Do you have a job that has absolutely nothing to do with your major?

[Shooters]

The simple fact is that some jobs require you to have a specific college degree while others don't. If you hope to work at IBM designing microprocessors, then majoring in EE is going to help get you there, a degree in psychology is not. Then again, you don't need a specific degree to become an administrative assistant or even a doctor or lawyer for that matter.

I know a lot of people who work in a field that has nothing to do with their degree, but there's also plenty who have jobs that they wouldn't have gotten if they didn't major in what they did. I don't see anything wrong with picking a major in order to help you obtain a specific job in the future, but I also think that the things you learn from the college experience as a whole are far more important than what is taught to you in specific classes.

And as long as we're quoting people here.....

Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.

-Albert Einstein

 

[vegetation]

Some undergrad degrees you just can't get a job directly related to the field anyways, unless you go for a masters or even Ph.D. Try getting a job directly related to psychology with a bachelors in psych. Not possible. Bachelors in bio? Worthless. You pretty much have no choice but to go into a job completely different or continuing into higher education.

 

[chin311]

Studied: Computer Tech (Hardware/Networking)

Job: office guy, mostly use MS office and some GIS software

 

[bozack]

Poli Sci Major doing computer support

 

[CTrain]

Major: Accounting.
Job: Store manager at Mcdonalds.

Blah....

 

[MegaloManiaK]

Originally posted by: Shooters
The simple fact is that some jobs require you to have a specific college degree while others don't. If you hope to work at IBM designing microprocessors, then majoring in EE is going to help get you there, a degree in psychology is not. Then again, you don't need a specific degree to become an administrative assistant or even a doctor or lawyer for that matter.

I know a lot of people who work in a field that has nothing to do with their degree, but there's also plenty who have jobs that they wouldn't have gotten if they didn't major in what they did. I don't see anything wrong with picking a major in order to help you obtain a specific job in the future, but I also think that the things you learn from the college experience as a whole are far more important than what is taught to you in specific classes.

And as long as we're quoting people here.....

Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.

-Albert Einstein

There are plenty of fields that you can get into without majoring in them. Places where people look at colllege as the "stick with it" time to prove you can finish what you started.

IT is especialy like this since there is no regulatory entity watching over them. Business is a really big one considering this is the country where anyone can start a business.

Healthcare is definately not. Even excluding doctors there are very few jobs in healthcare where you can read a book and go start doing it. Nurses go to college, so do Therapists, the people running the X-ray equipment, etc etc.

Ive met alot of people who hear stories about a friend of a friend who makes 100k a year doing whatever without a degree and think that means they are wasting there time in school. College is the launchpad for alot of the good jobs out there but there are plenty of career paths that will not be accessable without the right major. At the same time its not for everyone, and anyone who says you won't have a good job without college is making assumptions about your future they have no clue about.

When i was in high school i learned to be a machinist through the school. Every year we had a guy from one of the tech training schools come in and talk about how we should go to tech training instead of college. Basicly the most interesting thing i noticed was that if you look at the trend the job market switches every 5-10 years between wanting college degrees to having to many college degrees and wanting technical trained people.

Edit: I am totaly against the college experiance. The only thing i learned outside of class is that i hate pop culture more than i ever thought and that i never want to be an alchoholic. I guess i've just had a bad experiance with people who "live the college life" and really see no value to it. I guess if your not into the whole irresponsible fun thing (read: sticking your penis in anyone who'll let you) its kinda pointless.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: MegaloManiaK

Originally posted by: Shooters
The simple fact is that some jobs require you to have a specific college degree while others don't. If you hope to work at IBM designing microprocessors, then majoring in EE is going to help get you there, a degree in psychology is not. Then again, you don't need a specific degree to become an administrative assistant or even a doctor or lawyer for that matter.

I know a lot of people who work in a field that has nothing to do with their degree, but there's also plenty who have jobs that they wouldn't have gotten if they didn't major in what they did. I don't see anything wrong with picking a major in order to help you obtain a specific job in the future, but I also think that the things you learn from the college experience as a whole are far more important than what is taught to you in specific classes.

