Many of my friends are finishing there A-levels and off to uni..

 

I left college but the course im doing in 1 year ill be able to go uni..

 

so bassicly has it actually helped you get a job? or put you in debt?

 

real life stories please

 

alot of skeptisim going around!

Does uni garentee you a job?

 

Not if you fail the course it won't

Of course it doesn't guarantee you a job. You can't really guarantee anything. The way you have to look at it is that if you go to University, it'll be at least 3 years before you graduate and go on the hunt for a job. A lot can change in 3 years..

 

Plus I doubt many people will have the opportunity to go to Uni if they are allowed to put the fees up to the ridiculous amounts that are being suggested.

 

Having a degree definitely helped me to get my first proper web design job but I know people that are still unable to find work who graduated the same year as me. There are pros and cons to going. I reckon if you want to do web design, you'll most likely learn a lot more in industry or freelancing than you would in 3 years at University. That is presuming that you want to go to University to provide the basis for a career in web design. It depends on what course you take and a whole load of other factors like where the majority of the jobs in your industry are, whether you are willing to move somewhere you've never been before once you graduate etc.

 

On a more positive note though, it was a great experience but it's not cheap!

With regards to getting a job in web design, you would be a lot better off spending those 3 years developing your skills, putting together a solid portfolio and actively seeking a job/going it freelance. Plus you won't end up with a load of debt in 3 years time.

 

On the other hand, I went to uni, and had an awesome time and wouldn't change it for the world. I can't say it particularly gave me a big advantage when going for website design jobs (though, to be fair, it wasn't a website design qualification) but I learnt a lot from the experience. Going to university is an experience in and of itself, in many ways the academic side of it was only a small part of it for me.

 

 

Kyle

Not really. I did a BSc (hons) in web design & development, and it took me 9 months to get a job after I graduated. Despite having an HND in Software Engineering and already being proficient in Java & PHP, and being pretty good at computer science/programming I kept getting knocked back due to lack of 'commercial experience' regardless of the 4 years freelance work I had done at uni. I ended up working on a building site until I randomly landed a job at a company that was so desperate for an ASP developer they hired me.

 

Also, of the people that I still keep in touch with from uni, none of them work full time in web design/development.

Edited February 2, 201115 yr by Jock

Haha you will only lower your change in the Netherlands.

 

I know some Uni type people and even they have a hard time of getting a job.

Most of the answer they get from the solicitation is that they are to high educated and should take a job at their level.

The bosses are probally scared of the know it alls.

 

However I thaugh right here in the Netherlands, the higher you are educated/gratudated also means higher income.

I'm not looking to be just a web designer btw people, im looking to have loads of different incomes coming in, web-design is going to be one of them incomes

If i went Uni I wouldent be doing a web designing course, but I would do a programming course there though.

However I doubte i'll be going uni anytime soon then after these posts, and what I've heard from other people in RL. Still got a couple years to decide though.. were see how the working world does for a bit longer.

 

Thanks for your replys, love to hear more!!

programming is a good route to take, if you master a certain programming language that will help you get a good job and you will have a big income

I use a lot of the skills at work that I learned in uni so it definately helped but didn't guarentee you a job. After my degree I found an un-paid internship for a company in Cambridge that gave me a bit of experience. I think that being able to show an employer that I'm willing to learn and that I've gotten my feet wet helped me get my job more than my degree

I would suggest asking yourself one question - 'What can I achieve in 10 years?'

 

I know many graduates, some are in the jobs that they planned to be in. Like a girl who spent 7 years at uni for a £42k a year job. Over those 7 years, things changed - cutbacks, funding issues etc. She went in earning 12k, and now is on 22k a year 10 years down the line.

 

Then there are the ones that have never found employment in their chosen career. Two of which are still driving taxis - when they left, it was a numbers game. Lots of uni kids were passing and fighting for limited jobs. The longer they searched, the more 'out of date' their degrees became.

 

From the employers point of view, it is all good! Don't have to worry about the normal young party lads you have to drum life skills into - with so many graduates out there, you can have a field day - as long as you pay basic wages, or put them on an 'apprenticship', they don't have to pay their loans back so they are happy too. Grads are required for road works, dustbin collection, all sorts - and the £80/week government grad apprenticwship scheme for 5 years is a joke after x years at uni! Thirty odd years old until you get to earn a similar wage as a burger flipper at the takeaway!

