To study or work your way up the ladder

PU7E

PU7E

PU7E

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Hi,

I know most of you have probably had plenty of these posts in the past but I would like to know people’s opinions and experiences in this matter.

To study or work that is the question...

Study
finish my access course head to Uni for the next 3 years, studying to finally be qualified for the job I’ve been doing for the past 4 years.

Working
For the past few years I’ve had several electronics jobs and never had a problem working my way up the last job offer I had was for 21k+ and is still on the table.

Based on your experiences what do you guys & girls think is a better route?
 
Studying is expensive, and might not get you a better salary... but it is still a lot of fun to do. I don't regret going to uni, even with my mountain of debt :)
 
This is a bit of a generalisation, but at some point in your career you're going to want to change jobs or move up and they'll be a criteria in the job description that says "degree educated" and if you don't meet that, no matter how good you are or your CV reads, your application will get binned.

Doesn't make it right, but unfortunately how it often is.
 
Depends on the future roles that you see yourself going for. Sadly the above happens often in larger organisations who get hundreds of applications for a job as a first filtering process for most jobs.
 
The average person with a degree will climb higher up the ladder, earn more money etc than the average person with no degree. You might find that the £21k job is as far as you would ever go with no degree. As has previously been mentioned you might find the next step up requires a degree, or requires a qualification eg CEng that itself requires a degree. It all depends on your ambition and the career path you want to take.
 
BigT said:
This is a bit of a generalisation, but at some point in your career you're going to want to change jobs or move up and they'll be a criteria in the job description that says "degree educated" and if you don't meet that, no matter how good you are or your CV reads, your application will get binned.

Doesn't make it right, but unfortunately how it often is.
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Thats a good point theres the posibility iv been very lucky with my past 3 jobs each getting better based on my experence and suppose luck only lasts so long.

Teknobry said:
Any chance of your employer giving you day release in order to get qualifications?
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The option is available to me should I want it.

big_white_dog84 said:
The average person with a degree will climb higher up the ladder, earn more money etc than the average person with no degree. You might find that the £21k job is as far as you would ever go with no degree. As has previously been mentioned you might find the next step up requires a degree, or requires a qualification eg CEng that itself requires a degree. It all depends on your ambition and the career path you want to take.
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That is a very good point I want to aim to design and developing new products something the company I would work for does, but I’m unsure on how far they would let me go and how valuable the experience would be to another company should I need another job. I know experience is starting to count for more but nothing is certain.
 
If i was you i would take the route that i've taken.

I'm currently doing a full time degree in business along with doing a normal 8-5 job however this is really hard work!

It basically entails me to basically go to lectures every tuesday from 630-930 of an evening and then once to twice a month do a saturday 9-5 with a heck of a lot of homework.

The obvious benefit of this is that you get the best of both worlds a proper degree plus work experience and imo if you show that to a future employer they will be able to see you are very hard working and motivated. BUT you do lose a lot of your social life mines gone down hill the past couple of months due to me not managing my time effectively such as right now im at uni going to be doing an all nighter and then got work at 8 :(.

But you still get to meet a lot of people but again you wont experience the proper university life as well. Depends how determined and hard working you are at the end of the day!
 
I'm currently studying at kingston uni just by luck its round the corner and its apparently a good business uni. But basically i'm doing a foundation degree for two years like all unis the first year doesn't count doing my second year now hence the reason i'm putting a lot more effort in this time round!
Then after you've done that if you've passed all the modules you can then do a top up year and try and attain a BA which is what i'm aiming for as a foundation degree is sneered upon i think!

However you can have a break for several years until you take that although i'd rather just get it over and done with! i think a lot of unis do them now though?

p.s if you've got a good employer they may pay the fees mine are something like 3.5k for the 2 years i think :D so i'm having to pay nothing live with the parents no dorm costs nothing :)
 
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I think given the choice again I would work my way up. OK so I might end up earning 3k more a year after a degree, but the 19k of student loan and 8k of student account debt I am in significantly shadows that.
 
