Waste of time going really... (1 Viewer)

[ElendilPeredhil]

I've heard the stories about people, they spend 3,4,5 year of their life in uni, rack up thousands of dollars in debt and graduate to discover that they're unemployable, no-one wants them or there are 100,000 other graduates competing with them for 2 jobs. So, I just wanted to know, what kind of degrees do you all think lead to this dismal future?

 

[mr_brightside]

It depends on alot of things.
how well you go, the industry at the time, how many other people are doing it.

Graphic design is shite atm, but we're coming into another IT boom.

 

[Tulipa]

AND ONCE AGAIN PEOPLE HOW MUCH "IN DEBT" YOU ARE DEPENDS ON THE DEGREE YOU DO.

ie. my debt is only going to be around $15 000 - $20 000

and i like uni i'm doing casual work at a law firm at the moment. and uni is by far the better choice. oh yeah.

 

[kami]

^ I totally agree with the above. It totally depends on your degree (and university for that matter) as to how much debt you'll incur - for example LLB/BMedSci at UTS will cost you waaaaaay more than a BA or BCA at MQ/UOW.


Another thing to remember is that uni doesn't just give you a qualification with one possible job at the end of it - instead you gain generic skills to go with your wider knowledge that can be applied in quite a few areas. As an example, my communications degree has fairly bad employment prospects when compared with say medicine, but I gain skills and experiences that will be of some help anywhere I go.

If you want certain employment, less time spent and less debt though, then TAFE is really the ideal for you.

Also, industry demand goes up and down like a yoyo - its never certain that you will be highly employable.

 

[turtleface]

I said something similar in another thread, so this is like dejavu lol

I think it depends on what course you do, like people have said.

When I was in high school I heard about MA (Masters of Arts) grads who end up working as waiters cause they are unemployed (professionally)

I was like shite, uni education is useless and no guarantee of job or anything

Now you go to uni, and you see so many Arts bums (those who do Arts for the sake of doing uni) and you wonder why theres so many Uni grads with little career options.

don't get me wrong I'm not bagging Arts people in general. A lot of them are good and dedicated in striving for careers in Literature, History, Geography, Psych, all sorts of weird and wonderful things. Its just that there aren't many jobs for anyone other than the very dedicated Arts students, especially since Law is becoming the new generalist degree for someone who wants to go do uni, just for the sake of doing uni.

Its not just Arts, theres a lot of courses with a higher than average proportion of bums/not very committed people, as well as a lower employment chances(talk about a double whammy for those people)

On the other hand you have courses like Commerce where almost 100% of people get jobs (as long as they do mainstream majors like Accounting, Finance, Economics), some way before they graduate. A lot of Accounting students I know have got jobs promised since they were in 1st year. And for every 1 graduate in Accounting, there are by all means at least 3 to 4 different vacancies open. And who cares if you have $100,000 in debt when you'll be earning that every year within 5 or so years anyway (if you're decent and ambitious).

 

[Captain Gh3y]

How is that even possible though, I mean, there's about 100,000 commerce students just at unsw and usyd put together. How many accountants does the world really need?

 

[SaintMichael]

How is that even possible though, I mean, there's about 100,000 commerce students just at unsw and usyd put together. How many accountants does the world really need?

i doubt that is the case because the total numbers of students from both university combined which include undergrad as well as postgrad is approximately 85k, now, you cant assume that all of them do commerce. Thus, your point is invalid.

 

[Captain Gh3y]

i doubt that is the case because the total numbers of students from both university combined which include undergrad as well as postgrad is approximately 85k, now, you cant assume that all of them do commerce. Thus, your point is invalid.

ultra-literalist huh?

I guess most of them go back to their own country upon completing their degree, though.

 

[jase_]

I think if you are interested in your course and have a passion for the industry that your course is in, then you should be able to find a job. It's true that some areas are easier to find jobs in than others, but if you try hard then you should be fine.

