When I first saw the headline at The Daily Beast, I would have bet you dimes to nickles that “Journalism” was on that list. Of course, if you ask me, it is way too low on the list (should be #1). You’ll have to click over to see the data showing why these thirteen are the most useless (at least in terms of finding employment or getting paid):
- Fine Arts
- Drama and Theater Arts
- Film, Video, and Photographic Arts
- Commercial Art and Graphic Design
- Architecture
- Philosophy and Religious Studies
- English Literature and Language
- Journalism
- Anthropology and Archaeology
- Hospitality Management
- Music
- History
- Political Science and Government
How the hell “Women’s Studies” didn’t make the list is beyond me. Or maybe it goes under “Drama and Theater Art.” In fact, I’d replace it with “graphic design” on the above list.
What most of these degrees have in common (with the possible exception of Architecture) is that you don’t need a degree to do any of them. Almost none of them provide any real-world job skills. If you want to be a musician, go play music. Want to be a writer? Then write.
The percentage of low-life Occupy morons who hold one of these worthless degrees and is perplexed as to why they can’t find a job has to be at least 80%.
If you want a job that enables you to 1) pay back your student loans, 2) start a family, buy a house, buy a nice car, and 3) avoid becoming one of Obama’s unemployment/food stamp statistics, get a degree in Engineering. Civil. Mechanical. Software. Electrical. Chemical. Take your pick.
Want to live in a tent across from city hall and beg passers-bye for change while you demand student loan bailouts from the government? Get a worthless humanities or fine arts degree.
My own undergraduate degree, a BS in Professional Writing, in no way prepared me to be a technical writer. I did not learn anything that I did not already know, I gained no special skill that most people don’t already posses (for those who passed most of their high school English classes, anyway). However, sadly, there is an arbitrary requirement in the industry to have a degree. So I got one. But learned nothing then that benefits me today.
Lucky for me that there is a very high-demand in the private sector — especially in highly-technical fields — for those who can write well and explain those technical concepts to an often less-technical user audience. I blame the lack of really good writers not on the universities, but rather on our public education system, which is much more interested in “free writing” exercises than they are in teaching kids how to write clearly and correctly.
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I have a BA in History and Englsih Lit and a Masters degree in Library and Information Science. I am trying to find a job teaching here in Texas. I have Texas certifications in History 8th to 12th grade and Technology Applications EC-12th grade.
So you don’t mind if I point out, and I’d bet you’re inclined to agree — that your choice of majors and degrees has prepared you to do nothing else but teach. A career that pays very little compared to the investment you and/or your parents made in your education. The private market simply doesn’t have much demand for somebody with your degrees or skill set.
Harsh? Maybe. But also true.
my friend has that same background and works as a designer for expedia. information science is really important for website development. you should set your sights higher.
Perhaps, Robbie, but I LIKE helping people and teaching. However, there is a lot more to the education game than teaching. I would like to move to computer systems admin and repair. I guess I should mention I am 1 class short of a second Masters in Information Systems. I love computers too. And I would love to teach that also.
And you would be surprised at where Librarians can work besides a public library or school.
But what I am really paid in, Robbie, is seeing the light come on in someone when they figure it out. And in watching my students walk and receive their diploma for their hard work. You cannot put a dollar amount on that.
You also can’t pay your taxes in that.
I too like to teach and help others. I fill this need by tutoring and posting on the internet. I have a degree in Computer Programming and I use it more for a hobby than for income. My real earnings come from being an industrial electrician which pays very well. Also I have other skills that I can fall back on if necessary.
My secret is being driven to never stop learning and trying to better myself. I would recommend a person to diversify his skills and never settle on a single skill set.
I believe many people would be better off going to a trade school instead.
You wanna be an engineer? Go built stuff ya dringus!
You’re retarded.
So, you’re saying that degree in Comparative Literature isn’t working out for you as well as you thought it might? And now you’d like me to pay back your student loans for you since you’re completely unemployable?
Love it Robbie, we dont find 2nd and 3rd world countries advertising for Literature students to build up their countries. I note by the vitriol of Big Trill’s reply , you may of hit a sore nerve
Yahoo careers listed Computer Engineer as one of the degrees where a person could earn more than 100k in a short time. However someone has to install and repair computers and networks..I am going to school for that via Texas State Technical College in West Texas.
