Business degree vs Job

[matt_15]

Hello, I am studying A levels. (business, economics, law, psychology). I am not sure whether I should go to university or start applying for jobs. I understand that with some jobs, a degree is essential, and if you ahve the required degree then you can instantly take up that job, and be on a well paid wage. But I am also aware that in lots of jobs a degree is not needed, and a candidate with good A level grades may be in an equal position to somebody with a degree. Has anybody here got any valid advice for me?
I am looking for jobs that are well paid and 'business orientated'.

 

[cmcp]

You've got a good attitude to be wanting to learn at the moment.

Decide what you wish to do, go to Uni but take on additional work "on the side".

I never completed Uni, but the experience taught me so much more about life than anything else could at that point. I think it was a good rounding up of my teenage years and a good introduction to adult life.

 

[deniser]

Definitely go to Uni if you can as it will open many more doors. Plus it's not a great time to enter the world of work at the moment as the usual opportunites just aren't there. By the time you have finished your degree, one would hope the economic situation would have improved and that jobs will be available again.

 

[adventurelife]

Get your education, it is not a requirement but it will help. You have a whole life ahead of you where you can work.

Do work when at Uni as future employeers like to see that

 

[Dawg]

Jobs are going to be tough for a few years, so I would advise investigating and doing a good, business orientated degree from a Russell Group university. This will be very useful in a few years time, by when the job market may have hardened up somewhat.
Avoid doing an Arts degree, unless it's Economics, and/or a very good university..

 

[Esk247]

go to uni..i never did...thinking about doing open university courses now because despite having 6 years experience in business i'm totally unemployable

they still want you to have a bit of paper.

 

[tom111]

I don't regret doing my degree, but... a good degree is far from a guarantee of being successfull in business. A degree normally helps you get a job. I would question how useful a degree in, say, business studies really is to someone starting a small company.

The real advantage of a degree for someone going into business is it gives you 4 years when you have a lot of free time, and could start up a business of your own.

 

[Matt1959]

I would definately stay in further education, the jobs market at the moment seems dire

 

[sm1]

Good advice from everyone else, you can't be guaranteed anything - definitely worth opening as many opportunities as possible by going to uni. It will not only be a educational development, but also personally as you learn to fend for yourself etc.

Are you currently doing AS's or A2's?

Cheers

 

[Wendy.Rule]

Education is about the experience rather than facts that you glean. One of the huge benefits of a degree is the process and learning that everything is not as real as portraited - todays facts are possibly myth tomorrow.

Having said that one of the best strategists I have worked with was 15 when he left school - no harm done at all. Senior manager in his early thirties and he was paid probably within the top 5% of all business people.

I have employed a lot of people and those promoted (and getting better salaries) were those that demonstrated the ability to learn, develop and deliver, not necessarily those with a degree.

Your choice. Think the key is that whichever you chose make the most of it. I have a degree and have never regretted it.

 

[matt_15]

Thankyou very much everybody. Some very useful information and advice. I am definately more endeared to getting a degree now!

 

[Wendy.Rule]

Thankyou very much for the replies, much apreciated. Do you both think I would stand a much higher chance of landing a well paid job after getting a degree? And that if I don't get a degree I would struggle to get a decent job? especially because of the current lack of jobs.

There are two steps to getting a job - obvious - but the first is the hardest - getting into an interview. If you have personal contacts then perhaps a top CV is less important. If you are going to market to get to interview only with your CV, then a degree helps. Only alternative to this is each time to create one off CV versions that responds to the requirements of each position from the experience you have.

The market is tough but there are still the grand majority of people employed and jobs do exist.

 

[CLK]

Hi Matt,

I never went to University and instead went straight into employment after my A-levels. Whilst I agree that a Degree isn't a necessity I do think that in the current environment its important to continuously learn and develop to remain employable now and in the future.

