Careers

[COYS]

Its also worth pointing out without being rude that you have been brainwashed by the above, it's not debt in that you dont pay a fixed amount back but a % over x salary but thats still paying it back unless you plan on being a pauper.

Trust me it seems minor when you think ?ú200 a month when you might be earning ?ú25-30k on a decent grad position but once you start getting used to having some income your thirst for more doesnt take long and having money go out of your salary really tinkles you off. Combine that with wanting a mortgage and todays house prices and you soon won't have very much money.

I'm not sure I would go to uni if I had the choice now really, I had a good time there and met some good people etc but I'm not sure if its helped my career but as a life experience it was great. Most jobs if you put the effort in you can get up the ladder anyway, obviously some will need a degree but less than you think.

Student loans have always been like that.

I'm looking at it positively. I'm thinking of it as a thank you to the government for paying my tuition fees for me and allowing me to get a degree, by paying them an amount of money each month.

OK, 9% of all my earnings over 21k may seem like less than it will turn out to be, but then I have to question if I'd even be earning that money without the degree.

Here's my example: If I'm on a starting salary of 30k a year (would be great!), then that's 9% x ?ú9000 = ?ú810 per year (?ú67.50 per month deducted from my pay packet). Yes, that's ?ú70 I could have done with, but if I didn't get a degree, I may just be earning 25k a year, which would mean I'm better off with the degree and student loan.

Everyone can afford to go to uni.

 

[Sheikh Ma Nuggets]

Its also worth pointing out without being rude that you have been brainwashed by the above, it's not debt in that you dont pay a fixed amount back but a % over x salary but thats still paying it back unless you plan on being a pauper.

Trust me it seems minor when you think ?ú200 a month when you might be earning ?ú25-30k on a decent grad position but once you start getting used to having some income your thirst for more doesnt take long and having money go out of your salary really tinkles you off. Combine that with wanting a mortgage and todays house prices and you soon won't have very much money.

I'm not sure I would go to uni if I had the choice now really, I had a good time there and met some good people etc but I'm not sure if its helped my career but as a life experience it was great. Most jobs if you put the effort in you can get up the ladder anyway, obviously some will need a degree but less than you think.

Yeah I'd agree with that.

Obviously some jobs you're going to need a highly technical ability; in my field it's going to be a programmer or an accountant. Some things you just need a qualified mind on. But others you don't. I've worked with several project managers who are not greatly intellectual or massively academic, yet they have the drive and desire to work hard - in fact the best one dropped out of school completely when he was 14. Got his act together though, got a break and he's earning ?ú100k+/yr now.

Where I last worked, they had a graduate scheme, supposedly for real high-flyers. So I brought one into my team as my area of work lent itself to someone who should be fresh for a challenge and could hit the ground running; massive IT contract, millions of pounds - tons of potential to showcase yourself. Disappointingly, what I found what that, although this graduate knew every single keyboard shortcut known to man, he was incredibly lazy, inattentive and unreliable. I gave him a couple of shots at chunky pieces of work, yet no ambition about him. In the end, I had to sideline him as his speed and shortcuts introduced error which was effecting output and deliverables.

I'm now far less inclined to take another grad on; I'd rather have a hungry, hard worker - than someone who was an intellectual genius, knew every shortcut there was - yet was impotent in terms of output. I'd rather someone took a hour to do something right, than 10 minutes and find out that it's been done totally wrong. That's no good to me.

 

[COYS]

It's usually the older generation that think uni is a waste of time, as in my dad's day, uni seems to have been for the rich and snobby.

HOWEVER, it is very common knowledge that you're not very employable these days without a degree to prove you're a hard worker and have skills. I plan to go in to something like science or engineering or something like that, where with no degree there's no job. I can live without the ?ú70 per month if I'm earning 30k a year.

 

[Sheikh Ma Nuggets]

It's usually the older generation that think uni is a waste of time, as in my dad's day, uni seems to have been for the rich and snobby.

HOWEVER, it is very common knowledge that you're not very employable these days without a degree to prove you're a hard worker and have skills. I plan to go in to something like science or engineering or something like that, where with no degree there's no job. I can live without the ?ú70 per month if I'm earning 30k a year.

Yeah, if you're earning ?ú30k a year.

