The Value Of A University Degree

[nolsey77]

What is the value of a University Degree today, a friend of mine went for a job interview today and they said that they were the most talented and smartest person they impressed everyone the most out of 60 ppl (i was told), their downfall was that because the boss thought they were over qualified he thought i would get sick of the position an leave after 2 months.

Dont figure eh?

 

[Rohan_]

It not what you know, it is who you know. Don't worry Nolsey, A University degree gives you options.

Stick at it buddy.

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

I bloody hope its worth a hell of a lot. I just started my first week of a 4 your Bachelor of Business course, last thing i need is for a potential employer telling me i'm over qualified

 

[Dr AlfAndrews]

Depends on the degree, I s'pose.

Arts isn't worth the paper it's printed on as far as jobs go, although it can be a pre-requisite for other more career-oriented study.

There was a time when a Uni degree (any Uni degree) was a guarantee of well-paid employment. But those jokes you hear with the punchline in which the Arts graduate says, "Do you want fries with that?" is not far from the truth. Except of course that the Maccas employment people would probably say the Arts graduate was "over-qualified".

Even a Ph.D. is pretty useless for employment. Especially in an "unfashionable" subject like History. The History departments in Universities are gradually disappearing. Those people who've got tenured positions as History lecturers aren't giving up their jobs, that's for sure. Even if a vacancy ever comes up, there would be hundreds of applicants.

What it all boils down to is the fact that education (as a ticket to employment) has been devalued by the increasing accessibility of education. Once upon a time, people left school at 15, got a crappy job and worked their way up to managing director.

After 8 and a half years of Uni, the best I can say about it is that it was fun some of the time ... and it kept me off the streets.

 

[FreoDocker]

I agree about arts not playing a big part in getting you a job, but it's almost like furthering your development and methods of thinking.
I'm doing a double degree in arts/commerce so I can do double majors and get a job from my commerce work. But to the same extent, doing arts in a bit of interest and it also serves to help you in areas of critical thinking and stuff like that.
I'm doing Psychology and Philosophy as well as my commerce units, they're actually pretty interesting and could have applications in the future when I start to work in the commerce industry.
Anyway I'm in second year now, so I have a few years to go yet.

 

[iceman]

a degree definetly makes u more employable in the end - stick with it for sure

however, after having worked for the past 2 years ive realised that most of the time its who u know, not what u know

its a sad world

 

[Joe Mama]

Well at Dookie College (the Agricultural College where I spent one unsuccessful year), most students that are in thier third-fourth year usually has employers knocking at thier door, big companies too such as Elders/IXL, government agencies such as the DNRE (Department of Natural Resources and Environment), and many other companies in Environmental management, Agriculture or Horticulture.

But, most people just use the skills that they have learnt on the family farm, and although I didn't go as well as I hoped at Ag College, the time that I did spend there wasn't in vain, but it would have been cool to have the B App. Sci. (Ag. Science) at the end of my name though .

 

[Pies rock]

I'm doing Arts/Business (Banking and Finance) at Monash, and never considered doing just plain Arts because of the reasons Alf listed above. Arts is just for fun, but for employment prospects, business is the way to go...

 

[Kingy]

I did a bachelor of engineering(electronics), 4 years of hard work, only to find out that my bosses were commerce graduates who couldnt plug a dog and bone together and got paid twice the amount that I do....do business/marketing/IT or some other brain dead degree dont do engineering..its a brain strain for no return...

Go Roos in 2002

 

[SeinDude]

A university degree isnt everything... sure it may give you more options, but in the end it's who you know and also about being in the right spot at the right time.

Employers tend to look at who you are as a person, your character, values, etc etc.. These are all things they can pick up at a job interview, and are not things you learn at university, but rather things you learn from life experiences.

I think it's overated... I am glad I went into the work force when I was 17 after finishing year 11. (1996) I have learnt more there then I would have being stuck doing homework until all hours.

Mind you, having said all that it's going to be different for each person... things that work for someone may be totally wrong for the next person.

Good luck Nolsey!!

SeinDude

 

[Bulldog1954]

I'm doing phys ed at RMIT. In 2000 every body that graduated from the course, about 40 are now teaching phys ed. They can be handy

 

[dreamkillers]

Originally posted by iceman
a degree definetly makes u more employable in the end - stick with it for sure

however, after having worked for the past 2 years ive realised that most of the time its who u know, not what u know

its a sad world

agree with you there.........70-80% of the real jobs available aren't advertised...........

and you can also add being in the right place at the right time........

stick with the degree it gives you more options and at the same time try and build up a network of contacts in the industries you are looking for employment in........

not easy but as quoted above it really is who you know..........the degree just gives you a few more options.......

 

[ACV]

The value is dependant on the individual and the type of degree u do. For example, some of the guys i play cricket with could go to uni but it would be a waste of time cause they'd get bored and end up doing a trade anyway. I don't know what your doing but all i can say is do what you want to do.

With regard to the actual value in employment, someone said that it is about the type of person u are is spot on. I have to start applying for jobs in about a month, and my marks aren't great but they're good enough, so it will all come down to how i go in the interview.

Arts degrees are not worth much by themselves but when combined with things like engineering they are very handy because an arts degree teaches you how to write, if not much else. Employers like engineers who can write.

But to sum up, if you can stand the drag of uni it is very worthwile most, and certainly in my industry, will start at about $35,000-$40,000 and will be in the top tax bracket within about 3 years after graduation. So the financial rewards certainly make it worth it.