As you say not all jobs require degrees and its dependant on the industry. I decided to add to my A Levels by getting a Business Degree which I finish in 2 months ;-) I have done this at University twice a week in the evening which has been very tough to fit around my full time job. I'd definitely recommend it though as although its been a huge learning curve I've also learnt a lot which will (hopefully) either further my in my current company or at least give me 'something in the locker' if I want to move on!

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[matt_15]

Thankyou wendy and craig. I appreciate your advice! And Craig I wish you the best for your future!

 

[muppetdave]

Another vote for staying on and going to Uni. But do as people have said and gain additional experience 'on the side' where you can - look for the right opportunity and you might develop something or an idea that helps minimise the student debt you'll gain ;o)

 

[Cornish Steve]

I went back to school to get my MBA after 20 years in the workplace. From that perspective, I would say it's more valuable to get some job experience under your belt before embarking on a business degree. If you've worked, the class material can be put in perspective. If not, it's all academic.

 

[Sarah - Superstar PA]

Hi Matt - I would most definitely say stay in education whilst the job markets are so tough. I was a graduate recruiter for a top Investment Bank and believe me I spoke to thousands of graduates during my time there, my advice would always be to get your education behind you first and then go seek your fame and fortune!

Once you are in the workplace you will probably never have the time to go back to University so make the most of it now.

I always recommended to students to get involved in extra curricular activities so show a potential employer the other side to you. Paid or voluntary work is also crucial on your CV so that employers can see you are also willing to work - even if it is hard getting up in the mornings whilst studying late into the night!

Use your term times wisely to gain employment too, Summer Internships and Spring Week Programmes are a great way to get into top employers.

Good luck with it all, be interested to hear how you get on.

Sarah

 

[Blush]

Do your degree is what I would advise. Employers are looking at qualifications more and more. A degree shows an employer what you are capable of, and it is an experience you may not be able to repeat when you are older.Grab the opportunity while you still can.

 

[Rags]

For me the answer depends on the type of person you are and what your goals are in life.

Maybe you want knowledge.
Maybe you want wealth.
Maybe you want security.
Maybe you want fame.
Maybe you want power.
Maybe...you get the idea.

It's not a 'one size fits all solution.

I went straight into studying Physics out of school - and now regret 3 years of wasted time.

You have come here (very wisely IMHO) to a forum full of business owners and entrepreneurs.
My school education and subsequent HND prepared me very well to become a worker in someone else's business - and that's what I did for a further 7 years.

However I gradually found an explanation for the gnawing dissatisfaction that I'd been dimly aware for for a few years:

At heart I'm an entrepreneur.

I love the excitement, the sense of possibility, the sense of being in control of my own life, the potential for far more money than would have ever been possible if I'd followed my career path. I can be creative, risky, wacky even - my life is full of choices - and I relish it now. Being in a job was slowly strangling my spirit.

So with that being said, you have an opportunity now to be an entrepreneur too. A choice.

If I were you I'd get an education alright - but not an academic one in the BSC., MA, MBA sense. I'd get an eduction in front-line business ownership. Be around successful business owners. Experience their mindset, their drive, their methods. Ask questions - we can be very much products of our surroundings - so choose role models well. Read biographies of successful people.

There's no need to wait until you get the stamp of approval from an institution to be an 'expert', you can do that much quicker and more in the real world in other ways than sitting in a classroom (where you'll maybe even be taught business by people who never had a business - employees!!)

Whatever you choose now will greatly influence the path of your life - and if, like me, financial freedom is one of your goals, remember that starting your own business is a statistically superior method compared to, what is in essence, becoming a builder of someone else's dream.

 

[cjd]

Degrees and Universities are not all the same. It's worth doing a useful degree at a good university and getting a decent grade from it. A crap degree from a crap university will be just as expensive but not a good investment. (I am assuming here that a degree is a means to an end here - not an end in itself)

As an employer in a small business, I need people with practical and proven skills - esoteric qualifications are irrelevant to me.

The normal consumers of 'non-relevant' post grads are large corporates and government organisations. But neither of those are really up for speculative recruitment at the moment - and even when they were, it was very competitive. But uni is a good place to hide for a few years in the hope that things turn around.

