What Is The Best Degree in Terms of Future Demand?

[Deactivated] on 23/10/2018 - 22:45
Last edited 28/10/2018 - 18:35 by 1 other user

Hi all,
If you are in year 12 now, or have been in the same stressful period of time throughout a point in your life of exam after exam, you may need some help looking to the future. Suppose you are in Sydney, able to attend any uni within Sydney and it’s surrounding suburbs, and achieve a high atar, (eg. 96), what are some sound degree ideas. Aspects to consider include future demand, current employability, pay, satisfaction and… (you may suggest others to consider).
Cheers:)

Edit: I have added a poll to quantify some of suggestions listed in the comments.

Edit 2: I have been offered 4 unit maths at school which is excellent as it opens up several degree options.
Is actuarial studies or electrical engineering good options for employment in 5 years. Thanks for everyone’s support

Poll Options

  • 54
    Medicine/ Dentistry
  • 3
    Law
  • 9
    Business/Finance
  • 6
    Economics
  • 76
    Engineering
  • 12
    Sciences/Mathematics
  • 8
    Social sciences/Arts
Education & Work

Comments

      • Other on 26/10/2018 - 00:12
        +5

        Esp if you are female.

        • idonotknowwhy on 26/10/2018 - 13:12

          Or unless you are female.
          They're trying to encourage more female lawyers apparently.

    • Thenarrator on 25/10/2018 - 20:50
      +5

      acturarial studies

      • newjackswing on 25/10/2018 - 22:19

        BOOM! Take a bow sir. Also, SOCIAL WORK

      • sparkanum on 25/10/2018 - 23:28

        You beat me to it!

      • 1000101BIN on 26/10/2018 - 13:25

        Coincidentally, Monash University calls it "Actuarial Science" rather than studies.

      • exit on 27/10/2018 - 22:00

        Actuarial Studies doesn't have any jobs either :)

  • Ryanek on 24/10/2018 - 08:05

    If you can get a car running on Hydrogen efficiently you'll be the next Bill Gates.

    • HighAndDry on 24/10/2018 - 11:28
      +1

      From my limited understanding it's not the "running efficiently on H2" that's the issue, it's how to store, contain and transport the H2 because it's such a small molecule, basically every material is porous to it.

      • Ryanek on 24/10/2018 - 14:27

        Yeah that's a factor too but there are already viable hyrdogen cars. One of the major drawbacks is that it's expensive to produce from renewable sources and highly pollutant when made from natural gas/coal.

        • HighAndDry on 24/10/2018 - 14:57

          One of the major drawbacks is that it's expensive to produce from renewable sources

          I would've thought it'd just serve as a way to store renewably generated electricity by electrolysis of water? (but yeah, I'm not joking when I say I have a very limited understanding of this, I think I last read about the tech years ago).

          • [Deactivated] on 27/10/2018 - 10:16

            @HighAndDry: That's very ineficient though. At the moment if you go buy hydrogen it's likely made from fossil fuels which sort of defeats the purpose. Charging a battery is more efficient than hydrolysis of water. If you can solve that inefficiency then you'll make mad bucks.

            • entropysbane on 28/10/2018 - 08:35

              @[Deactivated]: Unlike that 80kwh battery in your Tesla?

              • [Deactivated] on 28/10/2018 - 20:25

                @entropysbane: That's kind of my point. If you're just going to use electricity to generate chemical potential energy to power your car then you should use the most efficient means, which currently is batteries leagues above hydrolysis of water. That's also without taking into account the other issues of using hydrogen to power cars such as actually safely, efficiently and affordably storing it in the car, and the dangers of using an extremely volatile, explosive, dangerously cold and dangerously pressurised gas at a pump. The benefit of hydrogen would be that you can potentially fill up in 30s at a pump unlike a battery which even under extremely fast charging takes many minutes. So if you can get the financial and energy cost down for non-fossil fuel based hydrogen generation then hydrogen would make sense as a fuel source. We aren't there yet.

      • Save Medicare on 26/10/2018 - 07:44

        Ah yes, the structural dynamics of flow.

