Working Adults: On A Wrong Degree/Job? Here Are Practical Ways To Turn Your Life Around.

Did you graduate with a “wrong” degree?

” I’m on a degree which I have NO INTEREST in and I have NO IDEA where to go from here.”

Lost.

A common problem amongst graduates and working adults these days. Our outdated education system might have churned out degree holders who have ZERO interest in the course they graduate in, and here’s why.

• Graduates are pursuing a degree blindly because that is the basic requirement for most jobs. (Mama says I need a degree)
• Graduates cannot enrol in the course they are interested in, because their grades prior were not good enough. (“I only got 1 A, cannot go Business”)
• Not all the things are taught in school.

On top of that,

• Most of the jobs today will be extinct in years to come (some of which, we studied years for)
• There is a constant change in the skills required in the market due to technology and the change happens fast.

In fact, by the year 2020, some of these skills that are considered crucial to certain occupations will no longer be relevant.

Read also: Millennials Need No Sugarcoating. The Starting Pay For Fresh Uni Grads Only Looks Good In Number.

TL;DR – Here are some ways to turn your life around

There are two ways to look at this problem of a skills gap.

One can either

• Pick up a course or lesson related to his dream job
• Look for a job that pays well even without a degree

source: Quotefancy (or any other millennial’s Instagram)

Ultimately, the path towards one’s dream job depends on how hard he is willing to work for it.

In-demand jobs in Singapore

Singapore is among the top startup ecosystems around the world. Most of these startups require employees armed with skills in digital technology, Fintech and enterprise tech.

In fact, here are some of the in-demand jobs in Singapore which might not be drawing enough applicants.

1. Software developer
2. User experience user interface (UX/UI) design
3. Data science and analysis
4. Cybersecurity
5. Digital marketers (SEO, SEM, CRM, content and digital analytics)
6. Engineering and project management

Some of the skills required for these jobs are not exactly taught in school.

Academies that can help one learn skills

Here are some academies that can help one acquire some of these skills.

General Assembly (GA)

General Assembly offers courses and training programs in web development, data science and analysis, user experience design, digital marketing and product management, just to name a few.

These are courses provided by General Assembly which might be of your interest and help prepares an individual for some of the in-demand positions today.

Full-time courses by General Assembly

• Web development Immersive
• Data Science Immersive
• User Experience Design Immersive
• Digital Marketing Immersive
• IOS Development Immersive
• Android Development Immersive

Online Full-time courses by General Assembly

• Web development Immersive Remote

If a full-time commitment is not something you are looking at, they also offer part-time courses.

Part-time courses by General Assembly

• User Experience Design
• Data Analytics
• Digital Marketing
• Data Science
• Product Management
• Visual Design
• Front-End Web Development
• JavaScript Development

Online Part-time courses by General Assembly

• User Experience Design
• Data Analytics
• Digital Marketing
• HTML, CSS and Web design
• JavaScript Development

The internet is filled with knowledge for hardworking learners to absorb. Here’s a list of some of the online courses platform we can find online.

1. Code School
2. Udemy
3. Udacity
4. Code Avengers
5. Khan Academy
6. Hack Design
7. envatotuts+
8. treehouse
9. codecademy
10. Lynda
11. Skillshare
12. Mijingo
13. Sitepoint
14. Stackskills
15. Alpha Camp

Our team members have good experience with Udemy and Udacity, hence, allow us to illustrate a bit more on them.

Udemy

Udemy is a global marketplace for learning. They currently have an extensive library of over 80,000 courses.

For those interested in coding, Udemy is a place where one can pick up some of the ropes for more specific topics.

Some of the interesting courses provided by Udemy includes

Mobile Apps

• Android/ IOS Development
• React Native
• Redux Framework
• Ionic
• Swift

Programming languages

• Python
• Java
• C#
• React
• C++

Online Part-time courses by General Assembly

• User Experience Design
• Data Analytics
• Digital Marketing
• HTML, CSS and Web design
• JavaScript Development

There are simply too many topics that Udemy covers, so feel free to shop to your heart’s content for knowledge!

Udacity

Like Udemy, keen learners can also head over to Udacity to obtain knowledge from industry experts.

They also provide Nanodegree in fields such as Data Scientist, Blockchain Developer, Google Adwords, Digital Marketing etc.

Now that you have these resources, here are some simple steps you can take:

• Try out some of these courses to see if it is something you are interested in. (Some of these courses are free or eligible for SkillsFuture)
• Take up an internship to gain more experience in the field
• Go on and get that dream job!

High-paying Jobs that don’t require a degree

Assuming you got a degree you have zero interest in. Heading to a job in the same field will “kill” you slowly at your workplace.

Here are some high-paying jobs that do not require a degree.

• Pre-school teacher (If you love kids, why not?)
• Financial Adviser
• Property agent
• Commercial pilot (the initial cost is high though)
• Recruitment agent
• Cabin crew (plus you get to travel!)

source: reddit

We chanced upon a Reddit thread on the same topic which we find really interesting.

Working Adults of Singapore without a degree, what do you work as and how much you make?

Here are some of the insights:

• Hawker, 16 hours of work. Makes roughly S$5,000 to S$6,000 each month.
• Sales for an advertising company, making S$3,000 to S$5,000 per month
• Logistics industry at S$3,000 per month.
• Make and consult on video and board games for a living.

It’s never the end

Embarking on a journey that is not related to your degree does not mean the end of the world.

Skill requirements for jobs change all the time, and ultimately it is up to how willing an individual is when it comes to picking up new skills that are in-demand.

With every job that you found not suitable, is also an experience gain. We learn along the way.

Feel free to check out our compilation of salary across industries.

If you would like to read on any tips and tricks on personal finance, do check out our blog!

If you have any questions on career options, feel free to ask our Community, no obligations, we just want to help!

I’ll see you at the next one!