 

[coxon]

as, as everyone has said...

a degree will give u more options..

sure, employers want the best/brightest people, regardless of degree.. previous job experience etc etc...

my job (and the two before it) probably could easily have been done by people without a degree... as, most of it is on the job training... probably havent used anything i learned in uni for my jobs...

but, to even get in for an interview, or to apply.. a degree is what you'd need..

 

[Eagle_Fan]

Vital in some fields. Without being registered I wont be able to practice, and without a degree I can't get registered.

All depends on the area you're in.

EF

 

[roobear]

In some companies, the type of degree is not that relevant. The fact that you have a degree means that you have spent at least three years learning how to analyse various situations and understand them.

One of my bosses when I worked for a retail company's head office said he always wanted degree-qualified staff, but he didn't particularly care what the degree was in.

The fact that I'd studied business meant I had more of an understanding of the basics, but at least 2 of the other graduates in my office were BAs.

My boss said he didn't care whether his staff had spent three
years solving hypothetical business problems or dissecting romantic literature, as long as their brains were wired towards functional analysis.

 

[Rusty Brookes]

Stick with it-I am now 5 years out of Uni with a Bachelor of Science (Honours). It took me about a year to land a job I was interested in (I was working as a general hand in a bakery in the meantime) but once I was in, it was smooth sailing from there on in. I'm now on close to $50,000 a year in a job I really enjoy.

Statistics suggest university graduates are more likely to get a job than people who didn't complete tertiary education. You may have to give up a few years of your life (and really with all of the holidays it's not that much time) but it will pay off in the end.

 

[Portia]

From what I can see, having a degree gets you more money, but doesn't necessarily make you more employable.

As opposed to the major leg up that tertiary education used to give you, its now become an assumed qualification for many jobs....and with more `educated' people, there's more qualified, people, its still hard to get a job.

Myself, I don't have one. University and myself didn't agree on how assessment worked - I hate essays.

 

[dreamkillers]

Originally posted by Porthos
Myself, I don't have one. University and myself didn't agree on how assessment worked - I hate essays.

Good to see I'm not the only one that hates them........

I was lucky enough to get a backdoor entrance into the IT Industry but due to outsourcing in the NT Govt I am considering moves into Retail Management within the same organisation.......

 

[-GB-]

A degree does make a big difference. But it's the type of job that has a bigger effect.

I work in a superannuation call centre, I was earning $1,000 less per year than someone 3 years older than me, who had a business degree from VUT. Now admittedly, VUT doesn't have the reputation of the best uni in melbourne, but it's still a degree.

Its 3 years of hard work (in most cases) and study is usually specified in fairly defined areas. i.e Economics, Accounting, Finance. But where has it got the guy I work with? No where.

 

[coxon]

Originally posted by Eagle_Fan
Vital in some fields. Without being registered I wont be able to practice, and without a degree I can't get registered.

yep, thats my case ~

 

[sabre_ac]

I am doint a commerce/Comp science double degree, the employment prospects for this are limitless and the money is extremely good.
Either of this combination alone is a garanteed job at the end of it with high first up income that can only grow.
Cousin of mine complete the exact same degree about 7 years ago.He did 2 years in perth to get sum experience and went over to the US where is getting ridiculous sums as contract work.

Yes at times it is boring but the money is there, you are able to travel the world and work in ANY industry you choose.
You ask me if could have my time in school over and if i would have worked harder in the finals to get higher tertiary entrance score for hte likes of medicine and law, I wouldnt hesitate in taking it easy like I did again and not achieving a medicine score.

Comp Scie / Commerce is where the money is at.

 

[IAMDASH]

I think a degree opens many doors no matter what field of study it is. Last year I completed a degree in a specialist health field to complement my science degree I completed in 1995. There is plenty of work in my field and the money is quite good if you are prepared to work hard enough. My only advice would be to pick a degree with a definite outcome(. i.e teaching, nursing, accounting) where you can be employed in a specific discipline. Even if you eventually follow a different career path you always will have something to fall back on if you meet hard times. I am not sure if I would do science again if I had my time over. The content of the degree was fantastic but when I graduated it was like what do I do now.

I do believe that sometimes you cant beat the experience you gain from the university of life but in most instances you can't beat that piece of paper they give to you which in my case/profession was all that really counted.

 

[Pornstar]

Originally posted by nolsey77
What is the value of a University Degree today, a friend of mine went for a job interview today and they said that they were the most talented and smartest person they impressed everyone the most out of 60 ppl (i was told), their downfall was that because the boss thought they were over qualified he thought i would get sick of the position an leave after 2 months.

A similar thing happened to me. I was going for a graduate trainee position with one of the country's largest stockbroking companies. It got down to the final 30 applicants, and we all had to do 3 hours of aptitude tests. I thought i did fairly well in them, but i soon got a letter telling me that i was not being considered for the position any longer. A couple of weeks later the employment agency calls me up and says the company wants to hire the people who got the highest test scores, and i was one of them. Turns out the employment agency initially thought that i would get bored with the job and quit. It really pissed me off that people who got lower scores than me were considered better prospects for the position.

I have a commerce degree, and whilst it did contribute significantly to obtaining the job i wanted, i don't think i have ever applied any of the knowledge i acquired in earning the degree in my professional career.