However, I'm deeply sceptical of degrees (even tho' I have 2). Unless you are a born academic, have a vocation (doctor, lawyer etc) or have a particular goal in mind, I think you are better starting out on your own.

These days you BUY a degree, it's not a freebie- it'll cost you about £15,000 and three years; if you are business-mided you should think about whether that is a good investment.

 

[Cornish Steve]

I should qualify what I wrote earlier because, for some reason, I thought you were looking at graduate degrees (I don't know why - you were clear enough).

Yes, it is important to earn a degree. Over your lifetime, you'll recoup the cost many times. Nonetheless, decide on your life's vision now. Don't drift into this. If you want to be a doctor, for example, the path is clear. If you want to be an entrepreneur, decide what you need for that. Most people don't think about this in advance - and then wonder why they can't find a job at the end of their degree. Think long-term. Write the equivalent of a business plan for your life.

A good compromise might be some kind of sandwich course where you can study for a year, work for a year, study again, and so on. Real life experience will add so much value to your education.

 

[MarqueMyWords]

Appraoching my degree finals (BSc Hons Marketing) I can only agree with everything that has been said here.

I would also emphasise the benefit of choosing a business degree where (usually) the third year is spent on placement. I had a fantastic year last year and learnt so much about everyday work life and it has certainly boosted my chances in my job hunt this year.

 

[Dawg]

Over your lifetime, you'll recoup the cost many times.

Steve, in Britain an Arts degree has a negative earnings impact over a working life for males.

This is basically due to the large number of spurious degrees at junk 'universities', but this is something that should be addressed by anyone thinking of going to university in the UK.

Because the quality of the education is suspect at many of these institutions I'd imagine the non financial benefits often cited as reason for doing a degree, developing critical thinking and independent thought for instance, to be of lesser importance than claimed.

 

[tony84]

I went to uni for 6 months.
Biggest mistake of my life.

I dropped out of uni as it wasnt for me. I then went and got a job with a bank and started off pretty low and worked my way up to stepping up when my manager was on holiday etc.
In the same time as it would have took me to finish uni i was doing a management role. I had less debt than if i had have spent 3-4 years at uni and i had work experience.
For me Work was the best way forward.

On the other hand my mate went to uni and did the 1 below a degree (Diploma i think). That was the minimum he needed to get into a graduate scheme with a totally different bank. He got on the scheme and did a year or 2 training and is on about £6k more than me, but he also has about £7-8k more debt than me.

Looking at it he is in the better position for the job route he chose to take but uni wasnt for me and my firm belief is that if you get your head down in a job you can get to where you want to be without getting a degree.
I now also own part of a business and would choose experience over qualifications anyday. But i dont think every company is the same.

That probably doesnt help you a great deal but what im trying to say is, i wanted to be a manager my mate wanted to be an IT technician. You need to look at where you want to be in 4 years and decide on the best route to it.
Im happy where i am, my mate is happy where he is but we took totally different routes to get where we wanted to be.

 

[deniser]

Dawg is right - don't just get any degree - but get a good degree from a good university. I would add law to the list of useful arts degrees though, not just economics.

A law degree will stand you in good stead in the business world even if law is not what you ultimately want to go into.

 

[Emcar Vending]

If you want to get a job, then the degree route is best.

If you want to run your own business then a degree isn't worth the paper it's written on.

 

[thebigIAM]

Great question. Brilliant responses.

Personal perspective: I found not having a degree made no difference to finding a job initially (in journalism). However by the time I reached the age of 30 or so and was looking for promotions it seemed to make a difference. In the corporate world (if you want to work there) you will find plenty of job adverts which say You Must Have A Degree. I've since learned to ignore those little requirements and apply anyway but I'd still maintain that having a degree opens doors.

The advice about realising what you want out of life is good, especially whether you don't mind risk or want security and so on.

I've read CVs from people with degrees who can't seem to write English very well. That's not a good advert for our universities.

