Certainly there is no degree that guarantees one a job in and by itself however given the current economic situation and the fast pace of economic and technological shifts in the continent and Nigeria in particular there are degrees you would be better off not investing
your time and resources to acquire as opportunities afforded in those areas are increasingly getting eroded.
Not all degrees are created equal before employers; some are actually becoming obsolete and have less competitive advantage in the labour market of today.
1. General Arts
General arts cover anything from art history to painting/sculpture. In the western world and developed countries having a degree in the arts could fetch one decent job opportunities several years ago. After the depression however and with many European economies still struggling to recover it’s becoming increasingly tough to find opportunities for majors in such areas like archaeology, painting/fine art, history etc.
Over here in Nigeria the harsh economic conditions mean that if you invest your time in any of these fields you may have to try out setting up on your own and even that is not easy given the conditions of doing business in Nigeria. The opportunities for these sort of degrees are shrinking and people with the academic credentials thinking to get themselves a job in related field would have to do a lot of innovative and proactive thinking.
Career Counsellors advise those who want to study such things as art, dance, and music to have a specific strategy. Sometimes a way out could be getting a higher degree (such asMasters) and going into teaching.
2. Humanities and Liberal Arts
If you love sitting, thinking about the intricacies of life and expounding on theories of existence or analysing political theories and
events there may not be enough opportunities to do that in real life with your philosophy or political science degree and earn good money.
Humanities and Liberal Art degree courses like Anthropology, Political Science, Philosophy and many more do not give the graduates who
possess them specific in-road into the employment market. Unlike professional courses like Engineering, and the Business fields having a degree in any of the Humanities may not really point one to a specific career direction. The opportunities are equally not clear-cut which is why many holders of Humanities degrees find their way into the academia. Making a career headway with these degrees with require a better strategy from the person concerned.
3. Education
Unless you are willing to take higher degrees
and pursue teaching opportunities at higher
levels of the education ladder having an
education degree is hardly going to get you
the best jobs. A survey of the pay for education
degree holders who teach in secondary schools
across the country show it is hardly worth the
expenses incurred in acquiring the degree.
When you remember that non-education
degree holders also battle for teaching jobs
with those who hold education majors the
reality of the situation gets clearer.
The only way a graduate degree holder in
Education will do better is either to go for
higher qualifications and try to break into
higher level teaching or do a career switch
entirely and go for higher qualifications in a
different field that has more career prospects.
4. Religious Studies
Given the way churches and self styled pastors
are springing up in every nook and cranny it
should appear that splurging money on a
religious studies degree will present the holder
with bright prospects. However nothing can be
further from the truth. Except you are willing
to plunge in and open your own church down
the street, become a quran clutching preacher
etc there are hardly any existing opportunities
for you to explore if you have a religious studies
degree and wish to exploit opportunities
therein.
The only ones that come to mind is
becoming a Religious Educator, working in
religious establishments (if those even exist in
the formal way) as Chaplain, Instructors, in
Administration, Fundraising etc. The picture is
not at all appetizing
5. Mass Communication
The sheer volume and number of mass
communication students and graduates in
many higher institutions across the country
mean that anyone holding a mass
communication degree and hoping to pursue a
related career with it had better pray and look
for a superior strategy.
The increasing introduction of media
technology is eating away at the former
strongholds of mass communication graduates.
Reporters and Journalists find the rug being
gradually pulled of their feet as bloggers and
writers who hitherto knew nothing about mass
communication take over the business of news
discovery and sharing. Newspapers and
Television are no longer holding the baton in
exclusive control of the media business. For
mass communication majors who wish to find
and pursue the right careers they need to
understand the change in mass media and
communication tools and acquire the right
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