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What can I do with my sociology degree?

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    #32
    xxzaraxx
    Closed Accounts Posts: 67 ✭✭xxzaraxx


    Killer Pigeon wrote: »
    Hmm, you could have easily become a cleaner without even having a Leaving Cert., so clearly your degree hasn't come in handy there. However, a degree isn't all about the jobs or the salaries - a lot of it is about the learning experience.

    Hence why I made this thread..


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    #33
    conor.hogan.2
    Registered Users Posts: 5,246 ✭✭✭conor.hogan.2


    Riamfada wrote: »
    Like me, if you wanted to be a professional you wouldnt have done arts.

    Because life ends after you finish a degree at 20/21...


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    #34
    El Siglo
    Registered Users Posts: 3,803 ✭✭✭El Siglo


    xxzaraxx wrote: »
    I definitely do not want to continue on to do a masters... Can I get a job with my degree without it having any relevance to the job? Where do I look for jobs that are looking for people with degrees? I have been searching jobs.ie and fas.ie but they are mostly hospitality and service jobs..

    First question: No. Not a hope in hell, you'll need experience or a postgrad or more likely both.
    Second question: Same as everywhere else, monster recruitment etc... There isn't a specific "jobs for degree holders" type of thing, there's recruitment agencies and that's it.
    Your third problem there is, you looked for jobs in Ireland. In case you haven't been reading the newspapers recently, half a million people are on the dole. You also looked at Fas... Probably the most retarded of the QUANGOs.

    OP if you want to get a job related to your degree then you have to do a postgrad. An arts degree is really not worth the paper it's written on unless you do something after it. To be honest, jobs are scarce and when you see civil engineers, architects etc... on the dole, what do you think it's going to be like for arts grads?


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    #35
    parker kent
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,289 ✭✭✭parker kent


    xxzaraxx wrote: »
    I do not want to do a masters.. I have actually gotten two jobs in the last year, I actually left my last job recently and within a week I had a new job lined up. I was just hoping I could do something with a degree I had spent 3 years doing that is all, not being naive.

    An arts degree does not make you qualified in anything (I should know). The idea is that it expands your horizons and opens up new opportunities. It all about teaching you how to think, problem solve, reason etc.

    Were there jobs everywhere, you would get something. But I think you are naive to think that an arts degree will get you a job that is degree related. You need experience (which you don't have) to get anything like that. Plus as everybody has said here, you need further qualifications to move into any particular line of work.


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    #36
    parker kent
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,289 ✭✭✭parker kent


    Also, just look up gradireland.ie to see what jobs are being advertised for graduates.


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    #37
    Oasis_Dublin
    Registered Users Posts: 2,467 ✭✭✭Oasis_Dublin


    Riamfada wrote: »
    Like me, if you wanted to be a professional you wouldnt have done arts.

    Do you mean professional in the sense that you get paid? I'm an orts graduate and I have a job that pays :confused:


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    #38
    parker kent
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,289 ✭✭✭parker kent


    Oasis_Dublin wrote: »
    Do you mean professional in the sense that you get paid? I'm an orts graduate and I have a job that pays :confused:

    I imagine the poster meant somebody engaged or qualified in a profession. An arts degree doesn't make somebody qualified in a profession. Doctors, lawyers, teachers etc are people who have trained in a profession (Note teachers often have arts degrees, but a HDip should be needed for a teacher).

    But that is a narrow way of looking at degrees.


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    #39
    Oasis_Dublin
    Registered Users Posts: 2,467 ✭✭✭Oasis_Dublin


    parker kent wrote: »
    I imagine the poster meant somebody engaged or qualified in a profession. An arts degree doesn't make somebody qualified in a profession. Doctors, lawyers, teachers etc are people who have trained in a profession (Note teachers often have arts degrees, but a HDip should be needed for a teacher).

    But that is a narrow way of looking at degrees.

    An arts degree is a primary degree in the same way as a law degree is a primary degree. You have to add postgraduate degrees to your primary degree to make them really valuable. Nobody is coming out of UCD after three years with any entitlement to a highly paid professional job, without knowing someday high up in a company.


