Getting a job with A Levels

[Hazy992]

I'm doing a psychology course at university at the moment, but I'm not really enjoying it. I'm finding a lot of aspects too difficult and uninteresting, and I may end up dropping out. I'll probably ride it out until the end of the first year at least but my dropping out is a distinct possibility.

That being the case I need to know what my prospects might be with my current qualifications. I have four A Levels;
-Psychology (A)
-Geography (A)
-Law (B)
-General studies (C)

I also have an AS Level in English Language as well as 10 GCSEs. What do you think I might be able to do with these? Is anyone else in the same boat? I'd really appreciate any help

 

[gazumped]

Two of my friends don't even have any GCSEs or any qualifications at all. One's now a builder, one's a private carer for people with disabilities.
So definitely don't start worrying that you're not likely to get a job just because you aren't getting a degree!

Where you end up working can rely largely on who you know; my builder friend, for example, works with his builder dad.

Oh, and subjects don't necessarily dictate your future either, my step-mum got a degree in geography, then she became a librarian and now she's a yoga teacher.

Perhaps make a list of all of your contacts and what kind of jobs they're in. This means your family, your friends, your friends' families, your family's friends, your classmates, your old classmates, people in clubs or extra curricula activities you might go to, think about if anyone is involved with a career you might be interested in. It doesn't have to be something you're stuck in for the rest of your life but perhaps see if they can get you a job somewhere in the sector and you can see if you enjoy it and want to make the effort to work your way up.

Or go to the Jobcentre or jobseekers sites like monster.co.uk and have a look at what they have on offer, see how many different jobs there are out there and get inspired in what you might want to try.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

Military Officer's don't need degrees for most Career paths... It's a good life too!

 

[Nickolai77]

Depends on what kind of career you want.

Most white collar jobs require a degree as a prerequisite, like teaching, law, business management and public sector management. If you want those kind of jobs then you need a degree basically.


If you can get 2 A's and a B then i'd say your well capable of getting a degree- by the sounds of things you just chose the wrong degree subject. I'd recommend asking if you can re-sit the year and pick a different degree subject.

 

[bluepilot]

Well done on your a-levels

Since the job market is really tight, I'd recommend staying in school a bit longer, transfer to a different subject, and hope that things are brighter when you graduate (although, Britain just entered recession again, and the best solution Georgie Porgie can think of is, "taxing grannies and pies", so don't get your hopes up) and in the meantime do some volunteer work, part time work etc until you find something that you really like. Try to get on an enterprise or apprentice sceme too because you might find yourself doing well in business or craftmanship.

I do not recommend quitting University until you find something though. Stick at it until something else comes along. Also, with so many qualified people out of work, experience and skills are now more important than qualifications.

 

[artanis_neravar]

I'm doing a psychology course at university at the moment, but I'm not really enjoying it. I'm finding a lot of aspects too difficult and uninteresting, and I may end up dropping out. I'll probably ride it out until the end of the first year at least but my dropping out is a distinct possibility.

That being the case I need to know what my prospects might be with my current qualifications. I have four A Levels;
-Psychology (A)
-Geography (A)
-Law (B)
-General studies (C)

I also have an AS Level in English Language as well as 10 GCSEs. What do you think I might be able to do with these? Is anyone else in the same boat? I'd really appreciate any help

A Levels and GCSEs are tests that show your aptitude for certain subjects before you go to college (or University for you)?

 

[Hazy992]

Military Officer's don't need degrees for most Career paths... It's a good life too!

I don't fancy the military...

 

[Hazy992]

I should mention that it's too late for me to transfer course. I'd have to drop out of uni then reapply, and because it's already too late I wouldn't be able to enroll again until 2013, which I don't want to do

 

[Bellvedere]

My advice would be to stay at university. There is more opportunities available if you have a degree and the jobs are generally better paid. In addition to that, you'll probably find that jobs which require you to have a degree are more mentally engaging and challenging. That's not to say that there's no good jobs that don't require a degree, but the odd aren't as good.

If your find the course boring, if your university/course allows, take a couple of electives that you think you might find more interesting. You can then transfer/reapply. You might be able to get advise from someone at the uni too.

A thing to think about is that first year subjects generally aren't the most interesting in that subject. Once you get the basics you'll be able to take courses that you enjoy/want to specialize in. It might be helpful to speak to someone that is further along in the course than you. They might be able to say "oh, first semester psychology is awful, once you get to second year though, it's fantastic".

Alternatively if you went to university immediately after school, it might be worthwhile to take a year off and really put some thought into what you want to do. This would also give you an opportunity to experience the kind of work that you can get (or perhaps the difficulty in getting) which doesn't require a degree.

I did this about a year into my degree when I wasn't enjoying it, the same as you. I always planned to go back to uni but I think that the break and experience in the work force was good.

If your finding the course too hard, you might find that all you need to do is put more hours of study in. Remember that university courses require you to do a lot more work outside of contact hours then your subjects at school. In general you should really be putting in the same number of hours as you would a full time job. If your struggling you should put in more. You might also find that the topic is more interesting when you have a better understanding of it.

Sorry, I know your question was more about your job prospects without a degree but I hope this helped regardless.