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chellovek
Joined: 29 Feb 2008
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 Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:45 pm Post subject: Degree Snobbery. |
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Just reading another snipe about degrees in "Basket-weaving", if such things exist.
Let's just have it out, are degrees crap or not?
Or rather, is your degree crap?
Who, if any of you, have one of these apparently legendary degrees in the weaving of baskets?
Or maybe it is just one of those imaginary things that right-wing nutters like to get worked up about. |
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Underwaterbob
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Location: In Cognito
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| Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:55 pm Post subject: |
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In terms of hireability, bachelor's degrees are basically equivalent,; regardless of major. Any career worth it's salt will usually provide or require training.
The people laughing their way to the bank are those who went to trade school or community college for a fraction of the price of university, for actually functional job skills. |
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Bloopity Bloop
Joined: 26 Apr 2009
Location: Seoul yo
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| Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 7:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Underwaterbob wrote: |
In terms of hireability, bachelor's degrees are basically equivalent,; regardless of major. Any career worth it's salt will usually provide or require training.
The people laughing their way to the bank are those who went to trade school or community college for a fraction of the price of university, for actually functional job skills. |
I would agree with this. I'm gonna go further and say that your degree almost becomes worthless after your first few jobs in most fields. Your job experience is really where your future is gonna hinge off of. Who cares what and where you graduated from if your previous employer despises you? |
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The Gipkik
Joined: 30 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 7:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Underwaterbob wrote: |
In terms of hireability, bachelor's degrees are basically equivalent,; regardless of major. Any career worth it's salt will usually provide or require training.
The people laughing their way to the bank are those who went to trade school or community college for a fraction of the price of university, for actually functional job skills. |
Ha! I actually got the community college diploma before going to university--in a very lucrative and high-demand medical paraprofession. Today, I'd be raking in huge bucks if I had stuck with it. I chose university for purely intellectual reasons, but I am very ambitious. And money has very little to do with it. |
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Senior
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
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| Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:23 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm no better off financially because of my degree. I would be at the same point I am now, just not in Korea. A slightly lower paying job but no student loan. |
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UknowsI
Joined: 16 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:44 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm mostly doing my degree for fun, but it will also make it possible to work in pretty much any country in the world with something I find interesting. I think a PhD in engineering takes too long for optimal cost/benefit in financial terms, and we mostly end up as researchers or professors, which isn't really that well paid. So I chose it mostly because of personal interest and freedom instead of financial gain. |
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Kurtz
Joined: 05 Jan 2007
Location: ples bilong me
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| Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:00 pm Post subject: |
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I don't think it's snobbery, just that some degrees simply aren't very useful in the real world. For example, as much fun as a Ba. Fine. Arts is to do, I'm not sure how many jobs you could find with that qualification
My degree is quite specialized, and over the years the job opportunites have changed into more research based, rather than practical. A top up to a Masters is required to get back into the game. |
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NYC_Gal
Joined: 08 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Kurtz wrote: |
I don't think it's snobbery, just that some degrees simply aren't very useful in the real world. For example, as much fun as a Ba. Fine. Arts is to do, I'm not sure how many jobs you could find with that qualification
My degree is quite specialized, and over the years the job opportunites have changed into more research based, rather than practical. A top up to a Masters is required to get back into the game. |
Art Dealer. They make bank. |
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Kurtz
Joined: 05 Jan 2007
Location: ples bilong me
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| Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:12 pm Post subject: |
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| NYC_Gal wrote: |
| Kurtz wrote: |
I don't think it's snobbery, just that some degrees simply aren't very useful in the real world. For example, as much fun as a Ba. Fine. Arts is to do, I'm not sure how many jobs you could find with that qualification
My degree is quite specialized, and over the years the job opportunites have changed into more research based, rather than practical. A top up to a Masters is required to get back into the game. |
Art Dealer. They make bank. |
But how many? that's the question. I'm not picking on people with a Ba.Fine.Arts in particular, but just trying use an example that certain degrees are more equal than others. |
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NYC_Gal
Joined: 08 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 12:14 am Post subject: |
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| Kurtz wrote: |
| NYC_Gal wrote: |
| Kurtz wrote: |
I don't think it's snobbery, just that some degrees simply aren't very useful in the real world. For example, as much fun as a Ba. Fine. Arts is to do, I'm not sure how many jobs you could find with that qualification
My degree is quite specialized, and over the years the job opportunites have changed into more research based, rather than practical. A top up to a Masters is required to get back into the game. |
Art Dealer. They make bank. |
But how many? that's the question. I'm not picking on people with a Ba.Fine.Arts in particular, but just trying use an example that certain degrees are more equal than others. |
I can't say how many. My ex boyfriend was one and he did very well for himself. It depends where you want to live, of course. My mother had a BA in Fine Arts and ended up becoming a science teacher years later, and is one of the top instructors in the city, having won her school many grants and awards.
