Job Discussion Forums

bdawg · Joined: 25 Feb 2004 Posts: 526 Location: Nanjing

With [an] MBA you can own the gravy train.

I would agree with Chris_Crossleys' previous comments on this. Having an MBA might provide you with the potential to own the gravy train; however, I once read somewhere that the MBA is one of the most, if not the most popular degrees to study. That generally means lots of people with an MBA, which equals lots of competition. Kind of a supply and demand thing...when you have too much of something, its value goes down.

For instance, I teach IELTS prep and all of my students want to go overseas to study. To my surprise, hardly any of them will be studying finance, business or accounting...they will all be going after engineering and technology. Why? Because EVERYONE in China does some sort of Bachelor of Commerce, economics, or business type degree. The value of a degree like that really isn't there, as opposed to something involving technology. A lot of my friends at university were B.coms...I remember back in 1st year when they were applying for the business program at my school....they believed that getting their B.com would make them filthy rich...they were all essentially clones of oneanother.

Flash forward five years later and most of them work at a bank. They are makin' more money than me for sure, but not nealry as much as another fellow geography grad who's put a 10 month GIS diploma on top of his BA.

BA, Bsc, B.com...all the same theoretical academia...it's what you put ontop of it that really matters....unless you took law or engineering...then you're pretty much set.

mehrlin26 · Joined: 20 Feb 2004 Posts: 52 Location: South Korea

"Unless you get into law or engineering and then you're pretty much set."

Sometimes, not even then. I knew one guy who got an engineering degree and spent a year looking for a job. Of course, that may be the normal amount for an engineering grad, I wouldn't really know.

However, I've always been amused (in a sad way) about how many people in my stay at Uni. took computer degrees, thinking it was going to be a ticket for lifetime employment, only to graduate just in time for the dot-com meltdown.
Confused

Atlas · Joined: 09 Jun 2003 Posts: 662 Location: By-the-Sea PRC

A Law degree is no panacea. You have two routes, one is corporate monkey and the other is to hang a shingle. Now, if you go the former route, or get expertise in tax law or something equally arcane and mind-blowingly abstruse, you'll be fine. You get to put on a nice suit every day before the sun comes up. But if you go the indy route, you will be self-employed and solvent, but probably not wealthy. A modest lifestyle. Not to mention the fun of rubbing shoulders with other lawyers all day long.

One thing I think we all have in common is the institutionalization of career qualifications. Unis make you think they are selling you a key and a ladder, but they are only selling you a very expensive flashlight. The doors are still locked and the climbs are still steep, and a BA gives you more than those who haven't one, but then you find yourself locked into a career path in which a BA isn't enough, and you have to buy the MA, and the PhD, and the CEC's. It's like a cult. You are made to think they are imparting secret knowledge, and you get it, and it's like, huh? I could have learned this on the job in 3 months! I say, bring back apprenticeship!

Take psychology for example. To get a license for a private practice in the USA, you need a master's degree (in psychology, but your BA can be most anything--so what new stuff are you learning if your BA is already psychology?? You are paying for a repetition of your $10-40,000 BA!) and 1-2 years of internship under a doctor, and you need to pass a test. Yet studies have shown that meeting these criteria do not ensure more effective therapists, nor more ethical ones! The most effective therapies occur from the relationship established between the client and therapist, and the client's willingness to commit to a therapy, (almost any therapy). This has nothing to do with the therapist's credentials. The academic rigor prepares a therapist for navigation of an institutional environment but doesn't necessarily impart the interpersonal skills that mark an effective therapist. BUT: you will find on many websites warnings for people who are choosing therapists to choose ONLY licensed therapists. As if anyone practicing without a license is the boogeyman, and will make them think their desire to smoke really means they are gay, and then feel them up. I don't know. It's PROPAGANDA, or simply marketing spin. Playing on people's fears to market the institutionalized system; yet that system cannot and does not guarantee the safety of a client. By all means choose therapists carefully! But don't believe for one second that a license means competence or ethics. TALKDOC, present company excepted!

Go to www.nononsenseselfdefense.com and read what he has to say about martial arts belt factories and cults, and you will get more insight on these fishhooking strategies!

That said, you still can learn from uni. I'm not saying you can't. I'm just saying the degree is a shortcut to a prejudice that may or may not be accurate. And knowledge is there for the taking from any who are willing to work for it. It's not secret. That's one thing I really resent from my uni, the passivity they instilled in me, the fear of thinking for myself or applying my knowledge to the real world until after I could get a master's and license. That was a bold faced lie!

GeminiTiger · Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2004 5:38 am Post subject:

mehrlin26 · Joined: 20 Feb 2004 Posts: 52 Location: South Korea

Before I chose my university I probably should have had a look at some of their staff first. Cool

http://www.thewavemag.com/pagegen.php?pagename=article&articleid=21817

justcolleen · Joined: 07 Jan 2004 Posts: 654 Location: Egypt, baby!

mehrlin26 · Joined: 20 Feb 2004 Posts: 52 Location: South Korea

Yeah, but were your professors transforming themselves into robots?

To be fair, I heard about this guy only after I left U of T. I saw part of a documentary on how Mann was transforming himself into a cyborg. However, it was only after I saw the article posted above that I learned that he was a Prof at U of T. Although I have to say, given the Kafkaesque nature of the place, it didn't surprise me all that much. Rolling Eyes

jpvanderwerf2001 · Joined: 02 Oct 2003 Posts: 1117 Location: New York

Just thought it was interesting that (only) 27% of Americans have degrees. For some reason I thought so many more people had them; I guess my misconception was because the great percentage of people I know and hang with have at least a Bachelor's.

http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20040617.html

Any idea how that number compares to Britain or Western Europe?

GeminiTiger · Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 6:34 pm Post subject:

30% of US citizens have four year degrees, 10% of the world population.

A preety exclusive club.

justcolleen · Joined: 07 Jan 2004 Posts: 654 Location: Egypt, baby!

justcolleen · Joined: 07 Jan 2004 Posts: 654 Location: Egypt, baby!

ContemporaryDog · Joined: 21 May 2003 Posts: 1477 Location: Wuhan, China

GeminiTiger · Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 7:23 pm Post subject:

Tertiary Education includes everything from training/certification
in vocational studies like auto mechanics, chef school, dental assistant
upto and including regular four year degrees in arts and science.

GeminiTiger · Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 8:22 pm Post subject:

http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Products/Ranking/2002/R02T040.htm

I was actually over estimating the number of people who have four
year degrees quite a bit. According to this census link only 25%-17%
of people over 30 years of age have four year degrees. This
would have to be adjusted to figure for the entire poupluation.

The 27%-37% figures discussed in other parts of this thread must
included two year and vocational degrees.