Is a philosophy degree useless?

So I chose my a levels around 3 months ago and i'm studying philosophy, history and sociology. Hopefully after i leave i want to go to university and study philosophy (i don't know if it's a bit early to be thinking of that?). However, i've been thinking recently about the job prospects. Is it useless to take this degree if i want to have a secure career? I do enjoy subjects like philosophy so I know i would enjoy the degree, i'm just not sure if the job prospects are any good!
Also, is there anything else i could do with my choice of a levels as an alternative to philosophy?
p.s. I have found threads like this before but they're over 10 years old and i just wondered if anything had changed since then!

Thank you.

Also, is there anything else i could do with my choice of a levels as an alternative to philosophy?

I studied philosophy, did well at it in school and then did it at university. I dropped out half way through for several reasons: - I wasn't motivated and kind of realized the degree is useless - The degree is useless - Having done it at school, it wasn't til 2nd/3rd year that any of the course was new to me. While this meant it was easy, it was kind of like groundhog day. the degree is essentially useless. Possibly if you do well in it (and have connections) you could get into something like law, journalism, working for the civil service / local government, be a teacher, etc, but in all honesty most of these courses - especially teaching - either require additional qualifications, or different ones altogether (For example why would a law firm or a newspaper - and good luck getting a job for a newspaper these days - why would they take on a philosophy / sociology / etc graduate when they have law, and journalism grads to call upon? And not only those, but people with relevant experience in the field but less, or no qualifications ? It's very difficult out there. More difficult that you think, and it's going to get harder. I don't mean to frighten you, it's just better to realize this sooner rather than later. Plus if you're not in Scoland, bear in mind you're going to be paying for this degree for years - unless you are well off or it gets paid by a parent, in which case, you're sorted anyway. The thing that we are having to realize is that when you go to study something like philosophy, you really are just doing it for the love of it. That's it. In all probability, it isn't going to get you a job. And the "love of it" thing is quite weird. Only very, very few weirdos actually "love" philosophy, politics, sociology, geography - really. Me for example, I "love" music, I love football, I love drawing. But I certainly don't "love" academic subjects. They are boring. Writing essays is boring, stressful and essentially pointless. You have to consider how much it is you exactly "love" these subjects, or if you just like "like" or "prefer" them or "love them, in as much as you can love an academic subject". If you truly, truly do love the subject (And we are talking autistic-savant level here, you probably don't love it *that* much - enough to go into years / decades of debt and years of your life wasted and not be employable - that level of love) , you love it enough to forgo your youth, then yes, go for it. However, honestly I'd look into what else you can do. If you're only good at arts / humanities subjects, look at the more vocational among them - look into teaching, and actually apply for teacher training colleges. If they require a degree, find out what degree and do that. If you dont want to be a teacher, remember there are usually graduate entry jobs into the councils and civil service, for graduates only (usually ones who have been unemployed for 6 months or more, or something like that). Again, try and vocational-ise your subjects. Also bear in mind, if you have half-decent A Levels and GCSEs, you should get into any college course - including your bricklaying, plumbing, vocational things etc. Don't look down your nose at these things. Most just need English and Maths at GCSE level. And remember people don't tend to stay on the same path all through their lives - people don't study English at school, then English Literature at uni, then become authors and journalists. These skills are transferrable, life is full of surprises, and people embark upon new things all the time. You might not've seen yourself as a bricklayer, but that's what life is like. Actually you're at the perfect age to be beginning something totally new. Just bear in mind what I've said ; the VERY LAST place you want to be is, 5 - 10 years later, on this website, saying "I studied philosophy at uni and I can't get a job".

Yes, I've seen many people say this since i posted about my a levels. Ive decided to change my a levels to biology, chemistry and history because they're a lot more useful, and i'm getting great grades at them, so i guess when it comes to looking for a job. and you're right, i don't want to be paying for a degree for years to find out that i can't get a job. Thanks though, this helped.