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    #40
    parker kent
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,289 ✭✭✭parker kent


    Oasis_Dublin wrote: »
    An arts degree is a primary degree in the same way as a law degree is a primary degree. You have to add postgraduate degrees to your primary degree to make them really valuable. Nobody is coming out of UCD after three years with any entitlement to a highly paid professional job, without knowing someday high up in a company.

    Well I obviously know that. That's why I did a primary degree and then a masters. I'm just giving you the definition of a professional qualification. An arts degree is not a professional qualification.


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    #41
    Oasis_Dublin
    Registered Users Posts: 2,467 ✭✭✭Oasis_Dublin


    parker kent wrote: »
    Well I obviously know that. That's why I did a primary degree and then a masters. I'm just giving you the definition of a professional qualification. An arts degree is not a professional qualification.

    I rather clearly wasn't having a go at you. Cool the jets. I'm rather obviously claiming that a law degree, a commerce degree or an economics degree is not a professional degree either. Hence, the original poster is in the wrong.


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    #42
    parker kent
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,289 ✭✭✭parker kent


    Oasis_Dublin wrote: »
    I rather clearly wasn't having a go at you. Cool the jets. I'm rather obviously claiming that a law degree, a commerce degree or an economics degree is not a professional degree either. Hence, the original poster is in the wrong.

    I didn't say you were having a go at me, I just clarified what I said.

    By the way, there obviously are degrees that are professional degrees such as nursing.


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    #43
    noodler
    Registered Users Posts: 26,418 ✭✭✭✭noodler


    Riamfada wrote: »
    Its striking how many people in college believe that there will be a choice in jobs. Its getting to this stage where you take whatever retail job you can get and like it.

    Like me, if you wanted to be a professional you wouldnt have done arts.
    conor.hogan.2 wrote: »
    Because life ends after you finish a degree at 20/21...
    Oasis_Dublin wrote: »
    Do you mean professional in the sense that you get paid? I'm an orts graduate and I have a job that pays :confused:

    Likewise - doing okay myself after doing a Masters.

    Top poster sounds like a horrible person though.


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    #44
    Glenomena2011
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16 ✭Glenomena2011


    HavingCrack wrote: »
    OP, I think you're being very naive. Bachelors degrees have become devalued hugely these days due to free fees. If you want to get any sort of career related to your degree a Masters is almost a necessity, especially in this economic climate. If you just want any old job it won't be related to your degree if you do manage to find one *even service type jobs require experience these days.

    They've been devalued because of free fees? That sounds wrong.

    Just because something was free (at the point of use, not free at all), then employers won't value it? Nah.
    If it gets you skills you can use in the job, then you have those skills, the method of paying for your education is a total irrelevance to the employer.

    If you mean people taking any degree, just to take something, cos its' expected of them, and they're own wallets not on the line, and not being very into it, thats a different story.
    A lot of people did that with science because it was low points.


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    #45
    autonomy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 115 ✭✭autonomy


    xxzaraxx wrote: »
    I was just wondering what I can do with my bachelors degree in sociology(major) and greek and roman civilisation (minor)?? What jobs can I get in Ireland with this degree? Also how do I go about applying for jobs with this degree? I am finished this degree in May and I am starting to get concerned about the jobs I can get from this degree...

    Did you not think about this when you decided to do the course?


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    #46
    Glenomena2011
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16 ✭Glenomena2011


    OSI wrote: »
    The devaluation of degrees has nothing to do with the cost associated with them, but rather the proliferation of degrees among society due to the increased availability as a result of free fees.

    Any half brained economics/business student will tell you that the more prolific a product or service is, it's perceived value will inevitably decrease.

    Thats probably what s/he meant then.
    I have noticed the tendency to look for postgrad qualifications, but more people are doing that too, so what is it gonna come to? we all need doctorates to get anything above 35k?


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    #47
    Glenomena2011
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16 ✭Glenomena2011


    Keep in mind those of you finishing college now and struggling, it would be worse.
    I know people in the states who are 5 figures in debt to pay for their college degree:

    1. Its not finding them a job
    2. They're being forced to take jobs they could have easily gotten without the degree, and the debt that came with it.


