University - Is it a total waste of time these days????

i sat down and thought about where the course was going and what i wanted ... it wasnt working out and i just want to get into the job chain... im sick of education.

Its not a total waste of time but its a pretty much useless these days.

This is because every muppet & his dog goes to uni and can most probably pass a degree if he has a half decent memory.

All the thick c u n t s from school who left education at 16 and got a trade have turned out to be the clever ones in the long run.......

someone told me plumbers are no longer needed at anywhere near the same level they where at a few years ago because evryones jumped on the bandwagon - to be fair its hardly a pleasant job and as the demand decreases so will the wages so all those that have left well paid jobs to do skilled trades are in the long run probs not doing themselves any favours...


uni isnt worthless - its a nessecity for most well paid jobs... fact.

everyone knows a few exceptions - people who've made it lucky - but it definatley isnt the majority....

its who you know, not what you know at the end of the day and a degrees always going useful to fall back on...

you wouldnt even get to the interview stage without a degree for most jobs of any worth- trust me ive been looking for the last 6 months

Aye I told ya that the other day... me brother-in-law is a plumber/electrician and my sister was gonna do a plumbing course to give him a hand cos he has lots of work (plus being female she it was suggested she would be likely o attract female customers). It was right at the time when there was a highly publicised lack of plumbers. Loads of people started to apply for the courses so she decided against it... apparently there is a shortage of plasterers now tho... get on that one while ya can

argh, i'm seriously considering whether i shud continue with my engineering degree @ newcastle

i read that as -

hes saying degrees are all to common so its not what you got in your degree or what your degree is in etc. something that would have counted for a lot 10 years ago -

its what you have on top of that that counts because so many people have been through higher education...

not - "a degree is worthless" - because without it you wouldnt even be considered for most jobs of any standard- they're like gcse's now, its a prerequisite...

just look in the jobs papers...

thats just my interpretation of what you wrote and also what im being told through the careers officers at my uni

the people i know from school who did that are either -

at uni

in the forces

or in a job where they can't move any higher because graduates come in above them unless they go day release at uni or just leave and go to uni full stop

and mosty all stayed in huddersfield or live with their parents still...

im gonna sound 'uppity as fuck' but to be fair i think ive got a better deal - i live in a good house, ive moved away from my parents and lived in a different city and been dependent on my own, ive got lots of friends from all over the country and the world, ive learnt a lot about different people and definately grown up a lot more, ive become more open minded, ive lived and worked in a foriegn country for nearly 5 months, ive had the freedom to do what i want - when i want, ive had three brilliant summers - and at the end of all this ill have a degree...

ive had the time of my life at uni and i wouldnt swap it for anything

On a serious note however....

As other's have said, it really depends what you do, the demand in the field etc.

Practical experience is essential these days.

I'm doing a degree in Network Computing, which is regarded as one of the fastest developing sectors in computing today.

As part of my course, i do the Cisco CCNA, and having a Cisco certification is certainly a good thing given the stature of the company.


Aswell as this, I do a placement year, past placements have included BT, AT&T, Cisco Systems, BAE Systems, European Space Agency and the like, so essential experience will be gained. Placement years typically pay between 12-16k, sometimes higher.

So at the end of it, I come out with an Honours Degree, CCNA, and the years practical experience to boot. I'm aiming for a first too, or a 2:1. I'm also considering continuing to do a Masters in Network Systems.

What do I hope to get out of it? A decent wage, a nice car, and a decent house, and I'm sorted. I'm living at home at the minute, and although I will be in debt its not extreme like some others.

I really love what I do at uni, indeed unlike alot of students, I spend more time putting the work in as opposed to being in the pub, I don't go on the piss every night like some of my mates at uni do! Then again its in Sunderland and I live in Newcastle!

I also aspire to have my own company some day, or be reasonably high up in someone else's. Some of the jobs you can go on to pay up to £120k a year!

So to sum it up...for what I want to do, I think a degree is the best route to take

i left school a long time ago with 5 gce
yes gce's (before the gcse's came about)
now i earn over 45k as an electrical draughtsman
left school at 16
i regularly draw over £800 a week
i wasnt bright enough for uni in them days
but i know who is laughing now ha ha

scruf you miss the point, to jump into £35k+ job yes a degree would look more attractive than 9 GCSE's.... but to be fair very few companies would employ either... Instead you work your way up.

However if someone with industry experience applies for that same job - the uni graduate wont get a look in, are you seriously trying to tell me that someone wtih 3-5 years of relevant industry experience has less of a chance getting the job than some snotty nosed kid fresh out of university who's only taste of the real world is collecting glasses at the local student union?

Degrees mean fuck all now unless your a professional.

Thats what my dad did, he did an apprentischip type thing in being an electrition, he left school @ 16, he now works on the oil rigs and brings in slightly more than you do.

uni 'learning' is nothing compared to when u get into the commercial sector. i learnt more in the first 6 months of having a 'proper' job than i did in throughout my 3 years at uni. yeah, u could argue i chose i shit course or i only got out what i put in - but like joe says - 3 years experience doing a similar job is much more attractive to employers than a straight-from-uni student full of the theory of a job. it means sod all.

i'm also an ex-student and fully support students - also, i wouldn't change a thing about me going to uni - i moved to another city and shaped my own life at 18. People who stay in their home city and still live at home while they go to uni confuse me - part of the uni life thing is moving AWAY from the apron strings.

the good thing about my work is i get to sleep at home every night
i dont travel away
i live in seaham and work in darlington

suppose, but my dad only works 2 weeks out of the month, then comes home for the other 2 and can do what ever the hell he likes

yeah
i realise that sarah
2 of my bros worked on the rigs for a long time
but they have moved on now
and a few of my friends work on them now

Re: University - Is it a total waste of time these days????

I know what you mean m8, I have more qualifications than any of my m8's...however I get paid the least amount of money. I have one friend who had no GCSE's and makes £800 per week welding pipes together, he has an audi TT his own gaff and loads of £££ and time to spend it. If he's @ work past 12 on a Friday he gets the huff on, wish I could do it. Makes me sick after 11 GCSE's 3 A levels and an HND :evil:

That's a fair point but I basically look after myself. The main reason I went to Sunderland was cos of the ratings it's had and the fact that its a Cisco centre, and the facilities/equipment on Campus.

Nowhere else seemed to offer that that I would have went to.