• Ocelot@lemmies.world
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    1 year ago

    Changing your mindset from “I went to university, therefore I should have a good paying job” to “What can I do to make myself more valuable to employers?” makes a pretty big difference.

    • Eheran@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Or “what do I actually want to do?”, which is s pretty big goal with big incentives to try and reach it.

      • Ocelot@lemmies.world
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        1 year ago

        100%. Do what you love and never work a day in your life, also watch yourself effortlessly accelerate to the top of your field. Being the best at something nearly always means paychecks.

        • n7gifmdn@lemmy.caOP
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          1 year ago

          I don’t know mate. I studied Political Science and Outdoor Recreation when I was in university, and when I got out I jumped from non-profit to non-profit making a difference and doing what I loved, all while needing to work 1 or more additional jobs to pay my bills, eventually taking a call center job instead, that taught me technical skills that allow me to now make good money in a corporate environment, which allows me to finally have enough free time to do what I actually want to do and enough money to donate to causes I care about.

          • Eheran@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I guess it does not apply to every field. To name obvious examples: Eating or playing games, it is going to be hard to find a job that pays for that.

  • seitanic@lemmy.sdf.org
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    1 year ago

    I have a degree that I don’t use at all, but I’m still glad I went because of all that it taught me. It expanded my mind and helped me become a better citizen. I learned critical thinking and was forced to grapple with challenging ideas. I also met some cool people whom I had awesome adventures with. You can’t attach a dollar value to that, and it would be nonsensical to even try. This is one of the reasons why I think that college education should be free. It makes better citizens.

    • n7gifmdn@lemmy.caOP
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      1 year ago

      You sure sound like someone from the marketing department of a university. Making college “free” would need a heck of a lot of other changes to go along with it, or we will only have even more educated idiots than we do now.

      • Hoomod@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Plenty of countries provide higher education at basically no cost to the public

        Just because the US doesn’t want to figure it out doesn’t mean it isn’t possible

        • n7gifmdn@lemmy.caOP
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          1 year ago

          I think we have different ideas of what “no cost” means, unless I’m incorrect and that university professors and support staff in Europe are volunteers.

          • Hoomod@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            You tax the rich and that pays for it

            Actually taxing the rich would pay for quite a bit

  • zerkrazus@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I thought a business degree would be very useful. Joke’s on me I guess. I haven’t had a single job that made use of my degree, but a few that “required” one that 40+ years ago probably wouldn’t even have required a high school diploma.

    • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’ve applied to jobs that required education I didn’t have. But I haven’t had a job yet that has asked me to prove it or show documentation. Once you show your competence they just don’t bother looking into it.

    • n7gifmdn@lemmy.caOP
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      1 year ago

      and I have one without a STEM degree. And I’m personally amazed how many of my engineering colleagues who have, often advanced, degrees who seem absolutely clueless.

  • Jeena@jemmy.jeena.net
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    1 year ago

    I wonder if that’s really true. I was done with University 9 years ago and before that I was working with cleaning public toilets, making sausages, heating and plumbing, in a kindergarden, web-frontend developer. After that I was working as a programmer and manager in the car industry. I understand that there are less jobs like that but the likelihood to step up and get a nicer job is real.

    But I have to add that I didn’t have to spent money on the University itself because I went to University in Sweden. And I didn’t get any loans to pay back because I was working in my free time.

    • n7gifmdn@lemmy.caOP
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      1 year ago

      Yeah the North American higher education industrial complex is a scam. To the point that a lot of the better paying jobs (doctor, nurse, etc.) include having requirements to pay the school to work for a time without getting paid AND they forbid you from having an additional job at the same time, it sure seems to me like they are trying to make sure that “lower class” people never get in those kinds of jobs. Unless your parents are rich, you aren’t going to be able to do that.

  • SokathHisEyesOpen@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    It’s not wrong, it’s just not universally right. Getting a degree in liberal arts and specializing in nothing will only broadly help you throughout life. Majoring in computer science, or medical, and actually learning the subjects will certainly set you up for financial success. Notice I said “set you up” and not “make you financially successful”. You still have a lot of work ahead of you before you can jump on the gravy train, but having the right skills gives you a trampoline instead of starting the jump from quicksand.