To ask which degrees you think are useful / useless?

[fizzthecat1]

I was just on this thread

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3062891-to-think-dd-should-pick-to-study-what-she-is-interested-in-and-not-what-she-ll-get-a-job-in

There were so many comments of "I did a degree I enjoyed but couldn't get a job, wish I'd done something more useful" etc.

I'm just curious what degree you did and whether it was the right decision, or what degree you'd have done instead. There were so many of these comments and I may retrain in the future so want to know what to avoid / what's good.

A hard numerate subject at a good university. It has been useful to me even though I don't work in that field any more.

Hard subject from good university opens doors in my experience, irrespective of the relevance to the job you are applying for much of the time.

Namechanger I read something similar, but it was just US and specific to men. For women it was totally different.

Do you have a link?

Embroidery. I have a degree in embroidery design, and it's incredibly difficult to turn that into a career which pays the bills.

Broad is good. Lots of transferable skills. Which media studies has in spades, in spite of all the clichés. Plus many jobs now require an understanding of how contemporary media work, even for other businesses, what with reputational issues and all sorts. I've done quite a bit of graduate recruitment and you can find that some of the subjects with a very solid reputation - history being one - graduates are surprisingly limited in their thinking, as though they learned the right answer from the textbook. So the lesson is don't have preconceptions about subjects.

My DH got a rubbish degree in electronic engineering - it was an obsolete subject before he had finished it. He earns three times what I do now.

Sorry I don't have a link. I've read it a few times, but a while ago now.

Don't do an Arts PhD. Just don't. Biggest waste of time EVER. Has qualified me for fuck all, and has probably made me unemployable to boot.

Well, I did an arts PhD and while i would also caution against doing one and see it as a monumental waste of my time, it hasn't made me unemployable.

It makes my CV stand out in my totally unrelated field and has opened doors for me.

However, if I had my time again no way would I do it.

If you want to do a specific job and there's a uni course then great go to whatever uni and do that course then get your job.
If not sure what you want to do then pick a "good" named uni and do something you like the sound of. Have been on the graduate recruitment panels at work for years (FTSE 100 company) and only students from top universities make it even to assessment day. Usually a broad range of subjects.

It depends on what you want to do. I have a couple of physics degrees and they have been very handy indeed. I do know someone who has a theatre degree and is a science teacher. Had to do a huge conversion course. Everyone I know with Eng Lit doesn't use it and had to retrain to get out of admin roles. My boss has no degree at all but he knows his stuff!

I had no degree first time round and ended up VP of a multi national. Decided as a mature student to go back and do something I'd always wanted. Got that vocational degree and now earn a fraction of what I used to...

(don't regret it really but do miss the disposal income that I was so cavalier about before - now realising the options it gave us)

Computer science degree, its proven to be very useful. I hadn't a clue about computers when I started but it's a very logical subject so it really suited my learning style. Loads of opportunity to travel with it, good pay, decent hours etc.

Law degree without a professional qual is pretty useless. (LLB, LLM, 20+ years in a related industry, been jobless for nearly a year and can't even get an interview. Wish I'd done pretty much anything other than law!)

Everyone I know with Eng Lit doesn't use it

what exactly do you mean by not using it? Not writing essays about literature in their day to day life? Surely the analytical skills, ability to structure a reasoned argument etc. are useful and valuable?

Do people seriously think that degrees are useless if they aren't a necessary requirement for getting a particular job? Depressing.

1st degree sociology and politics (very interesting ) helped me gain place on second degree...
2nd degree Nursing which was even more interesting and led to a fabulous career.
Degrees open doors. Knowledge is power.

I think I’m getting mixed up with Media Production not Media Studies.

Everyone I know that has done MP hasn’t produced any media. They’ve only had NMW jobs in retail etc. Which there’s nothing wrong with, it was just not what they originally wanted to do.

I haven’t used my degree for its intended purpose. I’ll need to do another professional qualification to use it in the way I want to.
However, having a degree not only allowed meant I had experiences I wouldn’t have had otherwise, I met my dp, and there are hundreds of graduate jobs who require you to have a degree, but will accept one in any subject providing the right grade.
. I do wish I did a different degree, I.e something less specific that what I did, but it was the right choice at the time.

I did English Literature and I work in publishing. Wouldn't recommend it today though.

I actually have used all of mine. Shame it's a rubbish profession!

Engineering is a strong degree. People from my course have ended up in all sorts of roles ; from finance to managing theme parks, from pharmacuticals to law and pretty much everything in-between...

As PP have said, the ability to analyse and argue are very useful skills.

@Thisisanotherusername - the analytical skills learned via a Business Management, economics, maths, or science subject usually trumps English Lit in most industries where report writing is key. It’s why English Lit grads usually need Oxbridge and a high degree not to be left behind by peers who studied more analytically rigourous subjects.

Computer science too.
Really really difficult and intense but I felt an amazing sense e if achievement and grew to love it (by about year 4!)
The career opportunities are varied and the money, trave and men in plentiful supply.

It's tricky- I do think there are some subjects which make it slightly easier to get certain jobs. I was talking to a friend of mine the other day who is a partner in a private equity firm. He commented that, although he himself had done a history degree, he now wouldn't interview a history graduate (unless they were really outstanding in other ways)- he wants to recruit mathematicians, scientists etc.

OTOH unless you have an aptitude for a subject and enjoy it, you either won't get on a decent course or you'll hate it, and while the careers it leads to may be well paid, they probably won't be your kind of thing either. It's all very well comparing the starting salaries of eg investment banking and modern dance, but if your dream is to be a dancer it's irrelevant.

Useless degree - equine studies - the person I know who did it got a great first job as an accounts clerk