People with "useless" majors and degrees, what do you do now and do you regret it?

Bachelors in history from a high-ranking state school. Worked a year in public sector (policy type stuff) after undergrad and hated the inefficiency of government and the straight up laziness of many of my colleagues. I decided to go to law school and make a good salary now a couple years into private practice (100k).

Do I regret either? No. The old adage is that people who can't think of anything else to do go to law school. It might be true for me as I have no idea what else I would have done to earn the kind of living I do now in my late 20s.

- Teaching/ coaching (couldn't put up with annoying kids)

- Medicine/ health fields/ engineering (did not like and did not excel at maths and sciences)

- Business/ accounting/ marketing (didn't what to end up in sales or just working for some 'random' company -- I wanted a profession where if it ever came down to it, I could go work for myself)

- public sector (tried and hated it)

You will meet swarms of lawyers who "regret" their career choice. But the grass is always greener -- you will see that in any profession you choose.

Law is fine if you don't mind working hard and have at least a reasonable amount of job security, which admittedly is not always easy to find in this environment. There are way too many lawyers in private practice, but you will find a job if you put in the necessary work.

I agree. I don't regret going to law school at all. It's been a great career for me. I agree, there are lots of disgruntled employees in any field. But, still, I wonder if I would pursue a JD coming out of college today in light of the high cost.

I've been lucky that most of the government divisions where I've worked have been pretty well-run and professional. But, I've definitely seen a LOT of the inefficiency and laziness of which you speak, including one of the agencies where I worked, which was crazily mismanaged and pointless, prompting me to change jobs.

Nasty_Nadz wrote:

I'm scared

As an older person, I realize now that there are a lot of people that go to college for all the wrong reasons and waste both time and money, ie: it makes mom and dad feel better about themselves, it's expected of you since everyone else in the family went, you don't know what else to do, your parents are aspirational and expect that a college degree is the secret to success which is something we're all sold constantly in this the day of the for-profit online colleges as well as by our president.

It's hogwash. I wish I went into the trades... welders and plumbers are never unemployed and with a little smarts make excellent money without working all that hard, especially once then become a supervisor. And if they are in a union they can retire before 60 with a great pension and benefits. The Big Dig in Boston, a decade of construction worker paradise, is a prime example of union plundering on the public dollar which set up hundreds of guys into early retirement on Cape Cod or Flawduh in the winter.

I've worked with many, many college graduates and people with an MBA that are clueless, but are unashamed butt-kissers and get passed along. Bitter, you say, perhaps, but I am not alone in this thinking.

What is the going wage rate for an experienced Yack Herder?

How do you even go about applying for a position like that? Are there any benefits packages available?

Baltics rock! wrote:

What???

I grew up the son of a Yack herder in Lithuania, but my dream was to come to the United States. Along the way I began my athletic pursuits in running. I was fortunate to be good enough to get the attention of a coach who was visiting Europe and I had the opportunity to go to America to compete and pursue my education.

I attended two years at a community college and two and a half years at a D2 school. Upon graduation I returned home to take over the family farm, but my father was older and decided to sell it. So I answered an add in the newspaper for a marketing director at a Marshmallow company and ended up with the job, however my degree was in World History. Funny how life works out.

What a small world. I use to deliver marshmallows door to door in Lithuania on my pygmy yak. I got bad sores on my thighs from riding with my feet dragging on the ground, and got some androgel cream from a visiting American track coach. Now I make 6,000 rubles a year training race yaks.

lmkdf0958 wrote:

"There are about to be a lot of frustrated, mid-career engineers and scientists in this country because we are pushing everyone in that direction."

+1

A few years ago, that was almost me. Halfway through at a top-10ish engineering school I decided it was a horrible, soulless profession. Obviously, it works for some people, but I would have been miserable doing that kind of work.

Hey Fred! Man, that's incredible. I have some Yaks that I could sell you. They are 100% natural and have done some altitude training from our time on the mountain trails. Apart from grass we do splurge from time to time and feed them some marshmallows when they have been good. The Lithuanians love the Yak races!!!!

Maybe we can work out a deal together! Just hit me back man.

Get together with these people...

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=6585283

A degree in what???? Yak-hearding?

I got a Bachelor's in Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. Totally useless degree. I had to go back to school and get a more useful degree in order to get a job. Yes, I regret getting such a useless degree.

Nasty_Nadz wrote:

I'm scared

I'll be honest. I regret this mistake big time. I love reading history and literature, so I majored in those subjects. What the heck was I thinking? Why pay good money for what you can get on your own? You don't have to go to college to get educated in history and literature, obviously. I had a chance to get trained for a real career and passed it by. If any of you college guys are headed down the same road you need to make a serious change before its too late.

Lib for life here. Polish art History Major (BS), live off the backs of working American citizens. Have a nice sun tan this year so far. 5K Pr is a lofty 24:27. Use Hoka Cliftons for all my running (mostly to the toilet after Bunny's Burritos").

Majored in English. I'm now a neurosurgeon. I don't regret my choice of major.

How can you change careers so easy ? I'm PE teacher and badminton coach and have a lot of organasing skills and I wanth to do something else because there is not enough job in this sector. How can you change sectors so easy?

P.S. I do not live in USA

Nasty_Nadz wrote:

I'm scared

Applied Teledildonics. No regrets.

Degree in a sociology. Went back to do a 2 year degree in water/wastewater. I'm new to the field, with 9 months of experience. I don't have a job now. Targeting a job that will be posted later this year. If I get it, I'll start at 45k and I'll be making over 100k in three years. Bad part is working nights though.

krispy kremlin wrote:

Most people with degrees in social work and other equally useless diplomas use a strategy of "lie and deny" as they live out their lives of self-hatred and liberal voting.

LOL

Me am tistic and also 40.

When I degree finished very 20s, yes I worked. Took a different path for getting there - many part timnes. See job is wrht what? 20k maybe 30k by the time you've completed it, or are you god?

take that and multiply by apt. na''m saying?

I had way 100k staked all thew ay through being 32, sloed down.

THEN, bought house for self/not wife. THEN sold house 2x!

I am now a successful fully employed again child of the 1970s.

Nice digs, nice wife and child. Way not stupid.

-Ked

What's a useless degree?

I have my BA in English and have a good job in writing/information management in technology. A friend has his BA in English and has a good job in Internet marketing.

Another friend has a BA in Marketing and is a family man and a successful marketing executive. While another friend has his BA in Marketing and just got a job delivering 5 Guys pizza in Gainesville.

It is not the degree that is useless.