What was your degree in and what is your job now?

[Purplturpl]

I am looking for inspiration as my ds has very different interests to me and dh. We are both engineers and not really sure what other career paths there are. Degrees such as marketing or politics and economics for instance. What career paths do they lead to.

Psychology - am now a chartered psychologist.

My brother studied politics and history and is now an exam qualification manager

BA International History & Politics
& I'm a theatre stage manager.

I did a lot of student union theatre alongside my degree which led to a postgrad year at drama school so I reckon I got excellent value from my 3 years - enough theatre experience to start a career and a completely unrelated 2:1!

Me: Degree in history work in a policy role in the civil service
DH: degree in English literature also works in policy in the civil service

BA English and Classics

MA Historical Research

Post grad diploma in Economics

I work in regulatory policy - focussing on essential infrastructure.

Philosophy Degree:
Software developer then
Planning solicitor then
Landscape designer

Around 80% of graduate jobs don't specify a subject. It's the skills learnt at degree level study that are important employers.

I see an awful lot of people on MN saying that young people should choose a degree that leads to a particular job otherwise university is worthless. That's actually terrible advice and completely untrue.

Some people DO have clear career idea and that career path will require a specific degree. Or apprenticeship. However, if you don't have a clear career idea at 18 ( which is most people!!) and you're academic then a degree in a subject that interests you is a good option. Also, making the most of the opportunities offered by your university careers and employability team really makes a difference.

Agreed. I am currently doing a bit of work that draws on the skills I learnt while doing my undergraduate dissertation 25 years ago!

Degree
Software for Arts & Media
Job: Web designer, then freelance
Degree
Photographer
More freelance
Degree
Counselling
Self employed counsellor

Now : doing something completely unrelated again

Degree 1 nursing...I was an RN for 20 years
Later on in life I did a Podiatry degree and I've been an NHS podiatrist for 20 years.
Nursing was too hard for my body as I got older.

@BornSandyDevotional snap.

Nursing.
Am a nurse.

BEd (Primary)...now a primary teacher 😬

Certificate in Nursing
Degree in health management
Masters in Education

I'm a Senior Lecturer in Nursing

Medicine - Doctor

Probably very boring but it seems to be becoming increasingly uncommon!

English Literature and Language.
Healthcare Communications and TESL/TEFL teacher.
Also currently training in psychology as a later life career to be a business coach

BA Hons English with Philosophy
PGCE
MTeach

I’m a gardener…

B nursing
Masters in Women's Health
B Criminology and Criminal Justice
Currently a SAHM but hoping to return to work in corrections, such as probation and parole

Economics.

Business development and strategy. Losely related to my degree.

MA in Political Science.

Now a lobbyist working for a well known national retailer.

I think I might have eaten one of your pasties...

MFL (French and German) then PGCE - taught solely MFL in a secondary school for over 20 years and now do a Pastoral role alongside it.

<waves at fellow stage manager!>

I studied Nutrition and Dietetics.
I work as a dietitian with adults in an acute NHS hospital. There are loads of job opportunities from this degree from clinical (within almost every specialty, and not just in a hospital setting) to industry and sports to name a few.

Dentistry.
Retired at 59 but still do a day a week to cover DS’s uni costs.
Im not sure I would encourage anyone into the profession but I still love the job.
I chose it because I was always drawn to medical careers and could have done medicine but back in the early 80s the career path in medicine for women was difficult.
Dentistry offered a well paid part time career where marriage and children would not impact career. Most dentists are self employed so you have a little more choice over hours. I was able to do the school run and take time off to cover summer holidays.

I think you have to love what you do, like every generation how do you know what you want to do at 16. Encourage your daughter to explore as many careers as possible.
I think if I had my time again I would may have tried law or accountancy. I love a bit of forensic accounting, and I had to do a fair bit when I ran my own practice.

My DS was all set to do Business Management but at the last minute changed his mind and is now doing a more vocational niche subject that combines his love of sport and his obsession with statistics. But he can go on to do an MSc in business afterwards if he wants to go back to that pathway.

I think what was useful was having a gap year and working as a labourer. It opened up a whole new world to him and he thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact he’s working for the next two weeks until he goes back to uni. It’s hard physical labour but he knows he can always pick up work with them if it takes time to find a job.

This is interesting! My 17 year old nephew is interested in ranger work. He wants his degree and he's quite academic, but talks about wanting something a bit more hands on.

If you've any advice or little pointers, I'd love to hear! I've got no background in it and neither has DH (we're a publisher and historian!), my sister is a vetinarian. So we're all a bit 🤔 when it comes around to trying to find avenues for him!