 

You could always work your way up, prove what you are worth, gain your skills and knowledge and build yourself a name or business. You could have a team working for you in 10 years, and pull in 120k a year...who knows?

 

The government are getting alot of flack over student fees - but they really are missing the point and taking it too personally. There are TOO MANY grads and NOT ENOUGH jobs for them to go to. This means they are taking unskilled positions to get by - and the unskilled stay on the dole - which costs money. That is what it is all about, putting the employment market back into balance.

 

Choice is yours - where can you be in 10 years???

Upon only reading the first post, UNI.

 

Well after successfully finishing college I applied for web junior jobs but was unsuccessful.

 

Although I know someone who was successful as a junior.

 

I went on to UNI.

 

I will finish UNI with a degree and my friend will be 3 years into his job, with great experience but not the best knowledge/guidance/up to date skills.

 

Yes he will be on more money than me when I get a graduate job, but I will have the UNI experience and will take over him quickly as I have a degree behind my back.

 

Also, getting a job after graduation is far easier than with out a graduate degree although 60% of the time you will go in with the same basic salary, however you will climb quicker.

...

 

Also, getting a job after graduation is far easier than with out a graduate degree although 60% of the time you will go in with the same basic salary, however you will climb quicker.

I'm sorry but I have to strongly disagree with you there. Alot of people seem to have the misconception that a degree automatically gives you better chance of getting a job.

 

Employers tend to favour experience over a degree as someone with experience has previously worked in similar roles/environments. A new graduate will not necessarily have that quality and therefore may take longer to adjust to the working environment.

 

I was lucky enough to work for the university I attended for majority of the 4 years I was there. I started off as an office admin for 6 months, then as an IT Support Tech for 3 years. As part of the IT Tech job, I was asked to help migrate their old website to Joomla.

 

As a result of working my backside off in employment throughout my time at uni, I was able to get a job before leaving uni, which I would not have been able to get if I had no experience.

 

So...if you are going to go to uni, try and get a good part time job at the same time. It will also show prospective employers that you're not a typical 'lazy student'

Can see how that statement can be misconceived. Degree, compared with someone with no degree and no experience.

 

I have a job whist at UNI, infact I have two, just nothing to do with the design world, something completely different. I like a break to be honest. 10 hours of lecture, 20 hours of outside designing in CS, I can't be doing with staring at a computer as a part time job too.

Being a uni grad gave me the edge in applying to jobs and I must say it helped me quite well but of course it doesn't guarantee jobs. it always depend upon the person.

Uni does not guarantee you a job. I'm sure there're more than enough stats telling us that (depressing as it is). But uni definitely opens the door of opportunities. Partly because of the degree itself, but you should also consider the activities offered in uni (applicable when deciding on which uni as well). Also, I believe that uni gives you time to thinking about what you really want to do. Some people enter uni thinking that they are going to do a particular something when they graduate but change they minds after having time and exposure to many other things that uni education offers (which includes making friends with diverse interest). But if you are sure about you interest and know which path you want to take in life, uni will not be that much of an importance to you.

I think the term 'Guarantee' isn't one I'd use in this topic. I've seen plenty of friends that have worked part-time during their degree, graduated and then simply went full time at their place of work. However, I finished university on a Friday and walked into a job on the following Monday doing web development. Horses for courses springs to mind.

 

A good degree (2:1) will give you a distinct advantage over other interviewee's going for a position, and also you can start to apply for more 'exclusive jobs'; those that ask specifically for a good degree within a certain domain.

 

Socially, university is an incredible opportunity and has definitely taught me skills both socially and academically. My actual lecture and course time was small, which allowed me to spend my days off either recovering from a monster hangover or work on a portfolio. I got work with the university and local business's. I explained to all my clients, at the time, that I was at university which allowed me to manipulate the time-scale to a certain degree, but I provided them with a strong portfolio which helped me bag a contract. Even today, clients prefer it if I say it'll be done in 10 weeks instead of making false promises and saying it'll be done in 5.

 

Working freelance, you could say that I don't use my degree in the sense that it hasn't bagged me a 50,000 quid a year job. But, it's good to fall back on to in case things go tit's up.

 

If you go, you'll have 3 incredible years to meet new people and really challenge yourself and the perfect opportunity to hone your skills and build up a strong portfolio.

 

If you don't go, then you have a great chance to start 'at the bottom' and work your way up, learning skills in industry is far more powerful in my opinion and many jobs that I applied for after uni required 3 years experience.

