Is my degree going to be worthless?

With a 2:2 degree you can pretty much do anything unless you are wanting to apply for the most selective graduate roles in London or apply for a competitive place on a Master's course at Oxbridge. The main thing employers want is work experience and transferable skills. When I went for job interviews after leaving University, employers were more interested in the fact that I'd worked up to 50 hours a week at Primark while doing my degree than the fact I got a 2:2.

Why wouldn't you do anything for 2 years after your degree?

I'm just saying that It's going to take some time to get into the field that I want to. So I would have to be patient and build up the key skills and experiences that the employers would want before I apply to either further study or whatever.

Not much you can do now re: relevant work experience so you'll just have to keep marching onwards and start applying for jobs/grad schemes. Really should have done this from Sept 2021 onwards as that's when the schemes start opening but it is what it is. If you can tolerate a year of unemployment after graduation then you could take a break for a bit after graduating and go into the 2022-23 graduate recruiting cycle.

Wouldn't say your degree is worthless if you want to go into jobs that require a degree to get into or progress (and if you've enjoyed your studies).

I know but the main thing is that I just didn't know what I wanted to do with my degree since I started it. I kind of want to decide afterwards, after I have got my actual degree classification. For example, If I'm gonna apply to something super competitive, I'm going to need a 1st regardless.

So I'm studying a degree at a low ranked uni cause my A levels were terrible. My main goal was always to get a good grade in my degree first (preferably a first) take a break from studying and then apply to whatever field I'm interested in a few years later. I know traditionally you should be doing work experience, extra curriculars and internships during uni since you will lose all these opportunities after graduation but I really struggled to do this during my time at uni due to personal circumstances and obviously covid. For example, I tried to apply to internships during my 2nd year but I either got rejected because my CV was rubbish and the places I wanted to apply to weren't taking any students due to covid. And also, since my field is healthcare related, it was really difficult to get any experience in the NHS. 2nd year was also horrible because I was going through major mental health issues because it was all online and I was isolating without being able to make new friends or enjoy the "social" aspect of uni. I didn't bother to join societies because I just didn't like the fact that they were all online and nobody ever turned their mic on and spoke. So honestly, I just lost motivation to do anything.

Anyway, Im now in my final year, I didn't and (still don't) know what I even want to do after I graduate which is another reason why I didn't really put much effort into internship applications in 2nd year, I was just so indecisive about what I truly wanted to do... So I had to quit my part time job recently because my grades were starting to go down and I really needed to pull it up considering 3rd year is worth 75% of my degree. Although it seemed manageable with a job, I would never forgive myself if I got a 2:2 just because I cared more about my £9 an hour job, so for me it didn't really make any sense to keep working. Since I'm already at a low ranked uni, if I get a 2:2 I feel like I'm really going to struggle a lot. So I thought.... OK I'm in a tough situation here, I might aswell aim to get a good degree mark and then maybe I can decide later on what to do. But then I started to come across forums that said your degree starts to become worthless if you haven't done anything atleast 2 years post graduation. Is this true? If so then it's already too late for me because I only have 4 months left of uni and I've not left myself enough time to do anything. I feel really hopeless and feel like my degree is going to be a waste now because I didn't apply myself and make the most out of uni. I just concentrated solely on the degree and now im going to pay the price for it....

So I'm studying a degree at a low ranked uni cause my A levels were terrible. My main goal was always to get a good grade in my degree first (preferably a first) take a break from studying and then apply to whatever field I'm interested in a few years later. I know traditionally you should be doing work experience, extra curriculars and internships during uni since you will lose all these opportunities after graduation but I really struggled to do this during my time at uni due to personal circumstances and obviously covid. For example, I tried to apply to internships during my 2nd year but I either got rejected because my CV was rubbish and the places I wanted to apply to weren't taking any students due to covid. And also, since my field is healthcare related, it was really difficult to get any experience in the NHS. 2nd year was also horrible because I was going through major mental health issues because it was all online and I was isolating without being able to make new friends or enjoy the "social" aspect of uni. I didn't bother to join societies because I just didn't like the fact that they were all online and nobody ever turned their mic on and spoke. So honestly, I just lost motivation to do anything.

Anyway, Im now in my final year, I didn't and (still don't) know what I even want to do after I graduate which is another reason why I didn't really put much effort into internship applications in 2nd year, I was just so indecisive about what I truly wanted to do... So I had to quit my part time job recently because my grades were starting to go down and I really needed to pull it up considering 3rd year is worth 75% of my degree. Although it seemed manageable with a job, I would never forgive myself if I got a 2:2 just because I cared more about my £9 an hour job, so for me it didn't really make any sense to keep working. Since I'm already at a low ranked uni, if I get a 2:2 I feel like I'm really going to struggle a lot. So I thought.... OK I'm in a tough situation here, I might aswell aim to get a good degree mark and then maybe I can decide later on what to do. But then I started to come across forums that said your degree starts to become worthless if you haven't done anything atleast 2 years post graduation. Is this true? If so then it's already too late for me because I only have 4 months left of uni and I've not left myself enough time to do anything. I feel really hopeless and feel like my degree is going to be a waste now because I didn't apply myself and make the most out of uni. I just concentrated solely on the degree and now im going to pay the price for it....

