HOW TO KNOW IF YOUR PRESENT DEGREE OR PROPOSED COURSE TO STUDY IS A WASTE OF MONEY AND TIME TO YOUR FUTURE CAREER.
HOW TO KNOW IF YOUR PRESENT DEGREE OR PROPOSED COURSE TO STUDY IS A WASTE OF MONEY AND TIME TO YOUR FUTURE CAREER.
Henry jex blog
If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering how valuable your current degree will be for your career. Or maybe you’re a secondary school senior,a Jambite,a Pre-degree student,an O.N.D holder debating which degree to pursue.
Degree: -
a : a title conferred on students by a college, university, or professional school on completion of a program of study
b : a grade of membership attained in a ritualistic order or society
c : an academic title conferred to honor distinguished achievement or service
d : the formal ceremonies observed in the conferral of such a distinction.
Career: -
a field for or pursuit of consecutive progressive achievement especially in public,professional, or business life Washington's career as a soldier. 4 : a profession for which one trains and which is undertaken as a permanent calling a career in medicine a career diplomat.
As someone who has extensively researched the
value of a degree before deciding to drop out of
university, let henry jex blog share it's two cents on the
matter. It may shift your perspective.
Before we go over the 10 most useless degrees
in college, let’s go over some major gaps that
apply towards pursuing a degree in the first
place.
1:- False sense of security Growing up: -
we were promised the illusion of the
golden ticket. We are told to earn a paper
degree, and watch the opportunities roll in.
This may have been true 30–40 years ago,
where only 26% of middle-class workers had a
degree. Today, when almost everyone has a
college degree (if not a Master’s), its value is
increasingly becoming a commodity rather than
an asset.
As a result, the golden ticket we were promised
rarely leads to our desired job upon graduation,
if at all. According to the U.S Department of
Labor, 53.6% of college graduates under the age
of 25 are either unemployed or underemployed.
2:- Misalignment of goals: -
This may be harsh to hear for some people, but
most college professors don’t have your best
interest as their priority. There’s two reasons for
that.
(a) The first is the increasing number of professor to
student ratio, where some lecture halls seat over
500+ students per professor. This makes it
incredibly difficult to develop a genuine
relationship. This also leads to receiving general
and unspecific advice from professors.
(b) The second reason is that most professors have
their research and tenure as a higher priority
than helping students get the best education for
their career. Many professors are using the
institution’s facilities and resources for
their own research, and are teaching as part of
their contract.
There’s rarely a good outcome if there’s a
misalignment in any relationship.
Better alternatives: -
The good news to all of this is: you’re in control.
There’s better alternatives and more
opportunities than before, from getting practical
experience, to leveraging new social
communities, even avoiding the degree as a
whole — the list just goes on.
With each of the most useless degrees I mention
below, I’ll share an alternative you could explore
in lieu of your 4-year journey.
1. Advertising: -
Don Draper may have been “the man” back in
1960; however, with the rise of technology, the
advertising industry is shifting faster than
ever. The core reason for this is that we’re no
longer living in the billboard/banner ad age.
Consumers have all the power today. We can
choose what we pay attention to and what we
tune out.
Many companies question the ROI of advertising
as a whole, big agencies are struggling in a
world of free media, and new social networks are
popping up every year.
Alternative:-
Stay ahead of new media trends and
learn everything you can about it, from new
social networks, to marketing channels, etc.
Become an expert and share the actual results
you’ve received with potential employers or
clients. Results will be the only thing that
matters.
2. Music: -
Music is different from advertising since its
theory stands the test of time. However, that in
itself is the problem: it’s only theory.
If your goal is to one day become a professional
musician, learning about its history and the
musical terms and instruments is not going to
accelerate your success. As Malcolm Gladwell
proclaims in his book, “The Outlier” , what made
The Beatles become one of the greatest bands in
history was the 10,000 hours of practice they
had in their early stages.
Alternative:-
If you want to be a performer in any
industry, from musician, to comedian, to keynote
speaker: put in the hours. Form your own band.
Find every opportunity to get on stage and
become the performer you want to be, not an
expert in musical theory.
3. Computer Science: -
Technology is almost always ahead of traditional
education. This poses a big contradiction if
you’re trying to stay ahead of the latest trends
that will help you be in demand of great
companies upon graduation.
