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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Degree educated but won't go for managerial jobs

177 replies

MiaMarshmallows · 20/02/2021 18:05

Anyone else know someone like this? This person is a family member. None of my business I know but I do wonder.
She is degree educated, has health issues and made redundant from a job she had been in for years (Well below her skill set but she loved it.)
Just feel she is really doing herself a disservice and feels like it's lack of confidence more than anything.

OP posts:
UrAWizHarry · 20/02/2021 19:43

I've got 2 degrees and have done my job for 20 years.

I do not want to be a manager, even if it did mean a higher salary.

Yellredder · 20/02/2021 19:44

My OH would be totally unsuited to a managerial post and tbh he’s more qualified than them, but he just isn’t management material. I have been in management and I loved it, and am educated to post grad level, but I really wouldn’t want to do it again! I don’t want the responsibility.

Flamingosarentreal · 20/02/2021 19:44

I have a degree and used to manage people but don't now. Hated it. I didn't have the degree when I managed the people.

2pinkginsplease · 20/02/2021 19:45

Just because someone has a degree it doesn’t mean they are cut out for managerial jobs. I worked in my last job for 15 years anencephaly offered promotion but it wasn’t for me. I prefer to go to work, do my job and go home. I don’t need hassle, stress or pressure at work.

Being a manager isn’t to do with a degree, it’s about leadership qualities, a certain attitude, a quick thinker and someone with amazing communication skills too. All these can be achieved by someone without a degree but with the right qualities.

MasterBeth · 20/02/2021 19:46

@MiaMarshmallows

I don't want to say what she does as it could be quite outing but not many people have degrees in her line of work. She has lots of experience and I really do think she would get a managerial job very quickly. I just think she is wasting her talent and years of experience. She will end up being managed by someone who has nowhere near her level of expertise. Just don't want her to regret this. I think a lot of her issues stem from very low self esteem and I womder whether it's that feeling of 'I can't do that.im not good enough.' going on. She is always quite adamant that she doesn't like the idea of managerial roles and says herself that she feels bad for saying that as she went to uni but like I say, I think a lot of it is confidence related and on reflection, only she can really change that.
Have you read a single thing that anyone else on this thread has said?
PinkBuffalo · 20/02/2021 19:46

Yabu I think
I have a degree there is no way I would be able to manage people!

sunflowersandbuttercups · 20/02/2021 19:49

@MiaMarshmallows

I don't want to say what she does as it could be quite outing but not many people have degrees in her line of work. She has lots of experience and I really do think she would get a managerial job very quickly. I just think she is wasting her talent and years of experience. She will end up being managed by someone who has nowhere near her level of expertise. Just don't want her to regret this. I think a lot of her issues stem from very low self esteem and I womder whether it's that feeling of 'I can't do that.im not good enough.' going on. She is always quite adamant that she doesn't like the idea of managerial roles and says herself that she feels bad for saying that as she went to uni but like I say, I think a lot of it is confidence related and on reflection, only she can really change that.
She doesn't want a managerial role. Not everyone does.

Your opinions on her self-esteem and confidence are irrelevant.

00100001 · 20/02/2021 19:50

I wouldn't be in my manager's job.

Extra hours. Extra responsibility. Extra BS meetings and reports. Line management responsibilities. All the pressure on the manager.... For about £300 extra a month.

No thanks. I'll go in, do my job, and go home. No need to work untill 11pm, then go to bed, wake at 2am, reboot servers, watch them come back up, and go back at 4am, to come into work at 7am....

Naaah

Nohomemadecandles · 20/02/2021 19:51

Managing people isn't the only mark of success. It's a different skill to doing the actual job too.

Strange judgy post

MrsExpo · 20/02/2021 19:52

The emergency plumber who recently mended our dodgy loo had a degree in philosophy. He likes being a plumber ...... each to their own.

AcrobaticCardigan · 20/02/2021 19:54

A degree doesn’t mean you walk into a managerial role. Virtually my whole company had a degree and it would take many years of experience in same role before x1 person potentially made it to manager!

MintChocAddict · 20/02/2021 19:54

Agree with everyone else. Many graduates are happy enough being foot soldiers. No big deal Confused

Travis1 · 20/02/2021 19:55

My manager has a degree. He’s still a shit manager

bananamonkey · 20/02/2021 19:58

Depends what she enjoys, I have a “good” job, I manage projects and project teams but I don’t want to line manage people.