And as long as we're quoting people here.....

Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.

-Albert Einstein

There are plenty of fields that you can get into without majoring in them. Places where people look at colllege as the "stick with it" time to prove you can finish what you started.

IT is especialy like this since there is no regulatory entity watching over them. Business is a really big one considering this is the country where anyone can start a business.

Healthcare is definately not. Even excluding doctors there are very few jobs in healthcare where you can read a book and go start doing it. Nurses go to college, so do Therapists, the people running the X-ray equipment, etc etc.

Ive met alot of people who hear stories about a friend of a friend who makes 100k a year doing whatever without a degree and think that means they are wasting there time in school. College is the launchpad for alot of the good jobs out there but there are plenty of career paths that will not be accessable without the right major. At the same time its not for everyone, and anyone who says you won't have a good job without college is making assumptions about your future they have no clue about.

When i was in high school i learned to be a machinist through the school. Every year we had a guy from one of the tech training schools come in and talk about how we should go to tech training instead of college. Basicly the most interesting thing i noticed was that if you look at the trend the job market switches every 5-10 years between wanting college degrees to having to many college degrees and wanting technical trained people.

Edit: I am totaly against the college experiance. The only thing i learned outside of class is that i hate pop culture more than i ever thought and that i never want to be an alchoholic. I guess i've just had a bad experiance with people who "live the college life" and really see no value to it. I guess if your not into the whole irresponsible fun thing (read: sticking your penis in anyone who'll let you) its kinda pointless.

Theres more to the "college life" that getting wasted every thursday night.

 

[Chunkee]

english major

now a national training manager for a software outfit

weird


also own a consulting company

JC

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: glen

Originally posted by: TranceNation

Originally posted by: glen

Originally posted by: Stojakapimp

Originally posted by: glen
I think if you take a major to get a job, you have missed the whole point of college.
I was a finace major and a philosophy major.
I am in medical school now.

and what is the whole point of college?

The point of college is to become educated.
It is an end, not a means to an end.

I disagree, it is a means to meet an end. Why pay over 50-$250k if there is no return?

"...better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied." JS Mills

Better, to be educated and unemployed than a fool and employed.
Life is about much more than work and money.
By your logic, had you inherited millions, you would not have gone to college.

Says the med student.

 

[CaseTragedy]

major: econ
work: webmaster

i dunno what happened.
although i'm pursuing actuary.

 

[iotone]

i work in the same area as my major... but people at my old job didn't:

sysad: chemistry
db op: history
dba: russian (i think)

 

[CPA]

I majored in accounting and, well, I'm an accountant.

 

[Ranger X]

Originally posted by: glen

Originally posted by: Stojakapimp

Originally posted by: glen
I think if you take a major to get a job, you have missed the whole point of college.
I was a finace major and a philosophy major.
I am in medical school now.

and what is the whole point of college?

The point of college is to become educated.
It is an end, not a means to an end.

I've always thought that you go through college to get a piece of paper.

 

[DaiShan]

Technically I'm in college, but my major is finance, my current work is in IT.

 

[slikmunks]

yep... i'm a math-econ major w/ a minor in accounting, but i'm working the summer as a salesman for acura of santa monica

 

[wyvrn]

I am in college for MIS and also have associates in Unix. I have no idea what my job will be when I get out, hopefull in the tech industry but I do like doing other things as well and would consider anything that isn't repetitively boring and dead end.

I have no problem with people that take a major aimed towards their career. My wife took a degree in Microbiology and went on to become a Physician Assitant. Her undergrad helped here quite a bit in her PA studies as she was way ahead of some people that didn't have science degrees or took the easier sciences like a basic biology. Her grades reflect it and so does her job performance, she got the next to highest rating on her first job performance review working in perhaps the most stressfull medical area, the ER. I think the fact that she concentrated on medicine the whole way through really helped her after the fact.

