I’m almost done with my Bachelor’s Degree. I’ve been asking about the types of jobs I can get and people have advised me to take a job outside my field if I can’t get a job in my field. Before, I didn’t like this idea, because I assumed that any job outside my field wouldn’t require me to have the degree I’m about to get, or any college degree for the matter. This is because it would have meant that I’d wasted 3.5 post-high school years. However, someone just told me that there are jobs that require you to have any Bachelor’s Degree, no matter what’s it in. If I took on a job like this, these 3 1/2 years won’t have been a waste. The thing is, I’m wondering if there really are jobs like that. If so, where can I find them? Thanks!
What is your degree in?
Sure there are. Some jobs have specific degree requirements, but a lot don’t.
Sure, there are tons of jobs like that. You can find them on your standard job search engines - LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, etc. Also, visit your college’s career center.
Most of them will require some other skill, its not like they’ll hand you a job for having any degree. For example, most wealth management firms will hire applicants with any degree, but you need to be a damn good salesman and know what you’re talking about.
Yes. You can build those skills by taking specific classes and/or by getting experience through internships and part-time jobs.
I would venture to argue that most jobs out there that require a Bachelor’s degree have no true major requirements. You’ll get your engineering, nursing, etc. jobs that require specific backgrounds, but most jobs in business and in government aren’t like that.
Here’s my example. I graduated with a degree in political science and a minor in German. Since graduating, I have held jobs as a consultant - one with a compensation consulting firm that specialized in software implementation, one with a logistics software company, and one with a management consulting company. My degree, on its face, has nothing to do with these jobs. However, I would not even get into an interview if I didn’t have a Bachelor’s in something.
For me, the value of the degree is not in the specific things I learned - to be honest, I barely remember anything from my undergraduate classes themselves - but in the way I learned to think. There was no individual class from which I can say I picked up any special skills, but the totality of my undergraduate experience prepared me for my post-graduate employment in a way that post-high school employment could have (military excepted).
Also, for what it’s worth, most jobs you would apply to out of undergrad would have a substantial training element to them. My first job didn’t set me into the wild until I completed three months of training and shadowing. Many jobs in the financial sector require upwards of six months of training and shadowing, which leads up to taking SEC certification exams (Series 7 is one that comes to mind). You aren’t expected to be able to contribute on day 1. Even jobs that do require specialized degrees have substantial training elements to them, since, no matter what you studied, you didn’t study how to work at that company in school.
The only way your degree would be a waste is if you decide that you would rather enter a field that a) doesn’t require a degree and b) have no ambition to rise into the higher ranks. If you choose to be a cashier as your career and never move into management, then your degree would not be so useful. Short of that, you’ll likely get some utility out of the degree, and even if you are underemployed to start, you’ll probably see utility within a few years.
officers in the military