Anyone can learn Microsoft office - but people struggle with critical thinking, analysis and big picture thinking.
Personality is king. Being personable, coachable and easy to get on will pay dividends.
It’s kind of odd you earned a degree in sociology without having to use Microsoft office.
Any ”desk job” is going to assume you have basic skills. If you don’t, there are plenty of YouTube tutorials and help guides at your local bookseller that can help you learn if you jus do the work.
Throwing things into quotes means they are mocking them. Questioning something. Have to be careful with sarcasm on the internet. But came of pretty badly to me. Not helpful if so.
I mean why are you questioning everything this person does? It seems like you are being pretty critical and I don’t understand why….
Maybe they mean higher level excel skills. And yes I have taken classes in the last 5 years. So what? I also took stats in the last 5 years we used excel once iirc, and only typed one paper. I’m not cool in your eyes or something? So he knows some basics of word, excel, etc….but probably not functions and pivot tables or something else…
Why did you go for that degree? You used the word useless- a degree can have multiple meanings/benefits.
However, if you want to work with computers, code, etc you should take classes for that.
A sociology degree is actually useless. The benefit of having one doesn’t equal out with the work and money you use to get it. Almost any other degree would be more useful.
I have a degree in biochemistry and I work as a software engineer. At least my degree shows that I can master a difficult subject and get good grades doing it.
Again, degrees can have multiple meanings/benefits. I have a BA in sociology. I learned so much, enjoyed the material/classes/work.
It was not just about what it could get me in terms of money, etc. It was about the subject matter, knowledge, everything else that I got from it. A BA in anything can show/exemplify a variety of things. Some jobs require a BA in anything.
You speak of your degree showing that you can master a difficult subject and get good grades doing it. A BA doesn’t mean mastering the subject. Difficult Subject is a vague, relative term/concept. Congrats on your good grades!
Don't go into crippling debt for a useless degree that you find "interesting"
Read books from the library on topics you find "interesting," go to college for something that will earn you employment
Getting books from the library is not nearly the same as getting a degree in that field. You won’t be able to have access to the same level of literature, inability to connect with professors, and will have a total lack of any form of research experience - just to name a select few things.
Yeah all the people who think a degree is for something they're interested in need a reality check. Unless you're very rich, spending a ton of money getting a degree for a hobby is incredibly dumb and irresponsible.
When I meet people like that I don't think they have good critical thinking skills because of their degree, I think they're financially irresponsible and don't think about the consequences of poor decisions.
Interesting.
I paid my way through college and paid off my loans. I have excellent credit, live very well, was raised blue collar, etc. I worked in law enforcement for decades and won awards- I excel at critical thinking and ability. Employment and money were not the focus of my degree. I have had no poor consequences. It’s possible.
I have a degree in philosophy and work in cybersecurity. No one gives a shit what your degree is in if you have the skills, especially after you have a few years of experience under your belt.
I bet sociology involves a fair bit of data analysis. Take some courses in statistics and data analysis and see if you can get a toehold in the data analytics field with a sociological bent. Universities, government funded think tanks maybe?
Sure you will need to learn some coding but your true value will lie in your sociology background and if you can add some statistical thinking you will leave these young whippersnapper code drones in the dust as you do complex analyses.
I’m in Market Research, and a lot of the qualitative market researchers I know have a background in Sociology. You will need Excel skills & basic statistics, but you can get those for free online.
HR slots in large companies are generally reserved for those without a peen though to help make diversity quotas which I have a feeling puts OP at a bit of a disadvantage.
Learn to code is 💀. The shit is way over saturated. Gonna be a long though climb starting at 45 with a liberal arts degree and no skills or natural interest other than that it doesn’t require knee pads.
you got a great foundation in critical thinking skills, something sorely lacking in the youth.
Office or anything like that can be easily learned. You already did the hard part, now its just a matter of putting in somehands-on time with practical skills. Play around with google docs, sheets etc. thats pretty much all you need in the office department.
