What did you do with your NUIM degree?

joseywhales

billybigunz wrote: »

Are you surprised by this?

Graduated from science in 2004 and it has been plain sailing since. Do well in a good numerate scientific discipline like maths or physics and the world is your oyster.

Come out with an arts or soft science 2.2 and you would be better off without it.

Yeah great, but he/she has a PHD in an arts subject, I would have expected that to be valuable with respect to critical thinking and independant research, as well as an ability to present arguments and argue.Writing up detailed rigorous reports is also a skill that he/she is likely to have. I mean there shouldn't be too much difficulty in getting a job.

Your point that maths/physics/Chemistry/IT are more valuable in the jobs marketplace is valid, it still doesn't mean that this should influence what somebody chooses to study. There's no point in somebody doing Physics if they don't like it. While it's possible to do well, it's completely pointless as you have no passion for it.

r3nu4l

joseywhales wrote: »

Yeah great, but he/she has a PHD in an arts subject, I would have expected that to be valuable with respect to critical thinking and independant research, as well as an ability to present arguments and argue.Writing up detailed rigorous reports is also a skill that he/she is likely to have. I mean there shouldn't be too much difficulty in getting a job.

Transferable skills are very important, however, the sad truth is that most employers will still only employ that person with a PhD at a graduate level if they are moving into a field unrelated to their PhD. The advantage is that the person with a PhD in an unrelated subject is more likely to get the job than someone who only has a degree in an unrelated subject.

The person with the PhD looking to jump career to an unrelated field will have to suck it up and accept that they will start on a lower point in the career ladder and will be 3-4 years older than most others at that point in the same career path.

Your point that maths/physics/Chemistry/IT are more valuable in the jobs marketplace is valid, it still doesn't mean that this should influence what somebody chooses to study. There's no point in somebody doing Physics if they don't like it. While it's possible to do well, it's completely pointless as you have no passion for it.

On the other hand, as I discovered, no amount of passion for a job will pay the bills if it's low paid. The reason I left post-doctoral laboratory research was because it only offered three year contracts at best, no pensions or benefits, was not very well paid and there was no real career structure at all for advancement.

So I chose medical writing (I do love it as well though ) and my career and pay have rocketed since doing so in a way that would never have happened had I stayed in the lab.

I would advise people to very carefully consider what they study, check potential career paths and then decide. Strike a balance between what you want to do and the kind of life you want. If you love a subject but think there will be no jobs out there in that field then study something else professionally and use your free time to imdulge yourself studying the subject you love as an amateur. Later in life you may choose to go back to college to study the thing you love in more detail but at least you'll have had a decent career in something else.