Getting a degree, is it worth it
Discussion
I'm having a bit of a dilemma at the moment. I'm 23 and I've just resigned from my current job after 3 years at a large health insurance company.
I'm gonna do a little telesales work to pay the bills but am thinking of going through clearing to do a degree in quantity surveying or possibly accounting and finance as I'm thinking I need to do something job specific to make it worthwhile. All I'm worried about is I'll spend the next three years and thousands of ponuds and end up with a degree that doesn't leave me in a better position than I'm in now (couple of a levels, reasonable work experience).
Any thoughts are much appreciated as I'm at a pretty big crossroads in my life at the moment (break-up after 5 years, no car as I can't afford to run it and quit my job before I was unceremoniously fired for a minor e-mail misdemeanor)
Cheers
Dom
I'm gonna do a little telesales work to pay the bills but am thinking of going through clearing to do a degree in quantity surveying or possibly accounting and finance as I'm thinking I need to do something job specific to make it worthwhile. All I'm worried about is I'll spend the next three years and thousands of ponuds and end up with a degree that doesn't leave me in a better position than I'm in now (couple of a levels, reasonable work experience).
Any thoughts are much appreciated as I'm at a pretty big crossroads in my life at the moment (break-up after 5 years, no car as I can't afford to run it and quit my job before I was unceremoniously fired for a minor e-mail misdemeanor)
Cheers
Dom
Personally i would say no ...
if i had my time again i would have done my time as an apprentice plumber / heating engineer ! uni / college seems to be very over rated
surely the experience you have gained @ the age of 23 would be enough to open doors in employment ? i would only recommend a degree if it was a field you desperately needed it .. ie decided to be a doctor.
good luck
R
if i had my time again i would have done my time as an apprentice plumber / heating engineer ! uni / college seems to be very over rated
surely the experience you have gained @ the age of 23 would be enough to open doors in employment ? i would only recommend a degree if it was a field you desperately needed it .. ie decided to be a doctor.
good luck
R
Sod the degree - we are heading for a recession. Try and get work now while you can. When we are deep in the mire and you end up laid off, thats the time to do a degree. Make productive use of your time. It will be a few years before we are out of it.
More importantly - Spill the beans on this "email"
More importantly - Spill the beans on this "email"
chris_w666 said:
Degree will help massively unless you have contacts/vast experience in a specialist area IMO.
Conversely, a degree means feckall if you aren't intending to work in a specialist area.Well, I mean it shows you can stick at one thing for 3 years and get some kind of comparable (with your peers) result at the end of it.
Edited by bigandclever on Wednesday 6th August 18:32
tj2002 said:
am thinking of going through clearing to do a degree in quantity surveying or possibly accounting and finance as I'm thinking I need to do something job specific to make it worthwhile. All I'm worried about is I'll spend the next three years and thousands of ponuds and end up with a degree that doesn't leave me in a better position than I'm in now
speaking as a QS with 15 years experience (god, I feel old) you have 3 choices;1 - full time with sandwich year
2 - full time no sandwich
or
3 - part time in practice or on site
which ever path you take you will have to go to uni/college at some point to become a QS
at present there is a massive shortage of QSs and I can't see it ever changing as the in take is, year on year, low
bear in mind it's not the most exciting of jobs but it does pay well, you can take your qualification anywhere in the world and if you fancy it can set up your own practice
the money from private jobs also comes in handy so I hear
was working for a bunch of f
kwits before uni in a very similar field to what am doing now, been with current company for several years.
go for a degree that can be used and it is great, i had no experience in the field that wanted to work in, despite doing degree for 3 years, but mature student = no debts
company uses having a degree to sift thru the pile of poop that makes up so many CV's these days
kwits before uni in a very similar field to what am doing now, been with current company for several years.go for a degree that can be used and it is great, i had no experience in the field that wanted to work in, despite doing degree for 3 years, but mature student = no debts
company uses having a degree to sift thru the pile of poop that makes up so many CV's these days
sleep envy said:
shirt said:
i was surprised to learn a 28yr old PHer was earning 6 figures for contract QS work in the oil&gas industry
you don't have to be in O&G to get that money as a QS, nor do you have to be a partner what sort of money would you be looking at:
- newly qualified?
- after 3/5/10yrs?
are there any other routes in other than the degree? i am a qualified engineer and need a well paid job in london
There wasn't a particular e-mail. 6 or 7 people have also been done, it was just the usual sexual connotations, bad language (fk) qualifies, and so called ping pong e-mailing. I already had a note on file for internet misuse (ph) and it was noted that any further issues would result in dismissal. So I walked before I was pushed and couldn't get a reference. This was yesterday.
Can't imagine many fit 18 year olds to roger on a QS course but the option to travel the world as a qs and the fact they always seem to be in demand is very tempting!
k) qualifies, and so called ping pong e-mailing. I already had a note on file for internet misuse (ph) and it was noted that any further issues would result in dismissal. So I walked before I was pushed and couldn't get a reference. This was yesterday.Can't imagine many fit 18 year olds to roger on a QS course but the option to travel the world as a qs and the fact they always seem to be in demand is very tempting!
Best option for me would be to get a job in a company/organisation who will invest in you to develop your career. Easier said than done I know.
In did my first degree in an alcoholic/drug fuelled haze (which was nice) and did a fair amount of what Rammage suggested (which was also nice). Predictably, I walked out with a Desmond and no obvious link into a career.
Then I got a bottom rung job in the NHS but took my opportunities and was paid to do a nursing degree which gave me 'ground floor' experience and led to a more lucrative desk job.
The degree is a good starting point on the CV, but its not the be all and end all. Get one if you need one.
Oh, and apart from the attractive girly students, most of them will seem like kids now that you've been out in the world.
In did my first degree in an alcoholic/drug fuelled haze (which was nice) and did a fair amount of what Rammage suggested (which was also nice). Predictably, I walked out with a Desmond and no obvious link into a career.
Then I got a bottom rung job in the NHS but took my opportunities and was paid to do a nursing degree which gave me 'ground floor' experience and led to a more lucrative desk job.
The degree is a good starting point on the CV, but its not the be all and end all. Get one if you need one.
Oh, and apart from the attractive girly students, most of them will seem like kids now that you've been out in the world.
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