Mature student

[Kayos]

In another life I got a degree in somthing that I'm not hugely interested in. Follow on from school. Fell into it rather than anything else.

I'd proper like to do another in somthing that actually does interest me.

But don't have a spare £27k knocking about.

I'm not even convinced I'd spend that sort of cash even if I did have it though, unfortunately.

It looks like I'd get a student loan but I'd be paying it back from the minute I finished my course

 

[hotponyshoes]

It looks like I'd get a student loan but I'd be paying it back from the minute I finished my course

How do you run now? Employed, Self-employed?
If one of those covid bounce-back loans would cover the fees its cheap borrowing.
You might be able to offset it all against tax as well

 

[Kayos]

How do you run now? Employed, Self-employed?
If one of those covid bounce-back loans would cover the fees its cheap borrowing.
You might be able to offset it all against tax as well

I've had a bounce back loan, refinanced some stuff and paid bills while there was no work, at the point of receiving that I was still being told I would get citb funding

 

[minimutly]

I did a part time degree at 40, took me 4 years.....................
Worth it though, learnt a lot.
If your doing cdm you need to do iosh or nebosh surely? Then Prince2 (project management).
Good luck.

 

[jenki]

I started an OU degree in my 40s Digital telecoms mainly to improve my work prospects in IT it worked as it gave me 2 things relatively upto date knowledge and showed interest and application at an interview. I never did finish it I got the job I wanted and work increased to an extent which precluded completing it, I would suggest some form of 'return to learning' course OU foundation courses were excellent I was lucky I could self finance it as I was still working and costs in the 90's were reasonable.
Whatever you decide good luck.

 

[tlovatt]

I did a degree (following a year out) after A levels, did a post grad diploma as distance learning in my early 30s and over the past few years I have completed another degree and a post grad diploma as a mature student. My views are:

There is a distinct lack of decent qualifications between waste of time 96% pass rate 1 week course (such as PRINCE 2) and proper qualifications, the OU has the most flexibility.

Be warned just how much hard work it is, this last degree (done part time as well as working full time) almost killed me, it took a good support network to keep me going - especially though the winter with dark cold nights and limited motivation.

The OU does have some good points, it is cheaper (still quite expensive) I believe you can get student loans although you can also pay as you go if you are part time and keep on working. Also if you find it hard going you can often stop sooner, avoid paying more money and still get a qualification unlike dropping out of uni.

 

[sako243]

Something construction management based, I've got various bits of paper but I'm looking at jobs that say degree or equivalent these days and that's what I'm lacking

Have you actually tried applying for some? OK completely different field (electronics and software engineering) but when I interviewed people for my previous company experience counted for waaay more than their degree. If there was only one position and the choice was a grad with a degree vs. someone without but 20 years experience I'd take the latter provided they did as well in the interview.

It might be worth going to some interviews but with the open mind that they may reject you, if nothing else for the experience. Of course you've got to get their attention first so tailored covering letter and tailored CV for each position. Don't neglect extra curricular stuff because depending on the job it might be relevant. E.g. I had a couple of interviewees who put climbing down as a hobby, that meant we had something to break the ice with and put them at ease. It can be quite intimidating being interviewed but I've found a fair few people who perform exceptionally at interviews but then "badly" at the chit chat tend not to do as well if they get offered a job because they might struggle with the general interaction in the office.

 

[Kayos]

Have you actually tried applying for some? OK completely different field (electronics and software engineering) but when I interviewed people for my previous company experience counted for waaay more than their degree. If there was only one position and the choice was a grad with a degree vs. someone without but 20 years experience I'd take the latter provided they did as well in the interview.

It might be worth going to some interviews but with the open mind that they may reject you, if nothing else for the experience. Of course you've got to get their attention first so tailored covering letter and tailored CV for each position. Don't neglect extra curricular stuff because depending on the job it might be relevant. E.g. I had a couple of interviewees who put climbing down as a hobby, that meant we had something to break the ice with and put them at ease. It can be quite intimidating being interviewed but I've found a fair few people who perform exceptionally at interviews but then "badly" at the chit chat tend not to do as well if they get offered a job because they might struggle with the general interaction in the office.

Many jobs, I've had some good interest but it just fizzled out

I have some specific skills and experience that lead to the unnoficall offer, no good unless it becomes official though

 

[Kayos]

I did a part time degree at 40, took me 4 years.....................
Worth it though, learnt a lot.
If your doing cdm you need to do iosh or nebosh surely? Then Prince2 (project management).
Good luck.

I have prince2 foundation. SMSTS is preferred over iosh or nebosh if you only have one, but they are good if you have both.

I will do iosh once my local training centre reopens, decent people running it

 

[Feet 'n Inches]

I went through the OU route in the late 90s and was fortunate to get some financial support from my employers as my choice of courses was consistent with the job I was doing. Don't believe any blurb about a few hours of study a day - for me, it was home from work, a quick meal and up the stairs for five or six hours every evening. Worth it in the end though.

