Those that graduated or went to college, are you working in your major field of study?

[charlie and algernon]

Inspired by a couple threads the last two days regarding poli sci and history majors.

Are you (or did you if you're retired), working in your major or minor field of study?

I majored in Poli Sci and it took me a year after graduating to get my first campaign job, for the 2006 cycle. That of course was over after election day. It then took me another year to get back into the government and I think I've finally gotten into a career track in political government work.


What about you?

[Shine]

1. Nope. I was a Politics major at UCSC.

I eventually got turned off to that whole scene, although I've always followed the news and I volunteered during the last two presidential campaigns.

Nowadays, I'm in a 2 yr masters program for counseling psychology, working towards becoming a licensed marriage and family therapist.

:hi:

[charlie and algernon]

20. well there certianly is family politics in play

you can run it like a campaign, lol. Campaigning to heal whatever marital and family problems there are. :rofl:

:hi:

[Richardo]

46. BA PoliSci (Public Administration) from UCLA

Graduated right after Prop 13, so no entry-level public sector jobs.

Worked in freight transportation and logistics in one way or another for 31 years (so far)

[PRETZEL]

60. Same here,

about 15 years later went back to school for accounting and have been working in that field since.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Not hardly.

I got my B.A. in music.

A few years later, after finally accepting the fact that I wasn't ever going to sing at the Met, I went to law school. I practiced law for about 17 years and got damn tired of it.

So I learned to fly, got a pilot's license and a few other FAA certificates; worked as a flight instructor for awhile, and now I work in an airline training department.

Maybe I have a short attention span...

[TZ]

66. Maybe but thats certainly an interesting background!

:)

[femmocrat]

3. Yes. Still teaching.

There weren't many other options for girls in those days.

[NightWatcher]

4. not anymore, but I need to get back to something in my old field

I have ten years experience in investigations, got my BS in criminal justice and behavioral sciences.

Now I'm a delvery driver for an electric supply house

[Catshrink]

5. Amazingly yes...

I majored in chemistry and worked in research labs when I got out of school. I eventually got bored and went into sales, then corporate training in IT, then taught little kids computer classes, including owning my own business. Then back to teaching adults computers and decided I really wanted to teach HS so got my teaching credentials. Finally, I'm teaching HS chemistry which is what I think I always wanted to do. I think if I hadn't done the other stuff I wouldn't appreciate it as much as I do. My students once asked me why I wasn't doing something else and I told them I had done something else and this is what I really want to do.

[mitchum]

6. Yes, I am a professional drinker

[RubyDuby in GA]

7. History major here (with degree) and no I don't use it at all.

[Lucian]

8. I'm kinda worried...

I'm going to be majoring in Anthropology and Spanish this fall. I want to be an archaeologist in Europe somewhere. I see a lot of people don't use their degrees. I don't want my degree to be a $25,000 paperweight, so I'm going to do everything I can to make it useful.

[charlie and algernon]

9. idk, I was exploring USjobs.gov and found a bunch of archaeologist postings

It actually made me wish that was my major. I would've loved to have been able to apply for the $50,000/yr archaeologist position in Hawai'i.

[mwdem]

12. My daughter majored in Anthropology and English.

She's been using her English major in both major jobs she's had since graduation in 1998, now working for the Fed. Reserve. It's been frustrating for her, since her passion was Anthropology, but she excelled in English. One day, I hope she can find her true calling.

[bluedigger]

17. Hi Lucien!

I'm an anthro grad working as an archaeologist going on 20 years now. If you are just starting out in school, which is what I take you to mean, then you should check out this site: http://www.archaeologyfieldwork.com/forums/index.php

It's run by a friend of mine, and you can get a lot of good career advice there. I've gotten most of my work there the last five years. It's kinda like DU but focused!:rofl:


Feel free to PM me anytime, too.:hi:

[Lucian]

37. I'm actually going back to school in the fall...

and instead of majoring in Geology and Chemistry (which I originally majored in), my interests lie in Anthropology and Spanish. I wish I would've realized that the first time I went to college. Oh well. It's better late than never.

Thank you for the link. :hi:

[bluedigger]

72. Your original coursework won't be wasted.

Geology is a big part of archaeology, especially soils and lithics. Chemistry is helpful as well. It's a soft science based on many hard ones. Spanish never hurts these days! Are there faculty where you are going who are working where you want to?

[mysuzuki2]

22. I got a Ph.D in Anthropology in 1980-

I haven't worked in an academic setting since then. However, one of my profs used to say that "Anthropology is what Anthropologists do." So, by that definition I guess I have worked in that profession.

