The Student Room Group

Are you employed or unemployed (and might as well of not went) after graduating?

Serious Question
This is because everyone can go to university nowadays and that it seems to be pushed onto everyone that they should go. What is the REALITY? Living the best life or are you in the same position if you didn’t consider going? What is the best advice also?

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I feel like if you know what youre doing afterwards and have a clear path then it is worth going or you should consider alternatives that would give you more skills and make you more employable. You could choose any degree but as long as you know what youre doing you could get somewhere. because say you do go ahead with the degree and find it difficult getting into a job its really not proved worth it. people in apprenticeships are better off as they're learning as well as getting paid whereas you'll be in debt. also I think more people nowadays are going for alternatives as getting into jobs afterwards has become more hard. I've decided to go to uni as I know what I am doing and what I need to get me into that job.
Original post by gluttonyyy
I feel like if you know what youre doing afterwards and have a clear path then it is worth going or you should consider alternatives that would give you more skills and make you more employable. You could choose any degree but as long as you know what youre doing you could get somewhere. because say you do go ahead with the degree and find it difficult getting into a job its really not proved worth it. people in apprenticeships are better off as they're learning as well as getting paid whereas you'll be in debt. also I think more people nowadays are going for alternatives as getting into jobs afterwards has become more hard. I've decided to go to uni as I know what I am doing and what I need to get me into that job.


Oooo ok
Reply 3
precariously employed
Uni is only worth it if you do STEM.. not sure what goes on in the mind of those who pick degrees like History.. then wonder why they are unemployed/working in McDonalds after they graduate.
Original post by ThuggerThugger
Uni is only worth it if you do STEM.. not sure what goes on in the mind of those who pick degrees like History.. then wonder why they are unemployed/working in McDonalds after they graduate.

This might be true for some but not all... you can go into finance,,business,accounting,journalism,publishing,teaching, management etc... with a degree like History.

It’s all about the individual
Original post by SuperHuman98
This might be true for some but not all... you can go into finance,,business,accounting,journalism,publishing,teaching, management etc... with a degree like History.

It’s all about the individual


Lol, you gave me a good chuckle with that joke. How is History related to any of those industries? “Finance” lol ok “just did a degree in History think I’ll become an accountant”. You’d get laughed out the door.
Reply 7
Original post by ThuggerThugger
Uni is only worth it if you do STEM.. not sure what goes on in the mind of those who pick degrees like History.. then wonder why they are unemployed/working in McDonalds after they graduate.


My fiance did history. Earns more than 3x what her sister is on, who went the STEM route and now just on a typical grad starting salary.

I mean she might well have been on £60k by 30 otherwise but without a grad scheme seems unlikely.
Original post by ThuggerThugger
Lol, you gave me a good chuckle with that joke. How is History related to any of those industries? “Finance” lol ok “just did a degree in History think I’ll become an accountant”. You’d get laughed out the door.

How old are you?

Loads of people who do History actually become accountants there’s something called training and on the job learning.
Reply 9
Original post by SuperHuman98
How old are you?

Loads of people who do History actually become accountants there’s something called training and on the job learning.

Got an example of a CFO who's undergrad was history?
Original post by Quady
Got an example of a CFO who's undergrad was history?

https://history.cornell.edu/career-corporate-finance-how-my-history-degree-helped-me-get-there

google search took me to this. He says he’s now a CFO.
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by SuperHuman98
How old are you?

Loads of people who do History actually become accountants there’s something called training and on the job learning.


I think he’s about 8.
Original post by SuperHuman98
How old are you?

Loads of people who do History actually become accountants there’s something called training and on the job learning.


What colour are your eyes? (Yes I can ask irrelevant questions also)

What you’re saying only confirms that a degree in History (as an example) is useless. Why go and spend 3 years and 30k to do History and if you’re lucky enough be that 1 in 10,000 to land a job as an accountant??? Logically pointless.
Original post by SuperHuman98


Oh wow that one person out of 100,000 with a History degree becoming a CFO, that is evidence it is as good as STEM. Close thread, we’ve solved it all now.
Original post by ThuggerThugger
Oh wow that one person out of 100,000 with a History degree becoming a CFO, that is evidence it is as good as STEM. Close thread, we’ve solved it all now.


It's perfectly straightforward to get into accounting/finance with a degree in History, or English, or Fine Art (was talking to a parent of someone doing that only a few days ago).

The entry level qualifications to finance ACCA, ACA, CIMA, etc are all commercial exams. You pay for them, you can do the course (same with Law, which again, is completely ambivalent as to undergrad degree).

Once you've got the basic qualification, then applying it in the workplace requires soft skills. People educated in non-STEM subjects often have better soft skills, as it's developed more in non-STEM types of analysis, presentation, discussion etc. So depending on what part of finance (and it's a very broad field) you are looking at, Arts and Humanities students are a very strong employment proposition for finance roles - such that they can easily get employed and sponsored for their professional qualifications.

I've seen the recruitment rounds with the big banks at universities for years - they are just as happy to take a History grad as a Physics grad.

More important is the academic rigour of the University you went to. Don't go to a University that hasn't got the reputation with employers to add value to your employability. That's where people are getting sucked in to debt with no value.
Reply 15
Original post by ThuggerThugger
What colour are your eyes? (Yes I can ask irrelevant questions also)

What you’re saying only confirms that a degree in History (as an example) is useless. Why go and spend 3 years and 30k to do History and if you’re lucky enough be that 1 in 10,000 to land a job as an accountant??? Logically pointless.

Weird you've no come back at me :-)
Anything else? For a job in design, what outcome is there really?
Reply 17
It was all a waste of time for me. Didn't learn anything, didn't get any meaningful help or advice about a career and consequently strugglnig to find jobs I am suited for. Oh and it feels like everyone has a degree these days so getting a graduate job feels impossible.
Original post by ThuggerThugger
Uni is only worth it if you do STEM.. not sure what goes on in the mind of those who pick degrees like History.. then wonder why they are unemployed/working in McDonalds after they graduate.


I know one person who studied History. They are now an IB analyst earning £55k, so, I guess a little bit better than you think 😁

It doesn't matter what you study at all, just where you study. Anything below the top 10-15 university's are a waste of time and your money.
It depends what you want to do and whether or not you want to go. I went to a very low ranking uni for my undergrad degree to study physical education. I had intended to be a pe teacher. I graduated in July 2018 and went straight into a job as a further education sports lecturer. Worked in that role for a year and moved straight into a job with as an education policy officer. I have an open offer to start some work experience/shadowing in local government in preparation for a secondment in the summer. It isn't so much your degree or the uni you went to but what you do with it. I worked throughout uni and do a lot of networking, it is very important in helping you to ensure that you have a job to go into. Irrespective of whether or not you go to uni or do an apprenticeship etc.

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