Be clear with your end goal. Are you looking to
learn how computers work, or are you looking to
be recruited by the Google’s of the world?
Alternative: -
Assuming most of you reading this
are looking to learn how to code, it’s easier than
ever to do this on your own. Check out free
platforms such as Code academy or Treehouse ,
and apply it directly by building your own
website.
4. Creative Writing: -
If you’re looking to express your creative
mindset, this degree isn’t it.
The first reason is that most professors frown
upon modern fiction, and would rather teach you
about how it was done in the 1800s. The second
is, the only compensated positions that most
“creative writers” end up at is writing Top 10
lists for the Internet. There’s better ways to
spend 4 years learning how to express yourself.
Alternative: -
One is, start your own blog, just like www.henryjex.blogspot.com This not
only helps you get real practical experience on
expressing and condensing your mind, but you
can also receive immediate feedback from your
audience. Here’s the cherry on top of the
sundae, if you manage to build a large enough
audience, you can potentially make enough
money to be your own boss!
5. Philosophy: -
Philosophy is the go-to degree when discussing
the most useless degrees. This isn’t to dismiss
the importance of philosophy, as many influential
thinkers such as Tim Ferriss use Stoic
Philosophy as a framework for making better
decisions. The problem is the way it’s being
taught. Professors choose theoretical topics of
philosophy that will stir debate and discussion,
which rarely applies to our real day-to-day lives.
Alternative: -
There’s books available, such as “The
Obstacle is the Way,” on practical philosophy that
will help you make better decisions in life. If you
want to learn about the history of Philosophy,
there are hundreds of books available on that as
well.
6. Communication: -
If you need a communication degree to prove
you can communicate, then you haven’t fully
experienced college.
College is where you discover the necessary
communication skills to nurture relationships,
develop the ability to communicate with new
people, and learn about your communication
strengths and weaknesses. You’ll learn far more
about communication from opening yourself up
to meeting new people in your college than
spending 4 years about how to talk.
Alternative: -
Create your own podcast. Find a
topic that you’re passionate about and start
interviewing people. As ironic as it may sound,
the best communicators of the world are not the
best speakers. Instead, the people who can ask
interesting questions and know how to listen
make the best communicators. On top of that,
podcasting will help you connect with influential
people in your industry, which is a far better
strategy of landing your dream job than a
degree.
7. Education: -
Do you want to become a great teacher, have an
impact, and share your message with
students? Well, you may be disappointed to hear
that most teachers receive a nominal salary
compared to their relative value. Why not get
paid what you’re worth, while potentially
impacting millions of students around the world
versus a few hundred in your local city?
Alternative: -
Today, anyone can become a teacher.
You can share a practical skill you’ve developed
with others, or you can teach people how to
shoot photography, how to learn a new
language, and more by creating your own
YouTube channel, creating your own online
course, or signing up for a teaching platform.
The opportunities are endless with the rise of
online teaching.
8. Languages: -
As globalization increases at an exponential rate,
learning a new language is not only a great
asset to have on your resume, but it’s also
quickly becoming a necessity. Despite its
increasing importance, it doesn’t require an
investment of $30,000 to learn the history and
literature of the language from a non-native
speaking professor. In fact, it’s unlikely you’ll
ever use most of the theoretical knowledge you
learn about languages in the real world.
Alternative: - Much like computer science, you
don’t need to learn a language inside and out
just in order to speak it fluently. There are
existing language learning platforms like Rype
that are 0.1% of the investment for a college
degree. This platform matches you with a native
speaking language coach for one-on-one
teaching, rather than learning in a lecture hall
with 300 other students.
9. Criminal Justice: -
Most people entering this degree are looking to
become a detective, police officer, or enter
law. If that’s the case, earning a degree in
Criminal Justice may not be the way to go.
According to the BLS, police officers and
detective are not necessarily required to have a
degree beyond their highschool diploma. This is
because most of the practical knowledge is
earned upon joining the academy through
sponsored on-the-job training.
Alternative: -
If your goal is to enter law, there are
better degrees that will train you for getting into
law school. In fact, law school expert Ann Levine
states that Criminal Justice is not considered
academically rigorous by major law schools.
Instead, Levine recommends a degree like
political science, that requires research, serious
thought, and analysis.