I'm qualified enough to disagree with your statement about employability. I have worked with many many different characters and levels of academia, and it really is a 'horses for courses' world in the workplace. Some people excel when you give them opportunity to shine, whereas others will walk in and think the sun shines out of their backside. I don't need to see 'MSc' on a CV to judge whether someone is hard-working or not; what's more important to me, is how this person has applied their theory in an environment which bests suits my requirements.

Businesses change mate: whereas in 'the good times' you can afford to carry a fresh, wet-behind-the-ears graduate for a couple of years, as economic climates change, you need to go back to basics and get 'do-ers' in; people who will work hard for you and require very little coaching. That's why I'm warning you: don't fool yourself into the idea that, just because you have a degree ergo means there's a ?ú30k job just waiting for you with your name on it. In tough economic times, you're gonna have to have more in your locker than just a degree to your name.

 

[COYS]

Yeah, if you're earning ?ú30k a year.

I'm qualified enough to disagree with your statement about employability. I have worked with many many different characters and levels of academia, and it really is a 'horses for courses' world in the workplace. Some people excel when you give them opportunity to shine, whereas others will walk in and think the sun shines out of their backside. I don't need to see 'MSc' on a CV to judge whether someone is hard-working or not; what's more important to me, is how this person has applied their theory in an environment which bests suits my requirements.

Businesses change mate: whereas in 'the good times' you can afford to carry a fresh, wet-behind-the-ears graduate for a couple of years, as economic climates change, you need to go back to basics and get 'do-ers' in; people who will work hard for you and require very little coaching. That's why I'm warning you: don't fool yourself into the idea that, just because you have a degree ergo means there's a ?ú30k job just waiting for you with your name on it. In tough economic times, you're gonna have to have more in your locker than just a degree to your name.

What kind of business are you in?

 

[P.D.]

Thats complete bolloks, I work for a very large company (over 100k ees worldwide) and there is no way that is true, what people want is someone who will come in and do some hard graft and get things done, someone they can trust to get on with things and those people are incredibly rare.

Too many people come out of uni and maybe no a lot of theoretical stuff but in the business world none of that stuff applies whatsoever, you need to have a commercial and not a classroom mindset. Its like when you pass your driving test, technically you know how to drive but you have no experience of what things are actually like on the roads.

Most of the best people in my team didnt bother with uni including several earning well over 100k a year.

Sorry to be rude but near enough everything you are saying is the classic clueless of how things in the workplace actually operate.

 

[COYS]

You're all in to business. What if I wanna go in to science, for example? Then I need a degree.

 

[Sheikh Ma Nuggets]

What kind of business are you in?

I work in Commercial Finance. My last role was the governance of a huge IT contract with IBM; leading commercial negotiation, designing the mathematical modelling behind the contract and then overseeing the transition period from the old to the new framework. Hardly any of my core team had degrees, yet some of the hardest working and most conscientious people I've ever come across - true delight to work with them.

 

[P.D.]

Science you would most likely need a degree yes but I don't know enough about the field, I am sure there are plenty of jobs in the industry that can be learnt on the job.

 

[COYS]

See I don't wanna sit in offices doing work all day. I wanna spend my time standing up, doing physical work, getting out, doing research, finding things out. Business is good money, but not my thing.

 

[Sheikh Ma Nuggets]

See I don't wanna sit in offices doing work all day. I wanna spend my time standing up, doing physical work, getting out, doing research, finding things out. Business is good money, but not my thing.

It's ironic, because a lot of the key deals that I struck, often came over a cup of coffee at Starbucks - not sat at my desk :lol: Likewise, it's quite nice either thundering up and down the motorway or travelling first class on a train to meet different people. That's how business is done these days mate - not stuck behind a desk.

 

[COYS]

It's ironic, because a lot of the key deals that I struck, often came over a cup of coffee at Starbucks - not sat at my desk :lol: Likewise, it's quite nice either thundering up and down the motorway or travelling first class on a train to meet different people. That's how business is done these days mate - not stuck behind a desk.

You get my point, though. Business just isn't my thing.

Nanotechnology interests me and that has a world of possibilities screaming to be discovered. I might do something like that.

 

[P.D.]

Like Sheikh says if your client facing then you wont be in the office as much as you think. The people that are usually always in the office are the supprt/back office staff.

