# my degree is worthless



## SilentLyric (Aug 20, 2012)

any jobs that require a high school education only I get passed over for, any jobs that ask for degrees ask for years of experience or some kind of certification or some other kind of knowledge. 

the only thing my degree gave me is debt and 5 wasted years. real talk.

so basically, I'm qualified for nothing.


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## OutsideR1 (Mar 13, 2014)

What degree is it?


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## SouthFL (Feb 20, 2016)

To many degrees too little jobs.


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## SilentLyric (Aug 20, 2012)

psychology. psychology jobs in particular always ask for certification or at least a master's in order to practice it, or some experience working with patients. I don't have any of those. I just want a job that a bachelor's in psychology is all that's needed and pays at least 30k a year. why is that so hard to find?


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## SouthFL (Feb 20, 2016)

Maybe try asking if you can shadow someone in the field. Might not pay much or any at all but you can network with people and it will give you experience with patients.


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## M0rbid (Jan 11, 2011)

go to the military or seek law enforcement jobs....


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## Kevin001 (Jan 2, 2015)

Yeah I also have a psych. degree. Pretty worthless without experience or a master's degree. I barely survived undergrad, I couldn't handle grad school and interning.


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## ilsr (Aug 29, 2010)

Mental group homes or hospitals/"developmental centers" are often staffed by young psychology or sociology grads with nowhere else to go. Maybe an avenue to apply for. However they don't likely have SA.


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## Jamie15 (May 27, 2014)

You're not alone! I graduated two years ago with a bachelor's in psychology and the only job offers I've gotten were cashier positions at grocery stores. It's so frustrating because 1. being a cashier is probably one of the worst jobs for someone with SA and 2. my SA prevents me from thinking that I would be able to make it through grad school. I don't even know what I would want to go to grad school for. However I do know that I want to work with kids, so I've been thinking about going back and getting an associate's in early childhood education to go along with my bachelor's degree, so that I can get a teacher assistant job. That way when I do decide to go to grad school, I'll have that experience working with kids. Is there anything that you're interested in where getting another degree could be a possiblity for you too? I haven't officially decided to do this yet but I think that it could be worth it later on.


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## HannahG (Aug 31, 2010)

SilentLyric said:


> psychology. psychology jobs in particular always ask for certification or at least a master's in order to practice it, or some experience working with patients. I don't have any of those. I just want a job that a bachelor's in psychology is all that's needed and pays at least 30k a year. why is that so hard to find?


Me too. I know many people with psych degrees and only 1 of them got a job in that field (she has a PHD). Seriously, when there are hundreds of colleges & universities in this country and my school alone had 1 semester with 2500 graduates of psychology alone it's no wonder many of us can't find work.

One of my old friends ended up having to work as a secretary for her husband's bricklaying business. Another one became a grade school teacher. I work in reception, another works in a call centre. We all have psych degrees.

Ironically, a friend of my sister's was able to become a music & art therapist at a hospital (high paying job, likes it) and she has NO degrees. Just a high school diploma. Why? Because she knew one of the people running the hospital.

Makes absolutely no sense.


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## SadnessAndDespair (Feb 16, 2016)

THis is why I switched my major from film to geology. Sucks being in a male dominated class/university, but I need to look 10-20 years to the future. I don't want to be some broke loser.


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## TheSkinnyOne (Sep 17, 2015)

SilentLyric said:


> psychology. psychology jobs in particular always ask for certification or at least a master's in order to practice it, or some experience working with patients. I don't have any of those. I just want a job that a bachelor's in psychology is all that's needed and pays at least 30k a year. why is that so hard to find?


im about to have a psychology bachelors. years wasted and tons of debt. I think im going to get A+ certified and fix computers for a while.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk


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## LibertyDreamer (Mar 7, 2016)

Yup 

You spend all this damn money thinking you'll get out of min wage but then nope you're left with a degree and nothing makes you wonder what the point is really.


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## 2Milk (Oct 29, 2014)

Why are psychology degrees so popular? So many people at my college are majoring in that and I don't want to destroy their dreams by telling them that it's a worthless degree unless you get a masters or PhD. Even if you do get a graduate degree it will probably take a while to break even.


