I’m just wondering how many people actually use their degree. It seems like many people major in something, say, biology, and end up working in tech support (or a different job than a biology area).
What is your experience? How many people actually work in the area their degree is for?
I have a BS in English Education (secondary level) and a minor in Journalism Education, with a (lapsed) Ohio teaching certificate. I have been a substitute teacher, but I work in retail sales.
Iwould have sought a fulltime teaching position, but I married a military man and we didn’t know where we were going to be living, and then when we got to Colorado I would have had to take another course or two to get certified, and we moved again, and had kids, and on and on.
But I “use” my degree every single day! One of the benefits of an English degree, I guess, when working in a field where spelling is critical!
Typing and spacing were options.
Music graduate here…very vaguely still in the same field as my Master’s degree (doing some archive work, and freelance music typesetting)…
Of the other Master’s and PhD music graduates I know, all are working in the same area. Those who finished study after their undergraduate degree, however, have gone on to:
Several teachers (all teaching music)
A number in arts administration, working for music publishers etc
One MBA
One law conversion graduate course
A couple of MScs, in computer science and the like, and then jobs related to that
…Actually, most seem to be somewhere in a music-related field. But I guess it’s a lot less specific and more wide-ranging than many other degrees.
I have a BA in Business but I work in tech support. I wanted to get a degree in a computer related field but I chose the wrong A-Levels and then had no choice (I received some bad advice from my careers advisor).
Come the 19th of July, I’ll be working in the field I got my degree in. I majored in biomedical engineering, and I’m going to be a biomedical technician. Not exactly what I studied to be, but it is, technically, in my field. Hopefully I can get a batter job in a couple years.
BS in Finance and (nearly) an MS in Accounting and Information Systems. I’m a CIO, so although I’m not doing accounting/financial work per se, I’ve used my understanding of the concepts throughout my IT career. Now, as a company officer, I routinely review and interpret balance sheets, etc., as part of my job.
A more important point: Even though I majored in Business, I think my general grounding in Liberal Arts was every bit as important. The computer industry is chock full of relative idiot savants - talented programmers who have no idea what their clients are asking for because they lack the cultural literacy and grounding in other subjects.
I majored in English and I work as a business manager for a childrens’ publisher. Financial analysis, budgeting, forecasting, strategic planning, that sort of thing. I’m not really sure how that happened actually.
Bachler’s in Computer Science. Manage a software develpment team. Since manager’s don’t really work does that still count? 
I have a BS in Chemistry. Technically I work in my field as I’m a lab manager but as the manager I have no time to do any bench work. I have slowly morphed into a pencil pusher. 
:eek:
Ph.D. in sociology of religion. Left academia in '87 when it became clear I wasn’t going to get a tenure-track job.
Working as a puzzle editor since 1992.
I got a degree in Radio/TV broadcasting.
I am currently working in broadcasting.
BS Mechanical Engineering. I am now in school en route to a Ph.D. in History. I guess that’s a no for me.
Majored in Anthropology, with minors in Sociology and European History. Graduate work in Education. I teach high school history, government and debate. So, yes I am.
Degree in nursing. Still a nurse, currently in the “D” division of R&D for a dialysis lab, so not so much patient care as I used to be.
I’ve got a BA in archaeology and spanish, and an MA in linguistics. I had been working for a bit as an archaeologist in college and for a while after; however, it just didn’t pay the bills and I decided after getting my masters that I didn’t really feel like getting my PhD. So I’m a copywriter. I use my spanish sometimes for research and the occasional translation, and the archaeology I sometimes use for articles; however, I’m more likely to write marketing language rather than anything that related to my degrees. I’m still happy I have them, though. I think they made me a much better writer and researcher.
B.A. in Computer Science. Spent 7 years after university doing Operations Research (my compulsory stint with the IDF, plus one more year because it was interesting) - vaguely computer-related (wrote a fair number of simulations, “managed” our fledgeling network…)
Working as a programmer and/or manager (civilian - yay!) since 1993.
So my answer is “yes.”
Dani
B.S. in meteorolgy. I work for a software company.
I love weather and breezed through my degree, but I knew by my Senior year that I didn’t want to work in the field.
I got a degree in film production, specializing in cinematography.
I work for a college bookstore and part time for a college TV station.
So, I’m in the ‘sorta’ catagory.
B.S. in Computer Science then -> Software Developer today.