 

[NW5pur]

"Think of it like a graduate tax, not a loan

That's exactly what it is, the vast majority of graduates will get nowhere near clearing this "debt". Is not like the debt will inflate away like say a mortgage as you'll be paying RPI plus up to 3%! Let's say you come out and get a job paying ?ú41k (highly unlikely), you have a ?ú50k debt and lets say RPI is 4%, you'll need to pay ?ú3.5k / year just to clear the interest, never mind make a dent in the debt. when you also consider that they'll only be taking ?ú142 / month (?ú1710 / year) from your salary you realise that you'll actually be in more debt at the end of the year than you were at the start! Only the people earning mega money stand a chance of clearing their loans in a reasonable amount of time, which doesn't sit right with me

Up to you, but i wouldn't be going to uni in the UK now, which is a shame as I very much doubt I'd have got my job without a degree. that said, i'd be straight over to the nederlandsh paying ?ú1,700 / year instead of ?ú9k!" courses taught in english, liberal european poontang, great and different culture, legal weed! what more could you ask for as a student? - http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/feb/09/british-students-maastricht-university-lower-fees

 

[Park Lane James]

Since I've been worrying a bit about my future over the last few weeks, this seems like the ideal thread to put forward my concerns and to hopefully receive some advice!

At the moment I'm just about to finish my second year at University. I'm studying Sport and Exercise Science, and moving towards a more psychological aspect for my third year. I'm doing voluntary coaching work in my spare time, and will try and do as much as possible next year and aim for an FA Level 2 badge by the end of summer 2013. I plan to move into London and look for whatever job I can find either in my area, or something as a stop-gap to pay the bills etc. I don't really want to move back home permanently as I could very well end up just 'settling' there if I get a decent job and it's not the sort of place where I can excel myself.

Has anyone had experience of moving to a big City straight after their studies? Would you recommend doing so straight away, find a job beforehand or wait for a year to get some money behind me (I'll have some savings to lay back on)?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[Gordinho]

[waffle]Gents, I can't give any career guidance because I've lurched form one thing to another over the years, never went to uni but if I had my time over again I'd change the way I went about things at school and aim for uni, however, I'm C&G qualified Sparks but moved on to to building and on to the railway using my C&Gs but one thing, and it's more important when times get tough rather than boom times, is a sense of positivity. So in short, and I take inspiration from this during these hard times are the words of Brian D'Arcy who I heard on Chris Evans thought for the day about 15 months ago. Make hay while the Sun shines and make the best of a bad job when it ain't. My advice though is to get the best education/qualifications you can-you can always choose not to use it/them but you can't choose to use it when times are hard if you never got it in the first place. [/waffle]

[video=youtube;bllFaGJIxgk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bllFaGJIxgk[/video]

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

[waffle]Gents, I can't give any career guidance because I've lurched form one thing to another over the years, never went to uni but if I had my time over again I'd change the way I went about things at school and aim for uni, however, I'm C&G qualified Sparks but moved on to to building and on to the railway using my C&Gs but one thing, and it's more important when times get tough rather than boom times, is a sense of positivity. So in short, and I take inspiration from this during these hard times are the words of Brian D'Arcy who I heard on Chris Evans thought for the day about 15 months ago. Make hay while the Sun shines and make the best of a bad job when it ain't. My advice though is to get the best education/qualifications you can-you can always choose not to use it/them but you can't choose to use it when times are hard if you never got it in the first place. [/waffle]

[video=youtube;bllFaGJIxgk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bllFaGJIxgk[/video]

I wanted to hate that video from the start but as it went on i ended up agreeing with about 90% of it, also used to used that mindset in getting women when i was younger, to be honest im probably just an 8 maybe 9 out of 10 but i always walked like i was 10 out of 10 and shagged some right hot tarts because of it.

 

[Gordinho]

I wanted to hate that video from the start but as it went on i ended up agreeing with about 90% of it, also used to used that mindset in getting women when i was younger, to be honest im probably just an 8 maybe 9 out of 10 but i always walked like i was 10 out of 10 and shagged some right hot tarts because of it.

Chich, I don't know you outside of the confines of this board but from everything I've read of you and you tell us about yourself you embody everything Fr Brian was saying.