Are Aviation Degrees Worthless In Other Careers?

[cointyro]

Yeah, psychology is probably THE most popular major.

Problem is... where does it take you in the job market?

Usually to some tier-II sales job, or to some tier-II HR/education related field. The tier-I's go to marketing and business and education majors, respectively. So I'd say specialize a bit more than going the lemming route towards psychology.

No offense intended to those here who are pysch majors

 

[cointyro]

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I'd rather struggle in a job I aboslutely love (Ballet or History or Sociology), than to eat steak and shrimp doing something that I absolutely can't stand, simply because it pays well.....

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That's fine and understandable. But the question is, can you FIND a job in the area you love? Many college undergraduates automatically assume "hey, this is cool, I'll major in it, and they'll be a job waiting in that field for me when I graduate."

A broken assumption I've seen creep up and hurt many many friends and acquaintances... who often end up going back to school to get business or teaching or engineering degrees, where actual jobs exist on a regular basis.

And I didn't say or suggest you should major in an area that pays well REGARDLESS of whether you like it or not. I said "find something you can tolerate..." You know, kinda like you tolerate going to class and doing homework for over 8 hours a day as a student, even if that wouldn't be your absolute first choice in life.

 

[TheWife]

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I'd rather struggle in a job I aboslutely love (Ballet or History or Sociology)

[/ QUOTE ] I THOUGHT there was something quite graceful about you!

 

[flyitup]

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I'd rather struggle in a job I aboslutely love (Ballet or History or Sociology)

[/ QUOTE ] I THOUGHT there was something quite graceful about you!

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After looking at the photo of Lloyd in the 'post your mug' thread, it's kinda hard to believe!

But hey... to each his own.

 

[FL270]

I have an aviation degree (like Doug, I'm a Riddle grad), and for me, one of the biggest advantages was the ability to use student loans to finance my flight training in part (in addition to the money my folks put in and some scholarships). Now, I'm repaying loans for a hundred years (like most college students are) but I get a tax deduction for the interest and favorable repayment terms. That, to me, made it an easy decision.

As to how useful an aviation degree is, I have a couple of "lost medical" backups. One is aviation insurance, a field I've already worked in. The aviation background would be helpful in claims/accident investigation. The other is aviation law ... the undergraduate aviation degree will get you admission to law school, then you can use the combination of your aviation and law backgrounds to practice in the aviation area.

So the aviation degree isn't useless by any means. A lot of it comes down to a personal choice about what is right for you. People with aviation degrees, and with non-aviation degrees have all had success in aviation. The one thing I will say categorically is, GET YOUR FOUR YEAR DEGREE!

FL270

 

[tonyw]

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Just get a phsyc degree; a lot of it's common sense anyway and it's pretty much your generic one size fits all degree

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Hey, I resemble that remark.

You are right, though. A psychology or sociology degree isn't that hard to obtain, especially when you compare it to something like an engineering degree or something like that. And it allows you to check off the box for a degree.

Unless you're going into a specialized field that requires a specialized degree, anything will do.

 

[tonyw]

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, psychology is probably THE most popular major.

Problem is... where does it take you in the job market?

Usually to some tier-II sales job, or to some tier-II HR/education related field. The tier-I's go to marketing and business and education majors, respectively. So I'd say specialize a bit more than going the lemming route towards psychology.

No offense intended to those here who are pysch majors

[/ QUOTE ]

Excuse me?

I could point you to an 80 year old guy who graduated with a psychology degree from my school who is hanging out with eight gorgeous blondes every day and who has more money than he knows what to do with.

Or I could point you to a number of people I know with psych degrees who are working for consulting firms making six figures.

Or I could point you to someone who I went to school with who is now a senior vice president at an ad agency and who oversees hundreds of millions of bucks worth of advertising buys.

Yup, those are tier ii or education jobs.

But since you're so quick to dismiss anyone who gets a psychology degree as a lemming, it won't do any good.

Fact is, a degree is just a tool for you to use to check the box that you have one when you're applying for a job. And once you've got that first job, nobody cares what you majored in. All they want to know is how your work experience is applicable to the job they're hiring for.

I've been on the hiring side of the desk, and I can tell you that when I say college degree required, I don't care what the degree is in. All I want is for you to have one, and for you to have the skills I need for you to do your job.

 

[IPad (10)]

You guys read the origianal question wrong. I wasn't asking what to major in I was asking if other jobs out there just required a 4 year degree in any fleild like aviation does. If there are jobs out there that only require a 4 year degree wouldn't an aviation degree be just as good as any other one? I have one more question too. My back up career would ideally be some thing that will keep my in aviation like an airplane broker, so what would I major in for that job?

 

[tonyw]

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I was asking if other jobs out there just required a 4 year degree in any fleild like aviation does.

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Yes.

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If there are jobs out there that only require a 4 year degree wouldn't an aviation degree be just as good as any other one?

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Yes and no. It'll work just fine if you're fresh out of college because the people doing the hiring will figure you're going to need some training and you're going to have to learn how the workplace operates, no matter what you do.

It's bad if you've been a pilot for six years and then get furloughed. Now you've got no work experience other than flying, and the only degree you have has to do with flying, so it's kind of like, well, I've got this 30 year old who doesn't know much about working in an office job and his education was all aviation related, so what can I do with him?

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I have one more question too. My back up career would ideally be some thing that will keep my in aviation like an airplane broker, so what would I major in for that job?

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I'd say that you'd have to look at what the want ads for these kinds of positions say. See if there is a degree that pops up a lot. My scientific wild ass guess here would be that anything will do, but they may want some finance or accounting type coursework.

 

[davetheflyer]

I don't think that any degree is worthless. An aviation degree wouldn't help you get into a technical field like engineering, but I have met people with aviation degrees who were in sales, financial services, and an associate pastor of a baptist church (I think that he had a theology degree also).

I guess that there are probably a lot of people who get the training at ERAU or someplace who, for one reason or another, just never make it as a professional pilot.

I'd go for a business degree as a good fallback in case the pilot thing doesn't take off. If I were actually going to work outside of aviation, I'd probably get an engineering degree.

 

[IPad (10)]

Are there any people out there that have majored in aviation as a back up career to some other proffesion?

 

[viper548]

Sorry to be skeptical - but getting accepted into medical school is very difficult, and involves a bit more than obtaining any old degree, plus those three subjects you mentioned. For example, Organic Chemistry is virtually always required for med school applicants - and there is virtually no way you'll be able to take all the prerequisites for O-Chem, in addition to this difficutl class itself, in an aviation degree program... nor motivate yourself to do so

I'm aware of the requirements to get into med school, yes they are quite tough. The year of chemestry, organic chemestry, biology, and physics would be done AFTER my BS in avaiation. You're right, it wouldb be very difficult to do all those classes in an aviation program. That's why I decided to do them after I finish the degree. I can then concentrate on just those classes.

Citationkid,
I don't know of anyone majoring in aviation as a backup for whatever else they're doing and I doubt anyone would because an aviation degree is a pretty expensive backup. The flying alone will cost over $30K, kinda cost prohibitive for a backup degree.