Think I did the wrong degree?!

Bluebell91

Hi everyone. I am currently in the final year of my Applied Social Care degree. I’m finished in May. When I started this degree, it was my life’s ambition to help people, to make a difference.

I have changed as a person over my 4 years in college and I am not so sure this is the right career choice for me anymore. I’m 27 years old. I am freaking out about graduating because I don’t know what my next step in life is. I keep looking up other degrees and courses. But that is another 4 years of commitment and expenses. I also have a severe anxiety disorder which may hinder me working with people. I am stuck in a retail job with really poor hours and I just want to leave that too.

Did any of you do a degree and never work in the area? Did you convert to something different? Is freaking out near graduation normal? Did anyone do a second degree? Have I wasted 4 years?

never_mind

OP there are so many options for you to diversify and move fields. Go to your careers advisor and ask about alternative careers that might suit your skill set. It might not mean doing a course or another degree it could be just simply applying to diffeeent jobs.

A lot of conversion courses (like IT or teaching) are only 1-2 years long so it wouldn’t mean scrapping it all and doing another 4 years.

You might also want to look at giving social work more of a chance and seeing what it’s like in a professional capacity rather ban being on placement.

Stonedpilot

Bluebell91 wrote: »

Hi everyone. I am currently in the final year of my Applied Social Care degree. I’m finished in May. When I started this degree, it was my life’s ambition to help people, to make a difference.

I have changed as a person over my 4 years in college and I am not so sure this is the right career choice for me anymore. I’m 27 years old. I am freaking out about graduating because I don’t know what my next step in life is. I keep looking up other degrees and courses. But that is another 4 years of commitment and expenses. I also have a severe anxiety disorder which may hinder me working with people. I am stuck in a retail job with really poor hours and I just want to leave that too.

Did any of you do a degree and never work in the area? Did you convert to something different? Is freaking out near graduation normal? Did anyone do a second degree? Have I wasted 4 years?

Say at least 50% of workforce work in something they didn't study. I have worked in big companies and people had degrees in all sorts.

It's very simple you are panicking because you are finishing college.

It gave you routine, a schedule, kept you busy, mind active, friends, and leaving college is a HUGE CHANGE. It's a stressful time finishing college especially after 4 years.

My advice?. Finish the course and keep in touch with people, don't panic and get on with simple little goals. You'll figure it out.

How you know you don't want to do a job if you never did it?. Don't let panic make your head think absurd stuff like that.

Good luck.

Rubberchikken

Have you someone in college you can speak to?
Part of your worry could be finishing up. Youve spent 4 years studying. You know the place. You know tje people.
Finishing up means a whole new world to consider.
Talking things through with someone could help you to see where you could use all youve learned during the past 4 years. Good luck

Ursus Horribilis

I know/know of loads of people who've ended up working in fields that bear little or no resemblance to what they studied in college. All for reasons too varied to go into here. The point is, it happens and there are options out there for people who want to make a change. The most important thing, for now, is to put your head down and finish out that degree. Once you have that in your pocket, it'll be something nobody can take away from you. It's proof that you are bright enough to do a degree and have the drive to finish a course out.

I'm long finished college at this stage but I can still remember very clearly how I felt around the time I was doing my finals and graduating. I grieved for the life and the friends I was leaving behind and I was anxious about what lay ahead for me. It all worked out in the end but the memory of these feelings have never left me.

Your post raises more questions than it answers. Is it only now that you're freaking out about your choice of degree? Is there anything at all about the course that you liked? There has to have been something over the four years that you liked? Did you do any placements during your course and if so, how did you get on? What is it that is freaking you out? The responsibility? Having to work alongside other people? Your future clients? I'm also struck by your comment about your severe anxiety disorder. Is this something that has been diagnosed by a medical professional? Regardless of what career you go into, your anxiety is a potential problem. Are you being treated for it? If so, what do the professionals who are helping you have to say about it? Perhaps now is a good time to look into accessing additional help.

You seem to have decided, without actually starting to work, that this career is not for you. I think it'd be helpful for you to at least give the career and try and see how you get on. If you come to realise it's not for you, then you can regroup and see where to go from here. For now, don't go making any big decisions.

Jen Pigs Fly

I have an advertising degree - I work in a sector completely different from this! Perhaps a guidance counsellor would be good to visit. A lot of people I know have degrees completely unrelated to what they work as now, life doesn't always follow the path you expect. I got very lucky with my job which makes me much happier than if I went to advertising

never_mind

I know a nurse who is now a lecturer in a very niche field in history. I know an arts graduate working in tax. I know an action graduate who owns his own marketing business. I know a former priest who is now a lecturer in gay studies. I know a person who studied medicine who is now in politics (not Leo!). I know a law grad who busks in pubs!!! Honestly, it’s actually a very common thing to go in a different direction.

never_mind

I know a nurse who is now a lecturer in a very niche field in history. I know an arts graduate working in tax. I know an action graduate who owns his own marketing business. I know a former priest who is now a lecturer in gay studies. I know a person who studied medicine who is now in politics (not Leo!). I know a law grad who busks in pubs!!! Honestly, it’s actually a very common thing to go in a different direction.

never_mind

I know a nurse who is now a lecturer in a very niche field in history. I know an arts graduate working in tax. I know an action graduate who owns his own marketing business. I know a former priest who is now a lecturer in gay studies. I know a person who studied medicine who is now in politics (not Leo!). I know a law grad who busks in pubs!!! Honestly, it’s actually a very common thing to go in a different direction.

Airyfairy12

Most masters and higher diploma course entry requirements are a level 8 degree in any area. You could do a PME in primary or secondary teaching, you could do a Hdip in adult education, guidance counselling, special needs education or psychology which is the equivalent of a BA. You could do a masters in childcare or occupational therapy. You could do a celta course and teach english in Ireland or abroad and go travelling. The list is literally endless. Having that degree will open so many doors for you.

Ursus Horribilis

I think at this stage you've two main priorities. Gain work experience in a proper job and get help to deal with this anxiety you speak of. While college brings with it its own set of stressed, it is also a refuge from real life. It's structured, it's familiar, it's predictable and it can institutionalise people. You can't hide in college forever.

pgj2015

hi op, I spent 6 years in college studying 3 different courses, came out with 3 different qualifications, spent a few months looking for a graduate job, got one, hated it from day one, gave it a few weeks and quit. The day after I quit, I realized that I wouldn't be happy working for someone else and needed to be working for myself.

im glad I gave the graduate job a chance as I figured out it wasn't what I wanted. I now run my own business and although I work very long hours, things are going well and I have never been as happy as I am now.

do not listen to anyone else regarding what you should do, only you will know what it is you will be happy doing.