I wrote this for 10MinutesWith, a UK-based career and education platform.

http://www.10minuteswith.com/blog/does-undergraduate-course-study-really-matter

As an African blogger with focus on education and career mentoring, one common question I get from student readers from time to time is, “How marketable is my course of study?” This is surprising given the fact that a student is expected to know the marketability of his course of study before opting for it in the first place. But anyone that is familiar with the educational system of African countries, especially Nigeria, will know that many students are more bothered about getting admission into University than the relevance of the course of study that they are pursuing.

It is common in Nigeria for a student to apply for a certain course, say Economics, but due to the inability to meet the cut-off score for admission into the chosen department, he is offered admission to study a less competitive course, say Sociology. The implication of this is that someone that has primary interest in one course will find himself being forced, so to speak, to study another course because that was the course “given” to him by the University he applied to.

Although a few undergraduates will stand their ground and do not mind spending another year at home to retake the entrance examinations, many students take the offered courses because they are not confident that they will get admitted into their desired department even after retaking the entrance examination. The latter set of students are the ones that come to the internet to ask for the marketability of the courses of study offered to them.

But does course of study at undergraduate level really matter? The truth is, except for highly specialised professions like Medicine, Engineering et cetera, you can become almost anything without having your first degree in that line. Even for Engineering, many postgraduate schools allow you to do your Masters in engineering courses with a related Science first degree.

In some cases, you don’t even need a second degree in a specific career line before you become a professional in that industry, all you need to do is to gather practical experience or run some courses in the desired field.

The current president of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, is my favorite example. The Korean-American studied Medicine at Harvard Medical School for his first degree. He now heads a Financial Institution. There are many top investment bankers that studied courses that are far off from Finance or Banking. Even Christine Lagarde, the current Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), another financial and economic institution, studied, not economics, not Finance, but Law, for her first degree. She is now a Finance guru.

A good number of the best accountants around the world studied Economics. In fact, I don’t usually advise my mentees to study Accounting. All you need to do to become an Accountant is to write relevant accounting professional examinations like that of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) or other recognised accounting professional exams of the local country. I have friends who studied courses as far off as Agriculture but are now working as Accountants because they wrote and passed the qualifying exams of a relevant accounting body.

First degree, most times, is just to broaden the student’s horizon, to improve his cognitive processes. It hardly determines what one goes on to be in life. This is why I normally advise young students to make the best of whatever courses they are studying and not to be demotivated by their inability to get the course of their desired study.

Yes very true it doesn't really matter

Unfortunately many people just never get it.

You see someone writing jamb 6 times all because he wants to study medicine. Smh

It still shouldn't stop you from striving to study what you want to study because the most frustrated man is the one in the wrong profession.

If you want fulfilment, strive to study what you like and watch your job become easier for you.

There are still firms out there that see the relevance of First Degree in a cognate field(Don't know whether there are in the majority or not).

The feet acheived by the likes of Kim and Lagarde might be difficult to reach here in Nigeria.

My point: One can't easily succeed in other fields, not related to his course of study in Nigeria.

@Sir Jarus_i have always wanted to study an engineering course, preferably civil,elect/elect,chemical engineering but unfortunately my dreams was diminished when i was offered PHYSICS in lieu of civil engineering i applied for in FUNAAB, i would appreciate your advice/mentoring

Thanks. That's why I opted for aeronautics.

well i would say it also depends on the student as an individual, i.e with the right mindset and attitude as regards whatever course one is 'given' as you termed it, the prospect can be very bright. I keep telling pple that the main purpose of getting a degree shouldn't be in order to get a job, but in other to get education. This education itself, is not limited to the 4 walls of a classroom, but in a much broader sense. Unfortunately the aim of most graduates is to get a job with their degree, which is not bad, but looking inwards is also very necessary. Its all about having an open mind, a proper mindset. Its an attitudinal thing. Yes I agree with you, what one studies may not really matter esp in our present day and time, but what one decides to make of it.

front page tins

As stated above,course of study does matter Atimes. You can hardly practise as doctor, engineer or lawyer in a standard coy without you being trained as such.If not, you may think you know it but a reasonable employer will be very wary to employ you to avoid any devastating and costly mistakes or misdeeds.

