Overqualification is the state of being educated beyond what is necessary or requested by an employer for a position with the business. There can often be high costs for companies associated with training employees.
I have a degree in History and Sociology, and I am a Landscaper
Had a lot of potential before SZ hit, but I am doing the best with what I know
Stress is currently my worst enemy!
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I totally get that. Stress messes me up too
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To avoid too much stress I live as basic/simple a life as I can.
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I mean, if it makes you feel better, most people I know with history or sociology degrees are also working entirely outside their field, usually also in skilled labor jobs.
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On the other hand CEO’s are disproportionately represented by history majors
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CEOs are also disproportionately represented by people who inherited millions of dollars. I would bet that had more impact than their college major.
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Historians are smart people, they have critical, analytical minds and recreate the past for us. You are being dismissive of historians I feel…
Not at all. Historians are very intelligent. My point was that the job market is limited for someone with that type of degree. I was insulting the economy, not the historians. We could use more historians who make living wages.
I used my degree to get a data analyst job, but I couldn’t hack it anymore
Landscaping is what I did before I took a degree and triggered my second psychosis
What I have to remember is I took the degree to prove to myself that I could get an education.
I left school with no qualifications, so it was a big deal to graduate from a top 20 UK University - given that I only had an Access to HE certificate to my name. I was lucky they took me in, and I proved I could keep up with those who just came out of grammar schools etc.
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The job market is in full need of people with analytical minds. Historians study past behavior of humans, and that is a skill of high utility. I have seen high-level traders who majored in the liberal arts, such as, history and political science because their perspective is considered invaluable.
I think you are totally misunderstanding what I am saying. I am saying it is a challenge to get a job as a historian. Because people with jobs in that field tend to keep working at them until they are very old, and tend not to get fired. Job openings are rare, and when they come up they most frequently go to people with masters or doctorate degrees, or else pay so low that people need to work a second job anyways just to keep up with their finances.
I totally recognize that it is a challenging degree to get, and that it requires hard work and intelligence. But in order to get a job in that field, you generally also need to be able to be financially secure enough to deal with being severely underpaid for a long time, or else you need to know someone who can get you in the door.
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I agree. A graduate degree is needed for a history major in order for him to succeed in his field… because you can’t be a good historian by just doing a bachelor’s degree–like a lot of the liberal arts, you need a doctorate. That doesn’t mean that doors are closed in the job market, however, as historians can well do an MBA, MS, MA or simply take some stem subjects along with the history major during their undergraduate years in order to be well-rounded for the job market.
I think people who love history have a different perspective and they want to be historians. When they become qualified enough to analyze history (usually with a doctorate), they are easily able to find jobs that they prefer. However, if getting in the job market is what a person wants, he can broaden his skillset (do a math minor along with a history major for instance). But that person usually knows that he is studying history to broaden his perspective and that he seeks a job that will require other skills that he ought to learn.
I never said they couldn’t get jobs. I said most people I know with history degrees work in jobs outside their field.
And, you also said, usually in skilled labor jobs, which may or may not be true.
I said most people I know. I did not claim it is true for all people with history degrees. I am not even disagreeing with anything you said. I don’t know why you are so insistent on arguing with my statement, by debating things that have nothing to do with anything I said.
I have an honours degree in biomedical life sciences
And a masters in nutrition
And I’m going to be a cleaner next month
Admittedly, I only just passed those degrees, many years ago.
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Most of the highly educated people I knew in I.T. back in the day are working outside of I.T. now. Many have moved to skilled labour. I have training as a chef, network admin, and photographer. Working in insurance.
Whoops.
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Eventually, all mechanical jobs will be lost to automation as the revolution for AI takes more grip on society. Critical thinking and ingenuity will be precious…
The thought of how I’d cope with the extra independence that comes with going to uni really did a number on me. 20 months of acute and relentless anxiety really ****ed me up. Having self awareness isn’t always a good thing . Parental expectations and the mental weight of that didn’t help.
Whatever degree you’ve got,or not got, whatever you’re doing-you should be proud of yourselves
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