I know but the main thing is that I just didn't know what I wanted to do with my degree since I started it. I kind of want to decide afterwards, after I have got my actual degree classification. For example, If I'm gonna apply to something super competitive, I'm going to need a 1st regardless.

You also don't need to decide your entire future now. Do something after university, whatever appeals at the time and try it for a couple of years. You can always change career later.

What degree are you working on? & what field would you like to go into?

what degree?

With a 2:2 degree you can pretty much do anything unless you are wanting to apply for the most selective graduate roles in London or apply for a competitive place on a Master's course at Oxbridge. The main thing employers want is work experience and transferable skills. When I went for job interviews after leaving University, employers were more interested in the fact that I'd worked up to 50 hours a week at Primark while doing my degree than the fact I got a 2:2.

What job were you interviewed for? Because I am pretty sure that your degree qualification also matters a lot. 2:1 is what the employers love to see. Of course less qualified jobs (like part time jobs etc.) would care about your soft transferable skills but when it comes to more professional jobs such as teaching (as we are all familiar with this job) 2:1 in your degree is what the employers expect to see - unless you are applying for online tutoring scheme. The reality is that which university you went to, and which degree qualification you get all matters. Your degree qualification does not only show how good you are in that discipline, but it shows your academic inquisitiveness and how hard working you are. 50 hours primary a week would be impressive, and I am not saying that it isn't. But having a 2:2 alongside is not attractive to many employers.

So,
THE BEST APPLICATION WOULD SHOW THAT YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE WORKING AS WELL AS HAVING A GOOD DEGREE QUALIFICATION AT A RESPECTED UNIVERSITY. This is cruel ik. But this is the truth. If you want to have a professional job - idk let's say secondary school teacher - having and 2:1 at good university will open more doors for you. Hope this makes sense. Not trying to attack what you said, but just to reveal the truth that 2:1 should always be the target for university students.

Well the problem is that I'm not at a respected university. So even if I get a 2:1 or a 1st, is my degree meaningless?

So I'm studying a degree at a low ranked uni cause my A levels were terrible. My main goal was always to get a good grade in my degree first (preferably a first) take a break from studying and then apply to whatever field I'm interested in a few years later. I know traditionally you should be doing work experience, extra curriculars and internships during uni since you will lose all these opportunities after graduation but I really struggled to do this during my time at uni due to personal circumstances and obviously covid. For example, I tried to apply to internships during my 2nd year but I either got rejected because my CV was rubbish and the places I wanted to apply to weren't taking any students due to covid. And also, since my field is healthcare related, it was really difficult to get any experience in the NHS. 2nd year was also horrible because I was going through major mental health issues because it was all online and I was isolating without being able to make new friends or enjoy the "social" aspect of uni. I didn't bother to join societies because I just didn't like the fact that they were all online and nobody ever turned their mic on and spoke. So honestly, I just lost motivation to do anything.

Anyway, Im now in my final year, I didn't and (still don't) know what I even want to do after I graduate which is another reason why I didn't really put much effort into internship applications in 2nd year, I was just so indecisive about what I truly wanted to do... So I had to quit my part time job recently because my grades were starting to go down and I really needed to pull it up considering 3rd year is worth 75% of my degree. Although it seemed manageable with a job, I would never forgive myself if I got a 2:2 just because I cared more about my £9 an hour job, so for me it didn't really make any sense to keep working. Since I'm already at a low ranked uni, if I get a 2:2 I feel like I'm really going to struggle a lot. So I thought.... OK I'm in a tough situation here, I might aswell aim to get a good degree mark and then maybe I can decide later on what to do. But then I started to come across forums that said your degree starts to become worthless if you haven't done anything atleast 2 years post graduation. Is this true? If so then it's already too late for me because I only have 4 months left of uni and I've not left myself enough time to do anything. I feel really hopeless and feel like my degree is going to be a waste now because I didn't apply myself and make the most out of uni. I just concentrated solely on the degree and now im going to pay the price for it....

What job were you interviewed for? Because I am pretty sure that your degree qualification also matters a lot. 2:1 is what the employers love to see. Of course less qualified jobs (like part time jobs etc.) would care about your soft transferable skills but when it comes to more professional jobs such as teaching (as we are all familiar with this job) 2:1 in your degree is what the employers expect to see - unless you are applying for online tutoring scheme. The reality is that which university you went to, and which degree qualification you get all matters. Your degree qualification does not only show how good you are in that discipline, but it shows your academic inquisitiveness and how hard working you are. 50 hours primary a week would be impressive, and I am not saying that it isn't. But having a 2:2 alongside is not attractive to many employers.

So,
THE BEST APPLICATION WOULD SHOW THAT YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE WORKING AS WELL AS HAVING A GOOD DEGREE QUALIFICATION AT A RESPECTED UNIVERSITY. This is cruel ik. But this is the truth. If you want to have a professional job - idk let's say secondary school teacher - having and 2:1 at good university will open more doors for you. Hope this makes sense. Not trying to attack what you said, but just to reveal the truth that 2:1 should always be the target for university students.