Interesting…Well, not really. This article should be titled “I’m as useless as my degree.” I have two of these degrees and have had great success in finding jobs in both the public and private sector. Blow me.
I guess it’s no use pointing out to a MENSA member like you that you are the exception…an outlier…not the rule, right?
I have a BFA in graphic design and I am extremely lucky to have stable work an benefits. Especially living in Oklahoma! While in school I thought I would have to move to a bigger city for a good job but ironically the jobs in bigger cities are far less stable than where I’m at. Hindsight! Wish I had gone into computer programming!!
haha look at all the negative comments this guy leaves! He’s one of those types of guys who only has HS diploma or less -and could never make it through college. it makes him feel good that “educated people” are struggling. …pretty sad.
Not only do I have a BA in one of the above degrees, but I’m also making about 80k at the moment. My advice to anyone who is struggling to find work with a “useless degree” is to think outside the box! (as cliche as it may sound) Don’t just apply at places that are obviously catered towards your degree. (like a journalism major applying at a newspaper/magazine) Try applying in sales/business/HR etc. Some of these jobs may not pay much in the beginning, but there is much room for advancement down the road. And don’t just apply at big well-known companies! try applying at smaller local companies! Just hang in there!
you are the dumbass. Robbie and I went to high school, after that he served our country and then finished college while working. Learn the facts before you open your spew hole you fucking loser.
As for you and your BA…..what a fucking joke! Wow, 80K, how very impressive!! NOT!! Next time at least try for a BS that requires more math and science you dimwit. I know, I know….those are very scary classes for you liberal arts deuchebags! Another thing, your whole “think outside the box” garbage is something a counselor would say.
Yknow, I could tell you that I have an ASS, BS and MS in molecular biology and virology. But someone loser like you would still act hollier than thou and contine to spew your hate on a message board like this. Here is an idea you POS…..stop bragging about a BA and 80K….you are a very small person to use those credentials and bash Robbie for the hard work he endured to end up where he is.
Now get back to advising inner city yutes….make sure you tell them to think outside the box!!! bwahahahah! What a fucking loser!
Damn, Talk about spewing hate on this page your the one that’s being completely negative, D-Mac. Math and Science are not scary classes. Fact is, not everyone is going to be an engineer or a Mathematician nor a musician or artist. People tend to gravitate towards what they are interested in. It’s true that many of today’s high paying jobs are in the science and engineering fields but, that doesn’t mean you CAN”T get a job with a degree in computer graphics. There are plenty of web based companies that need graphic designers to design logos, PLENTY of visual effects work that needs 3D artists to build virtual assets, PLENTY of studio musicians needed for recording artists. I agree with the guy above who said “Don’t just apply at places that are obviously catered towards your degree.” “Think outside the box”. If it’s anybody on this page that is a dumb shit, fucking loser it’s you D-Mac. I seriously doubt you even have a college degree. Spew your hate somewhere else you dipshit and quite bringing people down with your moronic comments that show nothing but how stupid you really are.
Too fucking ‘stoopid to realize that he’s the exception and not the rule.
Re: Imma dumbass
just one more silly shallow, sanctimonious, utterly pretentious, pompously narcissistic, hubris ass!
How dare you. How fucking dare you. Whoever wrote this article: you are so fucking IGNORANT. How do YOU know that a music degree is useless and if you want to play music you should just play music? How? Are you a fucking musician to know this? Well you’re not. I am, and I know for a fact that if you want to be a PROPER musician, not just some street junkie, then you need to learn ALOT of things that you cannot learn by just playing a fucking instrument. You need to learn about composition techniques, harmonies, good practicing methods, cadences, intervals, tonality, you name it. Have you ever heard any of these fucking terms? No. No you haven’t because you are an ignorant BASTARD. And although I
Do not know alot about the other degrees, I’m pretty sure that they have something to teach you that you need to learn to get a job in the field. How draw you be such an arrogant, stupid idiot. Think before you write things like this.
Shame on you.
