Has anyone else got a degree and felt like they wasted three years of their life?

Question

... And all that money too! Furthermore recently on the (BBC?) news there was a bit about how difficult it was for graduates to get jobs in their chosen field (particularly if you did Media like me or Psychology) and not much evidence of it benefitting the students other than one persons suggestion that if they lived away from home it helped them "grow up a bit" and "taught them life skills". Personally I don't think that's good enough, so I want to know who else feels cheated by society and the government for making us feel we needed this qualification, when in fact we're no better off?

Answer 1

I good friend of mine passed a MBA in Marketing in US 4 years ago, she was hoping getting a job at minimum $80,000.
She managed few interviews, but didn't get the career move she was hoping for. She is a accounts clerk working for a temp consultancy and she earns $33,000 per year.

I do not have any degree, I left shool at 16 and because I knew I could be compared to people with diploma, since I began work I felt I had to do double effort to always deliver and improve in anything I did and I did all job I could in different areas to learn as much as I could.
Today I am 42 and I run my multi milions company that I have set up 5 years ago and things are going very well.

In France, where I come from, fifteen years ago everybody could get a job with no diploma so we could try our luck ang all got their chance. Then we had the same 'Education politic program' where french were told that if they had degre they would get a job (which is a non sense because the job opportunities would never increase regardless of job seekers education) but getting people going longer to school, for 3 or 4 years, decreased temporarly the unemployment figure, so the goverment in place could claim 'having fought some issues' also it was oh so politically correct to claim that universities beiing open to everybody will
offer the same opportunities including the disadvantages.

The result today is far from this because everybody has worked hard for their degree and they feel the competion is strongler between people than it has even been.... even to get a low entry job. Many people have degree (5 years after A lever) and end up working at Mc Donald.....

The unployment remain as high as it used to be, the people are very frustrated and desillusioned because the reality is far from the promised they were given, the expectations they had.
Today for any job (cleaner, waiter, sale assistant, office junior....) you will have to have a diploma to apply, if not you have no chance of an interview at all. This is how sad it is.

So you are very clever and I believe your question shows that you see things how things really are.

So have a go at everything and opportunities in which you can shine through your own qualities.

I hope that in England we will never reach the sad reality that we have in France.

Answer 2

If you were looking for college to provide you with a vocation, I can see why you would be disappointed. There are many people who graduate with a degree that they never 'use'. That doesn't mean it had no value. Very few times will the formulas and actual knowledge you learned in college be used on the job. It's the way you think, how you can solve a problem that you have no background knowledge of that is the value you have received. You learned how to communicate in speech and writing, how to manage a project, how to think outside the box, how to use logic to solve problems your job throws at you. I graduated as a Computer Science/Math major and did get a job as a programmer. I program is assembler language. I had one course in assembler in college (1981...). Was the rest of my years there a waste, no, because it taught me how to think and problem solve no matter what language I learned. Your skills will appear and you are better off. It may not show in the job title but how you perform your job.

Answer 3

I feel so.. I spend money to get myself a degree and now I am doing a job that dun require a degree holder, though I have to say, when one study, it helps the brain to grow and to analyse more carefully in some areas, however, it is so difficult to put degree to good use because, by the time u get to the society, some things or rules had already change and it is different when you knew it during ur studies. So i think that it is always the best to work and study part time, though it is tough but you get to get abreast with the changes and earn that job experience,

Answer 4

I have a business studies degree and I've never used the knowledge from it but I have gained employment because of it.
Only the fact that on paper I have a degree, not the fact that it has anything to do with the job. I was really frustrated when a person without any qualifications at all was doing a job that I was qualified for only because she was there first.

Answer 5

Think of it like this, you have spent three years achieving, you could have done a lot worse with those three years e.g taking drugs, getting wasted, scrounging and being a loser, being in a dead beat job and wishing you had made more of yourself! You have the qualification now so use it. it's a good thing and well done. I never got qualifications because i felt like i didn't need them up untill all the interveiws i attended and didn't get the job due to the other applicant having qualifications i hadn't got.

Answer 6

I am a mature student currently doing my degree and I have a friend who lives in New Zealand and she was telling me that a degree is invaluable especially if you want to live in other countries or travel. I am doing mine so I can get a better standard of job after doing numerous crappy jobs. Apparently only 5% of the entire worldwide population holds a degree.

Answer 7

Of course you are better off. At least in your marketability in the job market. Compared to the majority of punters that is. You now have to mature and learn to make the best of yourself. It's a steep learning curve too!
Patience and maturity will give you foresight. It will all make sense eventually. Go with the flow for now and don't waste your energies fighting battles you can't win.
Good luck for the future - you have already climbed out of the swamp.
Self pity is most unattractive. Be positive - it's contagious.

Answer 8

It must be a good feeling that you achieved a good academic level.Personally I left school with very few qualifications but still managed to secure very high paid jobs. The firm is now wanting me to go down the academic path and attain a degree... It's free and I still get paid my full salary......which way do you think is best?

Answer 9

You do not waste three years of your life at University. It is worth it for the life experience and 'finding yourself' - although my degree I do agree has nothing to do with the job I have ended up in, public relations. Uni helped me gain confidence and independence and I worked on a student newspaper/radio and local newspaper to build up experience. Degrees are often secondary to the real value you get out of Uni

Answer 10

I haven't gone 2 uni but i agree i think it is a wastes of time and expense, unless it is necessary for chosen profession. Many employees want experience so have to take lower down job to work up, which one could have done before taking degree.