Did you utilize your college degree (if you had one)?

[ShokWaveRider]

MS in electronics here. I used mine for 6 months after graduating then went into CADCAM and Document control software technical sales.

 

[TripleLindy]

My wife and I married right out of high school so I went to a community college at night. Took me 8-9 years to get my Associates in Computer Science, so I knew that finishing a BS wasn’t in the cards. I was in systems support and a programmer for several years before even getting my Associates, but probably wouldn’t have been in those job if not in school. About a year after graduating, I leveraged my IT background to get a job in high-end IT sales support. Ended up in sales, with the last 5 years in executive management. So I utilized what I learned throughout my career, even though it was only tangentially related.

 

[finnski1]

BSME and fully and gainfully employed until I retired. Needed the degree for the jobs I had.

 

[disneysteve]

I directly used my degree. I was biology/pre-med and went on to medical school and 31 years as a family practice and urgent care physician.

"I can't think of a single person I know who is actually doing the job they went to college for."

While I understand the intent of the question, I think it perpetuates a myth about college. College isn't technical school. With a few notable exceptions, the purpose of college isn't to train for a specific job. It's to prepare you for life and the working world in general. You learn how to study. You learn critical thinking. You learn how to learn. You learn organizational skills.

College is a place to explore a variety of interests and passions. I got involved in theater in college and it became and remains a big part of my life. It is because of my college theater experience that I reconnected with my future wife 3 years later while working as a community theater lighting designer during med school.

College tends to be where lifelong friendships are formed. I graduated 39 years ago and still have a tight group of friends who I met in college. We just all got together a month or two ago.

I get a little annoyed when people suggest that if you aren't working in the field of your degree, college was a waste somehow. Our daughter graduated with an English major, and dual minors in American Studies and Psychology. What has she been doing the past 3.5 years? She's been the funding manager for a solar and roofing company. I can assure you that her English training and communication and writing skills have helped her a lot in interacting with finance companies, sales reps, customers, and coworkers. Sure, she's not teaching high school English but skills she learned and honed in college definitely get put to use daily.

College is also where young adults get to experience independence in a controlled setting before being let loose in the world. It's often the first time living away from home, being responsible to get yourself up in the morning, get to class, do your homework without mom or dad looking over your shoulder.

I'm not saying that every kid needs to go to college or that you can't possibly succeed without it, but I do feel that your particular degree is of little importance in the long run except for a select few fields.

 

[pjm-7]

B.S. International Agricultural Economics. I started out in the financial services industry trading grain and livestock futures. Within two years I moved toward other financial services and professional designations. The 40+ hours of econ and ag econ definitely helped in my profession. Actually, I started college in plant science. I continue to use that knowledge for my large array of plants in my house including my 42 year old jade trees.

 

[Car-Guy]

~95% of the management/professional positions in my last mega corp had a degree, which was pretty much required to get your foot in the door. I'm going to guesstimate that roughly 50%, maybe even more, were in jobs that were not directly related to their degree disciplines by the time they retired. It seems to me that most with PHd's seem to stay in their areas of formal education while those with bachelors and masters degrees were all over the map.

 

[disneysteve]

Many in my medical school class were 2nd career students. They didn't go to college to become doctors. They graduated with degrees in English or business or history or accounting or something else. At some point they realized that wasn't the right path for them, went back to school to get their med school pre-requisites, and became physicians. Some were in the healthcare field in some way like nurses or pharmacists but many were in unrelated fields like teaching or one guy was a bond trader on Wall Street.

 

[isisdave]

I graduated in 1971 with BS and MS in electrical engineering, which is what they were still calling systems engineering. Over 5 years I took 54 semester courses, of which portions of maybe 6 to 10 were applicable. That's kind of sad.

But that's where I met the six similarly engaged guys I started a business with ... so I didn't need a degree, as I hired myself. It would have been impossible to do this without being thrown into the college environment. This job led into the next 30 or so years of work, after which I did get a job with another company. By this time I had a resume and a lot of experience, so I don't know if the degree mattered.

As others have noted, a degree, especially if acquired in the nominal time frame, proves that you can apply yourself to an arduous process and achieve a goal. It's also great for building your initial network, but I think you need to be studying the field you intend to be employed in. Also, a lot of us met our wives in college, and they were also smart, purposeful people. It expands one's understanding of the world and how it works, which would otherwise be pretty much absent in a 21-year-old. You get to meet wonderful people and a handful of creeps, and learn how to deal with them. Extracurriculars give you social opportunities, and permit you to accidentally discover thing you like a lot but had never encountered. Living away from Mom and Dad presents new challenges and successes, and the occasional failures contribute to learning too. Plus it's fun.

