What job does a degree in communications get you?

I hear people say it's a good degree but I also know people who can't talk good or present good information even though they have this degree. I'm confused.

 

Baristia?

 

Corporate Communications is a fun dept to work in... if you don't mind being paid a generous wage by an evil large corporation.

 

Yeah, but that option leaves out probably more than half the country's brainwashed comm majors. But I guess they could dream of getting a job with inept politicians that are prone to (*)(*)(*)(*)ing up (*)(*)(*)(*) at every turn and therefor in sore need of degreed BS-ers/liers to apply just the right soothing spin to their statements.

 

Actually, no. When you comprehensively examine the message from corporate America, it IS simple brainwashing.

America is being dumbed down, deliberately some would say, and its the comm majors who are the tools in the abortion of enlightenment.

BTW, the term "tools" was chosen deliberately. 25 years of journalism has left a bitter aftertaste in having to deal with the likes of Mssrs Carney et al.

 

Well, like anything else in a free-market economy, check the listings at the jobs websites or the newspapers and see how many jobs say that it's necessary or desirable to have a degree in Communications. If the opportunities and demand are there, then you have your answer. And if they aren't, you still have your answer....

 

People who can't talk good, huh?

Um, uh, like you know, it seems that a communications degree is a sort of pseudo-degree like most of the rest of them. It's probably just as good as any degree, such as political science, Romanian dance arts, sociology, anthropology, social worker and a whole host of others. If one has a degree in any of the aforementioned liberal arts, one might take pride in knowing that he or she is the most educated burger-flipper in the restaurant, you know.

OMG! like, degrees in the medical field are always good, you know. Lots of jobs, you know. One can become a medical doctor by going to one of those medical schools in the Carribbean for a few months -- Haiti's got some good ones, you know. Or get a medical degree from any of the numerous on-line "universities."

Law degrees? OMG!, like the field is flooded, you know.

Engineering? Due to computers, engineering is almost pase.

Well, um, like good luck, you know.

 

Well, there is a huge need for effective liars these days, you know. Since we are constantly being bullshifted from nearly every institution in modern American society (corporate, governmental, etc), there must be vast openings for skilled BSers. Carney is just one example. Every time you hear an "official statement" from an "official spokesperson" ya better watch out. There's likely an army of Comm majors about to make you dizzy with something that you'll later kick yourself in the ass for believing.

 

interesting.

 

Dude, you're at college. You should probably stop asking these college questions on a political forum and instead go to a professor in the department.

 

It's a waste of time. Get a degree in finance, or general business administration or accounting or engineering.

 

Interesting. Why do you feel it's a waste of time? is it not applicable?

 

Problem being that colleges have zero interest in telling kids the real value of a degree -- you'd have a better chance of getting a straight answer from a used car salesman.

 

A degree is a piece of paper, not a backstage pass to the life you want. Unless you want to do something technical like accounting or science or math, your major matters less than what you are willing to put into achieving the career you want by building skill sets independent of your degree (that is a fancy way of saying proving yourself outside the classroom in the real world through work, community involvement, etc.).

 

No, because a used car salesman doesn't see the need for any degree in his field. Ask Lockheed Martin what the use of an engineering degree is. Ask a corporation what the use of a business degree is.etc.

 

On the flip side, you could as a philosphy professor what the use of a philosophy degree is, and he'd probably tell you a good story - and if you bought it, you'd most likely wind up working the graveyard shift at Burger King for min wage - with a couple 10 grand in student debt on top of that. But hey like the other guy said, you'd be the most educated burger flipper in the place.

 

professors aren't that biased. Ask a philosophy professor about what you could do with a philosophy degree and it's unlikely he'd tell you a glowing story about how easy it is to become a philosophy professor in academia.

Funny you picked philosophy, seeing as philosophy majors have the #1GRE score and have some of the best shots at graduate school. philosophy is (arguably, though by the most clear cut measurements certainly) the best undergraduate degree for law school applicants.

