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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:
lemonsyellow · 21/04/2021 22:20

University experience isn't solely about 'the job at the end' (and anyway, those days are over). It's about a unique life experience, growing as a person, intellectually, socially, emotionally.

None of that is happening at university now.

Megan2018 · 21/04/2021 22:21

I shouldn’t say this as it risks everyone in HE’s job security inc my own- but you have to be very silly indeed to be starting in 22/23. All our planning is for blended learning at best. No-one expects we can give students a good experience for another 12 months. Deferring is definitely to be recommended. There’s absolutely no way it’s worth the tuition fee at the moment.

MyGorramShip · 21/04/2021 22:21

I wouldn’t advise Uni for a degree in Media, numerous friends of mine swanned off to do it and none of them Media related jobs or even well paid jobs for that matter. Absolute waste of time and money - even more so considering the tuition fee hikes.

mofro · 21/04/2021 22:21

Job this year and defer Uni - I want my DS to do the same but no one has offered him a job yet 🤣

Work experience will serve her way better than a media studies degree that she’s not that passionate about!

If she loves creative writing etc, she can pursue that online, do as a hobby, do voluntary work or even get into marketing for the company shes working for

Remind her a job isn’t for life! She can stay as long as she wants or needs to

Well done to her- great position to be in

lemonsyellow · 21/04/2021 22:22

Media is sort of bullet proof.

It is not. Media is in dire straits.

senua · 21/04/2021 22:22

Take the job. It seems daft to rack up all that debt for a subject that she is only luke-warm about.

She can always go to University a few years later and get the proper experience when Covid restrictions are a thing of the past.

LoveIsAllThereIs · 21/04/2021 22:22

Uni...from someone who did the opposite. It's a life experience and opens so many grad opportunities. Admin jobs like this will always be there for the taking. She could even approach them for some summer temp work and stay on good terms

Redjumper1 · 21/04/2021 22:23

Job and if she likes then study accounting. My brother did a degree similar to media and has a great job. He is one of two in his former class that have a good job. It's not a great choice and if she is considering tbh.

Cocopogo · 21/04/2021 22:23

I’d been encouraging her to go to uni but to choose a course with better prospects

MyGorramShip · 21/04/2021 22:25

Media is a shitty degree, it’s not even remotely specific enough for the vast majority of roles in TV/film... I’m embarrassed for you @Neonprint

RachelRavenR0th · 21/04/2021 22:25

Id encourage deferring at this point and reassessing what degree subject after she has matured a bit more and thought about what she actually wants to do.

MollysMummy2010 · 21/04/2021 22:26

@Neonprint look at the job pages in the FT

TokenGinger · 21/04/2021 22:29

Oh wow, I could have written this myself at that age. I had applied to uni too to study Media. I got offered an apprenticeship in Business Administration and took that instead and I'm so glad I did. I am now a Personal Assistant to the Chief Executive of an organisation with a fair pay (£36k in the north) and each employer I've had (public sector throughout my career) have paid for further learning opportunities, with my most recent putting me on a course which is the equivalent of a degree.

My skill set is very similar to that of a Project Manager, and I know that's another route I could go down if I chose to get my Prince2, which opens up a lot more earning potential.

I think I've done really well, having not been to uni and I'm happy with my position and income now.

tinierclanger · 21/04/2021 22:29

Ah... I was in the “defer for a year, take the job” camp until I saw your update about how you think she’ll end up stuck there out of loyalty. Sounds like she needs to go to uni now for the experience in that case.

Ignore the snarky comments about Media.

3boyshere · 21/04/2021 22:29

My daughter was in a very similar position she was offered a place at university to do teaching. She was then offered an administrative position with a well know company. She took the administration position worked hard they sponsored her to do her degree in procurement which she completed part time. She is now area manager for another company within the same field. It was definitely the right decision for her

SamW98 · 21/04/2021 22:31

Defer uni for a year, take the job, get solid work experience under her belt and then decide if to go to uni or use the work experience as a stepping stone

With a year or two office experience, she has a wide range of careers she can look at moving into. See if she can get her company to sponsor her to do an accountancy qualification which in the long term will be more useful for a career oath than a media degree

EileenGC · 21/04/2021 22:31

If she has her heart set on the media studies and then a related career, then uni.

If not, I’d give the job a try. Can she do both part-time? How demanding is the course?

mellicauli · 21/04/2021 22:32

I would do the job for a year or two then go to university to build on the work experience. Solid work experience is more difficult to get than a university place right now. Hopefully it would broaden the range of subjects she would consider too.

PlumpAndDeliciousFatcat · 21/04/2021 22:33

Very few people working in media have media degrees. They have degrees in history, English, psychology, even biochemistry- but rarely media. It is a sector where it is normal to have to build up a lot of experience in unpaid or very low-paid internships even with a degree. Is that a viable prospect for her? It isn’t for most.

cherryblossom999 · 21/04/2021 22:33

If they are keen to train her in accounts, etc would they be willing to fund ACCA or CIMA, if she enjoys accountancy? I had a finance degree which gave me exemptions from half of the CIMA course but could have got to the same point quicker if I had spent the 4 years at uni working and studying alongside plus she would come out of it debt free. Also even if she takes the job it doesn't mean that is the limit of what she can ever do. I now work in something unrelated earning more than I ever did after starting at trainee level.

EarringsandLipstick · 21/04/2021 22:34

as they are a small family company she’ll end up staying out of duty.

Even more certain now that she needs to run, directly to university.

This is no way to spend hour early adulthood.

NiceTwin · 21/04/2021 22:34

A media degree is one of the Mickey mouse degrees whose inception came about with Blair's 'everybody should go to Uni' edict.

If it was medicine, engineering or a worthwhile degree, I would say go.
As it is, she'll have her debt and probably no job at the end of it.

Take the job offer.

Unsure33 · 21/04/2021 22:36

You don’t need to be good at maths to do accounting. Perhaps they would sponsor her to do a management course or something similar ?

EileenGC · 21/04/2021 22:36

or a worthwhile degree

I was waiting for one of those. I have a degree in one of the performing arts, and - shocker - a job! I also have debt but I have perfectly capable of finding a job in my industry. I don’t see why my degree would be useless.

bert3400 · 21/04/2021 22:37

Take the Job, it's a one time offer. She can always go to Uni at a later date, if the job doesn't work out as she hoped. Or she goes to uni, ends up with 50k of debt and no guarantee of a job at the end of it . It's a no brainer to me but then I've seen family members go to uni, leave with so much debt and no job at the end of it