The thing is, the total tuition and fees for 5 years of private college in 1966-1971 was about $20,000, comparable to $186,000 in 2025 dollars. Current tuition is $64k per year, so the cost back then was 43% less. I thought it was quite worth it at the time, but I wasn't paying most of it, and a big loan would have been very difficult. A newly-minted engineer made about $10k, or 62% of the (B.S.) education cost. Now that salary is $105k, only 41% of the current education cost. I think I'd ask my kid to choose a public university nowadays.

 

[RetiredHappy]

Many in my medical school class were 2nd career students. They didn't go to college to become doctors. They graduated with degrees in English or business or history or accounting or something else. At some point they realized that wasn't the right path for them, went back to school to get their med school pre-requisites, and became physicians. Some were in the healthcare field in some way like nurses or pharmacists but many were in unrelated fields like teaching or one guy was a bond trader on Wall Street.

My former PCP (still there) in California started as an IT software engineer, working for a defense contractor company. He decided to go back to medical school after a couple of years to become a medical doctor.

 

[martyp]

I got degrees in physics and mechanical engineering (1979, 1983). I worked 30 years as an engineer at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. I retired with a generous pension and now I am retired in Thailand.

I do get your point though. There has for a long time been unnecessary degree requirements and too few on-the-job training opportunities.

 

[razztazz]

There are many more examples, but I can't think of a single person I know who is actually doing the job they went to college for.

I first read a stat like that about 25 yrs ago. The survey stated that the majority of people with degrees don't work in their major field. Take out Doctors and lawyers, where the degree is an absolute sine qua non, the percentages dropped even more

I have 3 degrees. All what I would call vanity projects. None were needed for my first job. Then I retired and never worked again so I didn't need any of them and none of them were immediately employable except to maybe make me look good on paper. I might have moved the needle on that study all by myself.

 

[disneysteve]

I first read a stat like that about 25 yrs ago. The survey stated that the majority of people with degrees don't work in their major field. Take out Doctors and lawyers, where the degree is an absolute sine qua non, the percentages dropped even more

I mentioned this earlier. I know plenty of doctors who did not get undergraduate degrees in science. In fact med schools often sought out non-science majors to have a more well-rounded class. There were prerequisites that had to be met but a science or pre-med degree was not among them.

 

[38Chevy454]

BS Metallurgical Engineering, also got my PE license in metallurgy. I did start MBA after working as engineer, but never finished it as too much life in the way. Had to have my degree to work as engineer. Starting in aerospace, then a bit of appliances and automotive, finally ending last half of career in nuclear weapons. Although later in career I was doing more project mgmt than pure technical, still needed the technical background.

DW says I'm one of the few that knew what I wanted to do even back in middle school- become an engineer. Given that I've always had old cars as hobby, I thought my career would have been all automotive. Having worked in various fields was nice to learn a lot.

 

[Spokane2303]

B.S. in Food Science, M.S. in Industrial Education.

Spent 30+ years in the confectionery field.

The degrees opened the door. Experience, hard work, tenacity and dumb luck let me advance and retire early at 57..

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Yes. My undergrad degree was in Physics, my PhD was in Physics, and these were necessary for me to attain my goal of becoming a physicist.
DW's undergrad degree was in Physics, her PhD was in Physics, and these were necessary for her to attain her goal of becoming a physicist.

Beyond that, however, there is much truth in @disneysteve 's Post #54. If I had NOT attained my goal of a career in Physics, I have no doubt that the training would have served me well in whatever career I pursued.

 

[Jerry1]

Yes. Bachelor in Business major in accounting. Earned my CPA and then got my MBA. Worked about 15 years in jobs that were directly related to accounting. Then my final job as a director was more of a generalist job but I dealt with contracts and money and ran a couple departments so while I was in no way an accountant, I wouldn’t have got there without the background. Plus, most the people that worked for me were accountants and information systems educated.

 

[Cayman]

Yes. My spouse and I have college degrees applicable to our paid work. As others have said, the point of higher ed is to prepare you --- doesn't necessarily have to be in a specific profession. Heck, many liberal arts programs are known for providing a foundation that will support a lifetime of good professional and life choices. The *school*, the *program* and how a *student* learns and applies knowledge and experience are all key factors.