    • frewer on 25/10/2018 - 21:33
      +1

      Already done by Hyundai

      The ACT Government has bought 20 examples of the Nexo as part of a taxpayer-funded $23 million renewable fuels test.

      The first batch of cars is due to arrive in late 2018 or early 2019.

    • quanticism on 27/10/2018 - 02:10

      So the auto industry is still pursuing Hydrogen cars huh. Gotta make the most of their motor engine infrastructure and R&D lest it become a sunken cost I suppose.

      EV cars seem superior in pretty much every single way. From a convenience standpoint, charging at home means never visiting a fuel station for everyday travel. From a safety perspective, the skateboard architecture means an increased crumple zone and less likelihood of rollover, making it the safer choice.

      • [Deactivated] on 28/10/2018 - 20:29

        Most hydrogen cars aren't combustion engines, they're hydrogen fuel cells. Pretty much EV just using liquid hydrogen for the chemical potential energy source, instead of Lithium batteries.

        But yes I agree, currently lithium battery powered EV is more viable tech than hydrogen fuel cells. I'm not sure that will always be the case though. Perhaps in time the greener tech will be hydrogen based, with less dirty lithium mining and dirty battery making and disposal.

  • shaybisc on 24/10/2018 - 09:48

    What are you good at? Do that.

    • Kangal on 25/10/2018 - 17:27

      Good at nothing?…good for nothing?

      • payless69 on 25/10/2018 - 21:07
        +7

        perfect to become a politician

    • John on 25/10/2018 - 17:46

      I'm good at eating..

    • hobo123 on 25/10/2018 - 23:55
      +2

      Not necessarily. I was good at maths and physics so I did engineering and hated it. Just because you're good at something doesn't mean you'll enjoy doing it.

      Even if you do enjoy what you're good at, remember this is gonna be a career not a hobby so you may end up getting sick of something you liked eventually.

  • haemolysis on 24/10/2018 - 10:32
    +3

    It's pretty common understanding these days that everyone has a degree and you're going to come out of uni battling for experience. So my advice is to acknowledge that reality and no matter WHAT degree you get, make sure you get your experience, and get it early. Not all degrees support placements or internships, but go for those that do or work it into your "elective" credits.

    Yes, "internships" are becoming controversial as slave labour, and honestly it is true. But at the end of the day, resumes with "uni experience only" go in the trash. Sorry, but we all went to uni.

    If you can make a placement of some sort count for credits on your degree, you couldn't make a better choice. Uni credits checked off, experience earned, and the university will potentially pay your work cover/indemnity insurances. That makes you much more attractive as slave labour, because "free" isn't exactly "free."

    • [Deactivated] on 24/10/2018 - 11:13
      +1

      Even a regular shitty part time casual job like retail or fast food puts you ahead of people with no previous employment. It shows you can go to work, present well, get along with others, etc. Basic skills which are often lacking.

  • cauilfield on 24/10/2018 - 11:02
    +2

    Security. DevSecOps are charging $2k a day these days…

    • OzFrugie on 24/10/2018 - 20:08

      DevOps charging 2k per day? Wow really?
      What skills do they need and why they charge so much..? My understanding is that it's just a glorified sys engineer/admin who understands how to automate builds and deployments.. I may be wrong..

      • orangetrain on 25/10/2018 - 15:25
        +3

        Go into a big company database. Set yourself up as an employee with 2k per day. Close off any system weakness. Once down, implement a self fixing patch that deletes you as an employee.

        Downside is lack of future recommendations as noone knows you work there.

      • od810 on 25/10/2018 - 15:48

        You missed out the Sec bit. Average engineers will get around 800-1500/day but the Security People now can charge the premium.

        • OzFrugie on 26/10/2018 - 00:56

          OK, so it is DevSecOps engineer that is charging 2k/day.. I never heard of DevSecOps before, maybe I am bit out of date :P
          But seriously, what does this role do in daily basis? What does one need to get into this role?
          2k/day is a hell lot of money, esp. for non-managerial position

          • od810 on 26/10/2018 - 13:58

            @OzFrugie: Penetration test, build security monitoring system, setting up secured environment. Basically it's probably a new name for security analyst but with the rise of DevOps, they probably ask these security analysts to perform more operation task.