[Rabrrrrrr]

26. AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Fer God's sake, everyone, an education is never wasted just because one does something else than what one studied.

We learn for the sake of learning - to make us fuller, rounder, more interesting and more engaged human beings.

Career is entirely separate from education.

We might go into our field of education as a career, but we might not. Doesn't matter, and doesn't mean the education was a waste of time or money.

ARGH!!!!!

God, I hate that shit.

Education - except at tech schools - is not a utilitarian consumable thingy dingy like a twinkie or a bass fishing boat.

:argh: :headbang: :nuke: :grr: :mad:


"A lot of people don't use their degrees" - holy fuck, that is so loaded with bullshit and misunderstanding it makes me... well, it makes me write this post.

Fucking hell.

A degree is not something one "uses" like a wrench or a vial of astro-glide; a degree is something one pursues and earns and which forever blesses one with meaningfulness and an expanded mind. (Unless, perhaps, one goes to tech school or one of those non-accredited fundamentalist Christian schools).

[tigereye]

33. good point, Rabrrrrrr

[Lucian]

38. My brother got a BA in geology...

and he's working part-time as a customer service associate at the local retailer. He wasted his degree. He's paying off student loans and for what? So he can accept returns at a retail store? :eyes: He should have just skipped college and went straight into the retail business.

And it's not because he can't find a job in his degree. It's that he's just too lazy to.

[TZ]

54. self-delete

[Xipe Totec]

10. That's a trick question for me,

Which major field of study?

Chemistry, where I hold a BS and enough credits for two BS degrees?

Mathematics, where I hold a BS degree?

Computer Science, where a hold an MS/CS?

Technically, none of the above.

I am a computer programmer, which is an art, and only marginally a science.

I've been a programmer for over 30 years, and enjoyed every moment of it.

But everything of value I learned about this art, I learned after I graduated.

[flvegan]

11. In a roundabout sort of way, sort of.

I majored in finance and economics and I'm in the title insurance industry. It's a stretch, but it sort of works out.

[OmahaBlueDog]

13. Nope

I majored in Poli Sci at Cal. I am neither involved in government nor politics professionally.

[elshiva]

14. Religious Studies major.

Now I'm an unemployed atheist.

[hellbound-liberal]

15. Yes, still teaching but that's what I went back to school to do after working for several years

I am not employed in my first choice of major (business administration), my second choice(law) or my third choice (sociology).

[Kat45]

16. Poli sci too, and nope.

Never got a job in government or politics. I was very shy when I was younger and I never had anyone who could steer me in the right direction to get such jobs. The only thing I knew about getting a job in government was to take the civil service test! I took it and did well but the only job they called me about was one for collecting delinquent student loans. No shit! (And I didn't get it.)

I also have an MS in journalism, another area in which I never got a job. I did a several years of music journalism, some freelancing, but I always had a regular job to pay the bills because my writing gigs didn't.

In recent years I've had to settle for administrative jobs, which I certainly wouldn't need a degree for (although those jobs do insist on one, for whatever reason). My most recent job got eliminated because of the economy and I'm now unemployed and not knowing where to look for a job. (Being older doesn't make me a desirable employee these days, and with the software requirements for jobs constantly growing it's nearly impossible to keep up and know everything the employers require you to know. Today it seems that employers want you to be able to step right into a position and hit the ground running at full productivity immediately; they don't want to "waste" their time and money giving any training.)

[charlie and algernon]

19. i took the civil service test too, for PA state government

the only job they called me for was for the housing authority. i sent in my resume, but never heard anything more. I was hired by a democratic org that staffs out people to campaigns across the country. that's how I got my first campaign which led me to my current govt job. I guess i got lucky that I was able to get back with the same people I worked for during the campaign. I totally understand how hard it is to get a job now. It truly is all about who you know, especially in government.

[Mr. Ected]

18. English/Philosophy

Got a law degree.

I've used it for 16 of the past 24 years.

I wish I was doing something else.

[Debi]

21. Kinda

I went to a for profit 'business' school for a paralegal certificate. I didn't finish (long story but the law firm I was working @ gave me a raise and hired me full time FOR quitting school).

I'm not married to an attorney and I help in his office as his secretary/receptionist/bookkeeper/paralegal, etc.

[Ptah]

23. Does community college count?

After four years in the USAF, I used my GI Bill benefits to learn some mechanical arts.

I'm still, more than thirty years, making stuff out of metal.

I can't imagine a more rewarding career.

