If you were a degree educated young person in the UK, what career would you advise?
Posted by Glittering_Vast938@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 69 comments
My son finishes uni next year and is thinking about jobs. He would rather do something practical rather than behind a computer. Maths is okay but not his strength. Great at English.
Feeling-Bluebird8413@reddit
Surely career path is something you’d have in mind before selecting a degree?
Alive_Forever_9541@reddit
Doesn't really work like this. You start choosing degree and uni when you've just started second year of A-levels (of going this route).
How do you decide a career at 17? In my personal experience, and ofy kids: degrees were in an interesting subject, which wasn't useless, which we/they were good at
My wife is the exception: chose a teaching degree when 17. Hated it and teaching. Took a second degree in her 40s for a planned career change.
Feeling-Bluebird8413@reddit
Then don’t do to uni and rack up a tremendous amount of debt without being reasonably sure you are going to see a return on your investment.
Simply having any degree doesn’t set you apart from anyone else and hasn’t done since Blair. I wouldn’t advise anyone to go to uni today unless they did have a specific career/field in mind and knew which degree they needed in order to get there.
ThrowRAkitty13@reddit
Having a degree sets you apart from people that don't have a degree. It's not a guarantee that having one will get you employed but it does set you a step above candidates with less education for entry level roles.
Feeling-Bluebird8413@reddit
Obviously, but realistically you won’t be up against people without degrees in the jobs you are aspiring towards.
The more people that go to uni “just because”, the less a degree is worth. If 100 graduates are applying for a job, and all of them have a 2:1 in a subject that isn’t directly related to the position, what is your degree actually worth?
Alive_Forever_9541@reddit
And that was your choice. However you said above people shouldn't make a different choice to you "don't go unless you know in advance what career you want".
I couldn't disagree more.
My personal experience was so much more than simply studying. I experienced a completely different group of people from countless different backgrounds very different to where and how I grew up.
I developed skills and gained knowledge and experience beyond "just" the degree.
Yes it's debt. It's also an investment in your future. And like all investments; the value of your investment can go up or down!! So of course you can make bad choices. That risk doesn't mean everyone should avoid uni unless they have a specific career predefined.
Feeling-Bluebird8413@reddit
I gained skills and met people throughout my 20s and continue to do so now. You didn’t need to go to uni and get in debt for that. If the “investment” in your future doesn’t pay off, who foots the bill when you never pay back the majority of the loan?
To be clear, I’d be all for free higher education, but not in its current form.
Alive_Forever_9541@reddit
Again, I disagree. My background must have been different to yours. You cannot tell me I am wrong and tell me what I could or could not have done given my opportunities and options.
You're very very convinced of your opinion being correct for other people knowing nothing about them.
Feeling-Bluebird8413@reddit
To clarify, the skills I was referring to were not the skills learnt directly linked to your education, I can see how that was poorly worded.
Clearly we won’t agree on this but I’m very glad that things worked out well for you.
ThrowRAkitty13@reddit
The debt only really matters if you end up earning a lot. People take art degrees knowing it won't earn them much but still need the degree to get into certain industries.
I also have a few years of experience in finance but no degree, but I am unable to find a new a job at a different company because I don't have a degree. People do like to say that experience is more important than a degree, but that's not often the case as companies do still want higher educated employees even if their degree subject isn't relevant to the role. There needs to be a big shift in society and everyone's mentality before alternate routes from uni are more acceptable when it comes to finding employment.
Feeling-Bluebird8413@reddit
9% over the threshold of £25,000 can be a significant amount each month, especially in a high cost of living area, which is where graduates often want to be.
I maintain that selecting a degree and then going to uni with little to no idea of what will come afterwards is rarely a sensible idea. People doing art degrees have made a choice about what they want to do, even if they know it likely won’t earn them a fortune.
silentv0ices@reddit
No it doesn't if I'm selecting from two people who both interviewed well and one has a degree but the other has 3 or 4 years good work history I'm going with work history.
