No more English Lit

[WTFH]

Do I use my university qualifications in my current role?
No
Have I used the qualifications in any role in the last 25 years?
No
Have I used the principles that I learned at university in my roles?
Yes
Could I have had a successful career without going to uni?
Probably
Could I have got to where I am today without going to uni?
Probably not
Could I have got to where I am today by sticking to a career based on what I studied?
Possibly not
Do I regret going to uni?
No
(but I went to university in the days before fees, and that could make a big difference to the answers for a younger person)

[vetran]

Not if they use their time at university wisely e.g. networking and gaining other skills.

apprenticeships are being placed to offer an alternative to University and it will come.

[vetran]

Do I use my university qualifications in my current role?
No
Have I used the qualifications in any role in the last 25 years?
No
Have I used the principles that I learned at university in my roles?
Yes
Could I have had a successful career without going to uni?
Probably
Could I have got to where I am today without going to uni?
Probably not
Could I have got to where I am today by sticking to a career based on what I studied?
Possibly not
Do I regret going to uni?
No
(but I went to university in the days before fees, and that could make a big difference to the answers for a younger person)

I went to a tech and my answers are much the same as yours.

Electronics went a bit flat but telecoms & computing made up for it as I cross trained.

[WTFH]

I went to a tech and my answers are much the same as yours.

Electronics went a bit flat

That's cause you studied in the days of valves, before PCBs and chips.

[vetran]

That's cause you studied in the days of valves, before PCBs and chips.

I'm not that flaming old - H&H didn't have a valve chapter .

Fixing valves was like being on "Take me out" it was mostly a case of "No likey No Lighty" but that frequently meant a psu problem not a valve issue.

[courtg9000]

English is hardly an unemployable degree from a decent uni - is Hallam more of a vocationally focused institution?

Was a mix of traditional subjects, English, law, history, medicine, farty stuff, film studies, pant pot making, arty stuff etc, Tech stuff: Engineering, IT, when I went there in the mid 90's.
The management of the place always seemed a bit crap to me.

[SueEllen]

OK you're absolutely right Ruth. Everyone, regardless of academic aptitude should spend tens of thousands of pounds and 3 years of their studying a degree they have no interest in so they can gain some 'other skills' and network with a load of similarly disinterested people. This will clearly stand them in good stead for a high-flying career.

If you just want to gain employability skills and build a network, don't look for it as a side-effect of degree you don't want. Get a job (or several jobs) over 3 years and be involved with some local business/charity/sports groups in your spare time. The former will teach you far more useful skills (the best way to learn X is to do X) and the latter will put you in touch with a much wider cross-section of people who may be valuable contacts one day. Lots of the real movers and shakers "make s*** happen" people I know are involved in grassroots community or philanthropy projects and those are people you want to know who you are.

You do know you are are talking about 18 year olds who know SFA, who have parents who know SFA, are surrounded by a social circle full of people who know SFA and come from schools who push their former pupils into doing degrees?

I hope you are more ruthless with the young people you know, like I am, and make them think why they are actually going to university.

[NotAllThere]

And what is wrong with getting a degree to just get a degree?

Plenty of people aren't using the degrees they have in their work.

When I did my degree that was certainly the case. However, only 13% of the population went to university then, so of itself it helped you get a job. With 40% going (or whatever the current figure is), that's just not the case any more.

[SueEllen]

When I did my degree that was certainly the case. However, only 13% of the population went to university then, so of itself it helped you get a job. With 40% going (or whatever the current figure is), that's just not the case any more.

Problem is - and some younger people pointed it out to me - if you don't have a degree you aren't even considered by most employers.

[jamesbrown]

When I did my degree that was certainly the case. However, only 13% of the population went to university then, so of itself it helped you get a job. With 40% going (or whatever the current figure is), that's just not the case any more.

As with most things, it depends. If you get a humanities degree from Cambridge, Oxford, LSE or others at the top of the Russell Group, you are probably going to get a decent job via graduate recruitment. If you get one from an average or poorly ranking university/ex-poly, not so much (statistically speaking, of course - you will always get successful people, regardless of their education).