Your Mileage May Vary.

[charlie and algernon]

25. that totally counts

:hi:

[Ptah]

29. Thanks.

I am amazed at the lack of manufacturing careers mentioned.

[rockymountaindem]

31. I don't know what that is but it looks bitchin'

I'd say you're doing well.

[Ptah]

35. It's the housing and mirror for a solar telescope.

http://solis.nso.edu/

[Rabrrrrrr]

24. Depends on what you mean. I'm not in the field of my undergrad, but am in the field of my grad

[triguy46]

27. Am with my graduate degree, not my undergrad degree.

[fizzgig]

28. not anymore

i received my journalism degree in 2003 and worked at a paper until last march. i don't see myself going back to newspapers.

[SKKY]

30. I did things backwards...

...I got a job, got fairly well trained, and then got my degree in the field I was already working in.

[mopinko]

32. i went to art school, and i am an artist, i just

don't get paid for it. does that count?

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

34. I don't think I could get any further from my major

[tigereye]

36. hmm, my BA is in English Lit and I wanted to be a writer at one point

but when i got out of college in the Reagan years, the economy was in the toilet. So I ended up working at a Library for the Blind (I had worked in libraries in college and then later in grad school) for a few years.

Eventually I got tired of that and went to get a grad degree in Counseling and have done that for almost 20 years. Now I'm tired of that (it's rewarding, but) and I am wondering what I should do next.


But I do think most folks use some aspects of their degrees, even if they aren't in the original field. Oddly enough, I ended up doing what my interest and aptitude tests said I would - psychology, with a side interest (for fun) in music.

[cemaphonic]

39. History major, became a computer programmer, now a stay-at-home dad

So I'm gonna go with "no."

[Quantess]

40. I did for a few years, but not anymore.

I realized that it just wasn't for me.

[Wapsie B]

41. No and that is how it should be.

Unless you were in a more vocationally oriented program of study such as nursing or accounting what you studied in college will not be where you work after graduation. This is an age old argument about the supposed overselling of a college education. A college education makes you a more well rounded person in the world at large. If you're worried about having a tangible skill in the job market you need to look at community colleges. And the way some look down their noses at programs in 2-year colleges angers me to no end. I've seen people finish their Master's degree and move on to community college to study Cisco Networking or Culinary Arts. They did this for the simple realization that in this day and age having a tangible skill is the way to go for many.

[many a good man]

42. I would like to think so

On the top of my college transcripts, the name of my undergraduate major was truncated to read "International Stud" (instead of studies).

My current career is in no way related to what I studied in school, but I'd like to think it trained my mind in useful ways. I double majored in International Studies and Economics with a minor in Spanish. I'm now in IT management.

[laylah]

43. No.

Degree in Social work, currently a server at a local casino cafe.

[conscious evolution]

44. No. The only use for my degree is building death machines

I turned from that path a long time ago.

[noamnety]

45. Art major - and yes.

All three degrees (art, communications, teaching) converged in my current career (where I've been for 8 years now).

I did spend a good 15 years after the first degree working in an unrelated field, but at least I was hired in at a higher pay rate because I had a degree.

[achtung_circus]

47. Never directly.

A geography degree has limited direct job prospects, but I have used what I learned every day in both my personal and professional lives. That is as it should be. Plus, as a previous post noted, a degree grabs peoples' attention, especially those who don't have one.

"Some" degree is a requirement for many jobs. At a minimum, it demonstrates that one is capable of concentrating, organising and learning.

In addition to being a fascinating subject (don't get me started) it has served me well.

:)

[Orsino]

48. No. [physics major]

I taught high school chemistry and physics for a few years, but that's it. I'm now a network engineer for an ISP.

[mnhtnbb]

49. Worked in my field of graduate study --hospital administration-- for 10 years

until leaving the field to have kids ("retiring") because I had no intention of going back to it.

[Blue_Tires]

50. my grad degree is in journalism, so you can guess the rest....

[eyesroll]

51. English/Education major--worked as a teacher, then as an editor. Went to law school, now a lawyer.

So, yeah. I worked in all of my major fields.

[Ivan Sputnik]

52. English major

All of my jobs have been as a writer or editor of some sort. So the answer is yes, amazingly enough.

[nuxvomica]

53. BA-English but I've been in IT since the mid-80s

I started out in editorial, moved to marketing for a little while and settled down in IT. I've been a DBA for the past 17 years. Writing prose and programming are not very different. In both you have to deliver your message clearly and precisely but to different audiences: people and machines.