I know all those terms and I’m not a music graduate. You know how? Music classes for $15 a week. And google. You don’t need college to learn and apply those things.
Well, if you look at it that way, ANY degree is useless. I could look up all the biology I wanted. Too bad I won’t have a degree to back myself up with trying to get a job. Fucktard.
Your the fucktard. You silly pretentious cunt. You have a simpletons fixsation with decorative scraps parchment and there erroneously imputed value. You waive it about hysterically in the face of others, deludedly believing yourself clothed with some imagined exceptionalism. Grow up little girl! Your not in Kansas anymore!
Well, the difference is in defining what colleges are actually for. If you were to say to get a degree to get a high paying job, or any job, you would be missing the point of what college is for. Even if you were to simply say to educate, you would be missing the full scope of the purpose of college. As Gary Gutting puts it, in an article in the NY Times titled What is College For, “the reason college exists is to nourish a world of intellectual culture; that is, a world of ideas, dedicated to what we can know scientifically, understand humanistically, or express artistically.” College isn’t for job placement. Technical, professional, and trade schools could prepare people for the work force much better. College is meant to raise the bar on human knowledge and understanding–wisdom. We are homo sapiens after all, shouldn’t we live up to the title?
–fine arts major
I don’t agree with this list but I thought I’d comment and say that your reputation is spat on by your high school “friend”. He makes himself, and you come off as arrogant assholes.
youre a fucking idiot
This article may be based around the USA but the same principle applies in the UK. So many graduates think they should be treated like a board member when they get a job in a company and get miffed when the warehouse manager gets more respect than them.
Yes, I did a crap degree, Environmental Protection, and what job did I end up doing for 10 years afterwards? Corrections Officer.
Sir:
Corrections Officer is a perfectly respectable Occupation and of damn site more practicable value to society than Environmental Protection. ( by this I mean only that later if great work…..if you can get it?)
Well I don’t have any of THOSE degrees, I have an associates in Applied Science and a Certificate for medical billing and coding and I STILL CAN’T FIND A JOB. Maybe its because I’m over 50? Who knows but it really pisses me off that I cant even get a job waiting tables.
An internet friend of mine did medical billing on her PC at home for years. There were no benefits and the pay wasn’t great, but it allowed her to stay at her farm all day and work at night from home.
Robbie, does that really make you happy to reply to these comments in this way?
You are not a strong man, but a weak one, and you know it.
Shut up and go fetch me a latte, son #caring
(And I’ll bet you a month’s salary my three-lift total in dead lift, back squat, and shoulder press dwarfs anything you could even manage to budge off the ground, ’cause #GorillaStrength, bitch)
Hey someone with an engineering degree could design some hand gaurds so Robbie here won’t scratch up his hands dragging his knuckles.
Sounds like you have a pretty miserable life outside your income. All of your self-worth is dependent on it. I’d rather have a job that pays just enough and be happy than be a miserable old fuck like you that spends his time on forums on various websites bashing people because they make less money. Get a fucking life or go to your awesome job that makes you so great. Just because you have a degree doesn’t qualify you for shit unless it’s in that field. You aren’t better than anyone else because you have a degree that you (got lucky in this economy) and landed a decent job. Good for you. If it took that much mental capacity, seems like you’d be a little more focused on it and not wasting your time on various websites being childlike and trolling people. I can’t see why any professional would waste time on comment boards of various articles and websites, putting people down they don’t even know. You sound pretty insecure, you pathetic mental defect. You’ve made yourself look idiotic is all.
What I learned from this article and these comments is that Robbie has absolutely no clue what he is talking about and when someone actually makes an intelligent remark he has to belittle them with curse words and talk about how he is the better man because he can lift heavy weights.
Your friend defended you earlier by saying you served our country. Does that give you an excuse to act like a total fucking douche bag? I served four years in the Marine Corps, but do you see me on here being an ignorant fuck?
It makes me sad to know that there are individuals such as yourself out there acting like a complete tool and having your dumbass friend defend you. Apparently you have a Masters in internet tough guy.
It only took me four years in the Marines and one year of college so far to learn that you are a sad, pathetic excuse for a man.
