Psychology or English Degree - which is more likely to get me a job?

scrawlx101

20

Which of these is more likely to get me a well paid job?
Which of these has a wider careers net?

Reply 1

yabbayabba

17

Both the same really as they're both broad. Choose whichever you'd enjoy more

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 2

username1377964

2

Use Unistats to compare the percentage of people in work/ further education after 6 months for each degree :h:

Reply 3

TheTipsyTarsier

10

You don't know what you want to do?

English language or literature??

Reply 4

claireestelle

22

Original post by scrawlx101

Which of these is more likely to get me a well paid job?
Which of these has a wider careers net?

psychology, you d potentially have to do a masters in clinical psychology,forensic or educational psychology after you graduate but i recon its pretty broad. It depends what you feel is well paid, cliniclal psychologists earn between 31 and 47k, educational psychology can hit 50k and theres plenty of private working in that.

English degrees i recon you could end up using it for many board degrees and using the transferable skills gained to get a job rather than finding a well paid job related to english. this link
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/options_english.htm
has a list of directly related jobs to an english degree like teaching and journalism, neither of which are exactly very well paid but if you use your degree just and gone into a none related job then i guess there isnt a particular earning limit.
Hope this helps in some way.

Reply 5

claireestelle

22

this might be helpful, tells you what graduates have ended up in with their degrees, http://www.hecsu.ac.uk/current_projects_what_do_graduates_do.htm

Reply 6

scrawlx101

OP

20

I thought that I wanted to do psychology at uni but recently I've been having second thoughts

I enjoy both subjects at alevel (I do psychology,english literature and economics-not an option at uni since I dislike it) but the thing is I'm better at english but i find psychology interesting since I find it interesting how some studies are applicable to real life scenarios(not to say i dont find some of the plays i read in english interesting too) however my dad/mum are worried that if i go to uni and dont like one subject or another I'll do bad...my parents(dad especially is so annoying...legit I spent 10 mins arguing about joint honours and single honours he said ucas makes people choose three subjects before finally picking the unis...is that true?)

Interms of work I know that I'd like to work in the NHS in some capacity...if it were possible I'd love to become a sports psychologist for manchester united/a professional team but thats really unlikely...i wouldn't mind becoming a journalist or even a consultant since i like helping people...any good job ideas?

@claireestelle @TheTipsyTarsier @baldwel

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 7

claireestelle

22

Original post by scrawlx101

I thought that I wanted to do psychology at uni but recently I've been having second thoughts

I enjoy both subjects at alevel (I do psychology,english literature and economics-not an option at uni since I dislike it) but the thing is I'm better at english but i find psychology interesting(not to say i dont find some of the plays i read in english interesting too) however my dad/mum are worried that if i go to uni and dont like one subject or another I'll do bad...my parents(dad especially is so annoying...legit I spent 10 mins arguing about joint honours and single honours he said ucas makes people choose three subjects before finally picking the unis...is that true?)

Interms of work I know that I'd like to work in the NHS in some capacity...if it were possible I'd love to become a sports psychologist for manchester united/a professional team but thats really unlikely...i wouldn't mind becoming a journalist or even a consultant since i like helping people...any good job ideas?

Ucas dont make you choose anything, you can apply for whatever 5 courses you want. I
If you like the idea of helping people and want to work in the nhs then psychology is the better option by far. At the end of the day you should go for whichever one you re more passionate about as unis all about independent study and if you dont find what you learn interesting enough you wont go home and do the reading.

Reply 8

scrawlx101

OP

20

Original post by claireestelle

Ucas dont make you choose anything, you can apply for whatever 5 courses you want. I
If you like the idea of helping people and want to work in the nhs then psychology is the better option by far. At the end of the day you should go for whichever one you re more passionate about as unis all about independent study and if you dont find what you learn interesting enough you wont go home and do the reading.

can you do journalism with a psychology degree?

Reply 9

claireestelle

22

Original post by scrawlx101

can you do journalism with a psychology degree?

i think that would be pretty difficult to do, however i ve heard of diplomas that costs around £2000 that people have done after universities degree to help them get into journalism. There are actual degrees in journalism itself so not all journalist will have done english degrees.

Reply 10

TurboCretin

20

Original post by scrawlx101

Which of these is more likely to get me a well paid job?
Which of these has a wider careers net?