10. Entrepreneurship: -
Learning entrepreneurship through a textbook is
like watching a video on how to ride a bicycle
without riding it. This bit of advice comes from
personal experience. Every successful
entrepreneur will tell you that entrepreneurship
cannot be taught, it must be experienced. The
calculated risk-taking, mental struggles, and
hustle aren’t learned from a textbook, they come
from being in the battlefield.
Alternative: -
The easiest alternative is to start your own business . This could be a side
business you start, or something as simple as
selling items on Ebay. The last thing you want to
do is study the works of successful
entrepreneurs without living it your own.
People go to university to study a course in hope of future amelioration. However,most of the many courses that used to be hot cake in time past are whitewashed with the influx of many people who just learn the course outside university in a matter of months.
Going to University to study the following courses many
deem to be a waste of time.The courses are:
Computer Science: -
countless number of people are in the known in this field.
Theatre Arts/Music: -
Theatre arts is a free entry
and exit field.Most people in the industry have no degree in the field.
Philosophy: -
This course is more valuable in the olden days where people appreciate the thinkers not in our present time.The situation of the country makes everybody a thinker to survive in this country.
Political Science: -
Spending years studying this course is a waste of time and resources.People are procedure conscious when it comes to
politics.how many political scientists are in position of power to regulate the politics of our country.
In Conclusion
“Ideas are easy. It’s the execution of ideas that
really separates the sheep from the goats.” — Sue
Grafton
Despite the points mentioned in this article, your
college experience is something to be cherished.
You’ll learn far more from the overall experience
than inside the classroom.
The problem is not college itself, it’s our
preconceived mindset of relying on some of the
most useless degrees to make or break our
careers. Most of us will end up working in
professions that have nothing to do with our
degrees.
Think about what your intention and end goals
are by entering your degree of study. Where do
you see yourself in 5 years upon graduation?
How will this degree help you get there? Is it a
degree that top employers are looking for? Or are
there specific skill-sets that you want to develop
to improve yourself?
Most importantly, you should use college as the
time to explore yourself, take risks, and learn
your strengths and weaknesses. It’s one of the
first and only times you’ll have the freedom to
make risky decisions with no real
downsides. College can become the best
experience of your life. Choosing the right degree
is only one part of it.
Our next article will be on
"Most profitable courses to study in Nigeria".
Watch out for that.
You can like our Facebook page #henry jex blog.
Follow us on Instagram #henry jex blog.
WhatsApp #08134673778.
Twitter # musickidy
Henry jex blog
If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering how valuable your current degree will be for your career. Or maybe you’re a secondary school senior,a Jambite,a Pre-degree student,an O.N.D holder debating which degree to pursue.
Degree: -
a : a title conferred on students by a college, university, or professional school on completion of a program of study
b : a grade of membership attained in a ritualistic order or society
c : an academic title conferred to honor distinguished achievement or service
d : the formal ceremonies observed in the conferral of such a distinction.
Career: -
a field for or pursuit of consecutive progressive achievement especially in public,professional, or business life Washington's career as a soldier. 4 : a profession for which one trains and which is undertaken as a permanent calling a career in medicine a career diplomat.
As someone who has extensively researched the
value of a degree before deciding to drop out of
university, let henry jex blog share it's two cents on the
matter. It may shift your perspective.
Before we go over the 10 most useless degrees
in college, let’s go over some major gaps that
apply towards pursuing a degree in the first
place.
1:- False sense of security Growing up: -
we were promised the illusion of the
golden ticket. We are told to earn a paper
degree, and watch the opportunities roll in.
This may have been true 30–40 years ago,
where only 26% of middle-class workers had a
degree. Today, when almost everyone has a
college degree (if not a Master’s), its value is
increasingly becoming a commodity rather than
an asset.
As a result, the golden ticket we were promised
rarely leads to our desired job upon graduation,
if at all. According to the U.S Department of
Labor, 53.6% of college graduates under the age
of 25 are either unemployed or underemployed.
2:- Misalignment of goals: -
This may be harsh to hear for some people, but
most college professors don’t have your best
interest as their priority. There’s two reasons for
that.
(a) The first is the increasing number of professor to
student ratio, where some lecture halls seat over
500+ students per professor. This makes it
incredibly difficult to develop a genuine
relationship. This also leads to receiving general
and unspecific advice from professors.
(b) The second reason is that most professors have
their research and tenure as a higher priority
than helping students get the best education for
their career. Many professors are using the
institution’s facilities and resources for
their own research, and are teaching as part of
their contract.