            Though the 2K rate is for contractor i.e. you sign on 3 month rolling contract for example. So for contract work, rate can be very high with the trade off of job security. I used to do contract and it's not hard to find people at 1000-1200/day rate especially big telco & bank. And the crazy part about it is that it means to be short term contract but people stay in the position for years earning 1000+/day.

            For full time role, i think you expect to around 160-180k at the individual contributor level for DevSecOps vs 120-150k for DevOps.

            • PixelPaul on 26/10/2018 - 14:33
              +1

              @od810: any recomendations on courses or training institutions to get all the top qualifications to apply for such jobs and get them?

              • codecaine on 27/10/2018 - 22:00

                @PixelPaul: Pass the training here https://www.offensive-security.com/information-security-cert… then obtain the Australian equivalent https://www.crestaustralia.org/certification.html

                • PixelPaul on 28/10/2018 - 19:26

                  @codecaine: nice, thanks. please pass on any more your recommend :-)

              • od810 on 28/10/2018 - 19:27

                @PixelPaul: Honestly i don't know much about the security space, I just happened to know the rates from some of the recruiters. AFAIK, security space is quite hard to get in. Your best bet as non experience is to join some consultancies as junior and work your way up before you can be a contractor. Corporates unlikely to hire junior for the security positions (maybe it is too risky for them). Good knowledge of networking is always the first step, so certification with cisco can be helpful. I also recommend a decent knowledge of scripting/programming as well.

  • Donaldhump on 24/10/2018 - 11:03

    90

  • John Kimble on 24/10/2018 - 12:32
    +1

    Something to do with cloud/big data/data analytics or bio technology maybe?

    But you should really try and get into something you are passionate about…I reckon only a small percentage of people manage that…

    • HighAndDry on 24/10/2018 - 12:35

      I think a lot of people get into something they're passionate about. The small percentage is more likely to be people who get into that and manage to leverage it into a viable career path (that isn't "barista").

      • John Kimble on 24/10/2018 - 12:41
        +2

        Really? I reckon most people just fall into a career path based on mostly luck/what friends or family do/what they might be proficient at/what is paying well/pays the bills.

        This converts to waking up each day with little or no motivation…I mean how many people wake up in the morning super keen and excited to go to work every day?! I wouldn't think more than 5-10% and that's being generous. Maybe we should do a poll.

        Maybe I'm just projecting…personally I haven't discovered what I'm passionate about yet…if I had to guess it would be not working at all (obviously unrealistic)…could explain why I'm on here a lot…hahaha

    • Wallyt99 on 27/10/2018 - 08:16

      Data science, along with a creative art / marketing degree would be a good combo.

  • Strahany on 24/10/2018 - 15:43
    +7

    A very broad way of narrowing down your options is to apply three filters:

    1) Can this job be replaced by a computer?
    2) Does this job work in the technology industry, specifically future advancements (not focusing on current tech)
    3) Does this job involve a lot of personal work with people?

    For point number one, a degree in finance is largely at risk, since it's a job that could realistically be taken over rather easily. Sure, there are lots of little intricacies when it comes to tax law (namely, finding out how to claim the most possible on tax) but complex programs are becoming easier to run and program as computers continue to develop.

    For point number two, the IT industry holds a lot of potential. Acknowledging that automation and a high degree of technological integration is the way of the future will hold you in good stead. Even though this field is promoted quite a bit, it doesn't seem to be close to a point of graduate saturation, like is the case with law degrees (which are a dime a dozen, nowadays).

    For point number three, this mainly ties into point number one. A degree that requires a high degree of interpersonal skills and/or specific and fine-tuned manual handling will be difficult to replace by automation. Plenty of trades fall into this category (mainly the specific and fine-tuned manual handling) but in terms of degrees, the health sector (Nursing, Physiotherapy, Paramedicine, Occupational Therapy etc) is something that will be unlikely to be replaced by automation any time soon. Computers are yet to reach the point of understanding complex "human information" let alone interpreting it in any meaningful way, knowing how to act to on it, and then executing the physical task itself.

