Get a good job without uni?

Mr^B said:
If you are purely motivated by money then you should NOT go to university.

You should go to university to further your knowledge in a field which interests you, NOT to try and get a fast-track to a good salary.
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'Further your knowledge in a field' makes people do degrees in fields where there are few jobs like sociology, media, dance, psycology, geography as they are 'enjoyable' subjects. Doing it for money makes people do financial accounting, engineering, quantity surveying, maths etc.

Go to uni to get a better job in a field of interest to you, but don't go purely for interest (eg if you like art then doing an art degree is not going to get you a good job). The huge dept you get in must be worth something at the end or why bother.

salami1212 said:
Hi, im just wondering, what type of jobs are there available if you dont go to university? As I swear you need a degree to get a well paid job.. cheers
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Doing a degree DOESN'T AUTOMATICALLY MEAN YOU WILL GET A GOOD JOB - It has to be done in the right subject at the right place or it can be worth little.

EDIT: corrected some of my poor grammar:p
 
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mglover070588 said:
'Further your knowledge in a field' makes people do degrees in fields where there are few jobs like sociology, media, dance, psycology, geography. Doing it for money makes people do financial accounting, engineering, quantity surveying, maths etc.

Go to uni to get a better job in a field of interest, not purely for interest. The huge dept you get in must be worth something at the end or why bother.
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I agree completely with Mr^B, but I think it could have been better worded as "You should go to university to further your knowledge in an academic field which interests you". Dance and media don't not count. Sociology and geography do, when done properly.

Going to university should not be just to get a job or a big salary. University is an institution of academic research, but this seems to have changed recently. This can only be counter-productive, it will devalue real degrees.
 
p4radox said:
"You should go to university to further your knowledge in an academic field which interests you". Dance and media don't not count. Sociology and geography do, when done properly.
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Well worded:)

You can work your way up in a company and do well without qualifications, but if you ever loose your job then you could find yourself having to come back in lower down at a different company.
 
Apprenticeships can be a good way to start a career, if you get in with the right company. I'm in my final year now, and from august will be earning around £25k per year, I'm 22 because I started the apprenticeship later than most people. Most of the other apprentices are just around 20, will be earning similar amounts to me. My apprenticeship was with the power industry at a Power Station, but you can get apprenticeships in all sorts of places. I've come out with several qualifications, NC and NVQ Level 3, with the ability to go on and do HNC and degree level when I pass my HNC :)

As most people have said, its all down to the individual, i didn't go to uni as I doubted my ability to do the work on time and well enough without having some kind of incentive, having to keep a job gave a great incentive to me to keep the work rate up.
It also depends on what you like doing, and how you learn. I prefer to learn by doing which meant the apprenticeship was one of the best choices I made, you can't learn how to strip down gearboxes and pumps very well without doing it!

You can get decent paid jobs without uni, it sometimes can take longer than by going to uni but you don't get the £15k+ debt to pay back. You do however miss out socially by not going to uni from my experience visiting friends whom went to uni. :)
 
My place are hiring for a trainee desktop support guy.

Considering the area (south devon) and the experience required (small amount to none) the pay is very good (20k+ starting). You will be on 30k in 3 years. No degrees needed :)
 
Ev0 said:
My place are hiring for a trainee desktop support guy.

Considering the area (south devon) and the experience required (small amount to none) the pay is very good (20k+ starting). You will be on 30k in 3 years. No degrees needed :)
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That is really good! I could've done that job at 18. I would've had 2 years technical support experiance plus a BTEC at DDM (AAC equivilent) in IT.

I don't regret the route I've taken though. On course for 2:1 in CS if not a first, plus a year at Siemens in Vienna, which puts me in a stronger position.
 
I have to say it seems a lot of unis are looking to make people more employable, particularly those who are doing 3 year or less courses who are unlikely to stay on and be active in research or similar.

I'm on a 4-year masters course atm at Bristol doing chemistry, for which it's highly regarded. I wouldn't expect in a million years I could get a job doing chemistry without a degree unfortunately, which is why i've taken this route. It's something which I enjoy (not all of it, but some parts - it's a wide field), and with any luck it will lead to a well paid job. I don't think I was ready to start working full time after 6th form, my options were limited and I probably would have gone into IT, as I have done that part time for a while now, but I don't think I will have ever earnt as much money or been as happy in it (can be boring!).

I guess every case is different, it's very hard to generalise when each person has their own desires and abilities in life. In fact, it's probably a waste of time speculating.
 
it isn't bad, on the flip side I have a degree and wouldn't have got my first proper job without it as they only hired people who had them :)
 
People go / don’t go to University for many reasons… I decided College best suited me because it was local and they offered a course in Software Engineering / Computer Studies. The course only lasted two years and was reasonably priced, just what I was looking for as a starting point. I already had a lot of friends and an active social life so University didn’t appeal to me in that respect. I hated the idea of being in debt and leaving the Island so I decided University just wasn’t for me. Besides, I knew I could do University courses through long distance learning, so there were always other options available to me after college…

Anyway, whilst studying I had numerous jobs in retail, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed. Once I had finished college, I continued working in retail until the opportunity came up to work in IT. It did take a few years and I must admit that I was starting to worry. Eventually my luck changed and I was offered an apprenticeship in ICT / Networking at the local High School. Two years later, towards the end of my contract, I got a job working for the NHS in ICT based on my experience and knowledge, not my qualifications (which remain the same to this day as far as ICT is concerned).

I guess what I’m trying to say is that for some jobs, you don’t need to go to University in order to be employable and successful. I don’t feel like I was lucky, as I know several people who have travelled the same path as I. But there are some circumstances where you do need to go to University. For example, to become a fully qualified teacher you will almost certainly be required to have a degree in your specialist subject. To actually become a fully qualified teacher you may be required to complete a teaching qualification, such as the PGCE, where one of the prerequisites is a degree! It all depends on your circumstances and what it is you actually want to do. University isn’t for everyone… but it’s certainly a necessity for some.
 
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I tried going to uni to do a Multimedia degree and absolutely hated the uni life style so left after only a couple of months. I was lucky enough that a friend from school was working in a company that was looking for someone to help with the general up keep of computers and a bit of graphic/video editing work. I would say I definately got the job with the help of him putting in a word for me. Anyway that was around five years ago and I am still in the same company, though it has been bought over by a large European company. I have managed to work my way up the ladder and am now a Business Analyst. I don't have any qualifications apart from a Multimedia HND, a few highers and standard grades.

From my experience I would say it’s down to who you know and not what you know with some hard work in between. Looking back I am glad I didn’t go to uni and come away with all the debt that a lot of my friends now have.
 
mglover070588 said:
Doing a degree DOES AUTOMATICALLY MEAN YOU WILL GET A GOOD JOB - It has to be done in the right subject at the right place or it can be worth little.

EDIT: corrected some of my poor grammar:p
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Sorry but just had to point it out, you might have corrected some of your poor grammar but failed to notice the missing "N'T" after "DOES" which completely changes the meaning of the sentence. :p
 
Like others have said degrees are only important in certain areas like law, engineering. Far more important is knowing the right people, being good at presenting yourself to other people and/or being lucky in the right place at the right time. Most people I know who finished Uni in anything other than law, medicine aren't doing that much better than those who didn't goto Uni at all.

EDIT : though you will have good life experience at Uni if your young living in halls away from your parents for the first time. You will pay for it later though with all the debt you accumulate unless you have a rich family to support you.
 
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