There’s rarely a good outcome if there’s a
misalignment in any relationship.
Better alternatives: -
The good news to all of this is: you’re in control.
There’s better alternatives and more
opportunities than before, from getting practical
experience, to leveraging new social
communities, even avoiding the degree as a
whole — the list just goes on.
With each of the most useless degrees I mention
below, I’ll share an alternative you could explore
in lieu of your 4-year journey.
1. Advertising: -
Don Draper may have been “the man” back in
1960; however, with the rise of technology, the
advertising industry is shifting faster than
ever. The core reason for this is that we’re no
longer living in the billboard/banner ad age.
Consumers have all the power today. We can
choose what we pay attention to and what we
tune out.
Many companies question the ROI of advertising
as a whole, big agencies are struggling in a
world of free media, and new social networks are
popping up every year.
Alternative:-
Stay ahead of new media trends and
learn everything you can about it, from new
social networks, to marketing channels, etc.
Become an expert and share the actual results
you’ve received with potential employers or
clients. Results will be the only thing that
matters.
2. Music: -
Music is different from advertising since its
theory stands the test of time. However, that in
itself is the problem: it’s only theory.
If your goal is to one day become a professional
musician, learning about its history and the
musical terms and instruments is not going to
accelerate your success. As Malcolm Gladwell
proclaims in his book, “The Outlier” , what made
The Beatles become one of the greatest bands in
history was the 10,000 hours of practice they
had in their early stages.
Alternative:-
If you want to be a performer in any
industry, from musician, to comedian, to keynote
speaker: put in the hours. Form your own band.
Find every opportunity to get on stage and
become the performer you want to be, not an
expert in musical theory.
3. Computer Science: -
Technology is almost always ahead of traditional
education. This poses a big contradiction if
you’re trying to stay ahead of the latest trends
that will help you be in demand of great
companies upon graduation.
Be clear with your end goal. Are you looking to
learn how computers work, or are you looking to
be recruited by the Google’s of the world?
Alternative: -
Assuming most of you reading this
are looking to learn how to code, it’s easier than
ever to do this on your own. Check out free
platforms such as Code academy or Treehouse ,
and apply it directly by building your own
website.
4. Creative Writing: -
If you’re looking to express your creative
mindset, this degree isn’t it.
The first reason is that most professors frown
upon modern fiction, and would rather teach you
about how it was done in the 1800s. The second
is, the only compensated positions that most
“creative writers” end up at is writing Top 10
lists for the Internet. There’s better ways to
spend 4 years learning how to express yourself.
Alternative: -
One is, start your own blog, just like www.henryjex.blogspot.com This not
only helps you get real practical experience on
expressing and condensing your mind, but you
can also receive immediate feedback from your
audience. Here’s the cherry on top of the
sundae, if you manage to build a large enough
audience, you can potentially make enough
money to be your own boss!
5. Philosophy: -
Philosophy is the go-to degree when discussing
the most useless degrees. This isn’t to dismiss
the importance of philosophy, as many influential
thinkers such as Tim Ferriss use Stoic
Philosophy as a framework for making better
decisions. The problem is the way it’s being
taught. Professors choose theoretical topics of
philosophy that will stir debate and discussion,
which rarely applies to our real day-to-day lives.
Alternative: -
There’s books available, such as “The
Obstacle is the Way,” on practical philosophy that
will help you make better decisions in life. If you
want to learn about the history of Philosophy,
there are hundreds of books available on that as
well.
6. Communication: -
If you need a communication degree to prove
you can communicate, then you haven’t fully
experienced college.
College is where you discover the necessary
communication skills to nurture relationships,
develop the ability to communicate with new
people, and learn about your communication
strengths and weaknesses. You’ll learn far more
about communication from opening yourself up
to meeting new people in your college than
spending 4 years about how to talk.
Alternative: -
Create your own podcast. Find a
topic that you’re passionate about and start
interviewing people. As ironic as it may sound,
the best communicators of the world are not the
best speakers. Instead, the people who can ask
interesting questions and know how to listen
make the best communicators. On top of that,
podcasting will help you connect with influential
people in your industry, which is a far better
strategy of landing your dream job than a
degree.
