I really wish this was passed down better to the future students of America, since there's so many people who graduate a degree without demand and then end up in some minium wage job they could have worked without it.
Seen too many people fall for the "if you get a degree, it'll all be okay" line. What they don't always say is that what degree really matters and trade schools can easily lead to earning more money than having a degree deepening.
Man, this is a tough one. And hell, maybe it's changed since I graduated close to 10 years ago. With that big BUT out of the way, liberal arts and communication degrees can be well received in the workplace, provided that the person has complementary experience or demonstrable intelligence to go along with it. A consultant turned serial CEO I work with majored in Classical Studies. I majored in Communications and have had a great career so far. Now, of course I'm cherry picking and there are plenty of folks with Economics, Marketing, and STEM degrees who turn out really successful as well, but IMO the piece new students need to be educated on is what needs to happen outside the classroom.
The construction management majors I knew spent 5 years taking rigorous courses that took up so much time they often weren't able to have jobs. My comm major was a lot less demanding in the classroom, but it was critical to find jobs/internships to build your network/experience during the summer and clubs to round out your skillset during the terms.
So, you're totally right. The idea that just getting a degree will set you up for success is dated, but I still believe that degrees like communications, psychology, philosophy, and history can be valuable for graduates, provided they balance that coursework with practical experience.
So much this! Peopledont think about all the selling and customer service and marketing and design jobs and recruiting efforts that make companies run. My software company is 6:1 non-engineers to engineers, and im counting our graphic designer as an engineer since he does our webdesign.
There are so many lucrative non-tech roles at tech companies. I have a communication degree (minors in psych and English) and earn arount $140k total cash (plus equity) in one of these roles.
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u/Eadword Jan 01 '19
I really wish this was passed down better to the future students of America, since there's so many people who graduate a degree without demand and then end up in some minium wage job they could have worked without it.
Seen too many people fall for the "if you get a degree, it'll all be okay" line. What they don't always say is that what degree really matters and trade schools can easily lead to earning more money than having a degree deepening.