 

I don't regret going, it was tough, I was challenge and got a incredible chance to prove to myself I can do. Plus, cheap ale and uni nights out are something I didn't want to miss.

 

At the end of the day, pick which ever option you will enjoy the most. It's only three years, but if you choose the right option, it'll be three years you'll enjoy.

 

Uni isn't for everyone, but the best advice I can give is just enjoy yourself no matter what you pick

There are only 2 things guaranteed in life - taxes and death

I'm not looking to be just a web designer btw people, im looking to have loads of different incomes coming in, web-design is going to be one of them incomes

If i went Uni I wouldent be doing a web designing course, but I would do a programming course there though.

However I doubte i'll be going uni anytime soon then after these posts, and what I've heard from other people in RL. Still got a couple years to decide though.. were see how the working world does for a bit longer.

 

Thanks for your replys, love to hear more!!

 

I am currently in my first year of Computing Science. I like yourself am a Web Designer/Developer. But i knew that a degree in IMD would be a waste of my time and id learn nothing from it. I wouldn't gain much if anything from the course apart from abit of paper that id get, in my opinion a portfolio potrays your skills in a better light than a piece of paper with no evidence.

 

I decided to pick Computer Science as i enjoyed PHP/JS and languages that were mostly web based. But i said to myself what is the point in doing those languages again, i want to get into more Desktop based languages such as Java. My point of view was that im applying for a software developer job, i will have java and other desktop languages but ill also have some web based programming experience to a high level, something other university students wont have unless they go and teach themselves. Its always good to bulk out a CV.

 

What im doing is using my web design/developing and some Server Admin skills to make money while at uni. Its by no means going to keep me, i still the use the loan but its a nice extra money for the social activities in uni, especially if finding a part time job is impossible(like me)!

 

Sure you'll be in a big amount of debt but from this year alone, the debt was worth it, the friends ive made, the good times ive had. I live at my parents for the minute but im moving into a house with my mates next year, sure i will be broke but its all part of becoming independent and being able to meet up with university friends a lot more frequent(as i live 20 miles from uni).

 

Overall the ball is in your court, ive told you my experience so far and what i forgot is i get a placement year with a well known employer within the IT industry, this is always a boost as a reference for your CV. If you have any questions on university or computer science, give me a shout man.

 

Adam

I live in the US, so my perspective may be skewed from you crazy euro folk .

 

I'd say that college/uni doesn't guarantee you anything. I know plenty of people (especially in liberal arts fields) who graduated and had the hardest time finding a job that paid more than retail.

 

In the web design or development world a portfolio is far more important. You can have a pretty unimpressive resume, but with a solid portfolio you will have better luck than a candidate with the opposite situation.

 

However, people rarely consider candidates without some formal education for design or development positions unless that portfolio is mind-blowing. All of the hiring folk I've spoken with (or interview processes I've participated in as an interviewer) seem to treat a college education as a sign that the candidate has the resolve and base intellect to be a good learner. It's also great to separate you from the crowd.

 

For a designer, is it worth it? Maybe not. You'd probably learn more from an accelerated certificate program than a four year degree. I'd note that designers who came out of a four year school with a Graphic Design degree are much better at theory, while people in accelerated certificate programs tend to have better technical skill.

 

I'd never discourage someone from completing a college or uni program. Heck, I have a BA in history and a certificate in Graphic Design and I managed to do quite well with my design job. But, it is important that you spend as much time as possible honing your technical skill while getting a solid grasp of design theory, typography and web technologies. Without that, a degree will be quite useless, and your portfolio work will reflect it.

A college lecturer told me recently that he though a majority of Uni courses are a waste of time. He said they'd teach underwater basket weaving if people would pay for it...and from my experiences in education I agree.

Granted its a good experience but at the age of 30 I took my ill gotten gains (not debt), moved to Thailand and partied hard for 2 years.

No Uni wont guarantee you a job, but you knew that already.

If you are any good you will get a job.

people say uni yes, uni no and the reason the people who dont go to uni can get into jobs is that they produce such quality portfolios or are extremely lucky.

 

so on the back of this i thought, why dont you go to uni AND produce portfolio after portfolio of work. also look for non-paid work (or even basic wage) work for a design company purely to build experience.

 

Theres two routes.

1. Start low - work up - build experience - find a job

2. go to uni - build some experience - find a job

 

end of the day, harder you work, further you'll go. and end of the day it gets dark haha.