I studied philosophy, did well at it in school and then did it at university.
I dropped out half way through for several reasons:
- I wasn't motivated and kind of realized the degree is useless
- The degree is useless
- Having done it at school, it wasn't til 2nd/3rd year that any of the course was new to me. While this meant it was easy, it was kind of like groundhog day.

the degree is essentially useless. Possibly if you do well in it (and have connections) you could get into something like law, journalism, working for the civil service / local government, be a teacher, etc,
but in all honesty most of these courses - especially teaching - either require additional qualifications, or different ones altogether (For example why would a law firm or a newspaper - and good luck getting a job for a newspaper these days - why would they take on a philosophy / sociology / etc graduate when they have law, and journalism grads to call upon?
And not only those, but people with relevant experience in the field but less, or no qualifications ?

It's very difficult out there. More difficult that you think, and it's going to get harder. I don't mean to frighten you, it's just better to realize this sooner rather than later.
Plus if you're not in Scoland, bear in mind you're going to be paying for this degree for years - unless you are well off or it gets paid by a parent, in which case, you're sorted anyway.

The thing that we are having to realize is that when you go to study something like philosophy, you really are just doing it for the love of it. That's it. In all probability, it isn't going to get you a job.
And the "love of it" thing is quite weird. Only very, very few weirdos actually "love" philosophy, politics, sociology, geography - really. Me for example, I "love" music, I love football, I love drawing. But I certainly don't "love" academic subjects. They are boring. Writing essays is boring, stressful and essentially pointless.
You have to consider how much it is you exactly "love" these subjects, or if you just like "like" or "prefer" them or "love them, in as much as you can love an academic subject".
If you truly, truly do love the subject (And we are talking autistic-savant level here, you probably don't love it *that* much - enough to go into years / decades of debt and years of your life wasted and not be employable - that level of love) , you love it enough to forgo your youth, then yes, go for it.

However, honestly I'd look into what else you can do. If you're only good at arts / humanities subjects, look at the more vocational among them - look into teaching, and actually apply for teacher training colleges. If they require a degree, find out what degree and do that.
If you dont want to be a teacher, remember there are usually graduate entry jobs into the councils and civil service, for graduates only (usually ones who have been unemployed for 6 months or more, or something like that).

Again, try and vocational-ise your subjects.
Also bear in mind, if you have half-decent A Levels and GCSEs, you should get into any college course - including your bricklaying, plumbing, vocational things etc. Don't look down your nose at these things. Most just need English and Maths at GCSE level.

And remember people don't tend to stay on the same path all through their lives - people don't study English at school, then English Literature at uni, then become authors and journalists. These skills are transferrable, life is full of surprises, and people embark upon new things all the time.
You might not've seen yourself as a bricklayer, but that's what life is like. Actually you're at the perfect age to be beginning something totally new.

Just bear in mind what I've said ; the VERY LAST place you want to be is, 5 - 10 years later, on this website, saying "I studied philosophy at uni and I can't get a job".

So I chose my a levels around 3 months ago and i'm studying philosophy, history and sociology. Hopefully after i leave i want to go to university and study philosophy (i don't know if it's a bit early to be thinking of that?). However, i've been thinking recently about the job prospects. Is it useless to take this degree if i want to have a secure career? I do enjoy subjects like philosophy so I know i would enjoy the degree, i'm just not sure if the job prospects are any good!
Also, is there anything else i could do with my choice of a levels as an alternative to philosophy?
p.s. I have found threads like this before but they're over 10 years old and i just wondered if anything had changed since then!

Thank you.

So I chose my a levels around 3 months ago and i'm studying philosophy, history and sociology. Hopefully after i leave i want to go to university and study philosophy (i don't know if it's a bit early to be thinking of that?). However, i've been thinking recently about the job prospects. Is it useless to take this degree if i want to have a secure career? I do enjoy subjects like philosophy so I know i would enjoy the degree, i'm just not sure if the job prospects are any good!
Also, is there anything else i could do with my choice of a levels as an alternative to philosophy?
p.s. I have found threads like this before but they're over 10 years old and i just wondered if anything had changed since then!

Thank you.