Is my degree worth anything?

yoyo462001

I do History at Durham, its one of the best universities in the country for the subject. Just put it as History and Education on your Cv and you'll be fine. Which college are you at, out of interest?

Well that would be lying, as soon as an employer gets a reference they'll see and question your integrity.

Reply 21

hypocriticaljap

2

There isn't half some narrow minded tosh being spouted on here.
Firstly you will have a degree from Durham. One of the best universities in the country.
The discipline is largely irrelevant.
IMost graduate training schemes across industry will accept graduates of any discipline.
Many professions will let you take further training with any degree discipline eg Law.

In the end a degree, the piece of paper, is not worth anything. The experiences and skills you have developed whilst studying are what matter. You should use the employment services offered at Durham to ensure you know how to write a relevant CV, that you have got relevant work experience in the holidays in the area you want to enter and that you attend careers fairs.
Good luck. The world really is your oyster.

Reply 22

Jack.O

It sure is. I think you need to find out what you want to do with it.

Reply 23

air-ninety-one

you should be asking yourself, was it worth the student debt?

Reply 24

angelmxxx

14

Original post by Foxfight04

Please give it to me straight, in these troubled times, will I be unemployable in areas other than teaching?

I study Education studies and History at Durham University.

I need brutal honesty.

Thanks.

Education studies is very employable - it's the philosophical and sociological/political study of education so you can go for any job that wants a social science degree.

I do education modules and have an internship with a consultancy company so you can apply for whatever general graduate jobs you want - accountancy, publishing, advertising, civil service, etc.

If you are thinking of civil service/local government/etc then your degree would be really relevant.

Reply 25

inksplodge

17

personally i don't think degrees themselves are worth anything. you've got to put effort in - it's all very well having a first in a subject but if you can't show an employer that you are the right person for the job, e.g. with experience, then you're not going to get one. the degree alone won't get you a job.

Reply 26

angelmxxx

14

Original post by yoyo462001

Well that would be lying, as soon as an employer gets a reference they'll see and question your integrity.

It's not lying, it's 50:50 of each subject so you can say it in whatever order you want.

Reply 27

angelmxxx

14

Also, Cambridge do the same degree so it's not like it's a degree that's unique to Durham.

Reply 28

angelmxxx

14

Original post by Foxfight04

Yeah what I tend to hear is what matters is how well you tailor is to careers. I plan on doing a masters in history though, that will probably assert my passion for history.

What do you want to review? You don't need a masters in history (and an extra £12000 of high-interest bank debt!!!) to get a job. Have you written reviews for Palatinate or anything? That's what will get you a job - your degree subject will be pretty irrelevant to employers (obviously shows you can write which is good), but as long as you've studied academic subjects (which you have, as education studies isn't at all vocational), your degree just allows you to apply for jobs. After that, it's all about your experience and teamwork/leadership/etc skills.

Reply 29

yoyo462001

16

Original post by angelmxxx

It's not lying, it's 50:50 of each subject so you can say it in whatever order you want.

History and Education studies =/= History and Education. That is quite obviously lying, you can't omit and scrabble words in your degree because by doing so you are trying to gain an advantage. And it is not always 50:50 of each subject.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 30

No heavenly choir

8

My sister did Sociology & Criminology; a 'worthless' degree. She's just been offered a place at London College of Law.

Reply 31

hypocriticaljap

2

It doesn't matter what you think it should be called, most employers of any worth will want to see your transcript and degree certificate. They clearly show the degree title. If you get that bit wrong they won't want to know you.

Reply 32

baby sexy

16

You are never going to have the skills to carry out the job of a brain surgeon or that of an aircraft designer.. or basically ever undertake a highly technical (hence highly payed) job with a history degree, it's ****ing obvious.

Reply 33

Shuvel

Durham is prestigious and thats half the battle, history is a pretty flexible degree as well, it's favoured for a lot of jobs.

Don't be pessimistic until you study Applied Social Science (which on paper sounds like an amazing course for the multi-discipline approach it takes) until you realise half way through 2nd year the BPS change their post-grad requirments and you end up with no Psychology exit route. I'm dreading graduating just for the sheer vagueness of employment opportunities.

Reply 34

Alexisonfire

12

Original post by Foxfight04

Please give it to me straight, in these troubled times, will I be unemployable in areas other than teaching?

I study Education studies and History at Durham University.

I need brutal honesty.

Thanks.

Oh dear

It's worth as much as you make it.

Reply 36

Horsedobbin

14

Original post by Foxfight04

Please give it to me straight, in these troubled times, will I be unemployable in areas other than teaching?

I study Education studies and History at Durham University.

I need brutal honesty.

Thanks.

It's worth a lot, but not easy to quanitfy in money/career terms at the moment.
Durham is one of the top UK uni's and according to unistats, quite a high proportion of History graduates have been finding graduate jobs.
http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/retrieveColleges_en.do
I think the situation for the education part is difficult at the moment because there is an over-supply of teachers. I have posted about this on another thread, attracting a lot of hostility because I showed some newspaper articles stating the obvious fact that lots of teachers are being made redundant and thousands of newly qualified teachers haven't found jobs. I'm not sure if you want to go into teaching but the situation could change in years to come if lots of teachers retire earlier with reduced pensions, for a variety of reasons.Also, admin and management jobs in education are being cut too.
I would guess that when you apply for jobs you'll be near the top of the list as far as employers are concerned because of your uni's reputation but it will depend on what you apply for and whether you have got some relevant experience before applying, for example by doing voluntary/paid part time work in the area.
Good luck.

Law Conversion?

Original post by baby sexy

You are never going to have the skills to carry out the job of a brain surgeon or that of an aircraft designer.. or basically ever undertake a highly technical (hence highly payed) job with a history degree, it's ****ing obvious.

It's also ****ing obvious that "payed" is actually "paid"...

Reply 39

angelmxxx

14

Original post by yoyo462001

History and Education studies =/= History and Education. That is quite obviously lying, you can't omit and scrabble words in your degree because by doing so you are trying to gain an advantage. And it is not always 50:50 of each subject.

If it's 50:50 then yes it does - I know the Durham degree is 50:50 because I'm at Durham. Also it says so here www.dur.ac.uk/faculty.handbook :smile:

Obviously if it wasn't 50:50 then that would be an issue, but it is. Most degrees just list the subjects in alphabetical order anyway - mine does even though the subject that's first alphabetically is the one I studied the least, so I would be fine writing my subjects in order of how much I studied them.

Is my degree worth anything?

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