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## abhivanth (May 24, 2011)

My degree is pretty worthless right now, too. I have a bachelor's in International Relations, which won't really get me anywhere unless I go back to school and pair it with a Master's (which I'd like to do, but I can't afford it right now because I'm still paying off student loans for the first degree).


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## CoffeeGuy (Sep 23, 2013)

2Milk said:


> Why are psychology degrees so popular? So many people at my college are majoring in that and I don't want to destroy their dreams by telling them that it's a worthless degree unless you get a masters or PhD. Even if you do get a graduate degree it will probably take a while to break even.


Probably because the field of psychology is seen as being fun and interesting. It's all about learning about how and why people think and do the things they do. When I was in college the general psychology class that everyone was required to take was the one class everyone seemed to love and actually enjoy going to. It also helps that it's not as heavy in math subjects which a lot of people don't like and/or aren't good at.

I know someone who got a degree in psychology and while he's doing good for himself now, he did have to go back to school and get his masters degree in order to actually get anywhere. Unfortunately, just a bachelors degree in psychology is tough to start a career on.


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## SilentLyric (Aug 20, 2012)

2Milk said:


> Why are psychology degrees so popular? So many people at my college are majoring in that and I don't want to destroy their dreams by telling them that it's a worthless degree unless you get a masters or PhD. Even if you do get a graduate degree it will probably take a while to break even.


to be fair, I do find psychology a very interesting field. it's just kind of limited for career options unless you really get into it. I wanted to just get college over with, because I felt like I had to do it, so I picked something that was interesting enough for me to deal with until I graduated.


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## Lostinlife111 (Feb 24, 2016)

SilentLyric said:


> any jobs that require a high school education only I get passed over for, any jobs that ask for degrees ask for years of experience or some kind of certification or some other kind of knowledge.
> 
> the only thing my degree gave me is debt and 5 wasted years. real talk.
> 
> so basically, I'm qualified for nothing.


This is my life right now too. I'm too over qualified to be in certain jobs but too under qualified to even start my career. So why the heck did I got to university and study my butt off to get a useless piece of paper.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Need to get a master's degree in something else or some sort of certification program in computers or whatever.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

SilentLyric said:


> to be fair, I do find psychology a very interesting field. it's just kind of limited for career options unless you really get into it. I wanted to just get college over with, because I felt like I had to do it, so I picked something that was interesting enough for me to deal with until I graduated.


This is why it's often best to work full time for a year before going to college. That way you know how hard it is to find a decent job and how much working sucks before you decide on a major.


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## Blue Dino (Aug 17, 2013)

Most bachelors degrees are complimentary and can related to all kinds of careers as long as you could spin it and convince this to hiring managers. 

I have the same problem with my first degree. It was actually a decent degree, but a few years of not being able to find a job and doing nothing with it during the recession, pretty much made that degree obsolete now.  Pretty depressing every time I think back to this.


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## TheUrbanDepressive (Feb 1, 2016)

Blue Dino said:


> Most bachelors degrees are complimentary and can related to all kinds of careers as long as you could spin it and convince this to hiring managers.


Oddly enough this has been the case for me, and I have a degree that's probably closer to the bottom on the scale of worthlessness (art/photography). I wanted to go into commercial photo, but that field conveniently left where I'm at when the recession hit (right as I started college -- more convenience!) so all that's left is freelance ****, which you often need a car for and you have to spend all this money on updated equipment. I have neither of those things, and I'm not even that good at photography, anyway. Nothing I can do about it now, though -- I was young and stupid.

But yeah, I'm finding that higher ed barely prepares you for the working world, unless you go into something that requires it (medical, law, business... and now that nearly everyone is going into those fields because they "bring in the money," they're overrun). Bachelors degrees have been devalued as a whole because way too many people have one now. How long until this happens to Masters degrees (though hopefully the student loan bubble bursts by then)?


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## Blue Dino (Aug 17, 2013)

TheUrbanDepressive said:


> But yeah, I'm finding that higher ed barely prepares you for the working world, unless you go into something that requires it (medical, law, business... and now that nearly everyone is going into those fields because they "bring in the money," they're overrun). Bachelors degrees have been devalued as a whole because way too many people have one now. How long until this happens to Masters degrees (though hopefully the student loan bubble bursts by then)?