    • twinbag on 25/10/2018 - 21:05
      +2

      Good points, I would also add that any job that involves sitting in front of a computer all day can be done a lot cheaper offshore.

  • Cluster on 25/10/2018 - 14:40
    +2

    Bitcoin analyst

  • josho9 on 25/10/2018 - 15:15
    +3

    Engineering or medicine.

  • TurkishDelight on 25/10/2018 - 15:27
    +5

    I might be neeged for this but people at ozb are never going to leave a serious answer. I hope there was tag system like Reddit, serious ans only. I usually now ask questions on Reddit as people there are more helpful and less fun headed. Post on OZB when you want to have good laugh.

  • orangetrain on 25/10/2018 - 15:30
    +2

    Does your circle have any rich people? Do degrees depending on their background. Then do work in that industry too.

    Ie if it's polticians in your circle, political studies. Could get paid a lot.

    Investment/estate, maybe commerce/mba.

    • Your Friend on 28/10/2018 - 12:35

      This is actually good advice. Who you know will take you further than pretty much anything else. If you can be valuable to high value people around you you’re pretty much set up for success.

  • od810 on 25/10/2018 - 16:05
    +2

    I think anything in STEM is useful. Whatever you do, be good at math/statistics + programming. It will be vital for the future where all decisions are made based on data.

  • Geekomatic on 25/10/2018 - 17:02

    This pdf article listing the top-most, employee-rated employers might help.

  • [Deactivated] on 25/10/2018 - 17:34
    +1

    Something that includes network management and wifi management for IOT

  • Colosus01 on 25/10/2018 - 18:06

    For those mentioning IT degrees. Isn't there still a cause of concern about jobs being shipped offshore?

    • digitalbargain on 25/10/2018 - 18:37
      +3

      Not so much IMO.. I think automation is much more a threat.. IT projects were(and many still are) built with highly inefficient project methodologies with bad engineering practices.. this is changing.. smaller teams now delivering much more value, faster, cheaper etc.. individuals such as devopssec specialists as mentioned above are paid more, but smaller IT costs overall

      • Colosus01 on 25/10/2018 - 18:41

        I see. So the growth areas would be industries like cyber security degrees? Would about business system degrees? Or is that considered a bit hit and miss.?

        • Gandalf the Thrifty on 25/10/2018 - 20:10

          There are automated security competitions so security isn't immune either but if you are highly skilled, at the moment there are huge salaries.

    • Jolakot on 26/10/2018 - 11:25

      There was, but the fundamental truth is that many good IT people in offshore countries plan to immigrate, hence the brain drain.

      Hence, unless you're looking for low skilled developers or people with little experience, then offshoring will just lead to project failure after project failure.

      The exception is companies who set up overseas branches in those countries and recruit talent themselves, which is a costly endeavour.

    • 2ndeffort on 28/10/2018 - 11:01
      +1

      I own an IT company that does BI work for the Federal Government. It is very difficult to offshore anything that requires the developers to have an Australian Government Security Clearance. Every time I list a job on Seek I get smashed by people from overseas hoping I will sponsor their immigration etc. Consequently lots of Government and sensitive development work is done onshore.

  • BestofOZB on 25/10/2018 - 19:00
    +1

    For job security aspect, a health degree, medicine or nursing.
    From potential to improve and grow (but risking unemployment) IT.

    • 2ndeffort on 28/10/2018 - 11:02

      In the short to medium term but long term most medical jobs will be replaced by BI and Analytics.

  • itsdougie on 25/10/2018 - 19:05
    +1

    I joined public service as an admin bitch and they paid me, gave me time off to study and paid for my degree.
    That is my recommendation

    • Other on 26/10/2018 - 00:15
      +2

      Upvoted.

      public service is my dream. Then I can become even more hated.