 

[Barnie]

its swings and roundabouts

if your career focused and willing to work hard you can go far in 3/4 years, this is down to how mature you are now though, if not uni is the best bet for you


if i had my time again it would be full time work and more education along side, like an OU degree

 

[Officebird]

Great question. Brilliant responses.

Personal perspective: I found not having a degree made no difference to finding a job initially (in journalism). However by the time I reached the age of 30 or so and was looking for promotions it seemed to make a difference. In the corporate world (if you want to work there) you will find plenty of job adverts which say You Must Have A Degree. I've since learned to ignore those little requirements and apply anyway but I'd still maintain that having a degree opens doors.

I had a similar experience to this. Getting a job was never a problem for me but once I had reached a certain level it became impossible to move on without a degree. Silly but true! I took fate into my own hands and started contracting my skills out as a 'consultant' to counter that problem. Then I went back into a salaried job for a couple of years before starting up on my own properly.

I've got through the sticky patch now but think that a degree would have helped me no end. Get a good degree though, as others have said, art history isn't much use to employers

 

[leemason]

If you do opt for a degree then I would agree with other posters. It matters where you get a degree and what it is. Where you get it is critical. The actual degree doesn't matter so much - anything that is academically rigorous will do the job. The purpose of the degree is NOT to teach you the subject, but to teach you so much more: How to think in structured ways, how to do research, how to learn at higher levels, how to argue your points academically, and much much more. But only if you go to a good, well regarded, University with excellent educational standards.

If you can't go to a good University then do something else. There are plenty of league tables out there of the best Universities for different subjects.

 

[RobertG]

Any degree, like any learning programme, should be geared to what career you intend to follow. For some careers a degree will make no difference and for others it will be essential. I got my degree well into my career for knowledge purposes - did it change my life? No.

A few years back Cardiff boasted the most qualified Pizza Hutt in the country with four waiters with degrees and one was a doctor!

LIke life, everything is personal and tailored to what you want to achieve. I do not agree that a degree in itself will open any doors any more than knowledge, experience and charisma will.

Only one person can make your mind up - YOU

 

[DAbusinessconsultant]

Personally I would have preferred to have gone in to full time employment straight out of 6th form.

I have been at university now for four years (3rd year was a placement) studying Business Studies I feel the 3 academic years have not intellectually stimulated me, I have not therefore put my complete effort in to it.

However for my placement year I achieved a LOT and was far more enjoyable than the whole university experience. What I will however say for university is that it allowed me to get a foot in the door of the company by being on their placements scheme. However they also employed people straight from college etc in the same role so it can be seen from both ways.

I would also have preferred to spend money on courses relevant to my career. University has one or two decent modules and the rest are (at least at my uni) pretty dull and seem to be there to pad out the course. Spending £2k on a PRINCE 2 qualification and being employed in a project environment for 4 years would be for example more useful than spending circa £15k after debt etc on 4 years of uni and achieving a 2:2 etc.

In this job market experience is also critical. However, if the market was like it is now then I may have considered uni simply to get further qualifications due to the job market being so dry for many college leavers.

Swings and roundabouts, I guess looking at the courses you are taking you want to go into law etc of which Degrees are probably more important than project management etc though.

 

[Vicky Pont]

I went to university - and it enabled me to grown and develop as a person. You learn ro be independent and make life long friends - as well as continue learning.

I'd go. Maybe pick a sandwich course, so that after 2 years of university you can take a year out - your university should find you a decent placement. On my course people went to Reebok, Ben Sherman in New York etc.

 

[matt_15]

Firstly I would like to say a big thankyou to everybody that contributed to the amazing chain reaction of replies!

I have carefully read every reply and have opened my eyes to new ideas. I have also had some of my own thoughts strengthened, as I aggree with lots that people are saying.

I would like to take some time to explain more about me as a person, and my situation.

I think if I followed my instincts, I would like to start my own business as soon as I have completed my A levels. But I also want security within a job.

