What the **** do you do with a history degree?

..l.

I'm confused, you didn't want a graduate scheme, you didn't want to do anything related to history after the degree, you didn't want to do law, what did you think it would lead to being a dentist? You say history is not a hard degree but apparently it's very difficult to achieve a first and a hell of a lot of studying, you aren't spoon fed everything.

What about doing something challenging in the army? I think they raised the age to 35!!

When considering cash, I know an electrician that earns 60-80k (or more, he doesn't like saying) for working a few months abroad, or wouldn't that be challenging enough? You're still creating things.

I know a history grad that works at a bank in London, he's on good money now and works in fraud, he went to an average uni and claims it's down to how well you do.

I'm not someone who says "look at Gordon Brown...", when I see people using this to defend history I cringe. I look at what normal people do with a history degree.

Personally, I think a lot of people that slate history are the ones that didn't do too well in it. Be honest, if someone does crap in their degree or they are half way through it and realise it's tough and won't be coming out with that good grade, which are they going to blame, themselves or the degree? Real world examples have made me think like this, e.g. I know an admin that did history and claimed it was a pointless subject to do, he works as an admin alongside orange tanned girls that talk about TOWIE all day long, I also know people that have been successful post-uni and got that good grade, who in fact were the ones that convinced me to go for it in the first place, the ones that told me "you can do anything mate!!" and they seem to know it first hand, the ones that didn't do well didn't try hard enough (in their eyes).



btw, respect for doing chef work, I could never manage that!

Hmm.. this thread has been interesting ^^.

I was hoping to do a history degree at a top uni, ace it , and then go onto work in the governemnt, ideally foreign affairs, international relations etc. maybe in security...

my question is... is history the best degree for this ? or is there another option i should be looking at?

EDIT: does anyone have any information on the GCSE requirements for history applicants for oxford/cambridge/durham/warwick?

Hi guys

So, here's the thing. I can't decide between doing a degree in History or Engineering? I really enjoy History, it was my best subject at school and the only subject I really enjoyed but when I first went to University I opted for Law because of the better job prospects, salaries etc.

I absolutely hated it and dropped out in 3rd year, this was 11 years ago. Anyway I've done alright since then, have a good job, house, car etc, etc but always had that nagging feeling that I wanted to finish what I started at Uni.

I'm interested in engineering, I wouldn't exactly call it a passion but I have the right skill sets to do well in it, good at maths and physics, good communication skills, attention to detail etc etc and the career prospects and salaries are great but I wouldn't exactly be looking forward to going to uni and then subsequently work every day.

To cut to the chase what I'm asking is this.

1) Have any of you guys opted for history over a degree with seemingly better prospects or have any of you gone the other way and chosen a subject that you thought would be better for your future than something you had an inherent interest in?

2) If so, do you think you made the right decision?

I know that you can use a History degree for lot's of different career paths but I would like to use it in some sort of historical capacity and the salaries for these kinds of jobs will be less than what I'm on just now.

This week I have to decide between doing an HNC in Electrical Engineering or starting part-time on St Andrew's evening degree programme doing mainly history modules and then looking to apply to university for a 2013 start?

What do you think?

Thanks for your help.

I can do almost whatever job I want to do with my history degree (as soon as I have finished it).

The possibilities are endless.

Hmm.. this thread has been interesting ^^.

I was hoping to do a history degree at a top uni, ace it , and then go onto work in the governemnt, ideally foreign affairs, international relations etc. maybe in security...

my question is... is history the best degree for this ? or is there another option i should be looking at?

EDIT: does anyone have any information on the GCSE requirements for history applicants for oxford/cambridge/durham/warwick?

Hi guys

So, here's the thing. I can't decide between doing a degree in History or Engineering? I really enjoy History, it was my best subject at school and the only subject I really enjoyed but when I first went to University I opted for Law because of the better job prospects, salaries etc.

I absolutely hated it and dropped out in 3rd year, this was 11 years ago. Anyway I've done alright since then, have a good job, house, car etc, etc but always had that nagging feeling that I wanted to finish what I started at Uni.

I'm interested in engineering, I wouldn't exactly call it a passion but I have the right skill sets to do well in it, good at maths and physics, good communication skills, attention to detail etc etc and the career prospects and salaries are great but I wouldn't exactly be looking forward to going to uni and then subsequently work every day.

To cut to the chase what I'm asking is this.

1) Have any of you guys opted for history over a degree with seemingly better prospects or have any of you gone the other way and chosen a subject that you thought would be better for your future than something you had an inherent interest in?

2) If so, do you think you made the right decision?

I know that you can use a History degree for lot's of different career paths but I would like to use it in some sort of historical capacity and the salaries for these kinds of jobs will be less than what I'm on just now.

This week I have to decide between doing an HNC in Electrical Engineering or starting part-time on St Andrew's evening degree programme doing mainly history modules and then looking to apply to university for a 2013 start?

What do you think?

Thanks for your help.

Yeah it's this kind of reasoning that keeps creeping into my subconscious that makes me think I've got to do history. But the problem is that it's fine being skint when you're young, but by the time I graduate from a history degree I'll be 35?

To get into a position to actually use your history degree I'll need to do a phd probably, so we're talking another 3 years living on beans, then after all that you walk into some job that you enjoy but with really crappy pay, you're 38, poor and thinking WTF have I done? This is my recurring nightmare when I think I'm going to go down the history route.

I don't want to be poor and happy. There's no romance in it no matter what BS people try to feed you. Ideally, sure everyone would love to have a job that they really enjoy and they make a lot of money from but this just doesn't seem possible for most of us.

Engineering is kind of a balance for me, it's interesting enough, challenging enough, rewarding enough. It will be a harder degree than history, I don't buy into the whole horses for courses theory, some degrees are intrinsically harder than others, history is not a hard degree, engineering is. Sure if you want to succeed you have to put the work in no matter what subject you choose, I don't doubt that, but it seems that the degrees that are known to be more challenging have the better prospects in the long run.

Thanks for all the replies in this thread, I think it's made it clear in my head what I want.