  • TomGum on 25/10/2018 - 19:16
    +1

    MBBS ot Dentistry.

  • Gandalf the Thrifty on 25/10/2018 - 20:16

    Electrician or plumber. They can't be replaced until we get lot more advanced in robotics.

    I know an electrician who went to study engineering part-time but found out the salaries and said would be earning more staying as electrician, so they quit uni.

    • payless69 on 25/10/2018 - 21:09

      this because nowadays one imports cheap engineers from India, cheaper than the local sparkie

    • terlalu on 26/10/2018 - 12:04

      this because ETU is damn strong

    • freddofrog42 on 26/10/2018 - 15:15

      Totally agree - I'm a Electronics and Mechanical Engineer but honestly in this country you're better off just being a tradie. Far less stress and more money realistically.

      • [Deactivated] on 27/10/2018 - 23:29

        Haha haha haha, that's just not true. On all counts.

      • 2ndeffort on 28/10/2018 - 11:06

        I hire engineers regularly for work on mainly Defence Projects. If you are an Australian Citizen and can get a Government Security Clearance you can securely be getting very nice money working on Defence Projects. Last 3 weeks I've been looking for a Mech Eng with up to 10 years experience, happy to pay up to around $130K ish and I couldn't find one. Stacks of applicants from overseas but no Australian Citizens for a job in the Melbourne CBD (St Kilda Rd). Job was engineering work on Army Special Forces vehicles. Same thing happens often with Electrical and comms engineers. I Obviously couldnt hire anyone from offshore and a headhunter eventually found me someone but I couldnt believe how hard it was.

        • Rizzy on 28/10/2018 - 21:41

          My dad is looking for work. He is a Mechanical Engineer and was also in the Australian Defence Force (Reserves) for 10ish years. He would be keen. Any chance I could get more info?

  • [Deactivated] on 25/10/2018 - 20:25
    +5

    Mathematics if you are good at it. The language of the universe. Will always be needed and can be applied in many fields.

  • mezje on 25/10/2018 - 20:41
    +3

    AI/Machine Learning, big data is the future and plenty of innovation still going on.

  • Name on 25/10/2018 - 21:24
    +2

    If I was smart enough, I'd do a degree in medicine. Become a doctor.

    Regardless of whether the economy is tanking, people will still get sick and doctors will still be needed.

  • Neptunesblood on 25/10/2018 - 21:31

    Cyber Security

    • Tnetennba on 26/10/2018 - 23:06
      +2

      The problem with this that I foresee is a bunch of graduates getting these new cyber security degrees and having little competence in a security position. Generally and historically, cyber security professionals will have several years of experience in various other IT roles like system administration, networking, etc. before they can properly understand the systems they are supposedly trying to protect.

      I'm sure some components can be taught (i.e. how to identify and reduce risk, which is basically what cyber security is all about), but as cyber security grasps every aspect of IT, it is hard to get a competent individual out of a 3 year degree..

  • gimli on 25/10/2018 - 21:42

    Secure cyberology

  • belongsinforums on 25/10/2018 - 22:54
    +1

    Data. Companies eat it up. So yea, basically STEM as many others have said. That being said, I did arts for my first degree and loved it

  • centrelink on 26/10/2018 - 00:45
    +1

    Just do medicine and then get HD in every single subject. You can the. Go into interviews and tell em you got HD for all subjects and boom a job offer on the spot.

    • 2ndeffort on 28/10/2018 - 11:10

      I spend my days looking at CVs, mostly in the engineering industry and IT. Not medical industry but I have never looked at anybody's Uni grades. I check the qualification is suitable and that you passed and then I start looking at what experience you have. The dude with HDs and the Dude with Passes both pass my filter exactly the same.

    • DavidFong on 28/10/2018 - 12:21

      Many years ago even medical graduates who FAILED THEIR FINAL EXAMS would get job offers from hospitals, before passing the required supplemental exam to actually receive the medical degree.