I feel completely split. I think in an entrepreneurial way and naturaly recognise business opportunitys. I am always having new ideas and thinking of innovtive ways of doing things. As I say, if I followed my instincts I would start writing a business plan and follow the entrepreneurial side of my thinking. However I also see the advantages of working under somebody elses company. I know that if I follow the path of work experience/ degree/ applying for interviews. I would eventually get a well paid job and have a very good standard of living. I sometimes feel completely drawn to the idea of having a secure, well paid job. But then on other days I will feel the 'entrepreneurial fire' again, and will feel more motivated towards writing a business plan and starting my own company.

It really is very hard for me to explain my feelings in full. But basically I think in an entrepreneurial way and do want to start my own business. However I also feel very compelled to working towards a highly paid job.
Over the past 2 years I have learnt lots about e-commerce. I am fairly knowledgable, when it comes to selling/marketing products online. In December 08 I bought a 'pre-made' website and sold cameras and camcorders using dropshippers. From december through to early march, I was focussing lots of my efforts into organic SEO. I spent lots of time learning the different ways of improving GPR organically, but also I looked at PPC and shopping search engines..EG: kelkoo.com To cut a long story short, after spending many hours every night building up links, writing blog articles ect... I was still not making enough sales. I was wasting my time trying to advertise and bring in sales on an advertising budget of £0.00.

I think that, to get a website to 'take off' and make thousands of monthly sales, you need a large advertising budget, to run a proper advertising campaign EG: ppc, kelkoo, motorway-advertising, tv advertising. I think that if I did 'go it alone' I would need to secure a deal with an investor. Which I don't like the idea of. I know that I have the ability to successfully grow an online business, with the money. I see getting investors/finance as a big 'mental block' and obstacle to get around. I know that a true entrepreneur doesnt get stopped by any obstacles, but I have never liked the idea of borrowing money. I believe that in the future to come, online retailers will continue to grow, as more and more people feel comfortable with buying online. If I started a company it would have to be something that was started with finance from an investor. And it would be an online retail/wholesale company.

I feel that If I go after a degree and work, I would be successful and land a good job. But I also know that in my head and heart, I am an entrepreneur.

If anybody can relate to my thoughts/feelings, then please do contribute! If you have any valid advice or suggestions, (particularly about investors) then please do share your help/advice/oppinion.

Thankyou everybody for showing an interest!
P.S - I am sorry if I have gone off-topic

 

[cjd]

Well done on the progress you've made so far - very few people ever get that far; or even know how to attempt it.

From my own experience, I would say that you will never be satisfied working for someone else - no matter how successful you become in your salaried job.

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't go to uni. If you find the right course, at the right uni, you can follow both dreams for a while at least. Meanwhile you can spend some time working on a your ideas.

CLUE: drop shipping stuff everyone else sells is a crap business model.

Forget investment; you can not possibly get any apart form friends and family - so you need to find a way of making your own finance for a low cost start-up.

 

[tony84]

If you have any intention of running your own business, i would personally say work for someone first.

There are always exceptions the most notable being a Mr Branson. However working for companies (I mean for a year or 2) developes skills. I worked in a bar and cinema and learnt nothing other than be polite and make sure around you is clean.
I then worked in some offices for a bank and learnt about Customer Service (Its more than just saying yes, for instance they could be being unreasonable and you have to find a way to say no that wont ruin future business - thats a skill in itself. Also maybe educating your customers on what can and cant be done and find happy mediums).
You also get to see what management expect from you and in turn what you can expect from your staff if you do well.

Another thing is you might get an arse of a manager which is great as it shows you how not to be. You might get a good manager but find things you would do differently. All of these things will help you with your management style, and how to get the most from people.
I would advise get a job for a year or 2 and try to work your way up as this will get you more experience, it also looks good on a CV if things dont work out as well as helping you to get money behind you. Maybe move around within a company to try new things?

If you do become rich through anything i have said then dont forgt me

 

[matt_15]

Thanks for the replies. I have decided what I'm going to do, I'll go to uni studying business or law. Get work whilst at uni, gain experience ect... And eventually start up a company.

Thanks for everybodys help. And don't worry Tony, wont forget you!