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Doing well without a degree

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comment by Obers (U3904)

posted on 8/1/17

My plan is to basically take a step back, think things through and decide what I want to do. The opportunity to go to university will still be there, but of course with the ridiculous fees that just heap even more pressure on to stressed students

Actually fecking hate my school. Feel like I rushed into uni but thing is at my school they sort of scoured at you if you wanted to take a gap year or do other things. Wanted everyone to go uni to make their stats look better. s.

posted on 8/1/17

comment by Obers (U3904)
posted 1 minute ago
My plan is to basically take a step back, think things through and decide what I want to do. The opportunity to go to university will still be there, but of course with the ridiculous fees that just heap even more pressure on to stressed students

Actually fecking hate my school. Feel like I rushed into uni but thing is at my school they sort of scoured at you if you wanted to take a gap year or do other things. Wanted everyone to go uni to make their stats look better.s.
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Maybe that's a coincidence or maybe economics degrees are more soul destroying than others if the subjects not for you haha.. Do you have any idea of what kind of job you want to do?

posted on 8/1/17

I got a desmund ( 2:2 ) and work in HR. That was back before 9,000 a yr came in though in tuition fees.

These days unless you want to be a lawyer, doctor etc a vocation that requires a degree, university just isn't worth it. Jobs are scarce.

comment by Obers (U3904)

posted on 8/1/17

To be honest with you, I have no fecking idea. I am a mathematically minded person so if I do go back to university it will be along those lines, possibly even continue an economics degree when I'm a bit more mature/have more life experience. I dunno tbh

posted on 8/1/17

if i was a youngster now, i wouldnt go to uni...whats the point of getting yourself in 30K of debt with no guarantees ?

i'd look for an apprenticeship at a decent company

here in the north west many companies offer apprenticeships for engineering and chemical process operators

earn ££ whilst you learn the job..and get a well paid career out of it

posted on 8/1/17

Having a degree is the safer route i guess as it open more doors.

posted on 8/1/17

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

posted on 8/1/17

comment by Sideshow (U11809)
posted 6 minutes ago
No point going to uni if you have no idea what career you think you may want to have, or it is not necessary for it
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agreed especially with the amount of debt you have now.

i think you should only go to uni if you know where you are going. otherwise you are going just for the sake of going to uni.

personally i think people should have to go to work between 18 and 21 and then unis open up for 21 year olds.

comment by BARVIS (U21244)

posted on 8/1/17

comment by Eric_the_king (SE85) (U21241)
posted 27 minutes ago
I got a desmund ( 2:2 ) and work in HR. That was back before 9,000 a yr came in though in tuition fees.

These days unless you want to be a lawyer, doctor etc a vocation that requires a degree, university just isn't worth it. Jobs are scarce.
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I was reading that there's a huge oversupply of law graduates - not enough jobs within that field to match supply.

posted on 8/1/17

I run a small business employing 30 people, 5 of these office based.

HND is the highest qualification in the firm. We have the right people in the right jobs and we do OK, turn a profit every year.

Would I be impressed by someone with a degree? Not really, not unless he/she could convince me that they were the right person for the job. Their degree is just a piece of paper, and has been since we started having Mickey Mouse universities that used to be polytechnics.

At a different level, try finding a plumber these days who is born and bred British. What we have done as a nation is demean honest toil and replaced it with dumbed down degrees (Media Studies etc.) which are useless in the job market.

posted on 8/1/17

comment by Sideshow (U11809)
posted 14 minutes ago
No point going to uni if you have no idea what career you think you may want to have, or it is not necessary for it
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True.. when I applied while doing my a levels I didn't actually intend to go but then once it got to results day I just took the offer without much thought. I was basically being a sheep as I didn't know what else to do

posted on 8/1/17

Also I assumed that I would discover what I'm interested in doing during the degree but that hasn't happened so far

posted on 8/1/17

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

posted on 8/1/17

OP

Bristol is a very good uni. If I were you I'd work hard at trying to do as well as I can (if you stay there) and employers will take your qualification seriously because of the uni you're at.