Yeah. I think nowadays, it's more about having the right major and degree in the currently "hot" career field, rather than having a masters or PHD. Most jobs that require at least a masters, are generally pretty "non hot" career fields to begin with with very little openings and are generally very niche specialized with a low turnover rate. Unless your masters is a MBA :lol . Also being certified in certain things value much more than an actually degree in some fields now. The 4-yr advanced education model really is becoming outdated now.


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## CoffeeGuy (Sep 23, 2013)

TheUrbanDepressive said:


> But yeah, I'm finding that higher ed barely prepares you for the working world, unless you go into something that requires it (medical, law, business... and now that nearly everyone is going into those fields because they "bring in the money," they're overrun). Bachelors degrees have been devalued as a whole because way too many people have one now. How long until this happens to Masters degrees (though hopefully the student loan bubble bursts by then)?


I pretty much agree with this. It always annoys me when I read these news articles from 'experts' that claim so little of the general population has a college education and that the American workforce is suffering because of it.

I just think, "well, hell show me where all these jobs are and I'll help fill that void, cause I can't find crap with my degree". Of course I think they are usually talking about degrees in fields like Math and Science (aka, what the vast majority of college students don't major in), but I've even heard of people in these fields who can't find anything.


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## Alcadaeus (Dec 18, 2014)

My sister is on the other side of the spectrum and doesn't believe me when I tell her about what I've heard on here. I think neither of us is wrong just that every bit helps be it a degree, social skills, job experience, luck, connections, looks, money, ect. One is not enough.


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## SilentLyric (Aug 20, 2012)

^thanks


well I've decided to apply for jobs that ask for experience anyways. there are jobs that ask for just a bachelor's without needing a masters or doctorate, or certification. or they just say you need to get certified within 90 days of being hired. fine by me. But I don't think jobs that don't ask for experience exist, or if they do, they're rare as a shiny pokemon.


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## fm5827 (Mar 7, 2011)

In the same boat, got an undergrad degree in economics and it's got me nowhere. Two years on and I'm in a temporary job on minimum wage. My SA certainly didn't help me but I'm definitely considering going back and studying something more in demand because it truly sucks to be in this position. I really wish I didn't jump into uni straight out of high school.


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## 2Milk (Oct 29, 2014)

I have a high school degree and no job. J's


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## unpossible (Aug 7, 2015)

abhivanth said:


> My degree is pretty worthless right now, too. I have a bachelor's in International Relations, which won't really get me anywhere unless I go back to school and pair it with a Master's (which I'd like to do, but I can't afford it right now because I'm still paying off student loans for the first degree).


intl relations is one of my favorite subjects. I can never get bored of it. you can always apply abroad to NGOs or apply to jobs in Washington and perhaps military.


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## BJam (May 6, 2014)

Bachelors degrees are a dime a dozen these days, unfortunately. You won't get much with one unless it's in a very technical field. I have a worthless degree from years ago that sits on a shelf. 

I had to basically start over to get my second degree (Comp Sci). Luckily I landed a job while I was still in school, and walked out of there making 60k a year. Lost most of my twenties to education though, which was kind of ****.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Not having a degree can kind of screw you though. I just quit my job and today I saw the resume of the girl that is replacing me. She has an associate's degree but way more experience than me, 7-8 years of experience. 

They are offering her $18,000 less than what I'm getting. :O


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## Bargeld (Feb 17, 2015)

BJam said:


> Bachelors degrees are a dime a dozen these days, unfortunately. You won't get much with one unless it's in a very technical field. I have a worthless degree from years ago that sits on a shelf.
> 
> I had to basically start over to get my second degree (Comp Sci). Luckily I landed a job while I was still in school, and walked out of there making 60k a year. Lost most of my twenties to education though, which was kind of ****.


How do you enjoy your CS job?

If I can't find a decent academic position after I get my PhD, development bootcamp (Insight, Galvanize) is my backup plan. I'm on the fluffy side of STEM, so my current coding ability is like, baby.


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## BJam (May 6, 2014)

Bargeld said:


> How do you enjoy your CS job?
> 
> If I can't find a decent academic position after I get my PhD, development bootcamp (Insight, Galvanize) is my backup plan. I'm on the fluffy side of STEM, so my current coding ability is like, baby.


Wow. You're working towards a PhD at 26? That's pretty impressive. What are you studying?

