Cat_with_no_eyes
Registered Senior Member
I have a computing/psychology degree and I have a scientific lab job.
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IS it possible to get promoted with having an irrelevant degree in the job you do?
- Thread starter Cat_with_no_eyes
- Start date
Fraggle Rocker
Staff member
Depends on how old you are. If you're young and just starting your career, a degree is evidence that you have the discipline and the brains to get it, regardless of the field. As you get older, your recent accomplishments begin to matter more and what you did ten or twenty years ago matters less.
The value of a degree in information science attenuates rather quickly because the field advances so rapidly. Within ten years, most of what you learned will be at least irrelevant and at worst wrong. You'd do well to get any of the various certifications, from Microsoft to PMI... but again these things would only be of value if you're looking for a job in IT. However, a lot of people who started somewhere else end up in IT, because that's where the jobs are. You can get your foot in the door as a business analyst, in a business that's related to your degree.
A degree in psychology isn't worth much. It's simply not a field most people have much respect for, like the oxymoron "political science." It would help you in business, especially marketing or management, where they use psychology against people instead of trying to help them. However, you might be able to talk your way into a position as a business analyst in an advertising or management consulting firm, with your combination of psychology and IT expertise.
I assume you're talking about a baccalaureate. A master's degree in anything will impress quite a few people, and a PhD impresses a lot of the people who don't have one.
If you have a job in a science lab you should ask the people who pay you what they think. They'd probably tell you that you need a degree in something that's relevant to the particular science in which you're working.
If you're thinking about going back to get an advanced degree or just a new one in another major, save your money and go to a state school that you can afford, one with night classes you can work into your busy schedule. A lot of people who go to big-name schools never make enough money to pay off their student loans, especially in this economy.
The value of a degree in information science attenuates rather quickly because the field advances so rapidly. Within ten years, most of what you learned will be at least irrelevant and at worst wrong. You'd do well to get any of the various certifications, from Microsoft to PMI... but again these things would only be of value if you're looking for a job in IT. However, a lot of people who started somewhere else end up in IT, because that's where the jobs are. You can get your foot in the door as a business analyst, in a business that's related to your degree.
A degree in psychology isn't worth much. It's simply not a field most people have much respect for, like the oxymoron "political science." It would help you in business, especially marketing or management, where they use psychology against people instead of trying to help them. However, you might be able to talk your way into a position as a business analyst in an advertising or management consulting firm, with your combination of psychology and IT expertise.
I assume you're talking about a baccalaureate. A master's degree in anything will impress quite a few people, and a PhD impresses a lot of the people who don't have one.
If you have a job in a science lab you should ask the people who pay you what they think. They'd probably tell you that you need a degree in something that's relevant to the particular science in which you're working.
If you're thinking about going back to get an advanced degree or just a new one in another major, save your money and go to a state school that you can afford, one with night classes you can work into your busy schedule. A lot of people who go to big-name schools never make enough money to pay off their student loans, especially in this economy.
Maybe it's different in the USA, but in Australia psychologists are respected allied health practitioners, and you can't be a psychologist without a psychology degree.A degree in psychology isn't worth much. It's simply not a field most people have much respect for, like the oxymoron "political science."
Fraggle Rocker
Staff member
Yeah, it's much different here. The Freudians ruined it for everybody, and the behaviorists came in behind them and destroyed what little respect the field had. The Jungians have been valiantly trying to fix that but it's slow going. Joseph Campbell's series on public TV made a lot of headway.Maybe it's different in the USA, but in Australia psychologists are respected allied health practitioners, and you can't be a psychologist without a psychology degree.
Even though Jung's paradigms are widely taught in business school, graduate English seminars, etc., the one place where Freud still rules is medical school. I would say that the vast majority of psychiatrists still use Freud's model.
IS it possible to get promoted with having an irrelevant degree in the job you do?
I have a computing/psychology degree and I have a scientific lab job.
It certainly is; however, you probably will have a steeper learning curve than someone whom comes to the same job with a relevant degree.