Go to Uni for the women and the piece of paper at the end of it. (Ha! I shouldn't really encourage you to do that).

 

Simultaneously, teach yourself proper web design and build up your portfolio in your spare time. Then you end up having had lots of fun, having a qualification, and knowing proper web stuff all ready to go.

 

Expensive way of doing it though. There's a lot of catching up to do financially when you're finished...

It won't guarantee you a job, but it's the stepping stone in getting a good job. If you're a graduate you have the edge.

Expensive way of doing it though. There's a lot of catching up to do financially when you're finished...

 

 

Luckily, the finances and student loans are repaid in such a way that you'll never struggle with repayments and you'll never notice the debt. I'm currently in £20,000 worth of debt because of uni, but it's not like I'm eating bread and butter every day. I don't have debt collectors smashing down the door and taking our lasses TV.

 

The amount I pay back a month is roughly the same as i'd spend in the boozer on a Friday night.

 

The new fee increases, however, opens up a whole can of worms

It won't guarantee you a job, but it's the stepping stone in getting a good job. If you're a graduate you have the edge.

I'd rather have the 20 grand

Edited March 30, 201115 yr by tonychang

I'd rather have the 20 grand

 

 

20 grand doest last long mate, and it doesnt take long to pay back if your making £40,000 a year from a good job out of uni.

20 grand doest last long mate, and it doesnt take long to pay back if your making £40,000 a year from a good job out of uni.

 

Would that be £40,000 from a web related job, or are you talking any type of job?

Like most of the above said, its not going to "guarantee" you a job, although it will contribute alot towards getting a job, i dont think going to uni to do a course in design or whatever to get a qualification is worth the money though if you can get to that standard by using resources on the internet, some may agree some may disagree, personally i think it would be better of teaching your self or by local resources and build a portfolio of everything you can do and try getting a job that way

Would that be £40,000 from a web related job, or are you talking any type of job?

 

and to be 'making' £40,000 you're going to need a salary of about £60K?! And to be achieving that you're going to need experience and lots of it.

and to be 'making' £40,000 you're going to need a salary of about £60K?! And to be achieving that you're going to need experience and lots of it.

 

Yeah - in web or graphics stuff more likely to be on anywhere between £15,000 and £25,000 straight out of uni.

I'd recommend anyone to go uni. A fantastic adventure and learning experience aside, I think it gives you more options, opens more doors and gives you time to really nail what it is you have a passion for and want to do as a career.

 

If you choose to concentrate on just a web design portfolio however, you're kinda pigeon-holed into this line of work, and if you ever decide it's not working out, it might be tougher to change fields.

 

Most grad jobs for large companies will ask for a degree, but I'm guessing some small design studios are more interested in portfolios. Depends on what you want. Don't know yet ? Go to uni and find out!

I'd recommend anyone to go uni. A fantastic adventure and learning experience aside, I think it gives you more options, opens more doors and gives you time to really nail what it is you have a passion for and want to do as a career.

 

That's a good point. Uni isn't all about what job you're going to get afterwards, it's a life experience. It's all about the women ***ahem*** sorry it's all about the experience in general. And if it was me I'd go to Uni AND try and get a portofolio together as well, perhaps missing a couple of evenings a week down the pub in order to do so.

The only strange thing I can think of is - some places don't like Uni graduates because they feel that they will have to waste time "undoing" all the wrong stuff they've learnt in Uni and re-train them in a manner suitable for their company. Therefore actually prefer non - uni people. That happened to me in an Autocad job I had years ago, he said he wouldn't have taken me if I was a Uni graduate. Some places seem to regard Uni people as know-alls who can't be told or trained any different.

Actually at my last workplace I saw this in evidence to some degree - I was the web developer and we had interns, and while I was punting stuff out to the deadlines, the interns were still worrying about whether their programming fitted exactly into the "JAVA" model framework and it took them hours to acheive the simplest task. And even then it was over complicated and buggy. They had to learn to get the job done on time, listen to the client's needs, and weigh up quality vs. deadline issues. Something that doesn't seem to be taught so well in Uni.

No reason whatsoever not to go though.

That's a good point. Uni isn't all about what job you're going to get afterwards, it's a life experience. It's all about the women ***ahem*** sorry it's all about the experience in general. And if it was me I'd go to Uni AND try and get a portofolio together as well, perhaps missing a couple of evenings a week down the pub in order to do so.

