It doesn't necessarily follow
I got a 2:1 in Mediaeval Studies and managed to get myself into a graduate programme with a big consultancy and (eventually) into my current role as a head of development. It took some doing, but the main trick is to work out how to sell yourself - work out how to make those "soft skills" stand out - yes, you did philosophy, well that could be very relevant in today's financial world - talk about ethics in interviews.

You're an IT guy, so look at how well your linguistics prepares you for computational linguistics.

I think this is what's lacking; not necessarily the opportunities, but what you make of them.

When presented with CVs (I have a pile on my desk at the moment, Java or PHP developers apply here) I tend only to look at the degree as a secondary thing and what the person's actually been doing. If they have an academic degree, that actually makes them stand out from the bland "computer sciences at bangalore university" I see so much of these days.

It's an attitude thing as much as anything that kills off good old academic degrees; people seem to have started to assume around 10 years ago that you needed to do business studies (before that economics) or computer sciences or something to make the grade; if you try to compete against people with that sort of background on their terms, you'll fail, so turn things round and compete on your terms.

I know it sounds patronising, but it's true; make English and Philosophy a talking point in an interview and you'll go a lot further.

I'm just pleased I was able to prove the bearded cunt of a careers advisor wrong who told me I had no chance of getting a job in IT...

And stop moaning about how unfortunate you are...
(poobah, Mon 6 Apr 2009, 22:28, 2 replies)

I am in concurrence!
After picking up my BA in English and American Studies in 2002, I've managed to wangle my up to being senior copyeditor* for a multi-national entertainment brand. With arts degrees, there's not as obvious a career arc as in some sciences - you could work in anything, but you have no useful specialism.

It's hard graft, but you can definitely turn your three years of shitting about reading books into a job!

* I'm well aware this is probably littered with errors now I've said this. But I can't be doing reading it back... That's for the day job.
(Lapin, Tue 7 Apr 2009, 0:13, closed)

I am also in concurrence!
Having a BA and then an MA in History (specifically medieval) got me a job in a communications consultancy. I found during my (happily brief) job hunting period that it's about skills - so I made the most of what History taught me and saw how processes of analysis can be applied to the working world.

Let's start a club.
(Land of Green Ginger It's dreamy weather, Tue 7 Apr 2009, 12:03, closed)

Small point
I'm not moaning about anything, neither am I unemployed so don't really need the careers advice, ta.
( Kroney, Tue 7 Apr 2009, 1:09, closed)