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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to wonder if doing psychology degree, is a total waste of time

84 replies

bluegreysky · 08/08/2008 22:12

is it a waste of time iyo?

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bluegreysky · 08/08/2008 22:30

i love the subject and it fasinates me why people do and think the things they do.

my main concern is getting a decent job after it all though

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expatinscotland · 08/08/2008 22:31

blue, i'm too old for that.

as it is, i go pretty cheap on these courses because we are low-income.

bluegreysky · 08/08/2008 22:31

pointy hwo do i eide what i want to do ive been asking myself that for 15 years!

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twoGsinBuggerOff · 08/08/2008 22:32

dp did a psychology degree.
hes been v successful and happy and made bundles.
so that'll be a no then

id be v interested to do a psychology degree... it interests me, the human mind.

bluegreysky · 08/08/2008 22:32

you can do that all in 6 years expat.

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bluegreysky · 08/08/2008 22:33

twogs, what does your dh do for a job?

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expatinscotland · 08/08/2008 22:33

no, thanks, blue. i'll have 3 little kids soon and one with SN and i live in a very rural area.

i'd like to get just enough training to get a nice, part-time job.

ButNotThatBrave · 08/08/2008 22:34

Have you ever done a Myers Briggs Personality Inventory?

It wasn't designed for career guidance but there is a really high correlation between personality 'type' and profession (ie - lots of a certain type in nursing, acting, finance etc) so it can help to give you some general ideas of field.

twoGsinBuggerOff · 08/08/2008 22:35

god bluesky, im the same. people say 'decide what you want and do it' . easier said than done!!
so my take is, decide on something interesting - accept that its not the only interesting thing, and just suck it and see. even if you hate it and 'waste' 4 yrs finding out, its better that than 4 more years of procrastinating coz you cant decide. no?

bluegreysky · 08/08/2008 22:35

how about just the aat part expat. 3 years on the job training?

could you get a nice comfy number with your local council?
flexi time parentl rights etc?

good luck in your quest anyway

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mylovelymonster · 08/08/2008 22:36

...and if it's good pay and prospects you're after, would be good to contact organisations/companies/professional types where you think you might like to end up and ask for guidance as to what they look for in new recruits? Might be different to what you first thought.

A degree is a huge commitment, both financially and in time. You need to target the most highly regarded colleges/unis for your chosen field of study, as these days employers can pick and choose the best candidates from the top unis. A degree in itself is not an automatic door-opener. You may be better off joining somewhere at a more junior level and doing in-house training and work your way up.

No-one knows what they want to do with their life Just make sure you enjoy/are getting paid while you think about it.

Where would a person go to get decent careers advice these days??

expatinscotland · 08/08/2008 22:38

not available in this area, blue. like i said, it's a rural area. i'll get a nice bookkeeping something and do online courses and go from there.

got to work round DH's shifts and the girls' nursery schedules, not to mention having a baby as well.

but if i had to do it all over again - i have a degree, btw, in English, i'd have only gone to university to do a degree that would give me skills that were going to immediately or soon thereafter mean a decent-paying job.

in fact, i'm going to steer DD1 to vocational college, fwiw.

i think most university degrees are now becoming so common and watered down that a lot of them aren't worth much in the job market anymore - bachelor's, that is.

i just stopped working as a department secretary for a large university last September and that's just my observation after 4 years in that role.

bluegreysky · 08/08/2008 22:38

bntb ive never heard of
Myers Briggs Personality Inventory
sounds good.

twogs, well if im not going to be able to get a decent paid job at the end of it id rather do something else iykwim?

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Zebraa · 08/08/2008 22:42

Blue, go for it!! You can do what you want with it at the end. I will obviously push teaching being as all teachers are great!

If it makes you happy, engages your mind and gives you hope and something to focus on, then surely it's worth it?

P.S - I love how often you say feck haha.

WilfSell · 08/08/2008 22:45

You should do a degree because you're interested in the subject. There is plenty of research that demonstrates that people who do non-vocational degrees end up doing better in career terms than those who choose purely vocational subjects.

Good degrees teach you how to think; subject specialism is secondary.

Very, very few degrees lead straight into a job: even some of the old guard vocational ones require further training (medicine, law for example)

The world and McDonalds are indeed littered with people not using their degrees but this has precious little to do with the subject they studied.

Employers are not looking for people with vocational knowledge (unless it's a nursing degree for example) - they prefer to do the vocational training themselves. What they are looking for in graduates is bright, educated people who know how to solve problems, work with others, find information, make good judgements. A good degree in English, Sociology, Philosophy, History, Psychology, French, Chemistry or whatever can give you these things.

The danger of trying to tailor a long and difficult learning plan to what job you want and what salary you need is you end up choosing something you hate and do badly at: it is far worse to have a poor (pass or third class) than it is to have a 2.1 in something non-vocational.

Graduates earn more than the wider population at large for all the above reasons and more. Psychology is a great basis for many careers (eg in social care, in HR, in management, in teaching, in social and voluntary work, in clinical psychology).

If you need any more advice about degrees or applying to university please just ask!

bluegreysky · 08/08/2008 22:45

thanks zebraa
thanks for all the advice.
i think i need a book all about different careers
now any good ones?

oh feck it i don't know !!!

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Fennel · 08/08/2008 22:46

I still use my psychology degree (and phd) directly, I'm an academic psychology researcher. So for me it probably wasn't a waste of time. Like Pointydog, I'd say it is a good combination of a degree that's interesting for its own sake, but with various career options attached.

But perhaps if you want to earn like an accountant then starting via a psychology degree isn't the wisest way to go.

WilfSell · 08/08/2008 22:49

Plenty of accountants with psychology degrees also, having done a Postgrad conversion course later...

Do what you're interested in. Really.

flowerybeanbag · 08/08/2008 22:50

Exactly what wilfsell said.

I have a history degree which was very interesting to me but no direct practical use in any job I've done. Hasn't held me back!

twoGsinBuggerOff · 08/08/2008 22:54

yeah i know what you mean bliuesky.
im 32 now.
went to a university open day a month or so ago,.. am thinking about this muchly.
reckon its about time i got on with something.
have just done a quick version of that myers briggs thing mentioned, on here. first time ive ver found something like that useful so thanks for the tip butnot! i partic liked the tip that said if you are confused, try to remember what you were like before the age of 12 and use that answer - what a revelation!
says im an INFP and it rings very true. guess i'll have to pay up to do it properly and find out what that actually means.

bluegreysky · 08/08/2008 22:54

wilfsell thanks thats great advice.

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Zebraa · 08/08/2008 22:54

You can teach...

There are sooo many options available, sometimes once people gain their degree, they relax and settle rather than pushing harder and working even harder to get their desired job. If you want something enough you can achieve it. I imagine during your course you'll explore certain areas which facsinate you more than others and you will probably find your career through the course.

twoGsinBuggerOff · 08/08/2008 22:56

zebraa, one of my narrowed-down-to but v surprising (to me) paths im thinking of is being a teacher. reckon it might be for me. am going to try being a TA first, see how it pans out...

vlc · 08/08/2008 23:03

I did a psychology degree (with some extra bits of biological sciences chucked in for fun). Truthfully, I chose the subject because I found it the most interesting of my tripos options, and although I flirted with the idea of entering the field professionally, I chose to volunteer in Africa after I graduated and then entered the business world instead!

The psychology I read was experimental / clinical in nature, rather than psychoanalytical Freudian bobbins theories, whch suited me better as that appealed to my scientific leanings.

Choose what fascinates you. At least you'll be motivated to crack on with it.

pointydog · 08/08/2008 23:05

wilf, are you a careers officer?