 

[REWahoo]

A no here.

I received a degree in Political Science in 1969 with a planned follow on to law school, but my local Selective Service Board had other plans for me. My first eight years I was employed the USAF, then I spent the balance of my working life in the printing industry.

100% in agreement with what Disneysteve said in post 54 above.

It would be a yes for my two daughters. One got an accounting degree and is now a CFO. The other got a degree in communications and works in public relations.

 

[ElizabethT]

Absolutely. And, shaved many $$$ off my BA degree by first getting my AA at a close-by Jr College before transferring to a four year for my Bachelors, which I think is an enormous, missed opportunity for dramatically cutting the cost of a four year degree. My Jr College GPA was excellent, affording me my literal pick of UC's as a transferring Junior.

 

[REWahoo]

Absolutely. And, shaved many $$$ off my BA degree by first getting my AA at a close-by Jr College before transferring to a four year for my Bachelors, which I think is an enormous, missed opportunity for dramatically cutting the cost of a four year degree. My Jr College GPA was excellent, affording me my literal pick of UC's as a transferring Junior.

Absolutely. This, plus the opportunity to take dual credit courses in HS can result in some serious cost savings while getting that degree.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Yes, my bachelors degree was in psychology and then I got a part-time social work job while I obtained my masters in social work.

Later on when I wanted to switch my career to the field of vocational rehabilitation, I obtained another masters in Vocational Rehabilitation specifically in vocational evaluation so that I could test the clients. I needed the specific degree to work as a vocational evaluator.

 

[equakesfan]

I got BA in Biology. Worked most of my career in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics (so chemistry). Statistics, Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry were the most relevant classes. I wouldn't have gotten my any of my jobs without the degree until I quit the industry.

 

[Route246]

The problem with your samples is the very poor choice of majors. Did none of them consider the job market before choosing their majors? I would not have paid for my children to take any of those paths because there are insufficient jobs.

I earned an AAS from a community college, then transferred to university and finished my civil engineering degree. Then was immediately employed in first private industry and then local government and still am after all these years, 26+. Choose a marketable degree and the value of college is much more obvious.

Lots of people couldn't cut it in engineering school. Most were filtered out in the early years with the heavy math.

Multiple degrees, BS,MS EECS, MBA. Used EECS training my entire career but not how most think. Agree that engineering school is a great weeding out process and it is the arithmetic that weeds out more than the math. You need a solid foundation in arithmetic before attacking the math. If you look at business or econ math/calculus/etc courses they take out the arithmetic part and just resort to rote memory techniques to pass the exams. This is not very conducive to applying math in future engineering and physics coursework and later on in industry or academia.

Back to how I used engineering training was in writing and presenting papers which often need to pass extremely strict peer review so you have to get it right and can't fake it. Papers published are out there forever so you really need them to stand up to scrutiny forever. Pretending, faking or winging it usually results in failed peer review. Without basic math, physics, engineering and CS training it is almost impossible to publish authoritatively. Just talk to anyone who has checked in code at the biggest search engine company and ask them what it is like to get your code reviewed before passing and getting committed to production. Most companies have extremely strict checkin approval processes (all of the Mag7, for instance) but the search engine company probably has the most rigorous and strict processes.

Anecdotally, when propeller heads (hardcore S/W engineers) get together and talk shop it becomes abundantly clear who has the CS degree and chops and who doesn't. There are some fundamental things that everyone with a credible CS degree from a decent school know these things instinctively and have a way of speaking that is distinct and well-recognized. If you haven't been through that rite of passage you probably don't know the lingo, nomenclature and context. Up until my final weeks on the Megacorp payroll I was interfacing and reviewing intern work and their presentations and it was usually clear who had the exposure and who did not.

I'm guessing the medical and law professions both have similar but not identical scenarios where those who know can usually sniff out those who don't or those who are faking it.

 

[JBTX]

Accounting degree then MBA - used both over entire career.

 

[Semi-Retyrd]

I invested 7 years in getting my BSEE, MSEE, and PhDEE degrees which I used at Hughes Aircraft becoming their youngest Senior Scientist leading several defense projects. Then I moved to the commercial area managing the IC design group at TRW LSI products in San Diego.
After that I moved to technical sales finishing as the head of Sales for a semiconductor company.
Finally in retirement in Las Vegas I put my math and statistics background to use in playing poker cashing in several WSOP events and making a steady income from tourists in cash games.
My degrees have come in handy throughout my career.