ThrowRAkitty13@reddit
This is why I mentioned entry level, meaning that there would be little or no work history, at least not relevant work history.
silentv0ices@reddit
What I did at 16 is I looked at what I was good at, what carers that applied to and which of those offered good prospects and this is back when there were no fees.
VolcanicBear@reddit
Eh, admittedly I had the advantage of enjoying computers, but I chose a software engineering degree instead of astrophysics because it seemed more productive, despite astrophysics being infinitely more interesting.
ThrowRAkitty13@reddit
It is a bit hard to just know that when you're 17/18 unless you have had some decent guidance on career choices and paths to get to them.
Feeling-Bluebird8413@reddit
I don’t disagree with that at all but see my reply to aliveforever elsewhere in this thread.
ChanceHovercraft1754@reddit
If he didn't take a degree for a specific career, then his degree isn't going to matter that much for most jobs.
The days of "we want you to have a generic degree" are mostly gone.
silentv0ices@reddit
Civil service is probably the last place with that attitude.
amlamba@reddit
It's also almost impossible to get into
silentv0ices@reddit
That's because all the people with non vocational degrees are trying to get in.
amlamba@reddit
Even if they put a degree requirement in those jobs will still have a stupid amount of competition. That's the game, simple.
Parker_Borders283739@reddit
Why are you all such twats?
Kriemhilt@reddit
If someone asks a daft question which is missing the information obviously needed to answer it, possible responses are:
First one doesn't help OP. Second one helps but also encourages lazy help vampires to think this is reasonable behaviour. Third indirectly helps (by nudging towards #2), but also establishes or strengthens social norms against being a helpless pillock.
Which of these are the twats? Apart from me, obviously, that's the risk you take when engaging seriously.
Parker_Borders283739@reddit
You should have just said the last bit where you realised you were one of the twats in question.
They asked a question like people are encouraged to on here, who are you to decide if it's daft? It's just unpleasant twatty behaviour. The proliferation of it on here doesn't make the majority of twattishness appropriate.
Kriemhilt@reddit
There is, in fact, such a thing as a stupid question. But you can learn to ask questions that aren't stupid, and then you get more useful answers!
Why would it be twattish to help someone?
silentv0ices@reddit
It's reddit duh.
Hopeful-Okra-4078@reddit
I mean it really depends on his degree… if its a civil engineering degree then it would only be useful in civil engineering and not like medical.
surely he didnt pick and choose a random degree without a specific field in mind because a generic degree doesnt get you much other than debt
TelephoneOrnery1394@reddit
His degree is history of history, basically studying how the study of history has changed over time.
Kriemhilt@reddit
With a degree in metahistory, the obvious career is writing approved corporate hagiography for Mark Zuckerberg.
Empty_Variety3570@reddit
Teach English overseas. Or barista.
EuropoBob@reddit
Teaching. For all of the downsides that people lost, it offers some of the things he is looking for and there is progression. Maths teachers are in high demand too.
DarkLordsDaughter@reddit
He'll need a further qualification for that, usually PGCE if already has an undergrad.
EuropoBob@reddit
Yes. But his mam is on Reddit trying to help h out so assume he can get some extra support from her if he went down that route.
flummuxedsloth@reddit
Onlyfans
TelephoneOrnery1394@reddit
My friend kneecap went this route
conduit_for_nonsense@reddit
Army, police, nurse, teacher, doctor, paramedic, architect, social worker
smcgr@reddit
Pretty sure the police have entry routes a bit higher if you have a degree. Civil service too but that wouldn’t be as practical.
bellabanjsk@reddit
They do, and it’s a great starting salary if you’re young with very few overheads (£30k).
SallyYoung1@reddit
Would help if you suggested what his degree involves. You say he's good at English. Potentially look into a career as a writer / marketing for a high level finance company. Low level stuff is eaten up by AI, but you can still earn well over 100K in the right industry.
THW-44@reddit
Seems like it was a waste of time and money going to uni
DrHydeous@reddit
You don't tell us what his degree will be. You don't tell us what he likes. So you obviously have reason to believe that telepathy exists. Therefore I recommend that you tell him to get a career as a telepath.