You don't have to work in economics.

Good luck with your exams

posted on 8/1/17

From my experience I wish I'd got a trade instead.

More because it allows you to move country far easier and with the UK circling the drain that will be more important than ever over the coming years.

The way I see it is that if you're not going to gain a highly sort after degree from a top Uni or with a practical skillset attached (Engineer, Doctor etc) then they're not too important nowadays, in fact they're a bit of a con.

posted on 8/1/17

Grad schemes take graduates from any background. I did Economics as well, but found it less interesting the more I went into it. Ended up in a completely different field and haven't looked back.

posted on 8/1/17

comment by DaStuDogg (U9291)
posted 11 minutes ago
Grad schemes take graduates from any background. I did Economics as well, but found it less interesting the more I went into it. Ended up in a completely different field and haven't looked back.
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When was that Dustu? I've heard Grad schemes have become either incredibly tough to get on (the good ones) or a bit of a new way to exploit cheap labour... obviously there must be better ones out there though.

posted on 8/1/17

Having a degree means very little to be honest. There are a lot of graduates leaving university struggling to find work, or working in positions they could have been doing before their degree. Most graduates leave with very little work experience, and are now competing for positions with people with more real work experience.

There are plenty of avenues and opportunities which can be made outside studying. My cousin for instance started her career as a receptionist at a post-production studio in Soho, which records voice overs and sound effects for films. Whilst working there they trained her up as a Foley artist. Which is essentially somebody who creates sound effects for movies. She has done incredibly well out of her career - and she now works on blockbuster movies and earns a very decent salary.

posted on 8/1/17

I went to uni straight out of high school because that's what everyone did. I dropped out before my first year had finished.

Took a job at a cheese factory, 5 years on I'm now running the factory, make about 50k a year and get 4 weeks paid leave every year to travel to other countries and explore.

I'd personally say uni degrees are extremely over rated. When employing someone I'm more interested in who they are as a person than if they have a piece of paper.

posted on 8/1/17

Send me some cheese Tiddles

posted on 8/1/17

comment by Tiddles - Firminos manbun (U17634)
posted 17 minutes ago
I went to uni straight out of high school because that's what everyone did. I dropped out before my first year had finished.

Took a job at a cheese factory, 5 years on I'm now running the factory, make about 50k a year and get 4 weeks paid leave every year to travel to other countries and explore.

I'd personally say uni degrees are extremely over rated. When employing someone I'm more interested in who they are as a person than if they have a piece of paper.
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Sounds similar to me. It's silly that so many people do it just for the sake of it as it's so stressful. Please tell me that nothing in the work place is as stressful as exams

posted on 8/1/17

I graduated with a Merit and FdA in Broadcast Media last summer, it's not a big thing but it's something to put on the CV and as others have said it's just a bit of paper saying you've achieved something.

I'm working in retail at the moment and trying to work out what career path I should go down in, might be working for a television channel soon as a technician. But to answer your question, uni ain't worth it these days. I'm in £40k debt now and most places employ people on experience rather than degrees.

posted on 8/1/17

Good luck with your exams anyway OP, don't get too stressed. There's a big wide world out there and you can grab a great opportunity for yourself by working hard.

posted on 8/1/17

comment by Tiddles - Firminos manbun (U17634)
posted 24 minutes ago
I went to uni straight out of high school because that's what everyone did. I dropped out before my first year had finished.

Took a job at a cheese factory, 5 years on I'm now running the factory, make about 50k a year and get 4 weeks paid leave every year to travel to other countries and explore.

I'd personally say uni degrees are extremely over rated. When employing someone I'm more interested in who they are as a person than if they have a piece of paper.
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Out of interest how did you go from just working in the factory to running it?

posted on 8/1/17

comment by Better Call Zlatan - Football taught by Matt Busby (U11781)
posted 2 minutes ago
Good luck with your exams anyway OP, don't get too stressed. There's a big wide world out there and you can grab a great opportunity for yourself by working hard.
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Thanks mate. Yeah I know in the big scheme of things it's probably not that important but at the time it doesn't seem like that.

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