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    #48
    bnt
    Registered Users Posts: 13,011 ✭✭✭✭bnt


    There's a new op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, written by a Harvard Professor of Government, which I thought I should mention because of its title: Sociology and Other 'Meathead' Majors. He advises against doing a Master's in Sociology:
    A graduate student in sociology is one who didn't get his fill of jargonized wishful thinking as an undergraduate. Such a person will never fail to disappoint you. But sociology has close competitors in other social sciences (including mine, political science) and in the humanities.
    I'm surprised to see such criticism of the Humanities from someone heavily involved in the Humanities, but I don't know if I can say much more than that - since I'm not in the Humanities, and don't really know what's involved.

    PS: if the link doesn't lead to the full article, just go to Google News and search for "Sociology".

    Death has this much to be said for it:
    You don’t have to get out of bed for it.
    Wherever you happen to be
    They bring it to you—free.

    — Kingsley Amis



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    #49
    parker kent
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,289 ✭✭✭parker kent


    bnt wrote: »
    There's a new op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, written by a Harvard Professor of Government, which I thought I should mention because of its title: Sociology and Other 'Meathead' Majors. He advises against doing a Master's in Sociology:

    I'm surprised to see such criticism of the Humanities from someone heavily involved in the Humanities, but I don't know if I can say much more than that - since I'm not in the Humanities, and don't really know what's involved.

    PS: if the link doesn't lead to the full article, just go to Google News and search for "Sociology".

    His issue seems to be the proliferation of soft courses in the humanities, not necessarily humanities itself. I tend to agree with his problems with all subjects in the humanities being treated as equal.


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    #50
    BiancaJo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1 ✭BiancaJo


    I don't think this goes without saying but degrees don't guarantee jobs. If you choose to do a humanities major in college you need to understand that employers don't want people with sociology degrees - they won't people with skills that understand their industry. A background in sociology can be pretty helpful for a lot of different career paths (see: careers in sociology) that don't necessarily relate to the academia and grad school track that everyone and their grandpa jokes about. The key is knowing how to network and develop a set of skills that are currently desirable to employers for the kind of positions you want to hold. A smart thing to do is to look at jobs you'd like to have and take a gander at the qualifications...this can give you a good idea of what you need to work on and develop.


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    #51
    OneOfThem Stumbled
    Registered Users Posts: 934 ✭✭✭OneOfThem Stumbled


    Love how the new poster just casually enters a conversation that has been quiet for eight months. :D


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    #52
    [Jackass]
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,193 ✭✭✭[Jackass]


    xxzaraxx wrote: »
    I was just wondering what I can do with my bachelors degree in sociology(major) and greek and roman civilisation (minor)?? What jobs can I get in Ireland with this degree? Also how do I go about applying for jobs with this degree? I am finished this degree in May and I am starting to get concerned about the jobs I can get from this degree...

    Just about the only part of a Sociology degree that is useful is the research aspect. As for the Greek & Roman civilisation minor, you could buy a roman costume and have people pay to have their photo's taken with you outside of the Colosseum?

    Alternatively you could use your degree to balance a wonky table.


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    #53
    OneOfThem Stumbled
    Registered Users Posts: 934 ✭✭✭OneOfThem Stumbled


    [Jackass] wrote: »
    Just about the only part of a Sociology degree that is useful is the research aspect. As for the Greek & Roman civilisation minor, you could buy a roman costume and have people pay to have their photo's taken with you outside of the Colosseum?

    Alternatively you could use your degree to balance a wonky table.

    So besides research, the capacity for original thought, for autonomous learning, the development of analytical skills, strong ability to express yourself in writing, capacity to create and meet deadlines, self-motivate, ability to gain cultural and social awareness (both at home and abroad), edit, proofreading and organise date are skills that are as useful as a paper weight.

    I see :pac:

    Besides which the whole ARTS LOL thing... you could equally say:
    "Engineers, Architects, Bankers, lol - what you still think it's the Celtic Tiger?"