Jamzig1:
@Sir Jarus_i have always wanted to study an engineering course, preferably civil,elect/elect,chemical engineering but unfortunately my dreams was diminished when i was offered PHYSICS in lieu of civil engineering i applied for in FUNAAB, i would appreciate your advice/mentoring

As I advised in the main article: make the best of it. I know physics graduates that got jobs in Chevron.

khattab008:
There are still firms out there that see the relevance of First Degree in a cognate field(Don't know whether there are in the majority or not).

The feet acheived by the likes of Kim and Lagarde might be difficult to reach here in Nigeria.

My point: One can't easily succeed in other fields, not related to his course of study in Nigeria.

Aig Imhoukhude studied Law. He ended up a Bank CEO (Access Bank).

I have friends that studied Agric, Chemistry, Botany etc that are accomplished accountants today.

Jarus:


As I advised in the main article: make the best of it. I know physics graduates that got jobs in Chevron.

Thanks for your reply. pls, what posts were the physics graduates employed for in chevron and was it with only BSc.Physics they applied with or they had MSc.

However, let me state that the purpose of the article is to look at issues from soft side, to encourage those who are studying courses they ordinarily didn't wish to study or studying courses that are generally regarded as non-marketable.

It doesn't in any way say you should not do your best to go for the course of your dream.

Jarus:
Jarus

http://www.10minuteswith.com/blog/does-undergraduate-course-study-really-matter

As an African blogger with focus on education and career mentoring, one common question I get from student readers from time to time is, “How marketable is my course of study?” This is surprising given the fact that a student is expected to know the marketability of his course of study before opting for it in the first place. But anyone that is familiar with the educational system of African countries, especially Nigeria, will know that many students are more bothered about getting admission into University than the relevance of the course of study that they are pursuing.

It is common in Nigeria for a student to apply for a certain course, say Economics, but due to the inability to meet the cut-off score for admission into the chosen department, he is offered admission to study a less competitive course, say Sociology. The implication of this is that someone that has primary interest in one course will find himself being forced, so to speak, to study another course because that was the course “given” to him by the University he applied to.

Although a few undergraduates will stand their ground and do not mind spending another year at home to retake the entrance examinations, many students take the offered courses because they are not confident that they will get admitted into their desired department even after retaking the entrance examination. The latter set of students are the ones that come to the internet to ask for the marketability of the courses of study offered to them.

But does course of study at undergraduate level really matter? The truth is, except for highly specialised professions like Medicine, Engineering et cetera, you can become almost anything without having your first degree in that line. Even for Engineering, many postgraduate schools allow you to do your Masters in engineering courses with a related Science first degree.

In some cases, you don’t even need a second degree in a specific career line before you become a professional in that industry, all you need to do is to gather practical experience or run some courses in the desired field.

The current president of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, is my favorite example. The Korean-American studied Medicine at Harvard Medical School for his first degree. He now heads a Financial Institution. There are many top investment bankers that studied courses that are far off from Finance or Banking. Even Christine Lagarde, the current Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), another financial and economic institution, studied, not economics, not Finance, but Law, for her first degree. She is now a Finance guru.

A good number of the best accountants around the world studied Economics. In fact, I don’t usually advise my mentees to study Accounting. All you need to do to become an Accountant is to write relevant accounting professional examinations like that of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) or other recognised accounting professional exams of the local country. I have friends who studied courses as far off as Agriculture but are now working as Accountants because they wrote and passed the qualifying exams of a relevant accounting body.

First degree, most times, is just to broaden the student’s horizon, to improve his cognitive processes. It hardly determines what one goes on to be in life. This is why I normally advise young students to make the best of whatever courses they are studying and not to be demotivated by their inability to get the course of their desired study.

