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.

English and postgrad in journalism and I now train dogs for a living. I have always loved animals but unfortunately grew up in a home that hated them. I think if my passion had been fostered I would have become a vet. A lot of people I work with don't have degrees but I don't regret doing mine. I still do some freelance writing on the side.

Geography

I've worked in recruitment and hr briefly but then qualified as a geography teacher. Which I've done for 16 years.

I would have liked to have been in town planning also.

Undergrad degree and PhD in Agriculture. I worked in various R&D roles and am now head technical bod for a (niche) science based company. £100k.

Law/Masters in Human Rights Law
Worked as a lawyer, but have now decided to open a small business ( not law related)

English degree then masters. Also pgce.
Teacher and editor.

Degree in Agricultural Economics. Toyed with the idea of being a Common Agricultural Policy Fraud Officer but instead did a PGCE and was a Primary school teacher for over 20 years.
Was on UPS3 when I jumped ship.
Am now a TA earning a pittance but staying sane.

I never really knew what I wanted to do when 'I grew up' - still don't.....

(I actually wanted to do English, History and French A Levels and be a Librarian but my SF railroaded me into Physics, Maths and Chemistry which I was dreadful at.......)

Geography, I got a first from a leading university and it gave me the confidence in my abilities I had lacked at school so I went on to study law. Now a solicitor and earn c£50k I could earn a lot more but I have found a niche which I love and where I can work around the children (I do full-time hours but in a pattern that fits around school and bedtime) and that is priceless to me. I do regularly draw on knowledge from my geography degree too but more than that it gave me a confidence in my abilities that my school had never instilled in me. So it wasn't "wasted" at all. But it has also taken a lot of subsequent hard work and energy to get to a point where I have such autonomy in how , where and when I work.

International Politics and Modern Languages. I work for the MoD. I love it and will probably never leave

@sst1234

I think people who graduated more than a decade ago are in different position to graduates of today and the future. Mickey Mouse degrees now would be a really bad idea, as they do not hold any value vs what is needed in the economy and competition is greater. STEM is the safest way to go, and lost valuable.

Define Mickey mouse' degree.....often subjects termed Mickey Mouse degrees actually have excellent employment figures.

As for encouraging everyone to do STEM I'm not convinced. We still need humanities and arts graduates.

I would only want my children to go to university if they either had a subject they loved and were driven to study or they had a career path in mind and this was a step to it.
There are so many other routes to success too.

politics of european integration - now teacher - pay - average

@HalfBrick

Can any of you with degrees totally unrelated to your jobs explain how you got there? This is the bit I don't understand. How did you get from Biology degree to IT consultant for an law firm type thing?

I have qualifications relevant to my work (IT) but finding it hard to get more experienced to make the jump to the next level of responsibility as I've got older.
I work for a LA so stuck within a pay band.

Over 60% of graduates jobs don't ask for a particular subject. They want the skills you've developed while studying at HE level.

@SueEllenMishke I agree, some of the most successful people I know did a "Mickey mouse degree" in something they were passionate about and making that into a career /successful business.

No degree.
Director of a small/med sized charity.
£43k

Just don’t advise medicine! Money and time spent training not worth the anxiety or stress.

Zoology. I run a tech company. I earn enough, more than if I had worked in my degree field but I dont enjoy my job as much as I think i would have. I still dream of working in conservation of endangered animals

I did a BA and an MA in history.

I went straight into sales and mwrketing by chance, realised I really enjoyed it. Started my own company at 27 and I earned over 100k at 28. I work in a cash rich industry (ecommerce). I had a baby and work two days at the minute for around 60k.

I think yes do something you enjoy but also an industry that is on the rise is always sensible.

Marketing** 🙄

Did law at a red brick. Now a transport planner for a local authority. Earn c£40k FTE. Have now also done an MSc relevant to my job.

Sometimes wish i'd done languages and then a conversion course for law. The law degree was not the best fit for me, my parents convinced me to do it...

I would encourage them to look at jobs that are safe from automation. Many of our jobs will eventually cease to exist! But people will always need doctors, dentists, teachers, etc. Or learn a trade like plumbing, electrician, plastering.

Undergraduate degree in History, postgraduate degree in Library & Information Management (bet most people didn't know librarians need an MA ). Work as a researcher and best practice trainer for a corporate law firm, earn 40k+. It's really interesting but annoyingly niche, roles don't exist much outside of the big firms which are mostly in London.

Degree in Linguistics. Haven't done anything useful with it. My last role was Admin in the Civil Service on around 19k.

I have recently moved abroad where my degree is considered even more useless. I have started my own small business which is growing steadily. I don't make enough to live on and won't for a while.

I would like to go back to the Civil Service when I return to the UK as there seemed to be a lot of opportunity for career progression.

I studied modern languages and now work in international comercial banking for a major bank. We deal with subsidiaries of large multinational companies.

Banking isnt an area I ever thought I'd go into but I really like it, its customer service and finding solutions esentially.

If they like languages its a great degree to do, its broad but can open lots of doors. I also met my partner through my exchange year which was part of my degree. ❤️

Its good money. No point giving my actual wage becuase I'm not in the UK so not really comparable given costs of living etc.

Its not quite like the megabucks banking of old, and not comparable to the traders or upper levels of the bank, but yes its good money, especially the bonuses.

[quote NeverTwerkNaked]@SueEllenMishke I agree, some of the most successful people I know did a "Mickey mouse degree" in something they were passionate about and making that into a career /successful business.[/quote]
I remember a post on here where people were slagging off a particular university for offering a course in Theme Park Management. I looked up their employment figures and they'd had 100% graduate employability every year the course had been running and graduates working all over the world.

I run a very niche postgraduate course and always get asked if it's a 'real' subject. We have 100% employability and it's one of the most successful courses in my faculty- doesn't stop people thinking I run a Mickey Mouse course and telling me that to my face

Physics - Finance Director - £130k