Doesn't really matter. They're both fairly generic degree subjects. Do the one you'd enjoy more and be likely to do well in.

Reply 11

scrawlx101

OP

20

Original post by TurboCretin

Doesn't really matter. They're both fairly generic degree subjects. Do the one you'd enjoy more and be likely to do well in.

generic in a good way right?
I know that doing psychology gives you:
The ability to analyse data effectively
Essay writing skills
The ability to look at the world in a variety of different ways
Provides an insight into the minds of others
Scientific Analysis

Do you know anyone who has done a psychology degree? Could you tell me where they are now?

Reply 12

username1494226

19

Original post by scrawlx101

generic in a good way right?
I know that doing psychology gives you:
The ability to analyse data effectively
Essay writing skills
The ability to look at the world in a variety of different ways
Provides an insight into the minds of others
Scientific Analysis

Do you know anyone who has done a psychology degree? Could you tell me where they are now?

English may be a smidge safer to study and be more transferable due to the fact that psychology is now one of "those" degrees. When I say that, I mean they're oversubscribed to the ends of the earth, just like Law, criminal sciences etc. Unless you have a stellar CV to go along with a good degree classification, you will have more or less not got the value you expected from a psychology degree.

Reply 13

scrawlx101

OP

20

Original post by marco14196

English may be a smidge safer to study and be more transferable due to the fact that psychology is now one of "those" degrees. When I say that, I mean they're oversubscribed to the ends of the earth, just like Law, criminal sciences etc. Unless you have a stellar CV to go along with a good degree classification, you will have more or less not got the value you expected from a psychology degree.

But doesn't english severely limit a person since its an Art's degree?

When you say that I might need a stellar CV are you referring to all jobs or jobs to do with psychology?

Just went on targetjobs.co.uk

Psychology would give me these skills:

•

communication skills (both written and oral)

•

research skills

•

analytical, data collection and problem-solving skills

•

report writing

•

interpreting and evaluating events, information and ideas

•

time management and organisational skills

•

adaptability

•

open-mindedness.

English would give me these:

•

critical and evaluative thinking

•

self-management

•

excellent written communication

•

oral communication and interpersonal skills

•

research and analysis skills

•

ability to work independently

half of the skills in English are found in psychology so i cant see how English is more transferable?

(edited 8 years ago)

Original post by scrawlx101

Which of these is more likely to get me a well paid job?
Which of these has a wider careers net?

English - by a margin.

English is a credible degree anywhere and everywhere. Psychology is a modern '-ology' degree and unless you are taking it through to a medical career, is seen by most employers are a much weaker degree.

Reply 15

TurboCretin

20

Original post by scrawlx101

generic in a good way right?
I know that doing psychology gives you:
The ability to analyse data effectively
Essay writing skills
The ability to look at the world in a variety of different ways
Provides an insight into the minds of others
Scientific Analysis

Do you know anyone who has done a psychology degree? Could you tell me where they are now?

The one person I know well who did psych at undergrad subsequently converted to law. She's done well since, but it had little to nothing to do with her having studied psychology.

Generic is neither good nor bad, in the sense I meant it. Both English and psychology grads are very plentiful, that's all. In terms of employability prospects I don't think there's much to choose between them.

Reply 16

AbbyKnight

2

Original post by scrawlx101

generic in a good way right?
I know that doing psychology gives you:
The ability to analyse data effectively
Essay writing skills
The ability to look at the world in a variety of different ways
Provides an insight into the minds of others
Scientific Analysis

Do you know anyone who has done a psychology degree? Could you tell me where they are now?

Someone I know did a psychology degree, then a PGCE and is now a primary school teacher and loves it! I know people that work in businesses and sporting companies that also have psychology degrees. I think it is a good degree :smile:

Reply 17

chickenfoot

14

Original post by threeportdrift

English is a credible degree anywhere and everywhere. Psychology is a modern '-ology' degree and unless you are taking it through to a medical career, is seen by most employers are a much weaker degree.

psychology is not seen as a weaker degree. it's very well respected.

you should choose your degree based on what career route and what interests you the most. just because youre doing psychology that doesnt mean you have to go down the medical route.

degrees nowadays with experience and good interview will get you the job over someone who doesnt have a degree. youre open to getting more jobs in a slightly higher role because youd be a graduate.