Adolf Hitler thought the arts, and social sciences weren’t worth much either. And since America, with its right-wing facist idiots is headed in that direction, the list will be expanding
You’re a moron…
Oh, did I hurt your little English-major feelings? I guess not being able to find a job to pay back your student loans and move out of your Aunt Mable’s spare bedroom has you feeling down, huh?
Now shut up and make me a Vente iced chi latte.
What is your degree in? I would LOVE to know. For all we know, you are sitting in the basement of your grandmothers house touching yourself to cheap porn, eating cheetos and playing around on the Internet for hours on end. Which, judging by the way you convey thoughts, sounds like more of an acceptable option…
Hitler had repeatedly applied to art school but was rejected. He also went to the opera regularly and was obsessed with architecture and art. So, your claim that he didn’t think they were worth anything is bullshit.
He was also obsessed with the social sciences and got his grubby little fingers in all of them.
The most useless thing listed here is this article. 100% RUBBISH… The guy has no idea what’s he is talking
about and his arguments as stupid as they can get, surpassed only by his own stupidity.
…..and your so thoughtful?
Wasted 5 minutes of my life reading this shit….:cry: The guy is clearly an idiot. Someone ban him from writing.
It took you 5 minutes to read a list with just 13 items on it? I’m guessing that BA degree you
earnedreceived from your local community college isn’t paying off quite as well as you’d hoped it would…Why are you so bitter towards people with a BA? Did your first/last/only girlfriend leave you when you were 20 years old about 30 years ago, have a BA? Pathetic cretin.
Thank you, with your first comment and with each subsequent rant where you became more-and-more unhinged, for proving my point. The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
First of all just for you to know, my degree is not one of the listed ones. Secondly, yes I spent 5 minutes including reading the comments and your stupid follow ups. I guess you are more than an idiot. You like insulting people don’t you? My guess would be that you are just jealous and I believe that a person having studied any of these subjects gets more money than you.
Now as you say “Shut up and make me a Vente iced chi latte”. I think making coffees would be what you
would do best.
Mark: How long does it take you to make coffee? I’m guessing 1/2 an hour on a good day. See Ya!
Yep, my degree is #13 on the list and I could not agree more with how much it sucks. Anytime anyone mentions starting a Political Science degree I cringe and beg them to think about something else.
You shouldn’t mislead people about engineering degrees. I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering, had an internship, and a decent GPA. For the past year, I’ve been working as a busboy and a part-time math tutor to make ends meet. So many applications and still nothing. It’s true that engineers are in demand, but that’s still no guarantee of a job.
What a lot of college kids don’t realize is that no one owes them a job, no matter what their degree was. It’s not so much about textbook knowledge, it’s more about your real world skills. As for me, I don’t have an entitlement mindset. I’m accepting my lot in life, and hopefully I’ll rise up to a job that’s relevant to my degree. Though, with what you said about Professional Writing, I somewhat wish I had done that instead.
And by the way, I wasn’t the only one in my class to not get a job right away. About half the people who graduated with me are either unemployed or underemployed. I guess it’s not really what you know, it’s who you know.
You sound like a very grounded young man. You and your parents are to be commended. I wish you all the best.
Good point about engineering degrees.
One thing prospective students should look for but often don’t is the school’s job placement program. Simply having a placement program isn’t enough, one needs to find out just how well it operates. So many of these placement programs consist of nothing more than one or two small job fairs (a dozen or fewer employers) or a handful of employers in communities within an hour of the school – which are often rural or at the very best not in the top 20 of urban population.
Another more important factor is the faculty and their employment backgrounds. Where the faculty got their degrees AND where they took employment afterwards is often a clue as to the school’s ability to place students. What I found when I was in high school is that state schools and the more prestigious private universities often have weak placement programs. And it’s really all because of supply and demand – the big schools (state and private) don’t have to spend much effort on placement programs because students are going to those schools anyway.
If you are going to college with the mindset that it will help you get a job, you have to make sure the school will do more than just give you a sheepskin. Also, employers highly value EXPERIENCE. And that includes experience in ANYTHING. If you got a job at Starbucks when you were 18 and quit after 4 months because “it sucks” then it reflects on your attitude much more so than a GPA. If you can show that you were willing to put up with Starbucks bullshit for TWO years while you went to school, you already have a leg up on a student with a better GPA.
