Work vs Uni

Adsta

Adsta

Adsta

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I am currently in quite a good job at the moment. I am a Civil servant working as a Technician.

I got the job through an apprenticeship scheme which was enjoyable. I have been in the permenant position for 1 year now. The scheme was 3 years long. So I have been here for 4 years now.

However, I am really unsure of my career choice now. I am not enjoying the work as I thought I would.

I am currently thinking about going to uni to "re-train". I have always had a keen interest in biology and psychology.

Without making this post a huge essay. I wanted to get some other peoples thoughts on what you think I should do.

I don't want to throw a good job down the drain (espec with the way the current climate for jobs are at the moment) even if I dont enjoy the work.

On the flip side I dont want to stick with a job I am not going to enjoy and pass up a chance to re-train while I am still young and have no commitments.
 
If you went back to uni would you consider full time or part time?
How would you pay your way if you went full time?
Have you looked at OU courses?
 
anticonscience said:
And what would you want to do with Psychology?
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Exactly, as you are already in a job and you want to "re-train" you need to look at courses that will go towards a specific job, not a catch all subject (unless of course you really do want to start a career as a Psychologist, which is very rare).
 
KaHn said:
Also do something worthwhile instead of biology or psychology.

KaHn
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...?


I'm personally all for the idea that people who want to learn should go for it, but as has already been said, you should have some idea of what you want to do with it at this point, rather than a "wherever it takes me" attitude.
 
MotherMayI said:
Right, because understanding human behaviour is just so irrelevant to everything in the world.

There isnt a :rolleyes: big enogh for the ignorance you just displayed.
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That's all very well but there aren't many jobs you could actually use that understanding in, compared to say, maths, engineering, geology etc.

Alex74 said:
...?


I'm personally all for the idea that people who want to learn should go for it, but as has already been said, you should have some idea of what you want to do with it at this point, rather than a "wherever it takes me" attitude.
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But he wants to "re-train" to do something else, so a course that has nothing to do with a job he wants to do at the end isn't re-training, it's just taking a few years out to do something you enjoy (othing wrong with that, it's not retraining though).

Maybe the OP needs to sit down and thing about whether he wants to actually go to uni so he can get a better job, or go to uni to have a few years of fun while he learns something that may not be very useful in the outside world.:)
 
I want to do it full time. Since I have no been to uni before I would assume I would be eligible for some financial aid. (although that is something that will need to be researched into)

I have had a look at some potential career paths in Criminology. I find it extremely fascinating. Although I do not have a direct path I want to take. I think further research will be required.
 
Amp34 said:
That's all very well but there aren't many jobs you could actually use that understanding in, compared to say, maths, engineering, geology etc.




But he wants to "re-train" to do something else, so a course that has nothing to do with a job he wants to do at the end isn't re-training, it's just taking a few years out to do something you enjoy (othing wrong with that, it's not retraining though).

Maybe the OP needs to sit down and thing about whether he wants to actually go to uni so he can get a better job, or go to uni to have a few years of fun while he learns something that may not be very useful in the outside world.:)
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Agreed.
 
Amp34 said:
That's all very well but there aren't many jobs you could actually use that understanding in, compared to say, maths, engineering, geology etc.
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There's loads of jobs with biology. And who cares anyway? Better to try and get a job in the area your really interested in and will do well in than take a course you don't want.
 
How I see it...Uni isnt all it's cracked up to be, obviously this is my opinion:

I finished A levels and went straight into work, 80% of my friends went to Uni and were laughing as in their eyes they were getting a degree which = more money in the future and greater job prospects.

4 years down the line I earn more than most (2 earn a few grand more than me) are in similar positions, where as the rest are stuck still working as shelve stackers / bar staff as there are no jobs going / dont meet the criteria or the jobs they go for & have huge debts.

The grass isnt always greener, yes you could re-train however you are not always going to land in a job you have trained for. 1 friend trained in IT and is now head of year 10 at college! Obviously having a 'degree' did help land him this.

You say you are a technician, could you not go be a 'technition' in another line of job, just working for a different business can make things interesting for you again.
 
The main reason I am thinking of going to uni isnt just to go and have fun for a few years. I am just unhappy with the role I am currently in.

I do not care really if it leads to a better job. What I would hope for is that it leads to a job I want to do.

Applogies if in my OP the use of "re-train" is wrong. I assumed that "re-training" means to learn skills in another area from your expertise.
 
Go back to uni and have an awesome time. Whatever people who didn't go to uni try and tell you, a degree is very valuable.
 
MotherMayI said:
Right, because understanding human behaviour is just so irrelevant to everything in the world.

There isnt a :rolleyes: big enogh for the ignorance you just displayed.
Click to expand...

could have used this one...


mega-rolleyes-702628.jpg


But yes on the employability (reall word?) side of things Psychology is utterly pointless unless you go in to that vast skills gap of becoming a psychologist.

KaHn
 
Psychology isn't pointless at all. More often than not, big grad scheme recruiters are more interested in where you studied, not what you studied.
 
KaHn said:
could have used this one...


mega-rolleyes-702628.jpg


But yes on the employability (reall word?) side of things Psychology is utterly pointless unless you go in to that vast skills gap of becoming a psychologist.

KaHn
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I will in future, thank you.

I think you vastly, vastly underestimate the amount of jobs going for Psychology. Not only is there a huge amount of opportunities in the academic field, but also in commercial and civil areas. Not all Psychologists work in labs, and not all our counselors.
 
I think the first question you have to ask is why do you want a degree.

There are two primary reasons (I have been doing the whole full time education thing for a while, so am pretty sure this is more or less always true), the first is the person who wants a degree for prestige reasons, the second wants the degree as a commercial feather in their cap.

You can't argue with the first, its a personal decision as to whether the monetary and time sacrifices are worth it for that person to achieve the degree. The second however can be looked at more objectively.

If I wanted to own my own business, then perhaps it can be argued that the "skills" doing a generic business degree would garner you with would not be worth the near £20k investment and 3 years of my life. I mean, who is going to ever even look at the degree, me? :p The same can probably be said of sales roles etc.

However, getting into the upper echelons of management in most large organisations quickly without a degree can be challenging.

Something like Psychology is a very specific study area, and while undoubtedly worthwhile, very different from being a technician. Have you picked that specifically as you want to go to Uni and find you have an interest in human behaviour, or do you have a more definate plan for the degree, i.e. you wish to practice psychology in some manner?

As has been asked, do you intend to do it full or part time?

If full time, are you prepared to suddenly live on literally just enough? While you will be eligable for student loans etc, do you want to accrue £20k of debt with the government, or do you have savings and will be paying for it all yourself?

Suggestions thta you should do a degree in an area thats "worth it" are nonsense imo, what is the point in that :) Might as well stay where you are rather than go through uni doing something you arnt interested in initially only to end up in another area of employment you have never had a firm interest in.

For an idea of what being a graduate "feels like" in terms of the type of advice they are given etc, the prospects website is a good place to start, also some good useful advice on there to for potential students: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/p!eLaXi

Also, if you have a uni in mind, phone them up, they will probably find someone willing to speak to you and put your thoughts in perspective.
 
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