I love development. It's what I live for these days. I love being able to completely immerse myself in a project, while learning new skills. I get to work mostly independently, and to see a real result when something is finished. Obviously, it's difficult, not for everyone, and some days it's frustrating as hell, but when things are going smoothly, or when you've just solved the next big problem, it's pretty great.


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## Bargeld (Feb 17, 2015)

BJam said:


> Wow. You're working towards a PhD at 26? That's pretty impressive. What are you studying?
> 
> I love development. It's what I live for these days. I love being able to completely immerse myself in a project, while learning new skills. I get to work mostly independently, and to see a real result when something is finished. Obviously, it's difficult, not for everyone, and some days it's frustrating as hell, but when things are going smoothly, or when you've just solved the next big problem, it's pretty great.


Yeah, I love the feeling of solving a small puzzle, then leap-frogging to the next challenge. It's like a brain sparkle.

I'm in biology. Our lab's focus bleeds into bioinformatics, and I'm just now starting to do more from the command line (feels so hardcore). I can make a batch file, submit jobs to the cluster, and... that's it. And sometimes I do some really pathetic scripting in R, where I'll spend 10 hours trying to get my data properly subsetted. But I can interpret the statistical results beautifully.


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## DarkmanX (Jun 27, 2013)

This is such a interesting read for me.

I live in Sweden. Over here it takes about 5+ yrs to get the certification. My motivation in life & school have been so low that i dont know if i can hold out that long. Ive tried a computer line but it just didnt work out, mostly for lack of motivation.

But 5+ yrs is alot. 

Im just torn between for the last time trying to take a degree in something i feel the relatively most interest in (psychology), which is hard to get in here vs a degree that may make more sense in terms of job market but may not hold as much interest in, which can cause my already low motivation (ie computer degree or just a 2 year in contruction or some after-school center with like kids).

Anyone who can give me some tips?


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## Bargeld (Feb 17, 2015)

DarkmanX said:


> psychology


Don't do it.

I'm also interested in psychology, but I would never hang my hopes and dreams of finding fulfilling work on a psychology degree. I was a psych major who figured this out midway through undergrad, so I ended up double majoring. My BA is in psychology, my BS is in biology.

Regrets from undergrad: 
-I wish I had a stronger quant background.
-My minor didn't really do much for me other than pull down my GPA.


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## Neal (Jan 14, 2012)

I dont have a Psych degree but I do have a Biology one thats not done anything for me. Like you said, you pretty much have to specialize if you want any kind of good employment in science. I kinda wish I had put more thought into it before I started declaring majors.


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## jman128 (Jan 31, 2012)

My BS is biomedical science. Its been absolutely worthless to me. Its basically the pre-med/pre-dental major and since I decided against going into a health profession, it hasn't helped me at all. It was a difficult major also. I never really learned any actual skills. I was a regurgitation of information machine. 

I should have just done accounting or marketing or whatever. Its boring but at least I'd have a career. Plus I know a lot of accountants. No one in my family is in science or healthcare so I have zero connections.

I know someone who has a psychology degree who works for a major computer company, but she had tons of previous work experience due to connections in high places.


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## Aloof Sensualist (Feb 8, 2016)

With so many people in the major, psychology is one of those disciplines that it seems graduate work is required to be really competitive in the job market.



jman128 said:


> My BS is biomedical science. Its been absolutely worthless to me. Its basically the pre-med/pre-dental major and since I decided against going into a health profession, it hasn't helped me at all. It was a difficult major also. I never really learned any actual skills. I was a regurgitation of information machine.


I think this is one of the keys. "Hard skills" are what employers are looking for. The concepts and memorization are good theory, but they aren't that practicable. I am majoring in geography but am very focused on GIS and am minoring in computer science (to go with an AS in CS) because they teach skills that employers are looking for. Plus, with hard skills you can put together a portfolio to show to potential employers.

I don't even pay attention to the memorization stuff anymore beyond passing tests, because in the workplace no one cares if you can name all of the rivers or climatic zones in Europe. It's interesting, but is more useful for Trivial Pursuit than real work. GIS & computers = jobs with government agencies and engineering firms. The "soft" side of geography = working at Walmart.


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## nubly (Nov 2, 2006)

You guys should check out medical coding. The pay can go as low as $10/ hr but it can go as high as $25/hr, higher for management positions.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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