The only strange thing I can think of is - some places don't like Uni graduates because they feel that they will have to waste time "undoing" all the wrong stuff they've learnt in Uni and re-train them in a manner suitable for their company. Therefore actually prefer non - uni people. That happened to me in an Autocad job I had years ago, he said he wouldn't have taken me if I was a Uni graduate. Some places seem to regard Uni people as know-alls who can't be told or trained any different.

Actually at my last workplace I saw this in evidence to some degree - I was the web developer and we had interns, and while I was punting stuff out to the deadlines, the interns were still worrying about whether their programming fitted exactly into the "JAVA" model framework and it took them hours to acheive the simplest task. And even then it was over complicated and buggy. They had to learn to get the job done on time, listen to the client's needs, and weigh up quality vs. deadline issues. Something that doesn't seem to be taught so well in Uni.

No reason whatsoever not to go though.

 

Prior to university i was weighting up my options, with my skill i could have probably got into a Web Developer job after a short while. As i felt experience was worth a lot more compared to what you learned at university. But in the end i ended up going to have a better standing in a software development field. Don't get me wrong tho, i do agree with the quote above but there are some uni students who have experience and build it through their time at uni which is turn makes them very valuable employs, as said a company may have to train a person clean out of uni far more than someone with experience of what they are doing.

 

Also, money should never come into the decision. At this moment in time its hard enough to get a job, let alone one paying 40K straight out of uni. Sure you wont start as low as those not at uni but at the same time theres no way you'll be gettign 40/60K straight out unless your like a genious!

Edited April 1, 201115 yr by Adamoverload

plus you have to ask yourself, what will you learn? If you look at some of the topics started on here by people doing a uni thesis or course work and want to know how to do something you do have to question what they are actually learning?

I do genuinely regret not going to Uni probably because in my day the government gave you money (in the shape of a grant)to go to University.

 

BTW I lived comfortably on £5,000 p/a in Asia so I'd say , yes £20,000 does go a long way!

With regards to getting a job in web design, you would be a lot better off spending those 3 years developing your skills, putting together a solid portfolio and actively seeking a job/going it freelance. Plus you won't end up with a load of debt in 3 years time.

 

On the other hand, I went to uni, and had an awesome time and wouldn't change it for the world. I can't say it particularly gave me a big advantage when going for website design jobs (though, to be fair, it wasn't a website design qualification) but I learnt a lot from the experience. Going to university is an experience in and of itself, in many ways the academic side of it was only a small part of it for me.

 

 

Kyle

 

This I find is a very important and valid point, I have been working as a web developer for 4 nearly 5 years now, and I have no qualifications in IT, programming, computing, or anything like that, I didn't even study them in college.

 

What I did do however is grow my contacts, I started a small hosting company with a friend, (he excels compared to me) and we are now both developers for a large health and safety company, neither of us are qualified in anyway, in fact I think he failed GCSE IT...

 

 

I'm sorry but I have to strongly disagree with you there. Alot of people seem to have the misconception that a degree automatically gives you better chance of getting a job.

 

Employers tend to favour experience over a degree as someone with experience has previously worked in similar roles/environments. A new graduate will not necessarily have that quality and therefore may take longer to adjust to the working environment.

 

I was lucky enough to work for the university I attended for majority of the 4 years I was there. I started off as an office admin for 6 months, then as an IT Support Tech for 3 years. As part of the IT Tech job, I was asked to help migrate their old website to Joomla.

 

As a result of working my backside off in employment throughout my time at uni, I was able to get a job before leaving uni, which I would not have been able to get if I had no experience.

 

So...if you are going to go to uni, try and get a good part time job at the same time. It will also show prospective employers that you're not a typical 'lazy student'

 

As stated above my employers we much more interested in my skill and experience than any qualifications, in fact I don't even remember them asking!

 

Many of my friends are finishing there A-levels and off to uni..

 

I left college but the course im doing in 1 year ill be able to go uni..

 

so bassicly has it actually helped you get a job? or put you in debt?

 

real life stories please

 

alot of skeptisim going around!

 

I really disagree with uni in some ways.

One of my friends went on a course and when we were working together in Network Admin for a school (I got picked up by the school when I left) he got sent back to uni as his course was "all wrong" for what he had to do... his course was entitled Network Administration!

 

However, another friend of mine is studying medicine, without this she wouldn't be able to continue anyway, so it really depends on your chosen field of work!