Funnily enough, there is actually a shortage of accountants at the moment. Sure there are plently of people with a commerce degree but just having a degree isn't always going to get you a job. You need to have good people skills and such as well. Just something to keep in mind for any field of work you go into

 

[SaintMichael]

ultra-literalist huh?

I guess most of them go back to their own country upon completing their degree, though.

well that was a valid assumption there.

 

[nwatts]

uni is about the social life anyway.

the course i'm doing is good, no question. but i wouldn't still be there if it wasn't for the people.

 

[turtleface]

How is that even possible though, I mean, there's about 100,000 commerce students just at unsw and usyd put together. How many accountants does the world really need?

1 grad : 3 or 4 grad vacancies is a conservative estimate. A lecturer of ours recently said that he thought it was more like 1 grad : 10 grad vacancies.

Some people I know have received about 6 offers on graduation, from Big 4, mid-tier, ASIC, auditor generals office, all sorts of joints.

Heaps of others have already been hired in 1st year uni, and a lot more are hired on cadetships in year 12. Thats how bad the shortage is at the moment.

Of course, we're talking about quality candidates here. A firm usually lets the spot be unfilled rather than have someone crap there. All this means is more work but more money for the other people.

Also as others have said I'd say the majority (in our uni at least) accounting students are overseas based, so most of them won't work here.

Current in demand people are Accountants and Engineers amongst others.

I take back some of what I said before about Arts. If you really are into Arts its a good degree. Its just that a lot of ppl arent

 

[PrincessSJ]

I think if you are interested in your course and have a passion for the industry that your course is in, then you should be able to find a job. It's true that some areas are easier to find jobs in than others, but if you try hard then you should be fine.

Totally agreed!! Have passion for the course you're doing and ultimately, the profession you will take on for the best part of your life and you will go far.

There's not a lot of metro teaching positions available at the moment, but if you get to the interview and tell them how much passion you have for teaching, and why their staff would benefit from your expertise, you're more likely to get a job than if you tell them you just did teacher because you didn't get into engineering (for example)...

It's the perspective you have of uni. If you're doing it for a guaranteeed job at the end, don't hold your breath. If you're in a degree that you're passionate about and would like to make some changes in that profession then good luck to you, you will go far!!

 

[ElendilPeredhil]

I totally agree, do the course for your interests/passions not the job at the end but I do know some people who are going: 'I don't care what course I have to do, I just want to earn a lot of money' and yeah, whilst thats not recommended, (I'm choosing subjects I could stand doing for a long time) it happens.

Lol poor Arts students, my parents won't let me go to uni just to do a straight Bachelor of Arts, they reckon its a waste of time and money. So I'd have to do combined if I wanted to do Arts.

 

[turtleface]

I remember I read this a while ago, but its interesting

http://www.careerone.com.au/jobs/job-search/get-that-job/pid/1629?matrix=1141272003336
Its entitled: "uni the worst investment" and was published in the australian

 

[SaintMichael]

I remember I read this a while ago, but its interesting

http://www.careerone.com.au/jobs/job-search/get-that-job/pid/1629?matrix=1141272003336
Its entitled: "uni the worst investment" and was published in the australian

i remember reading this in the Australian a few months back, all i have to say is that her argument is flawed.

 

[mr_brightside]

i remember reading this in the Australian a few months back, all i have to say is that her argument is flawed.

haha. at least she has one.

 

[tlodg]

take uni as a way of making "connections" for your future. It could be useful this way.

 

[SaintMichael]

uni is a way to meet up hot chicks and sometime dumb dick but you need to take both the bad and the good in life.

 

[turtleface]

^ lol, yeah there are heaps of dickheads at uni

I think on average a uni education is better than none

I totally agree, do the course for your interests/passions not the job at the end but I do know some people who are going: 'I don't care what course I have to do, I just want to earn a lot of money' and yeah, whilst thats not recommended, (I'm choosing subjects I could stand doing for a long time) it happens.

True, if you're committed to the course, any field can give you a successful career (and lots of money for those materialistically inclined)