I, for one, would love to get a PhD in philosophy or creative writing, later on. Professors may not make a lot of money, but it's a job that I covet. |
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madoka
Joined: 27 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 12:49 am Post subject: |
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| NYC_Gal wrote: |
| Art Dealer. They make bank. |
If $20,000 starting is "bank," then yes:
http://www1.excite.com/home/careers/industry_profile/0,15625,41,00.html
The art dealership field "is not easy to earn a living in by any means." It is expensive to run a gallery and to "run it right." Those who succeed usually do so because they know how to "pinch pennies where it counts." Unfortunately, "staffing falls into this [penny-pinching] area," so don't expect to make much and "you won't be disappointed." One insider notes that many "gallery people" could "very easily earn more waiting tables in a restaurant." As dealers' sales abilities and expertise grow, they experience "slight income increases," and it "doesn't hurt to build a client base." As far as the perks go, "there are few if any." The job consists of "long hours, hard work, tough negotiations, possibly a great deal of travel and very little time to yourself." |
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NYC_Gal
Joined: 08 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 1:04 am Post subject: |
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| madoka wrote: |
| NYC_Gal wrote: |
| Art Dealer. They make bank. |
If $20,000 starting is "bank," then yes:
http://www1.excite.com/home/careers/industry_profile/0,15625,41,00.html
The art dealership field "is not easy to earn a living in by any means." It is expensive to run a gallery and to "run it right." Those who succeed usually do so because they know how to "pinch pennies where it counts." Unfortunately, "staffing falls into this [penny-pinching] area," so don't expect to make much and "you won't be disappointed." One insider notes that many "gallery people" could "very easily earn more waiting tables in a restaurant." As dealers' sales abilities and expertise grow, they experience "slight income increases," and it "doesn't hurt to build a client base." As far as the perks go, "there are few if any." The job consists of "long hours, hard work, tough negotiations, possibly a great deal of travel and very little time to yourself." |
I was just talking from experience. Many don't make enough to pay the rent. Heck. I worked a full time job in publishing with a BA in English and was also attending graduate school and had to freelance as a tutor and copyeditor to pay my bills.
My ex, however, was an art dealer, and he was loaded. I met many others through him, and they all seemed to be doing well. There are tiers. One needs to network. I've got many friends on top tiers in the publishing world through sheer luck and some networking. If I ever decide to go back to the industry, sure, it would take years to get to the top pay grade, but it's feasible.
Art dealers need to network. It's the name of the game. |
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Forward Observer
Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Location: FOB Gloria
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| Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 3:08 am Post subject: |
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I just had lunch with a guy yesterday that spent 12 years teaching in Japan. He now sells software to companies in northern California and makes really good money. It's really not the degree, it's the person.
Sure, a specialized degree will open doors that a degree in Speech Communication won't, but that doesn't mean that opportunities don't exist for capable people. |
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Globutron
Joined: 13 Feb 2010
Location: England/Anyang
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| Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 3:37 am Post subject: |
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I feel like the only one who got a degree based simply on something I enjoy doing, rather than hoping it will do good in the future; Music.
Everyone knows, after all, that musicians are doomed to a career of borderline poverty and a romantic death which echoes through a thousand nights (or more if you're Beethoven). |
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NYC_Gal
Joined: 08 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 4:13 am Post subject: |
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| Globutron wrote: |
I feel like the only one who got a degree based simply on something I enjoy doing, rather than hoping it will do good in the future; Music.
Everyone knows, after all, that musicians are doomed to a career of borderline poverty and a romantic death which echoes through a thousand nights (or more if you're Beethoven). |
If you can play an instrument for each group decently, you could always teach high school music. Pay is average, but in bigger cities pretty decent once you've got tenure. My friend went that route. Teachers in NYC have a great union.
Majoring in English was a choice. I enjoy writing, and worked as a writer and editor for years. Teaching ESL is a fun change of pace.
I could have easily gone to law school with my political science minor and fantastic English grades (it's all about eloquence in your entrance essays) but chose the fun route. I want to be a student until I'm a great grandmother! |
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