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I'd like to know what people study/studied in University and how they feel about it. Was it what you expected? Do you feel you made the right choice or would you change your BA/MA if you could? Was it easy to find a job once you had graduated?
I received a BS in Accountancy and then went directly into an MBA. Accounting was never a passion of mine even when I started but I knew it would be easier to find a job with it than a general business or Finance degree. I also considered MIS for a short time but I don't think it would have lead to the outcomes I wanted careerwise at the time.
It's pretty much what I expected. Though it has been even more versatile than I would have believed (and I believed it was very versatile back then). I have worked in traditional accounting/finance roles as well as some pretty specialized areas where I don't really use my accounting background as much as what I learned in my MBA/other management classes. But even in the latter area I am still considered a part of the Finance Dept.
About the only other thing I would have considered at the time I chose accounting as a major would have been Computer Science but I didn't want to deal with the math. So I guess no I wouldn't change it. I may consider getting a masters in CS or something to supplement or maybe I'll sit for a couple of actuarial exams when my wife completes her studies/training.
Yes, it was easy to find a job and it has been easy to find one ever since. I have also been lucky in that all of my job changes have been moves up.
I have a BA in English and MA in Creative Writing. I would do my BA again; it's never failed to get me jobs. Currently I work in Marketing and am making a decent salary. However, I would not do my MA again. Waste of time and money in my opinion, even though I earned it from a UK university. It was one of those situations where I didn't know any better and I didn't have anyone in my life who did. I could have easily got along fine without it, especially now that it has doubled my student loan debt.
I rely solely on my BA for jobs. Thankfully that, along with my job experience, has not failed me one bit. In the past I would randomly include my MA on my resume, depending on if I thought it would help me with a particular job application (it never did). Now I completely leave it off the education heading on my resume, delegating it instead under the heading "International Studies." I don't even specify it's a degree. I simply give the name of the school, location, and what I studied. I don't even intend to put it on the bio of the book I will publish later this year. No sense giving credit where credit isn't due.
Sorry for being blunt, but it does not stop surprising me, how folks go into a barely applicable education and then say "I am next to graduating and have no idea if I'll ever find a job". But that's just me. European affairs must be very very sought for education in the country and someone has to do it. I am simply too practical, pragmatic of a person. At least, not a business manager, which looks like soon all we'll have will be business managers and no one who actually produces something.
But anyhow. I have unfair advantage, as I have 11 years of universities, and 8 o them from the USSR. You folks have no idea, how "made easy" education is here in the USA. Both of my sons have universities, and private and expensive, from here too, and both said - we basically became experts not from education, but from self education. 'Oh, and btw, the way it is - if you really know what you do and in profitable market niche - no one even asks for your education, or easy work arounds will be found to employ you and do the job.
Sorry.
Sorry for being blunt, but it does not stop surprising me, how folks go into a barely applicable education and then say "I am next to graduating and have no idea if I'll ever find a job". But that's just me. European affairs must be very very sought for education in the country and someone has to do it. I am simply too practical, pragmatic of a person. At least, not a business manager, which looks like soon all we'll have will be business managers and no one who actually produces something.
But anyhow. I have unfair advantage, as I have 11 years of universities, and 8 o them from the USSR. You folks have no idea, how "made easy" education is here in the USA. Both of my sons have universities, and private and expensive, from here too, and both said - we basically became experts not from education, but from self education. 'Oh, and btw, the way it is - if you really know what you do and in profitable market niche - no one even asks for your education, or easy work arounds will be found to employ you and do the job.
Sorry.
The OP is attending university in the EU. European Affairs is likely a quite applicable degree for many government position in EU nations!
Sorry for being blunt, but it does not stop surprising me, how folks go into a barely applicable education and then say "I am next to graduating and have no idea if I'll ever find a job". But that's just me. European affairs must be very very sought for education in the country and someone has to do it. I am simply too practical, pragmatic of a person. At least, not a business manager, which looks like soon all we'll have will be business managers and no one who actually produces something.
But anyhow. I have unfair advantage, as I have 11 years of universities, and 8 o them from the USSR. You folks have no idea, how "made easy" education is here in the USA. Both of my sons have universities, and private and expensive, from here too, and both said - we basically became experts not from education, but from self education. 'Oh, and btw, the way it is - if you really know what you do and in profitable market niche - no one even asks for your education, or easy work arounds will be found to employ you and do the job.
Sorry.
If you are referring to me, I know it won't be easy to get into the EU but I have all the qualifications needed to get there and it is something I am passionate about. I have no doubt that I will find a job when I graduate (even if it's not in the EU) due to the fact that I have a University degree, which is considered much more prestigious in my country than a College degree is in the US (only 10% of Dutch students attend University). If you think my education is barely applicable, you're wrong. EU experts are highly sought after by national governments, the EU itself, NGOs, businesses, Universities, you name it.
Anyway, I noticed that many people on this board have a very strange attitude towards education. It seems that the only thing that matters is how much money will you make, even if it means you have to do something you have absolutely no interest in. That's very sad.
If you are referring to me, I know it won't be easy to get into the EU but I have all the qualifications needed to get there and it is something I am passionate about. I have no doubt that I will find a job when I graduate (even if it's not in the EU) due to the fact that I have a University degree, which is considered much more prestigious in my country than a College degree is in the US (only 10% of Dutch students attend University). If you think my education is barely applicable, you're wrong. EU experts are highly sought after by national governments, the EU itself, NGOs, businesses, Universities, you name it.
Anyway, I noticed that many people on this board have a very strange attitude towards education. It seems that the only thing that matters is how much money will you make, even if it means you have to do something you have absolutely no interest in. That's very sad.
Can't provide for you or a family off hopes and dreams. Some people view education in a practical way, others sometimes romanticize it. I think either way is fine. Whatever makes the person happy is what really matters. The saying "Working to live or living to work?" applies here.
I don't know if I wasted my time in college or not since the job that I have came from my 20 years working in the medical field in the Air Force. I guess that I would have the same position rather I had a degree or not.
BA in Biology. I took additional classes for many years in a variety of areas, totaling 257 semester hours.
I have always worked in my field, and can retire when I want. Things are going well now, so there is no reason to retire just yet. I like being able to move around, instead of sitting at a desk all day. Also, the activity of the job allows me to eat more food. I am one of the fortunate ones in my field. Job opportunities are scarce.
People in this forum talk about only getting a major in a field with a lot of job openings, but fail to mention just how competitive these fields are. If you can not pass differential equations, you will not be able to become an engineer or a pharmacist.
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