Lastly, I think people underestimate the ability to communicate clearly. The ability to write clearly AND succinctly goes a long way – most people can do one or the other but not both. This is also true of verbal communication, but a lot of verbal communication is actually non-verbal. And it is hard to fake except for the most naturally charismatic. People can tell when you are genuinely interested in a job versus genuinely desperate for any job. It is fine to show doubt and reservation, and experienced interviewers can tell when you are trying to hide such feelings. Hiding those feelings works against you more than not hiding them.
This is why job placement programs are so important – the value comes in going on actual interviews and learning about the employers and especially how YOU feel during and after the interviews. Fake practice interviews don’t help all that much. Five minute chats at job fairs don’t help all that much but for exceptional cases.
I actually put most of the blame on the public education system which does a horrible job of preparing people for adulthood. Most k-12 education focuses on conformity of thought while at the same trying to emphasize self-esteem. Yes, this is completely contradictory so it is no wonder people come out of high school with no ability to add value to an employer. This is why students who have extracurricular activities – often times jobs, but also hobby groups and even volunteer work; anything that gives them contact with working adults – that are outside their peer group have a real advantage to prospective employers. School-directed extracurricular activities don’t provide that – it is all within the protective cocoon of school and has little to do with the real world.
If you are going to write an article like this, you should expect people to voice their opinions, whether you agree with them or not. You don’t have to go and insult people just because they disagree with you. You completely devalue yourself and your article that way.
after i graduated high school i was not sure any more school was for me. Contemplated the marine corps and or a bit of schooling and the police force. Went straight into the work force and worked for 9 dollars an hour for a major telcom company. I worked my ass off and 5 years later i was making 22.50 an hour, 2 more years i had my own crew making 75k, and this year i will get an area position at about +-95k. I may not have been schooled past high school but i worked my ass off my whole life. This combined with my significant others paycheck i live beyond “well off” and have a plethora of any toys i want and i no longer break my ass getting them. Wonder where that ranks on the list?
Meanwhile my friends with their fine arts degrees still owe the school and the govt money for all the damn school loans they cant pay back. I have a few that made it big with their degrees, a nurse here, a doctor, broker at a firm. The two that pop out the most is the fine arts and graphic design ones. The people i know with them are hard off and have been unemployed for years. WTF is a degree in fine arts anyways?
It’s doin what you love rather than following money.
These are, for the most part, stepping stone degrees to send you to a graduate level or supplemental.
You learn many techniques in the focused art.
What is not explained in this article is what a Masters will get you if you decide to go. A Masters in photography will more than likely land you a job for 40k+, you still have time to freelance and make an extra 10-30k on top of that, of course if your job is 80k at a top magazine then you do whatever the fuck you want.. A Political science degree gives you a good starting place for become a lawyer…
Another thing that is not mentioned is how these can work amazingly paired with other degrees.
Video Production Bachelors or higher paired with journalism can easily put you to work for an independent journal who has a documentary or video focus. that is, if you dont want to start your own business.
I graduated at 21 with a degree in Graphic Design and within 3 months I had one of the best, most creative, well paying jobs I ever had…. and it has been all down hill from there.
After being laid-off for the second time and not being able to find any full time work in my field, I collected unemployment and sought freelance – this being even harder than full time employment.
I finally just gave up, I had kids to feed and bills to pay and my unemployment was running out.
So I got certified as a nurse’s aide and started working the graveyard shift making half of what I used to get as a designer in a nursing home. Which could be the worst job in america.
why? Was the degree useless – I don’t believe so at the time – but boy has times changed:
1. Back in the day (the mid 90′s) print design and only print design was the focus in most schools. In a day of dial-up modems, pdf font issues, zip drives, and beat-ass html layout – many took the bet that print would never die and that the internet was just too slow and uncool to do real art on. Boy was I wrong….
2. At 37 years old now I am a dinosaur in the design world – kids come out of high school with mad flash and dreamweaver skills – and they are very inexpensive and sometimes free. I am an ol’ print designer.