Nice piece..@Jarus baba
I always look forward to reading ur writeups

Jamzig1:
Thanks for your reply. pls, what posts were the physics graduates employed for in chevron and was it with only BSc.Physics they applied with or they had MSc.

Yes, he went for Msc in an electronic course in the UK after his first degree in Physics. He had first class in physics from Ife in 2005, a year my senior.

He got job with Chevron.

Unfortunately, he was the Chevron guy that kidnapped and later killed late last year https://www.nairaland.com/1203632/oluwatoyin-akanbi-missing-please

These days, we find Engineering Graduates more in the financial sector

Employers in these sectors now want them, even before opting for the financial courses graduates

Jarus:


Yes, he went for Msc in an electronic course in the UK after his first degree in Physics. He had first class in physics from Ife in 2005, a year my senior.

He got job with Chevron.

Unfortunately, he was the Chevron guy that kidnapped and later killed late last year https://www.nairaland.com/1203632/oluwatoyin-akanbi-missing-please

OMG! May his soul rest in perfect peace,...i was touched by his story. buh life goes on

Does course of study really matter? No,I don't think so. I met a guy who works as a chemist and he is not a chemist and cannot define chemistry,but this guy taught me what real life chemistry is all about and not what I read in textbooks.

Just imagine the guy being the boss of a chemistry student, I hope he heads the QC department soon.

things dey ooo,what of people that couldn't secure admission into main campus but was told to apply to affiliated campus because of time. I can't advise my enemy to go to any affiliated campus in this country because most are incompetent and also downgrades cgpa's because of the students at the main campus. Please which way for the set of people that are in or went through this situation? @ Oga jarus

shakol91:
things dey ooo,what of people that couldn't secure admission into main campus but was told to apply to affiliated campus because of time. I can't advise my enemy to go to any affiliated campus in this country because most are incompetent and also downgrades cgpa's because of the students at the main campus. Please which way for the set of people that are in or went through this situation? @ Oga jarus

Affiliate programs are nonsense, if not fraud, almost 100% of times in Nigeria.

Mr jarus,nice article up there.
Let me also use this medium to ask you this question that has been disturbing me for some time now.
Career wise,which do you think is the best,computer science or elect engineering.

rioemmanuel:
Mr jarus,nice article up there.
Let me also use this medium to ask you this question that has been disturbing me for some time now.
Career wise,which do you think is the best,computer science or elect engineering.

Unfortunately, I don't have an answer.

Jarus:


Affiliate programs are nonsense, if not fraud, almost 100% of times in Nigeria.

I went there to study Accounting education but I can't deceive you I'm not happy with myself. It takes 2yrs for them to mobilize graduates for nysc. I don't know why NUC can't scrap all these affiliated campus so that people that forced someone like me wouldn't have any other option than to allow me to focus on gaining admission into the main campus

Jarus:
First degree, most times, is just to broaden the student’s horizon, to improve his cognitive processes. It hardly determines what one goes on to be in life. This is why I normally advise young students to make the best of whatever courses they are studying and not to be demotivated by their inability to get the course of their desired study.

I particularly appreciate the above and I have seen many 'living witnesses'. A recent example is the new MD of Diamond Bank. He had his first degree in Chemistry.

@ Oga jarus pls can we meet outside this forum. I need to reshape myself. I can't continue like this

shakol91:
@ Oga jarus pls can we meet outside this forum. I need to reshape myself. I can't continue like this

Shoot me an email: jarushub@gmail.com

Matter is anything that has weight and occupies space

You've spoken well bro suraj. I at times enlighten people on how they can build career that is clearly distinct from what they have in their first degree. ICT has made everything easy, it is not a must to be computer science graduate before venturing into any area of it. likewise do one need not to study business administration or related courses before bagging MBA after first degree. We are in the informational age not the industrial age. so wise up dudes.

pick CCNA,ORACLE,COMPTIA and others and stand a chance of working with multinational companies irrespective of what you studied in your first degree.