Lack of Direction and Career Regrets

volvico

Hi all,

I'm an International Business student at the halfway point of the course. While my grades aren't too bad, I feel that I made a huge mistake. I don't feel like I'm the type of person who is suited to office-based work at all and I think that I would have been better off doing Environmental Science or a similar degree.

I am not sure whether I should drop out and return to college as a mature student or hang in with the degree. Financially it would be very tough and time-wise it would not be ideal to say the least, but my motivation is extremely low at the moment. I can't concentrate on anything and it's affecting everything.

Did anyone else on here study International Business, and what did you end up doing after graduating? What would be best course of action in switching careers down the line, and has anyone else felt that they made a huge mis-step with their degree choice? I just feel so stuck and that I've thrown away my 20's :(

volvico

Anyone? :/

Stick with it and finish this course out. It sounds like a degree that can be used in many diff industries. Then, if you decide to go into another field, you will have an advantage over others in the same field because of your business knowledge. Maybe end up starting your own green business down the line.

topofthewind

Hi there,

A lot of people change careers these days and they often do a masters/postgrad to facilitate a move. Having a degree (with a good grade) can be the key that opens the door to some of these options.

If you are unsure of what job you would like to do, then it might be wise to complete your degree, all the while learning about other careers and courses, with a view to going straight from your current course into a postgrad in something else.

You could also use this time to explore more options for using your current degree.

I think the main thing is to keep learning about your options so that you are ready to move into an area you are happy with by the time you finish your degree.

bucketybuck

Definitely stick with it.

Don't overstate the importance of what your degree is. Outside of very specific roles most people don't care, its more about you demonstrating you can stick with something and achieve it, the actual title of the thing doesn't really matter to employers like me.

You say you would have been better of doing environmental science or similar. Well would you? Or would you be sitting there in another 2 years wishing you had done computer science instead?

International business is hardly one of the arthouse degrees that employers might roll their eyes at, it is a perfectly good degree with applications in pretty much every area and there is no obligation to sit working in an office just because you have a business degree. I would say to tough it out and then decide after what is next in life for you.

Claiming you threw away your 20's because you might graduate with a business degree is a bit melodramatic to be quite honest.

ztoical

My dad changed careers in his 40s so never too late to make changes. I would finish the degree you are on now rather then dropping out given how far long you are in it. Doesn't matter if you don't use the degree directly, it will stand better to you down the road moving careers to have a finished degree then having dropped out. If you know 100% what you wanted to move over to and had a big passion for it I would say try and move courses now but it sounds like you are still unsure so better to finish something and have it then drop out and float about aimlessly. My friend did a degree in film studies and after 9 years has gone back this year to do a masters in Environmental science. She had to do a few single evening courses the year before to meet some requirements for the masters but she didn't need to start right back at the beginning as she already had a degree (even though it was in film not science)

Swampy

I did an MBA in International Business. Now while I am in tech sales lots of the people I did the course with were in completely differently fields fo business. If you complete your degree and apply yourself you will take a range of skills that are applicable to many different industries. For example if you want to start your own business in a completely different field you would have a lot of knowledge on where to start. Now could be a good time to think where you want to go to and maybe you could build your thesis around business in a field of work where you would like to go.

Canard

I felt the same during my degree and feel like you need some perspective, because that's something you don't have in the position you're currently in.

I studied foreign languages so admittedly it's less practical and therefore I know a larger proportion of people who never used their degree for their current jobs, but 1. having a degree = a bonus (which imo is questionable, but it's how it is!), 2. your degree is definitely a good one to have for many different roles and 3. if you do decide you want to do something else later, there are so many ways to go about that.

Before and during your studies, a degree is presented as the be all and end all to a career. Not using a degree is presented as tantamount to not having one at all and the same opportunities. Nothing could be further from the truth. You could also do a conversion masters. Try to lose the mindset where the fees 'lock you in'; it is true that university in Ireland is prohibitively expensive for many and there is pressure to just plough through, but the degree you're in is by no means worthless or bad, even if you don't use it directly in an office setting.

I know it's hard, but try to focus on the degree itself. I loved my degree subjects and, although I worried about what I might do with the degree, I decided it was best to get the highest results I could and that has always stood to me. In my case, I do use my degree every day because I'm a teacher now :) But I have taught languages I don't have a full degree in and met people who taught subjects they didn't have a degree in or whose primary degree wasn't even something to do with teaching. The point is - when you're in a degree, it feels like a future job title label, but when you're out of it, you realise just how unfixed and malleable everything is. Stick with it is my advice, and look into moving into the areas you're interested in through hands on experience.