What can you do with Sociology/Psychology/Cultural Studies/Social Anthropology post-grad qualification

[onebatmother]

Apart from pat self on back?

I am thinking of retraining but no idea about jobs. Those are the things I'm considering studying - what REAL ACTUAL JOBS might I get with a postgrad MA/PHD in them?

I mean ones that pay money. Any money. But must be money.

Thanks dearies.

V. much agree with your first para, Iorek.

"he biggest difference in recent years has not been between the public and private sectors but between the financial and other sectors."

Iorek, I'm not sure. I think that for your average drone, the public/private split has been the big one.

And in any case, my real problem is not with the people who are exhausted after a 7 hour day but luckily have the prospect of 6 weeks paid holiday to recover - it\s with the fact that they so many of them are shit at their jobs (poss bcs understimulated) but remain in post. They seem to be unsackable.

I remember when I was younger (like about 10, too young to know any better) having an 'in depth' conversation with my best friend and we decided that it would be best if we could take all the money in the world and share it out evenly ! See, I reckon all children are born communists at heart and society knocks it out of them!

Right, really am off to bed. Lord knows what time DD will wake up and it'd DH's turn for a lie in.

Drone sounds v rude - sorry - was intended to include myself. I meant 'your average person'.

At my doctor's they meet all their waiting time targets impeccably, as they no longer allow you to book an appointment in advance of that morning or afternoon's surgery. You have to phone at 8.30am on the day, and keep ringing until it is no longer engaged, by which time there are often no appointments left.

LOL. I can take it. Since the collapse of Lehman Brothers I've got used to getting a good weekly kicking on MN. You are all politically confused except for Iorek.

You may well be right Leningrad. But as I said, when it comes to my unreasonable bitterness citizen-based probing, it's not what they do, it's the way that they do it that's the prob.

I often feel that one of the reasons that the private sector refuses to accept fair working practices is that they look at the public sector and think - you're joking, aren't you?

Swedes, I meant to imply that I was rashly going beyond even your tory free-thinking marker into the realms of Spectator-sponsored madness.

There's nothing to stop you lot learning how to oil the wheels of the machine. I don't know why you don't.

If an architect designed and had built his own home would he not be profiting from his skill? He could even be a public sector architect and no one would bat an eyelid.

I started reading this thread. Got all involved in the Myers Briggs stuff, couldn't remember mine, so did the test again and came back to post it, only to discover that the thread had moved considerably. So I've read it backwards.

I'm an ESFJ, and mostly judgey, which is clearly why I'm on MN.

I also work in marketing, in market research. (My degree is Linguistics and Literature). I'm also a left wing voter.

I've worked in advertising and marketing since I started work in 1981.

Most of what I do involves finding out what's important to people and then helping clients develop and/or improve products that will match what consumers want.

Only occasionally have I been involved in something that I have felt has been morally reprehensible. I have never worked in tobacco. (Although in the current climate ...)

Anyway, not sure where I'm going with this, other than being a bit defensive. But we're not all horrible people in my world, and we do some really interesting work.

Sorry for the vicious personal attack BIWI. I have a few friends who are involved in advertising and marketing, and they all roll their eyes and leave the room when I start going on about this stuff.

Climbing into Defensiveness Corner along with BIWI and Bumper: Swedes, I'm unaccountably irritated by you calling me 'politically confused'. I can only conclude that I care quite a lot about your opinion

You don't seem to grasp, despite several of us expressing it quite clearly, that we don't object to profit. There is a path to be traced between untrammelled market rule and flat-out communism. In fact, I believe it's called 'socialism'. You might have heard of it.

I don't understand why you keep (deliberately?) missing this point. I'm sure it's one you basically agree with: the market has been given its head for too long. Profit-making enterprises can be quite comfortably accomodated, but profit must no longer be the sole/most important factor in most economic and social decisions.

Oh BIWI I am SO sorry. How completely awful of me.

I am in such a vile, vile mood and I really wasn't thinking carefully last night. I am feeling (as you may have noticed) slightly down about my prospects and I am expressing animus left right and centre.

Of course sales/marketing are not the devil's work - I didn't want to give too much but I do feel a bit morally dubious about particular parts of the work I'm doing - and that's what it was all about really - not the whole area.

Sorry, BIWI.

You all seem rather bruised this morning. I didn't see any truncheoning by anyone. I'll check the video footage.

Lenin, at the moment the trend isn't towards closing the gaps between rich and poor; the gaps are widening, both within countries and between them. (If you take India and China out of the equation - both of which have seen enormous economic growth in the last ten year (but have not distributed that wealth equitably within their countries) - the gap between rich countries and poor countries has grown hugely over the last 20 years. This will probably only be exacerbated by the current global crisis, which will hit the poorest countries hardest.)

Believe it or not, Northern Europe is the most equal place on the planet (within N Europe the UK doesn't do terribly well though). This is because of its redistributive taxation regimes.

Onebat - in the public sector we may be entitled to 6 weeks holiday - i know few people who actually take it, or anything like it - even me, and I have a shocking work ethic. 7 hour days are pretty much unknown in academia; there's almost a competition to see who can work latest, and you only have to look at NHS doctors to see vile working hours - as Lenin said, it's just to broad to make such sweeping statements and have them be of any practical use.

I can certainly second that, Habbibu. DH works crappily long hours and all through vacations, and on bank holidays, etc.

Come and join us in Defensiveness Corner, habb. We have Fair Trade biscuits.

i know a doctor who is just about to take 4 months sabbatical when his wife's twins come along. Apparently this is a legal entitlement in the NHS. I was very I must say.