Reddit reviews You Can Do Anything: The Surprising Power of a "Useless" Liberal Arts Education

Disagree. Somehow on the internet STEM=computer programming, even though biology, astronomy, and many other academically-oriented, non-tech-related degrees fall under STEM. Regardless of field though, if the program/department you are in doesn't prepare you very well for the job market (professionalism, resume-worthy projects, internships, career fairs, etc), it can be just as difficult to get a job with a STEM degree as a so-called "mickey mouse" degree. I "followed my passion" and got a BA, MS, and PhD in anthropology, and now work at a multi-billion dollar software company figuring out what, why, and how we should build things (in grad school, I also held a qualitative research position within an engineering department). Turns out, understanding people and context are essential to making usable and ethical technology. I also work with people with degrees in English, environmental studies, political science, and yes, art history. The simplistic view of STEM vs liberal arts is unrealistic at best and dangerous at worst. If you want to learn more, I suggest reading this book and the others list in the 'commonly bought together' section.

I don’t come from a liberal arts background but I majored in a STEM field that wasn’t CS or econ. I’ve been working in business environments since undergrad despite not having any sort of formal finance / econ / business education (though I admit having a STEM major is a convenient signal to employers that I can do math). Many entry-level jobs don’t require you to be a subject matter expert straight out of undergrad. I spent a lot of my first year in consulting taking notes, tracking items on spreadsheets, and scheduling meetings. Can’t speak for banks but there are certainly corporate jobs out there that don’t require a ton of specialized knowledge. (The big secret is those 17 years of formal education don’t always directly translate into what real jobs are - even my engineer friends only use 5% of what they learned in school while on the job, by their estimation)

You may have to do some work to spin your experiences (and you’ll have to hustle to network bc many companies will only recruit college seniors since it’s easier / cheaper to grab a bunch at once) but it’s possible.

If your local library has this book, I’d recommend checking it out. I skimmed it once and it seemed like it had good advice for how to communicate your skills in a way that will resonate with companies

I respect your view. For the record I don’t see a bachelors as fantastic, it’s just a base line education in today world, that you don’t have. It’s not going to get you the job but it does put you in the running. When you do get the experience, you need the degree to change careers, location, or desire promotion. I don’t know why your friends are jobless. Maybe they didn’t listen when the idea of an internship came up, or Maybe they should have went for more of a specialize degree. They are jobless still because of there choices, a lot of people in that situation go to grad school. Witch is never a bad idea!

I recommend the book “what color is my parachute and you can do anything.

https://www.amazon.com/You-Can-Anything-Surprising-Education/dp/0316548804

https://www.amazon.com/What-Color-Your-Parachute-2019/dp/0399581685/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?adgrpid=59706783327&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7s-yoeyv4gIVSLnACh1CegY6EAAYAiAAEgIJNvD_BwE&hvadid=274697774361&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9017328&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t2&hvqmt=e&hvrand=16351004569617750059&hvtargid=kwd-492238811752&hydadcr=15807_10362721&keywords=what+color+is+my+parachute&qid=1558552439&s=gateway&sr=8-1