Do you have a "useless" degree? - Page 2

[Mary-Beth]

B.A. in sociology with a social work concentration.

Ok I won't go as far to say it's useless. However, you virtually cannot get a job in sociology or in social work without a master's degree AND fluent in Spanish in my area-- and the salary of even those jobs still wouldn't provide for me and my kids.
So it feels kind of useless in the sense that I will have to go back to school.

I enjoyed college and learned way more than I did in high school. Plus, some jobs require a degree. It just was very expensive and now not really helping me support my family.

[Aubergine68]

BA, MA and most of a PhD in English lit. Not using it, except in the sense that it made me who I am today. Don't regret it at all, either.

Am now taking courses in child development and would love to do more psychology/sociology stuff. Or evolutionary biology.

[KSLaura]

I have a BA in psychology. I spent the first part of my career as an Army officer. Now I work as a computer system administrator.

My husband has a BA in history. He is a stock broker.

[CatsCradle]

Bachelor of fine arts in printmaking. Master of fine arts in painting and printmaking. Law degree.

I'm an attorney but still an artist at heart. While I practice law, my art background made the person that I am today. One-note people don't interest me (i.e. lawyers who have no interests outside of law). I don't buy the idea that education is useless. I tend to agree with a previous poster that writing and reading comprehension skills are paramount to finding any kind of good work. Even in my own profession, I'm amazed at the number of people who don't have a grasp of the English language and grammar.

For those of you who think your English degree is waste....think again. People who are able to speak well, write well, spell well and communicate on any level well, are rare breeds indeed. You are horribly and gratefully needed in many areas! I don't care if you're an administrative assistant or a marketing director...it translates across all fields.

[e(Lisa)beth]

Me! I have a history degree and I work in finance.

[geekgolightly]

I have a bare bones technical education degree (ADN and work as an RN) but before my nursing life, I was playing around in college having the best time taking courses such as feminist philosophy, post modern cultural anthropology, biological psychology and sociology of deviance. I regret not having the money to continue to take courses like those.

People in the health field generally don't have much of an interest in Derrida, Baudrillard or Kristeva and I really miss those heated debates and exploration of ideas. Maybe when I win the lottery, I can return to school.

[Momily]

I might just win this one.

I have a degree in comparative politics, with a specialty in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries (apologies for those of you young'uns scratching your heads about what that could possibly mean). I graduated in 91 AFTER the Berlin Wall fell. My degree went from cutting edge to obsolete before I even walked across the stage.

But it taught how to write, and research, and think. It allowed me to go to graduate school in my current field which lead to my current career.

[Toteblume]

Originally Posted by Momily

I might just win this one.

I have a degree in comparative politics, with a specialty in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries (apologies for those of you young'uns scratching your heads about what that could possibly mean). I graduated in 91 AFTER the Berlin Wall fell. My degree went from cutting edge to obsolete before I even walked across the stage.

But it taught how to write, and research, and think. It allowed me to go to graduate school in my current field which lead to my current career.

Okay, I think this is just awesome! I'm impressed. I bet you're fascinating company at dinner.

[workjw]

I have a degree in political science, and I need 3 semesters to finish my degree in fine arts... and now? I'm a farmer. Apparently I change direction a lot!

I'm glad I have the education, even if I'm not actively using the information.

[madskye]

I have a B.A. in English with an emphasis on Fiction Writing!

I worked in children's book publishing for many years, in sales and marketing. Now I own a consulting company and do sales and marketing for small publishers. Financially, I do very well and I love what I do, for the most part.

I don't regret my degree at all, I think my writing and debating skills help me tremendously on the job. Critical thinking is key.

[JF1212]

Resources for Changing Career After Motherhood?

I have a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Women's Studies. At the time, I was adamant about studying what I wanted to and figured I'd find jobs that valued my writing skills. But that's only led me to Administrative Assistant jobs at nonprofits. It's especially frustrating because I studied feminism and women's empowerment and now I feel like I'm in a unempowering pink ghetto work-wise.

Now I'm 30 and am TTC. So, I'll have to make some career choices and fit some career training in somehow.

Does anyone know of any good books or web sites on women establishing/changing careers after motherhood (or on work/life balance) that don't have the premise that you're either a SAHM or were already the CEO of a company before motherhood? I really can't find a lot.

[Halfasianmomma]

I guess I should have added that I also have a 2 year diploma in musical theatre presentation...rather useless as an admin assist. I loved the course (it was like going to school at FAME!), but 20K in student loans later, I kinda wish I had gone a different direction

[babynatasha]

I have an American Sign Language Interpreting degree. I work as an engraver. No deaf people here!

[aelf]

I have a B.A. in Philosophy. I work as a computer programmer. Explaining my degree inevitably takes up half of any job interview I've ever had.

I'm getting a more job-appropriate degree (M.S. in Human Centered Computing) but that's less interesting.

[freestylemama]

I do! I have two "useless" degrees and a part time job I love that I have because of them. I hate the concept of "useless" degrees.

[Juvysen]

I have a masters degree in "educational studies". Which had started out as one in elementary ed, but i sorta quit but wanted to push through and finish the degree... so I switched. It doesn't qualify me to teach (well, maybe in private school), and I don't really want to teach, anyway. I don't work, currently (sorry, came in from new posts), but I really don't know what i could possibly do with it except maybe educational research via a phd, which I'm not interested in either.

[Fujiko]

I have a degree in biology, with no specialty or anything. I could work in a lab...BORING! I was going to go to med school, but decided against it.

Shoulda been a nurse.

[tana'smama]

I don't know about useless but I want to change fields--

Have a AA in Accounting, AS in Liberal Arts, BS in Accounting and was 5 classes short of getting my Masters in Accounting, have passed the CPA exam but not licensed because I haven't worked under a CPA.

I had a job that I loved (in Accounting) but now have a job I hate(in Accounting)....it's tough working these days when you know how it is to love a job...

Being an extreme introvert, I find it hard to get jobs paying the salary that I know someone else with my eduction could get easily.

I wish I could get into a field that is more 'introvert friendly' or WAH....feel free to toss me suggestions...I actually wish that I could write...

Thanks!

[jenneology]

How about a Master's degree in Early Childhood Education? It makes me so ridiculously over qualified to teach preschool. I could make $12 an hour with it, awesome! The only thing it is good for is getting to a PhD program at this point....

[EdnaMarie]

Bachelor's in philosophy.

I want to go to law school (or something).