[TZ]

55. Not really: I was a zoology major looking to go into Animal Behavior

I couldn't get into Grad School and thats pretty much the only way to get into what is a very limited field. I know lots of bio/zoo majors who are in biotech instead..cause thats where all the jobs pretty much are for us.

[NJmaverick]

56. No I went to school for engineering and that was what my degree was in

I then went on to hospital facility management and from there IT person. So things didn't exactly end as expected. Then again I tend to grow board and restless, so I guess changes were likely to happen.

[Generic Brad]

57. Not even remotely close

I hold two degrees in Theatre but have made my career in banking.

[raccoon]

58. No. nt

[SacredCow]

59. Generally speaking, yes....

I graduated with a BS in Environmental Sciences, and am working in a science capacity. But in more of an industrial/engineering capacity.

[dembotoz]

61. psych/soc double major working in telecom

not even close

Gradutaed in 75
number of years working in my "field of study"
maybe 6

[Patiod]

62. No, but am working where I WANTED to major

Majored in finance. Liked the economics, the finance - not so much.

Took a lot of grad-level sociology courses, which is what I wanted to major, but what kind of jobs can you get in sociology?

Market Research! Applied Sociology!

[bikebloke]

63. Nope

A degree in aviation and the closest I came was taking flights.

[backtoblue]

64. yes.

[KansDem]

65. NO, and I'm making about half of what my college chums are making who did find work in our field...

Gonna be a tough 40th reunion in 2011...:(

[One_Life_To_Give]

67. Yes and No

Degrees are in Electrical Engineering and I guess technically I am still in EE. But that was only the starting point for really learning Product Safety and Electromagnetic Compatability.

[Juche]

68. Yes, I guess

Studied biochemistry and work as a lab assistant. However I don't use 95% of what I learned in college. So I use my degree in name only, I don't use any of what I learned.

[momto3]

69. Well, my first degree was in music performance.

That career choice did not last long, although I do not regret the time I spent studying music. Not many jobs for a professional flute player outside of teaching. I do not think many people know where they belong right out of high school.

My next degree was in biology and I am still in the field.

My husband would say that I have made a career out of going to college. It could be worse!

Peace.

:hi:

[eppur_se_muova]

70. Not working at all. PhD in chemistry. Job market sucks.

I've had one temporary, one-year contract position after another. Unlike a lot of people who posted here, chemistry really is what I want to do. But each year the job offerings get worse and worse. Fewer and fewer tenure-track positions, more and more 'adjunct' positions -- i.e. part-time, no benefits, no job security (often no office).

Advice to potential Chemistry majors: don't. No one wants to pay for anything but "service" teaching (i.e. trying to teach chemistry to people who have to have it for a prerequisite but have no interest, ability, or preparation for chemistry).

[semillama]

71. BA Anthropology, MS Archaeology, and yes.

Busy as all hell right now, actually.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

73. Nope, never have.

AA in court reporting - Only career I had, quite stressful and had to stop doing it by the time I was 40, hated it before then.

Bachelor's in Biology - never used it.

Juris Doctor (Law degree) - never gotten a job as a legal assistant in spite of years of courtroom experience as a stenographer. If this society valued education and experience, I would be training trial lawyers. But I'm not.

I wanted to major in art and get a BFA in painting - I couldn't get a job doing anything with that degree either. The job market is so bad, and our economy throws away talented people, so it's a pretty irrelevant question.

:shrug:

Being a working stiff is highly overrated.

[JTG of the PRB]

74. Well, I'm working at what I majored in, but it's not how I make money.

I majored in English Literature, and I'm a writer. But I work in retail. I haven't finished my novel yet, and hopefully when I do sometime in the next year or so I can maybe get away from the utter hell that is retail.

[realisticphish]

75. hahahahaha no. yay for psych degrees!

However I'm currently getting my masters in library science, after which my field will be pretty well set

[RoyGBiv]

76. History/English ...

... and not really.

I'm basically a glorified accountant. Turned out all that work I did so I could eat while going to college gets me better jobs than the degree does. Go figure ...

I do use it because I seem to be incapable of just doing my job and going home. I take on projects that pay nothing or very little, and I enjoy that a lot.

I do use the technical writing part of the English quite a little bit.

[old mark]

77. Majored in Social Work, Minored in Sociology and then Fine Art.

My last job was somewhat social work related, and I have been a painter for man years - I did many of my FA credits by presenting old work for credit for the various courses. ( and of course paying the fee...)
Sociology was considered to be completely dead, and you could not major in it.
mark