How to even start to pick a degree......

[sleepwouldbenice]

Hi all
My daughter (year 11) doesn't really know what career she wants yet. Doing politics, history and geography and enjoys them all so far although she isn't a high flier

She may well not finally do a degree but I wondered if there was a facility somewhere to put in your A levels and I guess very rough predictions of grades and this would give you an idea of possible degree courses and then potential careers. Just want to inspire her with potential ideas to give her goals. She can keep her options open but have ideas for the future

All help gratefully received

Thanks

Search Which A Level Explorer. Does exactly what you’re asking.

But use the Which? stuff soon because I think they are withdrawing it all at the end of this month, very sadly.

But a few suggestions to look at:

Various history degrees
Politics
International relations
Geography degrees
Law
Any combination of the above
American studies
European studies

With European Studies it’s better to offer a European MFL for obvious reasons.

Other ideas might be:

Criminology, heritage and conservation, Agriculture, Business/management, HR, Marketing, Sociology, Media, politics and public policy, building surveying (check re maths), Policing, Planning.

Check out what each entails if she’s interested in a less obvious degree. Some universities have a great track record in more niche areas and offer sandwich courses which can lead to good job prospects.

I have a similar problem with Ds1. He doesn't know what he wants to do. I want to advise him /help him find something that he'll enjoy. And that will provide a reasonable income.

I believe that if you do a job that pays reasonably well, you won't have money worries and your life generally is this easier.

But providing this assistance to a teen is tricky!!

I'd start by getting her to worried down what she enjoys. Does she like essay writing? Lab work? Being hands on? That kind of thing.

Then, if she imagines herself spending 40 hours a week at work what would that involve? People? Solitude? Animals? Being indoors or out?

And from there stray thinking about careers. I'd also wrote a master list of various careers and get her to highlight the ones she likes the sound of and the ones she hates the sound of.

And go from there.

Thanks all

Or do the careers tests such as UCAS buzz quiz. Many jobs are well paid but if you are a humanities grad they might not be very obvious. Other than law. Nearly every job is competitive but some are jobs for life! Eg planning, teaching, Police, NHS admin etc. They will be needed but don’t suit every personality. They won’t be the highest paid jobs either but have good pensions! What you want out of life can determine what job you go for but qualifications and personality will matter too!

We had a fab talk the other day about Degree Apprenticeships, I didn't even know they existed. I would have loved to have gone that route, DD is still adamant she wants the uni experience, but I suspect these may get quite popular as time goes on. Work, get a degree, and be paid for it, win, win.

Just for interest we went to the government site for apprenticeships, which is where they are advertised, and just plugged in our address plus 20 miles...... covered Surrey and London, so some really first class companies, lots of Tech, Digital and Engineering, but also Accountancy, Consultancy, Project Management, General Management etc etc.

It isn’t necessarily win win. The degrees apprentices are forced to take can be from low grade universities and not very portable. They might also not lead to getting professional qualifications in the quickest way. Sometimes the higher qualified student will still be recruited and overtake the apprentice. All routes need to be considered.

Some degree apprenticeships are also fiercely competitive and some are taken by employers already in the company so not taken by school leavers. Degree apprenticeships can work well but they are not for everyone.

Marking place. My Ds1 is exactly the same and doesn't have a clue.

I would really suggest a year off actually. If she still can’t decide after that then law or economics are both fairly good in that most grad schemes will accept them.

Nearly every job is competitive but some are jobs for life! Eg planning, teaching, Police, NHS admin etc. They will be needed but don’t suit every personality. They won’t be the highest paid jobs either but have good pensions!

Hmm, I can only speak for teaching, but saying it’s a job for life with a good pension could be somewhat misleading.

If you worked your way up to the top of the pay scale and worked full time for 40 years, yes-it would be a good pension and a job for life. If you taught in the 70s/80s or 90s, this may have been the case for you.

Now, it’s very difficult to progress up the pay scale because the school budgets are so poor, so you get stuck on a low rate. The drop out rates are massive because the job is miserable with a work/life balance many find incompatible with what they are prepared to tolerate. If you do manage to get onto upper pay scale, you are very quickly vulnerable to bosses suddenly finding fault with your practice (in reality, your salary) and seeing they would be better off with someone better (younger/cheaper) so you’re booted out on capability.

I’m not moaning, I’ve been sling it for a long time-but it’a not straightforward. I’m sure those in the police would have similar stories.