To ask what your degree was and what you do now?

[bluebadgehelp101]

And how much you earn?

One thing that I have learned on MN is that hard work isn't enough and that you need to work smart too. This is something I am really trying to instil in my dc; they are coming up to uni age and I don't think the school are giving them great advice. There is a massive assumption that everyone will go to university, but no.push toward degrees that have better earning potential or are in demand. Our family circumstances have meant that I am a carer for disabled ds, and therefore I can't help the dc much financially in life. I really, really want them to have the best chance at succeeding in life rather than going to uni for 'the experience' and I'm nosy so like to hear what everyone does too.

Oh and yes, I do have around £60k of student debt now. Honestly? I don't notice it. Money comes out before I get my wage so I just never count it. It's like another tax.

Degree: History and History of Art from RG uni.
Current job: SAHM and student (doing second degree in USEFUL subject!)
Salary: £0
However, until I had my DC I earned decent money (between £20-£50k) working in finance. I got into that through admin work and then proved myself once I was in the door. Networking is VITAL. Be on good terms with your colleagues, keep in touch when they/you leave and move on to pastures new and make time to socialise outside work, if possible. It's more about WHO you know that can put in a good word for you (s/he is a hard worker, flexible, can-do attitude etc), than WHAT you know (we can all learn ...)

I went to uni because that was what was expected of me. My degree is in maths and stats. But I never had a clue what I wanted to do for a living. I muddled through into being a data analyst and data warehousing specialist. I don't work for money at least now, but I'm a Data Officer looking after databases and gdpr compliance issues for a voluntary organisation.

Nursing Degree - Nurse Manager, earn 52k

English degree and Victorian lit masters. Read at a couple of conferences and had some bits published but currently a SAHM - was NHS receptionist but didn't earn enough to be able to go back to work.
Definitely feel like my degree was useless and would never recommend something un-vocational to anybody wanting to go to university.

Law; masters in Medical Law. I'm a furloughed waitress pushing 40.

Degree in Immunology & Pharmacology.
Work for the Local Authority as a Technical Officer doing a 2nd degree in Civil Engineering specialising in Highways. I would get more money working in the private sector but flexibility & job security is high up on my list

Law Degree now a Solicitor. Small town not well paid. Statistics are horrible for Law. Wouldn’t recommend unless stellar academics and top tier uni. Realistically you are not going to qualify as solicitor or barrister studying law an ex poly. Stats in Law Society Gazette this week were 206 pupilages and 1700 Bar final students plus of course the surplus of applicants from previous years.

Surveying, surveyor, six figures. I don’t regret doing a vocational degree at all, it’s given me a really interesting career with lots of branches to specialise in.

Nursing.... i am a data analyst

CorianderLord - funny, almost everyone I know who is a PA has a degree.

Although, I think secretarial jobs are a dying trade and Covid19 is just speeding that up.

My current role (Health & Safety) seems ever growing!

I did Psychology (at Oxbridge uni), now work for the civil service earning £65k (age 34).

Psychology
fuck all

@Moonhorse me too. 21 years teaching, 10 as HoD but you earn '£10,000 more than I do... Are you in Londonshire?

@Dixiechickonhols- totally agree with you re Law.
I am a solicitor but have advised my dc not to enter the profession. The pay is not great ( unless you are at a top firm and even then the pressure is great) . It cost thousands of pounds to qualify as a solicitor or barrister and I honestly don’t think it’s worth the stress. I have friends with so called ‘Mickey Mouse.’ degrees who are earning more than me. In fact, I know a few lawyers who have retrained as electricians, plumbers etc and are making more money .

I have encouraged my dc to look carefully for careers which guarantee a well paid job at the end.
I would hope that they would take a gap year after A levels to give them some time to work out what they really want to do.

My first degree was Psychology; by the end of it I knew I did not want a Psychology career.

I went back to uni to do the MA Social Work when I was 30. I'm now a social worker in a safeguarding and social work team in a large mental health hospital. We don't use NHS pay scales but if we did I'd be near the top end of band 6 iirc.

@biscuitcat

Psychology undergraduate degree -> anthropology masters -> teacher training -> secondary school science teacher -> educational psychology doctorate -> and am now an educational psychologist, on about 45k.

Most people I did my undergraduate degree with aren't still in psychology though, I think it's a great degree for going into lots of graduate jobs

@biscuitcat I am surprised that EPs are only on 45k, it seems like they need a lot of training and have a lot of responsibility! How many years qualified are you? What is the top of the pay scale?

BSc in Computer Science from Oxford.

I now work as a manager in a petrol station at just above minimum wage and am far happier than I was when working in IT earning £50k+. I'd prefer a stress free job over the money any day of the week, why do so many people prioritise wage over happiness? There's a lot going for having an easy life...

English Lit. I’m now a teacher although I trained in my late twenties. Earn £50 K and love my job.

English & Photography undergraduate degrees > MBA

I'm Head of Marketing for a small business, on £68k -- working towards a director/board position at a bigger firm at some point, but taking maternity leave off derailed that a bit.

B.Ed. (Hons) at Edinburgh. Still a teacher 20 odd years later. I've been at the top of the pay scale for a great many years now.

https://www.eis.org.uk/pay-and-conditions-of-service/salary-scales

I have an undergraduate degree in modern languages (German and Spanish) and a Masters in Translation and Interpreting Studies, where German was my main language. I work as a freelance translator and the money isn't too bad, although it varies depending on the workload. It took me about 6 years to get into translation work. I started off as a volunteer at a local museum, translating some books of fungi by some German scientist, and then started looking for jobs and eventually found work with a mentor/agency. From about 2014 to last year I worked in office jobs so I could have a steady income, but last summer I took the plunge and quit my hospital admin job so I could work as a translator full time, especially as I started taking on French work as well as German. I enjoy it.

@areyoubeingserviced I used to work in a criminal law firm as a legal secretary and the pay for criminal lawyers was really shit. One of my friends does PI, not sure how much she earns but put it this way, she's not loaded. And the world of barristers is very much an old boys' club, although there are more women coming up the ranks, and most of the barristers we used were Oxbridge grads.

One of my cousins is a former law student and is now a trainee solicitor in London. She does commercial and property law (my uncle is a surveyor, so the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree).

Seeing lots of people saying that degrees aren’t essential, experience etc matters more. This is what I always thought too, but it hasn’t proved to be true for me. I dropped out of uni, always thought I’d go back but life got in the way. In my early thirties, after working in childcare, insurance and admin, I realised that I had nowhere to go. Every job I wanted to apply for, and had the Necessary skills and/or experience for, required a degree. So here I am, mid thirties and doing a degree while still working full time to try to open some doors.

I always thought I would discourage my children from going to university unless they knew what they wanted to do with their degree, now I think very differently.

History. Now a management consultant earning about 80k. If I went to uni now and had to pay so much I would probably do a more useful degree for job prospects even if I liked it less. I always thought economics was a good balance between interesting and likely to get you a job.