      Those days are perhaps a little bit past, but in my role as an interviewer for medical doctor jobs, it is pretty rare for medical graduates to advertise their subject grades. I, and fellow interviewers, pay much more attention to evidence of appropriate skill and experience acquisition during their career-to-date.

      During the interview itself, being the kind of person we would want to see as a patient/client counts for a lot. Some level of enthusiasm is good, as is an appreciation and self-awareness of difficulties in their work so far, and how they manage those difficulties or plan to overcome them.

  • Thaal Sinestro on 26/10/2018 - 06:11
    +1

    Look at world trends, and then which are most applicable to Australia:

    1. Increasing automation means we need people with programming skills.

    2. Aging populations, a psychopathogenic society, & unhealthy lifestyles means we need medical professionals (doctors, nurses, physical therapists, pharmacists).

    Governments are trying to promote STEM subjects, but compared to Asia there is very little demand here in Australia since we just import all of our tech. Manufacturing funds further tech research.

  • MoonlapseVertigo on 26/10/2018 - 06:25

    Accounting. The language of business. And you don’t necessary need to fall into entering debits and credits for the rest of your life.

    I have a mate who does software coding within accounting software used for major companies, has an accounting degree but designs management accounting models for finance teams. Makes a mint too

  • Geryatric on 26/10/2018 - 07:00

    Degrees are an antiquated concept in the field of computing - you can self study twice the amount of industry relevant concept in 3 months than you would learn in a 3 year degree.

    Obviously if your looking at medicine etc they have their place, but I would say a hard no if your looking at doing any computing disciplines.

    • Jolakot on 26/10/2018 - 11:31
      +1

      You're not wrong, but good luck getting a job with 3 months self taught experience, a degree is a checkbox at 99% of companies, and not getting one is a major hurdle in the future if you want to move to management.

      • Geryatric on 26/10/2018 - 12:50

        Used to be, industry has changed a lot.
        I wish i never went to university and got a degree.

        • Jolakot on 27/10/2018 - 16:10

          The industry has changed, the people in HR haven't. Especially for someone new to the workforce, you need either experience, education or solid industry contacts, and few people have the latter.

    • 2ndeffort on 28/10/2018 - 11:14

      I'm heavily involved in the Defence Industry. Hundreds of millions get spent every year on government panels. These panels categorize people into skill levels and skillsets. In order to meet the requirements of the panel you need to have a degree or for the chief engineer of the project to give you their OK. Unless you are old buddies with the Chief Engineer and he personally wants you for your known abilities (very rare) I filter you out prior to writing a proposal for the work. Somebody with the right degree and a Security Clearance goes straight to the top of the list.

  • Save Medicare on 26/10/2018 - 07:48

    Pure maths

  • Hardlyworkin on 26/10/2018 - 07:51

    Engineering - with a focus on renewables.

  • AddNinja on 26/10/2018 - 08:46

    I think one of the reasons that people with degrees generally get paid more than others is simply that they are statistically smarter than those that don't go to uni. I'm not convinced that the degrees themselves help most people perform their jobs. I have several degrees - and though the lower ones complemented my jobs a bit, it was only when I got a phd and become an academic that I would really say that a degree was actually integral to my job.

    In terms of thinking for the future, to me it seems that many of the white collar jobs are less appealing now than they were. Work conditions seem worse: people work harder for companies that don't really invest in them. So, if you are smart (as in intelligent), you might consider just doing a three year general degree at a good uni (science or arts), and actually treating that degree as a true general degree - go to lectures, read really widely, engage with the academic community there, do some philosophy. Learn how to write, analyse, critique and learn how to learn from books (perhaps only 2 in 3 undergrad students master this at elite unis).

    Having that basic degree will get you in the door for many interviews, doesn't cost too much, and you have actually learnt and practised the skills you need to build a career. After that if you can't get a job you like, you should be able to go into business for yourself because you have skills that only one in 10-15 of students have no matter how many degrees they have. With these skills, if you decide to do a trade degree later (like law), you will absolutely nail it - but having said that, there aren't many attractive jobs like that in terms of life balance.