PU7E said:
Looking at something in electronics and potentially would study the new computer science with electronics engineering.
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Go to uni. Yes you will have debt but you'll have a great time. Uni IMO not only teaches academically but also provides one with many life skills.
 
I'm doing something similar to LeoN88.

I've reached as far as I can go in my current company, and whilst I'm stuck there with so few alternatives due to lack of other job opportunities, I've decided to do a self-funded HND. At times it is very hard going, with upto 20 hours on top of a 42 hour working week, but I survived the first year, and the second is seeming slightly easier. I'm taking my time and doing it over 4 years (4 units/year, 16 total). I'll be able to 'top-up' to a degree for an extra 1 year at various universities, one of which is fairly near to me (hopefully by this point I'll have moved on to a company that will give me support).

Experience and a decent qualification earned through hard graft and determination counts for a lot to potential employers. Experience alone doesn't always cut it.
 
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Could you perhaps look at some OU offerings?

Have a hunt around for the kind of jobs you would like to do, or where you would like to be, and see what they are looking for.

Given the position I am in now, I could have been better off if I went straight into a job, and did my degree say over 6-8 years, rather than 4 and then work. That way, once I got to the point of having my Degree, I would also have 6-8 years experience, and hopefully worked up the ladder a bit during then with a base salary to work from.

The amount of people going to Uni these days is only increasing the standards employers are looking for, so If you could manage your current role, along with doing whatever course suits you best, then I would consider doing that.
 
In 2005 I applied to several universities. I successfully secured a place at University College London studying Mathematics and Computing Science.

To earn some extra cash over the summer I responded to an advert for "CAR ENTHUSIAST WANTED" in the local newspaper. A decent salary was offered and I thought it could be an ideal way to earn some money, instead of just the usual retail or bar work. I got the job.

I started in May and, come October, I was meant to leave to head off to university. I'd banked about £4,000. I thought it was a nice little summer earner for someone just out of college. Here comes the problem - I didn't leave. I really enjoyed the work and it was an ideal mix of working with computer technology in the automotive industry.

Fast forward five years (I can't believe it has gone so quick!) and we've gone through two takeovers, I've had several promotions, more than doubled my earnings, enjoyed special performance bonuses, have travelled across Europe and North America (I spent about 3 months in the USA last year) and worked my **** off through it all. It's been a great five years and I've established myself as a very skilled and capable member of the team.

Last Monday we started official redundancy consultation. I'm finding myself in the precarious position of maybe, or maybe not, being kept on by the parent company. All of the people that know I am a valuable asset to the organisation are powerless to do anything. I am seriously facing the prospect of not having a job in 8 weeks time.

So where do I find myself?. I am considering where I want to go with my career. I am really unsure what to do. I am looking around at other jobs. I have an incredibly eventful five years of industry experience and a great employment history in terms of promotions, travel and achievements etc., but for every job I look at around my salary level there is something missing not only missing from my CV, but missing from me as a person - a degree.

I often think back to the faithful summer of 2005, and what would have happened if I had left the company and studied at UCL. I could have spent 2 years in a graduate job, or a year in a graduate job and have an MSc under my belt. I may be earning more than now, maybe less. I may be experiencing international travel and really enjoying work, or maybe not. Who knows.

What I do know, though, is that if I had a degree I would not be facing quite the uncertainity that I am now in terms of both being kept on by the company and what my opportunities are elsewhere in the big wide world.

My advice, after half a decade of my own experiences on this very subject, are to go to university.
 
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studying is a waste of time these days, the amount of students that finish uni and dont have jobs is insane. i think over 60% cant get any jobs and wont. That number is going up every year so degrees dont matter like they used to. And then its paying off all those bills and Loans which you borrowed from uni.

get a job and work yourself up.
 
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