Graphic design is dead – the age of the multimedia jack of all trades is here with an “app for that”
Richard, I feel you.
My wife is a graphic designer, also trained and educated back in the 90s. She’s been fortunate enough to make the transition to digital design, and has actually increased her design and technical skills to become a UI designer. She hasn’t done any print work in many, many years.
I know that this isn’t the main point of the article, but since you decided to bring up politics, I’ll point out that the vast majority of scientists, both privately and publicly employed, are liberal, and liberals are not only far more likely to be college educated, but have on average higher annual incomes. (Note: this isn’t to be confused with a comparison between democrats and republicans, as many democrats are left-leaning moderates that do not self-identify as liberals)
And most Occupy Wall Streeters have jobs. This is not my opinion; it is a statistic. Look it up.
What a load of bigoted, unfounded shite. Architecture, Journalism and History are useless degrees? Wow.
Yeah. And the fact that you have to ask only hammers home the point. Now quit your yammerin’ boy and go fetch me a latte.
Not sure if this has already been stated…
“What most of these degrees have in common (with the possible exception of Architecture) is that you don’t need a degree to do any of them”
& then…
“My own undergraduate degree, a BS in Professional Writing, in no way prepared me to be a technical writer… However, sadly, there is an arbitrary requirement in the industry to have a degree. So I got one.”
So you did need to get a degree to do your job? WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU? YOUR A HACK OF WRITER!
That would be “You’re a hack of a writer,” you fucking moron, not “your a hack…”
And I’ll be the first to admit that my degree in writing was merely to meet the arbitrary employer requirement to have a degree. I could do my job today just as well had I never set foot in college. I have always been able to write well.
All college did was give me more practice writing. Which I could have gained via an internship or entry-level job.
No quit your yammerin’ and go fetch me a latte, bitch.
I think what this article fails to mention is, I’d rather spend a loads of money on a degree that I enjoy doing rather than doing a degree that will make me rich. I know its contradictory, but imagine doing a degree for 3 years in Engineering or something towards that affect and you hated every moment of it. You’d loathe every single day. I’m doing my degree in Philosophy and Religious Studies and I don’t know about anyone else, but I fucking love my degree. I’ve learnt so much. And no, I’m not going to be a teacher. I went to University to learn, not to make money.
Also, I know plenty of graduates that have degrees in Accounting and Finance, Business, International Politics and all that and they are still looking for jobs in their fields.
To be or not to be?
I’m going working on my BA up in Canada, third year, around $10 grand in debt which will probably be around $15-$20 which shouldn’t be too hard to pay off. I honestly feel like picking this major was my biggest mistake so far. Regardless, my plan is to go abroad and work (and there is work abroad for BA graduates) until my degree is paid for, and start at 26 with a clean slate and a degree under my belt, even if it is a BA. Robbie, your idea of fun is very sad. You pick apart people’s lives over the internet. There is more to life than trolling bud, move on and find joy doing something where you aren’t trolling depressed people on the internet.
I’m still in high school and I see tons of people everyday focusing more on bullshit classes like music and drama which will get them nowhere.
I enjoyed reading the article, Rob. You really got the right idea. People need to stop screwing around.
What are your opinions on a degree in Computer Science? Will I be able to find work? I have a small business of my own right now, app development, and I’m making pretty good money for a high school student
The best career move you can make as a young person (or anybody, really) is to learn how to program. Not just for the critical thinking and logic skills either. But knowing how to program will almost always assure that you are employed. And well employed at that.
All writers are employed to fetch lattes.
I’ve never respected a male writer.
Except when they fetch!
Well that’s because you’re a moron.
Not everyone can do maths, in fact most people work middle management and study administration related degrees, math-fags are so rare, that they are very valuable. But most people in the history of man kind cannot and will not get maths as well as them.
I agree, music degrees are honestly next to worthless, i know some people with one and they havent gotten anywhere, after many many years, i know people without them and they have better success and fame then them, people spend to much time worrying about these degrees in music. I myself play music ALOT and know people who could get me to play places, you dont need a damn degree for that. Its pretty much a expensive pointless piece of paper.
You can take your worthless list and insert it in your rectum!