Thinking Ahead: The Worst in Degrees and the Best in Career Choices
With end of the year聽rapidly聽approaching, it's common practice聽to weigh up聽what's been聽accomplished聽throughout the year. But for many younger people it might also be an opportunity to check whether their overall career direction is actually worth it聽in the long haul.
According to聽a recent study conducted by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, the聽middling聽US economy forced many of the previous聽top-earners聽out of the most聽profitable聽career choices and into the聽rubbish-job聽bins. Among those, five聽stand out聽as particularly聽hapless聽choices for the future, so if you're in the US and studying any of those, it's probably time to consider a聽vocational change.
Architecture:
This one used to be a聽chick-magnet聽and a symbol of聽wealth. Not anymore, though. Architects are not as sought after聽in the wake of聽the housing crisis, and the聽demandfor their services is way below the聽supply. 13.9% architecture聽grads聽are jobless, which is an extremely high number for an engineering and construction-related industry job.
Information Systems and Studies:
The聽lovechild聽of聽IT聽and sociology, this particular聽branch聽is much less programming-oriented than its bigger cousin, Computer Sciences, not mathematically or neurologically advanced enough to fill for any聽vacancies聽in cybernetics department, while at the same time being just聽barely聽in-depth聽for a serious聽humanitiesemployment. Truth be told, with 11.7%聽unemployment rate聽it's a wonder there're still people interested in this.
Philosophy/Religious Studies:
10.8聽ministers-to-be and philosophers are聽permanently聽unemployed, with聽vast majority聽of the grads actually working - but outside of their chosen specialty. Vicki Lynn, senior vice president at Universum (a global recruiting company)聽states聽that, „unless they [philosophy or religious studies聽majors] are willing to go all the way to aPhD聽in philosophy, for instance, their career paths are zero,” advising to take at least a聽minor聽in business or economics to improve their chances in the job market.
Anthropology/Archeology:
Being Indiana Jones might have been exciting twenty or so years ago, now it's just adead-end聽career, or, as someone might look at it, a vocation-only profession. But even if you're really, really interested in聽excavating聽old mummies or studying the human animal, 10.5% unemployment in this area may force you to consider an additional sociology or marketing聽degree.
Ethnic,聽Gender聽or Civilization Studies:
The „soft” or „hippy” degrees from the 1960s never paid much to begin with. In the post-recession America they pay even less. 10.1% of the graduates in these fields are forced to look for a different job - or a job altogether! However, all is not lost: most of these courses allow聽flexible聽transition to聽a major (or minor) in psychology, a prettydecent聽prospect聽at present (with only 7.6 unemployment rate in 2011).
Across the pond, the trending US data are聽backed聽year-on-year聽and in previous years, despite the differences in economy.聽A study by聽prospects.ac.uk聽back in 2008 showed that while there is still聽merit聽in studying for a聽bachelor's聽or higher degree, it's very important to choose right. On average, students that chose Medicine, Law or Engineering careers earned 艁340,000, 245,000 and 245,000 (respectively) more than their peers who opted for no studies at all. However, those who studied Linguistics or English聽Lit, Humanities or Arts, earned only 95,000, 50,000 or 35,000 (respectively) more than their degree-less colleagues. This means, that for some extra聽dough聽you've got to pick a medical, legislative or construction-related degree, as this is where best money is - in 2008 it was聽tenfold聽that of Arts, Humanities or Philology graduates.
Who earns the most?
Does it mean that studying is a guaranteed way to land a job?聽LoveMoney.com聽say it's not that simple. 20% of students聽drop out聽of universities and 1/3 of all graduates end up working out of their field. Even though chances of being employed are higher if you're a graduate, they're even higher if you're a woman: 40% of men earn聽bigger bucks聽owing to their higher education, while a聽whopping聽63% of women have higher聽salaries聽because of their degree. On top of gender聽inequalities, there's also an issue of family wealth and overall聽income聽of the student's聽next of kin. Only Law degrees actually聽return on the investment聽soon - compared to聽debt聽from other studies, Law has a 17.2% rate of return, meaning you can start earning money (and not just repaying your聽student loans) right away. In that respect, Medicine has apaltry聽11.6% rate of return (provided you're not a dentist) because medical courses are about the costliest of studies and it takes many years to actually start earning anything at all. Management and Engineering聽provide聽much better debt-to-earningsratio聽after graduating from the university; it's 16.9% and 15.5% respectively.
So, all things considered, perhaps you should聽weigh your options聽in Law, Management or Engineering? If not changing your career path, think about at least picking a minor or a bachelor's in any of those areas. It will look good on a聽resume聽and help you, should your chosen field not grant employment right away.
VOCABULARY
rapidly - gwa艂townie, szybko
to approach - nadej艣膰, zbli偶y膰 si臋
to weigh up - rozwa偶y膰
to accomplish - osi膮gn膮膰
in the long haul - na d艂u偶sz膮 met臋
according to - zgodnie z
middling - przeci臋tny, nie osi膮gaj膮cy sukces贸w
top-earner - najlepiej zarabiaj膮cy (zaw贸d, osoba)
profitable - dochodowy
rubbish job - praca 艣mieciowa
to stand out - wyr贸偶nia膰 si臋
hapless - pechowy, nieszcz臋sny
vocational change - zmiana w powo艂aniu
chick-magnet - magnes na kobiety
wealth - bogactwo
in the wake of - w nast臋pstwie czego艣
demand - popyt
supply - poda偶
grad - absolwent
lovechild - dziecko mi艂o艣ci, wynik po艂膮czenia si臋 czego艣
IT - informatyka
branch - ga艂膮藕
vacancy - wakat
barely - ledwo
in-depth - zaawansowany
humanities - nauki humanistyczne
unemployment rate - wska藕nik bezrobocia
minister - kaznodzieja
permanently - stale
vast majority - ogromna wi臋kszo艣膰
to state - o艣wiadczy膰
major - studia magisterskie
PhD - doktor (tytu艂)
minor - studia licencjackie
dead-end - bez perspektyw
to excavate - wydobywa膰
degree - stopie艅, tytu艂
gender - p艂e膰
flexible - elastyczny
transition to sth - przej艣cie do czego艣/na co艣
decent - przyzwoity
prospect - perspektywa
across the pond - za oceanem
to back - potwierdza膰
year-on-year - w por贸wnaniu do roku ubieg艂ego
merit - korzy艣膰, pow贸d (do robienia czego艣)
bachelor's - licencjat
respectively - odpowiednio
lit - literatura
dough - szmal
tenfold - dziesi臋ciokrotnie
to drop out - porzuci膰 (nauk臋)
big bucks - wielka forsa
whopping - gigantyczny
salary - pensja
inequalities - nier贸wno艣ci
income - doch贸d
next of kin - rodzina
return on the investment - zwrot z inwestycji
debt - d艂ug
student loan - kredyt studencki
paltry - 艣mieszny, 偶a艂osny
to provide - dostarcza膰
ratio - stosunek
to weigh one's options - rozwa偶y膰 opcje
resume - CV