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    #54
    Meow_Meow
    Closed Accounts Posts: 171 ✭✭Meow_Meow


    I sympathise with you OP- it may seem like stating the obvious, but it should be made clearer to impressionable 17/18 year olds when they're filling out their CAO that they shouldn't simply pick a course because they 'like' it (something which was hammered into my class again and again by our loopy career guidance teacher). They should choose it because it offers them the possibility of an actual job afterwards.

    Obviously you need to enjoy what you do, but you have to be realistic too. I would have loved to spend 3 years contemplating philosophy or reading Irish folklore, but the simple fact is that they don't transfer into the workplace without a masters which is relevant to a 'real' job. Of course, an arts degree will give you analytical skills, writing skills etc etc but unless you're going to back it up with something substantial, your prospects don't look good.

    And your career really isn't something you'd want to start thinking about in final year- or even worse after you've graduated- the UCD careers centre is very good and they hold a whole range of talks aimed at penultimate and final year students. For those who aren't as far gone as the OP-- take an interest in your future, keep up your GPA and even have a look through websites advertising jobs and ask yourself-- when I'm finished, could I potentially apply for such a position, and if not, what do I need to do to get to where I need to be?


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    #55
    bnt
    Registered Users Posts: 13,011 ✭✭✭✭bnt


    OSI wrote: »
    The devaluation of degrees has nothing to do with the cost associated with them, but rather the proliferation of degrees among society due to the increased availability as a result of free fees.

    Any half brained economics/business student will tell you that the more prolific a product or service is, it's perceived value will inevitably decrease.
    That's only half the story, though, since I think the proportions of degree types are all wrong. There are far too many people doing "soft" degrees because they are under the impression that they need "a degree", but they didn't like Maths and related subjects at school, and want to avoid them as much as possible. Sure, the world needs Sociologists, and Art Historians, but does it need that many? Humanities degrees have suffered far more from devaluation than Maths-related degrees (incl. Science and Engineering, maybe Economics) for that reason.

    My advice to any LC student is: bite the bullet and take Higher Maths, then go for a degree that requires it. If you don't, you're fighting against a herd of others for fewer and fewer jobs.

    Death has this much to be said for it:
    You don’t have to get out of bed for it.
    Wherever you happen to be
    They bring it to you—free.

    — Kingsley Amis



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    #56
    Pacifist Pigeon
    Closed Accounts Posts: 504 ✭✭✭Pacifist Pigeon


    Meow_Meow wrote: »
    I sympathise with you OP- it may seem like stating the obvious, but it should be made clearer to impressionable 17/18 year olds when they're filling out their CAO that they shouldn't simply pick a course because they 'like' it (something which was hammered into my class again and again by our loopy career guidance teacher). They should choose it because it offers them the possibility of an actual job afterwards.

    Live and let live I say. If someone wants to be a hipster, let them. Education isn't (and shouldn't) be all about the job prospects.

    There's nothing stopping someone from setting up a profitable art gallery is an abandoned mosque. You don't need an education to start a business.


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    #57
    Meow_Meow
    Closed Accounts Posts: 171 ✭✭Meow_Meow


    Pacifist Pigeon wrote: »
    Live and let live I say. If someone wants to be a hipster, let them. Education isn't (and shouldn't) be all about the job prospects.

    There's nothing stopping someone from setting up a profitable art gallery is an abandoned mosque. You don't need an education to start a business.

    Education isn't *solely* about job prospects, but it should factor in. They're being prepared for the real world, not for a lifetime of assignments


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    #58
    Pacifist Pigeon
    Closed Accounts Posts: 504 ✭✭✭Pacifist Pigeon


    Meow_Meow wrote: »
    Education isn't *solely* about job prospects, but it should factor in. They're being prepared for the real world, not for a lifetime of assignments

    Fair enough, but work isn't the only factor one has to deal with in the real world. People should take from education what they feel is right for them.


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    #59
    Adam C
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1 ✭Adam C


    When I first graduated with my sociology degree, I didn't know what to do either. Lots of people told me to go into law enforcement, but I didn't really like that idea. Then I decided to go back to school to get my Master's in social work, and I couldn't be happier. I really encourage anyone who wants to help others while they work to visit my website for social science degree information. There are resources for potential and current students to help find the right career path. Also, check out the National Science Foundation website to read up on the latest research.


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