  • THICKnSLOW on 26/10/2018 - 09:15
    +1

    Professional Surfer

    • [Deactivated] on 27/10/2018 - 23:33

      Yeh,member of the extended family is a pro surfer. Alot of time on the road/overseas away from his kids making videos, contractual.obligations etc

  • AEKaBeer on 26/10/2018 - 09:29
    +1

    It's expected that most people will go through around major 4 career changes. Look for a degree with transferable disciplines.

    A job that is in super high demand and doesn't have a specific degree is Product Manager. We tend to get people from software development, business and finance, marketing and operations (usually customer service or sales) backgrounds.

    On the flip side, medical roles like doctors, dentists and vets will always have work available and allow for career development through specialisation, or become a business owner yourself.

    It's not true for all medical roles, however. Imaging specialists are going to have a very hard time in the next couple of decades, the hardware is getting better and AI/ML is already sampling existing records and getting pretty good at detection and diagnosis.

    One bit of advice I wish I took when I went to uni, was to take a couple of business electives. It would have made my transition to a corporate tech company a hell of a lot easier.

    Ultimately whichever degree you get you need to make sure you're the right cultural fit for the team you're trying to join, for example if you're a natural intravert try to work on being more outspoken. If you're an extravert, learn to feel the room before getting too boysterous.

    • Cynicaloflife on 27/10/2018 - 11:28

      Product Manager was the role, that I was really interested in getting into. The role is actually quite limited as you need 1 PM for 50 developers. Also generally a lot of companies (more so in the USA) prefer people with MBA.

      In Australia they PREFER to take people from a Business Information Systems background. I however, have a CS background which was unacceptable when I applied to Atlassian or Ebay.

      • AEKaBeer on 27/10/2018 - 14:39

        It's not the case in mine and the experiences of most of our team. 1 PM to 50 devs is not even remotely close to how we operate. Where you see those setups are companies that don't understand the role. A Product Manager is not there to simply oversee the sprints, a product owner and project managemer are better suited to those tasks.

        Only one of us has an MBA and has a software engineering background. We have an ex UX designer. I come from a sysadmin and tech support management history and we report to an ex banker that really gets what we're all about.

        Ideally Product Managers are about understand the market, look for opportunities and understanding commercials and bringing it together with customer experience. But the point is to get other departments to work to the same goal.

        The reality of it at least for me, tends to be a mixed bag of finance, marketing, content, JIRA tickets, handholding sales teams and vendor management with integration and product cleanup thrown in.

        I'm not really selling it, it's hard when you have dozens of stakeholders while trying to be customer centric. It's fulfilling work with a good salary and highly respected throughout a bunch of industries and comes with the benefit of skills that you can take to any industry.

  • DiscoJango on 26/10/2018 - 09:42
    +2

    skip the degree and become a trade.

    • tryagain on 26/10/2018 - 12:54

      Think it often depends on the person, often (not always) academic ability and being practical have an inverse correlation. As OP appears to fairly intelligent, they are probably better off taking advantage of that.

  • TheMindsetTraveller on 26/10/2018 - 09:57
    +1

    Anything related to the blend of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Medicine.

    BUT

    Is that something you want to do though? Do something you enjoy and love, rather than something you dislike. It is EASY to say this and very cliche

    BUT in life

    You will spend a third of it sleeping, a third of it working and a third for your own time. If you count years, the average person lives up to 85 years old these days - so do you want to spend close to 30 years of it at work and hating it?

    • idonotknowwhy on 26/10/2018 - 13:17

      85 years old these days - so do you want to spend close to 30 years of it at work and hating it?

      That actually sounds tough. So you start working at 25, work for 30 years, retire at 55, then live off investments for 30 years?

      Better start saving!

  • hooyn on 26/10/2018 - 10:20
    +3

    Political Science and Gender Studies.

    • [Deactivated] on 26/10/2018 - 20:54

      Will do thanks. Apart from all the mockery, what is gender studies. From what I have read, it probably wouldn’t run if HECS weren’t a thing so people would start to realise that they are actually paying for a dead end degree

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