 

[minimutly]

I went through the OU route in the late 90s and was fortunate to get some financial support from my employers as my choice of courses was consistent with the job I was doing. Don't believe any blurb about a few hours of study a day - for me, it was home from work, a quick meal and up the stairs for five or six hours every evening. Worth it in the end though.

Yes b.eng was hard work, and lots of it.

 

[Kayos]

Having read everything on here and spoken to a few people I'm not going to uni...

I'm going the NEBOSH route, studying at home.

Just started on the NEBOSH National Certificate in Construction Safety & Health which will lead onto the diploma and beyond

Big thanks to @Parm his input

 

[mike os]

I did mine at 38.... at the time I couldn't afford the pay cut I was being offered as a 'new graduate '

 

[Parm]

Having read everything on here and spoken to a few people I'm not going to uni...

I'm going the NEBOSH route, studying at home.

Just started on the NEBOSH National Certificate in Construction Safety & Health which will lead onto the diploma and beyond

Big thanks to @Parm his input

You won’t regret it Stuart, plus you can keep working and maintaining an income

Anything accredited by NEBOSH is very well respected in industry

Most importantly as a student now you can stay in bed all day, drink and do stuff all night and go out on all the protests you want

Good luck

 

[mike os]

A good choice, it's the way I should have gone tbf.

 

[Kayos]

IOSH registration submitted and NUS (now Totum) card ordered

I tried staying in bed until 3pm but some small children had other ideas

 

[Barking Mat]

@sako243 , couldn't agree more, experience far out weighs paper certificates.

But obviously accountability comes into question, then you hit is the person suitably qualified.

It's all a question of accountability, especially where the buck stops.

Over here, it's more specific courses, so you are accountable not your boss.

Therefore when things go wrong, the buck stops with you not your boss.

It's a covering your bum exercise.

Called a cacess in France.


Apologies if I've not read the last x posts....

 

[Wany]

In the UK, and big companies in particular, HR(*) and the recruitment agents(*) they use are the gateway to any role. In my experience they know little of the industry and couldn't spot talent if it went down on them in a multi-story-car-park. They set arbitrary benchmarks to limit the number of applications as they are unable to use knowledge, experience or common sense to pass quality candidates to the hiring manager. The hiring manager would probably be happy to sort through all the CVs and spot the good candidates but if HR/recruitment consultants don't "add value" why are they needed?

It's similar to the "bouncer issue(*)". If you tell your average bouncer to "not let anyone unsuitable in" they will have to use some intelligence to make an informed decision. Apart from letting anyone like themselves in (who are dodgy) the mental taxation becomes too much and they lose the plot and start hitting random people. If you give them a binary choice like "only let people in who have shirt + shoes" they can easily make the decision, no judgement is required. The upshot is you still get idiots in the club, they are just better dressed. HR are the same, it's just degrees/X years experience in Y instead of shirt+shoes.

(*) Apologies to any HR, recruitment or door-staff who have two brain cells, know their industry and can actually do their jobs. You are few and we should celebrate you.

 

[addjunkie]

In the UK, and big companies in particular, HR(*) and the recruitment agents(*) they use are the gateway to any role. In my experience they know little of the industry and couldn't spot talent if it went down on them in a multi-story-car-park. They set arbitrary benchmarks to limit the number of applications as they are unable to use knowledge, experience or common sense to pass quality candidates to the hiring manager. The hiring manager would probably be happy to sort through all the CVs and spot the good candidates but if HR/recruitment consultants don't "add value" why are they needed?

It's similar to the "bouncer issue(*)". If you tell your average bouncer to "not let anyone unsuitable in" they will have to use some intelligence to make an informed decision. Apart from letting anyone like themselves in (who are dodgy) the mental taxation becomes too much and they lose the plot and start hitting random people. If you give them a binary choice like "only let people in who have shirt + shoes" they can easily make the decision, no judgement is required. The upshot is you still get idiots in the club, they are just better dressed. HR are the same, it's just degrees/X years experience in Y instead of shirt+shoes.

(*) Apologies to any HR, recruitment or door-staff who have two brain cells, know their industry and can actually do their jobs. You are few and we should celebrate you.

Couldnt agree more. One of my ex bosses, said when Id been standing in at a job for a year, that I couldnt have the job permenantly because I didnt have a degree. I said whys that, his response was thats what HR dictate.

I said ok no problem, you best get someone else then, and put me on the next chopper home. He imediatley back pedalled. Anyway I was promoted.

A year later I was interviewing, with our HR woman. Id selected who to interview, some with degrees, some with out. She pointed out two of the 5 didnt meet the degree criteria, I said neither do I. Anyway technically none of the graduates could back up any of their answers with detail when questioned.

What worried me most was she had almost no idea of any other qualifications other than degrees, quite scary really.

Experience does count for a lot, but its hard to get through the door to tell them you do actually have skills required.

 

[brightspark]

its the case nowadays they want a piece of paper even though they have no practical experience I couldn't give a toss what anyone has . if they can do the job its theirs