Superb-Ad-8823@reddit
Go work abroad
Fit-Bedroom-7645@reddit
Look for graduate schemes within the utilities industry, electricity network operators, gas transmission/distribution, renewables, water industry. All need graduates, and the career trajectory can be pretty significant.
DarkLordsDaughter@reddit
If there's a certain sport he enjoyed when he was younger, sports coaching might be something to look into. Eg, swim teaching, tennis coach.
Heraonolympia123@reddit
So many people have degrees that simply having one doesnt give him an advantage over anyone else. Someone just joined our team as an apprentice after completing a degree because there was no job she could get.
Maybe he could look at funded apprenticeships for his "something practical" career.
InternationalSun2342@reddit
Builer, carpenter, electrician, plumber, labourer, landscape gardener, gardener, rug weaver, painter and decorator, lorry driver, crane driver, digger driver, jewellery maker, hair dresser, delivery driver, cashier, warehouse operative, roofer, recycling/bin driver, pe teacher, gym instructor, weight lifter, referee... the list is endless.
He needs to find out what he enjoys and what he's good at. Start at the bottom, work your way up. Start any job, realise you dont like it, try something else.
Feeling-Bluebird8413@reddit
He didn’t need to spend £30k+ to do any of these things.
InternationalSun2342@reddit
That's on him (and his parents by the sounds of it) University is becoming pointless. Leave at 18, get any job, work hard, prove yourself and you'll be making more money at 21 with no degree then those leaving with a generic degree.
Sis_Con@reddit
Yup enjoy the 9% tax for the rest of his working life!
Icy_Mixture1482@reddit
You might want to specify the degree programme and expected classification.
The answers are going to be different for Graphic Design vs Social Science.
SaabAero93Ttid@reddit
The depressing reality is that whatever he picks or ends up doing will be effectively replaced by AI.
KatVanWall@reddit
Funeral Director
therealijc@reddit
This is something he should have thought about before paying 30grand for a degree.
Feeling-Bluebird8413@reddit
Going to uni just for the sake of going to uni is a big problem. It devalues what a degree is then people moan about their student loans and how much they owe.
Sea-Still5427@reddit
What is his degree subject? What did he want to be when he was six? Sounds like he might have been better off choosing a trade instead of uni if he prefers practical over office-based.
PepsiMaxSumo@reddit
If he doesn’t want to be sat behind a computer half the day, then he should retrain as a tradesman - plumber, electrician etc.
Pretty much all degree jobs require you to spend half a day behind a computer screen, eventually the whole day as you get more senior.
hhfugrr3@reddit
The answer to this depends on what he's interested in doing more than anything. My first degree is in psychology and neuroscience but I'm a lawyer today for no other reason than I went to work for a relatives law firm. My advice would be for him to decide what he enjoys and then see how he can make a living doing that.
ProofLegitimate9990@reddit
You both might a reality check honestly, a degree isn’t a slip of paper you exchange at the job bank for a career.
The career I’d advise your son to take is whichever one he can get.
Key_Hearing5146@reddit
Go for skilled trades or hands on careers like electrician, plumbing, or aviation technician they’re practical, in high demand in the UK, and pay well without needing to sit behind a desk all day.
Sir-Craven@reddit
Shouldn't he be posting this?
Williamishere69@reddit
Helicopter parents 🙄🙄
Tired_penguins@reddit
What is his degree in?
Gullible_fool_99@reddit
This is the question. Surely he will want to be aiming to work in a field that is connected with his degree?
AbjectGovernment1247@reddit
What is your son studying?
ErrantBrit@reddit
Forestry - management is generally a degree route, but stuff like machine operator doesn't require higher education and can be lucrative, if time intensive too. It's a great sector but you gotta love it, its not for tourists long-term.
L-0-T-H-0-S@reddit
Journalism.
5c0ttgreen@reddit
What the degree is will have a huge impact on this…
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