In my case, I have experience in technology and have technology degrees and certifications. I am giving IT departments every good reason to hire me. If they don't, that is their problem and I can always move to a different field if I want to. I see nothing wrong with this approach to college.

 

[Ameesh]

Originally posted by: Rallispec

Originally posted by: t60
One of my sister's friends is a computer assistant manager at Sun (not sure what he does exactly, but it requires a vast knowledge of computers). He was an Art History major.

I know a lot of other people that have careers which have nothing to do with their major.

Do you?

sucks when an art history person can get a tech job, and me-- the comp sci major-- cant find a tech a job.

look harder

 

[bunker]

Major: Criminal Justice
Occupation: Database Administrator

 

[StageLeft]

yes. Practically speaking psychology is all but useless. The person who found a job outside of their art history field almost by definition could not find employment in that field. That's why english, philosophy, sociology majors, etc. are more likely than engineers and chemists to have a job outside of their field because for all intents and purposes their major is a useless waste of time and it's difficult to find a real career in that field.

 

[Shooters]

Originally posted by: BD2003

Originally posted by: MegaloManiaK

Originally posted by: Shooters
The simple fact is that some jobs require you to have a specific college degree while others don't. If you hope to work at IBM designing microprocessors, then majoring in EE is going to help get you there, a degree in psychology is not. Then again, you don't need a specific degree to become an administrative assistant or even a doctor or lawyer for that matter.

I know a lot of people who work in a field that has nothing to do with their degree, but there's also plenty who have jobs that they wouldn't have gotten if they didn't major in what they did. I don't see anything wrong with picking a major in order to help you obtain a specific job in the future, but I also think that the things you learn from the college experience as a whole are far more important than what is taught to you in specific classes.

And as long as we're quoting people here.....

Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.

-Albert Einstein

There are plenty of fields that you can get into without majoring in them. Places where people look at colllege as the "stick with it" time to prove you can finish what you started.

IT is especialy like this since there is no regulatory entity watching over them. Business is a really big one considering this is the country where anyone can start a business.

Healthcare is definately not. Even excluding doctors there are very few jobs in healthcare where you can read a book and go start doing it. Nurses go to college, so do Therapists, the people running the X-ray equipment, etc etc.

Ive met alot of people who hear stories about a friend of a friend who makes 100k a year doing whatever without a degree and think that means they are wasting there time in school. College is the launchpad for alot of the good jobs out there but there are plenty of career paths that will not be accessable without the right major. At the same time its not for everyone, and anyone who says you won't have a good job without college is making assumptions about your future they have no clue about.

When i was in high school i learned to be a machinist through the school. Every year we had a guy from one of the tech training schools come in and talk about how we should go to tech training instead of college. Basicly the most interesting thing i noticed was that if you look at the trend the job market switches every 5-10 years between wanting college degrees to having to many college degrees and wanting technical trained people.

Edit: I am totaly against the college experiance. The only thing i learned outside of class is that i hate pop culture more than i ever thought and that i never want to be an alchoholic. I guess i've just had a bad experiance with people who "live the college life" and really see no value to it. I guess if your not into the whole irresponsible fun thing (read: sticking your penis in anyone who'll let you) its kinda pointless.

Theres more to the "college life" that getting wasted every thursday night.

Exactly, when I said "the college experience", I wasn't referring to drunken frat parties and going to bars every night. I was referring to learning how to take responsibility, learning how to solve your own problems without having your parents there to wipe your ass every step of the way, learning how to interact with others in a manner more professional and mature than high school. Some of you may have figured this out before you got to college, but I know I didn't.

 

[Drakkon]

Major : Mathematics
Job : Web Class Designer
they dont exaclty go together but occasionally they compliment each other.

 

[elzmaddy]

Major: Nothing
Job: Nothing
They're related. =)

bahahahahah hillarious

 

[Acts837]

BS in Construction Science
MS in Information Technology

I am a Marine...don't use my degrees much.