 

it's all a matter of endgoal. If you don't know what you want to do but want to make money, do finance. If you know what you want to do, that could be very different in ways that might surprise you. For example, you want to go into law? Study physics or philosophy. Studies of graduates by major have found that physics majors have the best average LSAT score (160, whereas 155 is in or above the expected range for most law schools), followed closely by economics and philosophy majors at 157.4, and philosophy majors leave all other majors in the dust on the GRE verbal scores.

philosophy certainly shouldn't be lumped with the 'useless' degrees, even if there isn't a direct use to a philosophy undergraduate degree. Another study has estimated the average IQ of physics graduates to be 135 (the highest), philosophy at 131 (behind only math at 131), while all the education degrees rank near the bottom at 105-110, and with social work in dead last (103).

Now, look at the top ones, like physics and philosophy. Is there any direct application for those undergraduate degrees? Not really, both generally require a further degree to be of use (though individuals with physics degrees often land jobs in finance because the formulaic and reasoning skills learned in physics easily cross over). The obvious advantage in philosophy is verbal reasoning which is why, even though it 'only' has the 3rd highest LSAT score, is why it's often considered the best degree for law school applicants (the closest major, English, follows philosophy majors by about 35 points on the GRE verbal reasoning test).

Now, we don't know what the hell you want to do with your life, which should be your starting point when asking these questions. Do you just want to live a relaxed life in a New England town w/o worrying about hard work or making too much money? Get an education degree. Teachers at the schools where I went to growing up work 6-7hrs/day at the school, if they're not involved in extra-curricular activities (taken with work outside class, that's an average of about 8-9 hours a day), and they can expect good (certainly decent) salaries, with weekends off, summers off, and vacation on federal holidays and the major break periods. In addition to summer, you'll start with something like 15-30 days of built in vacation, and then you have actual vacation time. It's a chill life.

So, like I said, you need to figure out what you want to do before asking these questions.

I don't know if it helps at all, but I want to be a real estate lawyer, so I'm majoring in philosophy and history. History will help (even if only a bit) with knowledge of key court cases and the period surrounding them, and develops critical thinking and writing skills. philosophy (to a greater degree) develops critical thinking and writing skills, and (as stated, more than any other degree) develops verbal reasoning skills better than any other undergraduate degree, and philosophy majors have some of the best LSAT scores as well. But I find both areas very interesting anyway, and both would be among my top choices just based on interest. Studying something I'm interested in makes it easier to learn and get a good gpa, which further helps my cause.

 

I have a bachelors degree in Communications; it was my meal ticket out of college into a job in broadcasting; in fact i've been with the same company right out of college You don't necessarily have to have a good speaking voice or be proficient in presenting good information; there are plenty of different jobs in the industry that don't require that. Many jobs are in the support groups, such as on-air operations, maintenance and repair of equipment, editing of video, research, etc.

Depending on market size, job function and bargaining skills will determine how you will be financially compensated; many people will start out in small market operations and make little in money, but gain a lot of experience and eventually move into the larger markets where most shops are unionized and as such better working conditions and money.

If you enjoy working weekends, nights, holidays and sometimes 7 days or more straight, then its all worth it.

 

Dibs on a job over someone who doesn't have a degree or the relevant experience.

 

Interesting.

 

Communications is where education majors go when they flunk out or decide they don't like kids. There is no intellectual heft to it.

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Better yet, talk to some recent graduates......

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You are totally wrong. Everybody knows that philosophy majors don't work fast food--they work in pizza places--preferably local places, but Mellow Mushroom is a chain they often work for.

 

Interesting take on things.

 

My general observation based on years of pizza eating and education classes. I knew several people that went back and got a communications degree after student teaching. They discovered during student teaching that they really didn't like kids, and had to get a quick and easy major to finish up-communications was the answer. It's one of the few degree programs that has less intellectual heft than education. The philosophy major cooking pizza is more or less a joke with my wife, although strangely, it rings true very often.

 

that's the typical reaction to fine arts and I was worried because my daughter just completed a degree at art college...but as it turns she and 90% of her illustration classmates had jobs within three months of graduating all in art related corporate occupations and not burger flippers...

it's surprising how many people naively think they can go to a Caribbean "university" and begin practicing medicine anywhere, often they can't even practice in the caribbean

sarcasm? almost a requirement to become a cop here

ok that's gotta be sarcasm...