7. Education: -
Do you want to become a great teacher, have an
impact, and share your message with
students? Well, you may be disappointed to hear
that most teachers receive a nominal salary
compared to their relative value. Why not get
paid what you’re worth, while potentially
impacting millions of students around the world
versus a few hundred in your local city?
Alternative: -
Today, anyone can become a teacher.
You can share a practical skill you’ve developed
with others, or you can teach people how to
shoot photography, how to learn a new
language, and more by creating your own
YouTube channel, creating your own online
course, or signing up for a teaching platform.
The opportunities are endless with the rise of
online teaching.
8. Languages: -
As globalization increases at an exponential rate,
learning a new language is not only a great
asset to have on your resume, but it’s also
quickly becoming a necessity. Despite its
increasing importance, it doesn’t require an
investment of $30,000 to learn the history and
literature of the language from a non-native
speaking professor. In fact, it’s unlikely you’ll
ever use most of the theoretical knowledge you
learn about languages in the real world.
Alternative: - Much like computer science, you
don’t need to learn a language inside and out
just in order to speak it fluently. There are
existing language learning platforms like Rype
that are 0.1% of the investment for a college
degree. This platform matches you with a native
speaking language coach for one-on-one
teaching, rather than learning in a lecture hall
with 300 other students.
9. Criminal Justice: -
Most people entering this degree are looking to
become a detective, police officer, or enter
law. If that’s the case, earning a degree in
Criminal Justice may not be the way to go.
According to the BLS, police officers and
detective are not necessarily required to have a
degree beyond their highschool diploma. This is
because most of the practical knowledge is
earned upon joining the academy through
sponsored on-the-job training.
Alternative: -
If your goal is to enter law, there are
better degrees that will train you for getting into
law school. In fact, law school expert Ann Levine
states that Criminal Justice is not considered
academically rigorous by major law schools.
Instead, Levine recommends a degree like
political science, that requires research, serious
thought, and analysis.
10. Entrepreneurship: -
Learning entrepreneurship through a textbook is
like watching a video on how to ride a bicycle
without riding it. This bit of advice comes from
personal experience. Every successful
entrepreneur will tell you that entrepreneurship
cannot be taught, it must be experienced. The
calculated risk-taking, mental struggles, and
hustle aren’t learned from a textbook, they come
from being in the battlefield.
Alternative: -
The easiest alternative is to start your own business . This could be a side
business you start, or something as simple as
selling items on Ebay. The last thing you want to
do is study the works of successful
entrepreneurs without living it your own.
People go to university to study a course in hope of future amelioration. However,most of the many courses that used to be hot cake in time past are whitewashed with the influx of many people who just learn the course outside university in a matter of months.
Going to University to study the following courses many
deem to be a waste of time.The courses are:
Computer Science: -
countless number of people are in the known in this field.
Theatre Arts/Music: -
Theatre arts is a free entry
and exit field.Most people in the industry have no degree in the field.
Philosophy: -
This course is more valuable in the olden days where people appreciate the thinkers not in our present time.The situation of the country makes everybody a thinker to survive in this country.
Political Science: -
Spending years studying this course is a waste of time and resources.People are procedure conscious when it comes to
politics.how many political scientists are in position of power to regulate the politics of our country.
In Conclusion
“Ideas are easy. It’s the execution of ideas that
really separates the sheep from the goats.” — Sue
Grafton
Despite the points mentioned in this article, your
college experience is something to be cherished.
You’ll learn far more from the overall experience
than inside the classroom.
The problem is not college itself, it’s our
preconceived mindset of relying on some of the
most useless degrees to make or break our
careers. Most of us will end up working in
professions that have nothing to do with our
degrees.
Think about what your intention and end goals
are by entering your degree of study. Where do
you see yourself in 5 years upon graduation?
How will this degree help you get there? Is it a
degree that top employers are looking for? Or are
there specific skill-sets that you want to develop
to improve yourself?
Most importantly, you should use college as the
time to explore yourself, take risks, and learn
your strengths and weaknesses. It’s one of the
first and only times you’ll have the freedom to
make risky decisions with no real
downsides. College can become the best
experience of your life. Choosing the right degree
is only one part of it.
Our next article will be on
"Most profitable courses to study in Nigeria".
Watch out for that.
You can like our Facebook page #henry jex blog.
Follow us on Instagram #henry jex blog.
WhatsApp #08134673778.
Twitter # musickidy
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