Defer.

A job is great. Uni could be great but she could also accumulate significant debt. I wouldn’t be advising my child to start Uni this year having heard about first years’ experiences this year from friends.

[playeddepaler]

I would take the job and ask if the company are willing to fund a related degree on a part time basis. It's a win win then...free college and a full time job.

[user1636853246842157]

Will they put her through her accountancy qualification?

[AZisgreat]

Sorry you need to select Media Studies in the Subject Area

[Giraffey1]

What are her career aspirations; what does she really want to do? Admin for an office is one thing but if she wants to pursue a career using media skills then I’d have thought uni would provide a better foundation.

[LadyHalesBroach]

I did a BA in an equivalent Media degree (went on to do a MA in more specialist field) and am now a high end tv drama producer - think international glossy productions on sky Atlantic.

My first jobs post degree were interning or admin jobs like she’s doing - back in 2011.

Tell her to look at the bigger picture, but it’s hard when you’re a teenager with a ‘big’ grown up salary like that.

[MiloAndEddie]

What will the job lead to? Accountancy qualifications? I’d snap their hand off but if it’ll lead to ‘generic admin job’ I’d reconsider

[Tickledtrout]

I agree with those suggesting she works for a year and then goes. It'll still be covid crappy in September and students have been treated badly by this government. She'll get some money in the bank and be more resilient when she does start.

[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.

[AGirlCalledJohnny]

@doodlejump1980

I would defer uni for a year.

1. It’ll give her some money to cushion some of the costs of uni.
2. Hopefully covid restrictions will be lifted by sept, but she might find her course is online and she’ll be missing out on the uni “experience” of norm. Freshers week etc.

This! Who’s to know what shape unis are going to be in by September?The past year has been miserable for most students. I can imagine it will be a shitshow whatever way they try to run them for at least another year.... The experience, extra training and money - even if it’s only for a year - will stand her in good stead no matter where she ends up.

[SweetPetrichor]

I’d go with the job. A media studies degree is about as much use as a chocolate teapot and it’ll be a lot of debt for a bit of paper.

[Youdontknowwhatyoureonabout]

As someone with a media degree I say job.

As she would be living at home she would have a different university experience than the majority of students living in student digs, so she won’t be going for the lifestyle, is she hopeful of a career in media? If she’s not got a career in mind then it would be sensible to earn skills & money & stay out of debt. I’ve never used my media degree.

[dubyalass]

Right now, in current circs, I would say job. She can do a degree whenever she wants. A job like that, with training, will stand her in good stead for changing direction later on if she wants.

I’ve just finished a master’s, and 50% of my cohort were fresh out of undergrad because doing a master’s was the only way they could differentiate themselves from all the other undergrads when applying for jobs. Many are still job hunting, whereas those with prior work experience have found jobs.

My last manager trained in accountancy straight after A-Levels and it stood her in good stead for several years. She then did a totally unrelated degree and went on to do a PhD.

I would say she should give the job a go. If it’s not right she can apply for next year, nothing lost but a year of work experience under her belt.

Has she looked into being a production accountant, by the way? Could be a different way into media, and the job would be a great way in...

[Neonprint]

I'm a bit embarrassed for all of these people acting like media is a shitty degree. You sound really out of touch.

(no it's not what I studied!)

[Divebar2021]

No way would I want her to be stuck in an admin job in a manufacturing firm... even if it led to accountancy. Not that there’s anything wrong with accountancy but you have to want to do it. I wouldn’t. The danger of taking the job now is getting comfortable with the income and never going to do the degree. Would it be possible to increase hours and continue to work part-time and still do the degree?