Five67Eight · 20/02/2021 20:00

What a bizarre thread.

You need to be a leader to be a people manager, and not everyone is a leader.

I’m not. I’m just not comfortable in that role.

Better that I recognise it surely, and focus on what I am good at, and do enjoy?

I’m (post-grad) degree educated and have a lot of experience.

BertramLacey · 20/02/2021 20:06

OP I have MH problems, I also have 3 degrees. Honestly sometimes it's enough of a challenge just to get out of bed in the morning. I don't want or need challenging work at the moment.

Bear in mind what management entails. I used to work for a manager who was degree educated and had the kind of excessive self confidence that the upper middle classes think is normal. She took on another employee who we'll call Smith. Smith was an absolute nightmare - an out and out manipulative bully. She should have been managed very firmly but my manager couldn't do this, despite her intelligence and general rhinoceros-hide disregard for the feelings of others. As a consequence I and others left the organisation. Smith should have been managed effectively but wasn't. Can your relative deal with this situation? Does she want or need to?

sunflowersandbuttercups · 20/02/2021 20:09

@00100001

I wouldn't be in my manager's job.

Extra hours. Extra responsibility. Extra BS meetings and reports. Line management responsibilities. All the pressure on the manager.... For about £300 extra a month.

No thanks. I'll go in, do my job, and go home. No need to work untill 11pm, then go to bed, wake at 2am, reboot servers, watch them come back up, and go back at 4am, to come into work at 7am....

Naaah

Christ, exactly.

I did it for two years. Absolutely NOT worth the hassle!

JemimaMuddledUp · 20/02/2021 20:09

I have a BSc and an MSc. I don't manage anyone and have no interest in doing so either. I work in Tech and am quite happy doing what I do.

Charley50 · 20/02/2021 20:10

I've got a degree. I'm not a manager. And I know lots of managers who don't have degrees!

thecatsthecats · 20/02/2021 20:10

It's really annoying that lots of places expect you to start managing other people as a consequence of doing your job well and wanting to advance.

2BDIs · 20/02/2021 20:12

@MiaMarshmallows

Anyone else know someone like this? This person is a family member. None of my business I know but I do wonder. She is degree educated, has health issues and made redundant from a job she had been in for years (Well below her skill set but she loved it.) Just feel she is really doing herself a disservice and feels like it's lack of confidence more than anything.
What on earth makes you think that someone with a degree will in any way make make good manager. A degree is based on academic qualities and managerial skills are based mostly on personality and people skills
Milkshake7489 · 20/02/2021 20:19

A degree doesn't mean you can automatically get a management job (I suppose a business management degree could help... but I think most managers get their positions by taking on extra responsibilities to gain experience first).

If your friend has a niche degree and expertise in a specific area this means she can do her job, not that she can manage others well.

I have an undergraduate and masters degree... I would still hate to be a manager (and I would probably be terrible at it too!).

MrsCalypsoGrant · 20/02/2021 20:24

I've got a BA, an MSc & a PhD. I had a high flying career & resigned it to look after my children. I've found that far more stimulating (& a far greater opportunity to deploy the people management skills used in my previous life.) I now work for myself.

It's precisely because I have strong self-esteem that I have been confident to make the decisions I have both professionally & personally & to take responsibility for them.

Perhaps your family member has just found the trick to life for her circumstances & personality. If she's happy, good luck to her. It takes strength in the face of views like yours - which are often the dominant ones in society - to make such life choices & stand by them.

KarmaNoMore · 20/02/2021 20:30

A degree doesn’t necessarily equate a managerial role, especially if you have been working in non managerial roles for a long while.

Most of us in my team have bachelors and masters degrees, the only one who is a manager has a PhD in a totally unrelated subject. None of us is amazingly paid, because we are paid for the skills we use rather than those we were trained for. All of us would be working on our degree subjects if we had the chance/the job met our family/location needs.

Joeblack066 · 20/02/2021 20:30

@Covidcorvid

Every man and their dog has a degree these days. It generally doesn’t mean you can just apply for a managerial post. You either work your way up or do a graduate scheme. I know people with degrees in call centres....it’s a tough job market.
No, they truly don’t. Please don’t disrespect the hard work, blood sweat and tears needed to complete a degree. Go find the documentary Death on Campus. That may make you think twice before making such a ridiculous and inflammatory statement.