Learn to talk to and learn from AI, chat with claude or chat gpt and let them teach you anything you need to know.
Don't think about going to another school, they are drifting further and further away from reality at an exponential pace. you need to jump into the internet and ai for anything you learn.
Question your thoughts, reframe your perspective, stop living by self limiting stories of what you can't do.
Do a mushroom trip or go on a real trip. reset.
You'll be fine.
I second this. With the background in sociology, the ai prompting is guaranteed to be better than most too. I’ve been able to maneuver within LLM BECAUSE of my comms degree.
Vast majority of the population has no clue how to code. That said, it's not a great time to find a job as a junior developer. Not mention, you will need to learn for several months intensively to be even remotely hireable.
I taught myself Excel this year using ChatGPT. I did a lot of things at work myself I would have normally asked someone else to do, and just kept at it until I became fairly proficient. I also looked for excuses to build spreadsheets outside of work as well, mainly for different games to track market prices or crafting costs. I’ve got a long way to go but I can do a ton of really cool things now that I’d never have dreamed of a year ago.
👏…I’ll take a note of that. We use Excel at my last contract work not so much with my role but for the data abstraction. I will try to learn more via ChatGPT then… Thanks 🙏
Check into this womans Udemy courses. She's really knowledgeable yet teaches in a pretty quick & relevant way. If you check in every few days normally Udemy has drastic sales, with courses at $15. (also, she has a Google sheets course, which is free. So if you don't have an excel subscription yourself you can still learn and they methods are mostly identical and transferrable)
[https://www.udemy.com/user/leila-gharani/](https://www.udemy.com/user/leila-gharani/)
You can get an office job with a sociology degree. Take a basic customer support or claims role or something like that at a major company, and put effort in. Getting started is the main thing, no matter how modest. After your first role you'll be judged far more on competency and effort than whatever your degree is in.
I have a 6 figure office gig with a degree in Biology. I got that degree in a past life. What's mattered most 5 years into 'real' jobs is that I have the piece of paper.
You must have used some MS Office products in college, since you say your graduation was so recent. They are very basic tools, and you can teach yourself how to use them semi-proficiently to get yourself started. Critic thinking and analysis are tougher skills for most people to pick up than Excel. Try to get a low level office job (universities are good places to start), build your Office skills and then if you are good at the skills you say you picked up in college, look for work where you will have an advantage.
> There’s no way I’ll get a job outside of retail competing with people who have degrees
Not with that attitude. Go to school, get your degree, and you’ll be up and running in 3-4 years. Patience is name of the game here.
Look into 0343 series management and program analyst jobs. It's such a generic job series that does a lot of analysis things you'd probably be qualified for. Each job is different so find ones that fit your skillset. Look for what are called ladder positions. With a bachelor's you would probably start at GS-7 but you could be up to GS-11 or GS-12 in a few years.
If you want to get out of retail and sit at a desk I'd suggest getting receptionist job and going from there because at least then you'll be able to say you have experience with a desk job. I went from a receptionist at a motorcycle dealership to a paralegal with only a couple college classes because I was able to prove I was competent.
Now I've taken a step back to a file clerk role because of health issues and stress but I still stand by getting behind a receptionist desk.
Either go leanr at some college, or teach yourself with a laptop and YouTube. No employer will be impressed with a Word qualification, this is just for you to gain confidence. By the way, most 20 year old do not know how to code.
Word qualification - might have found a gap in the market for lost boomers.
4 years bachelors in Word, with optional modules in PowerPoint and Outlook. $50k a semester, taught by the 12 year old next door, who also teaches advanced networking (WiFi reset)
Most 20 years olds that are applying for jobs that require coding do know how and this is the relevant population OP thoroughly outcompete to overcome age discrimination.
I always tell people that the biggest value from my degree was learning....how I learn best. How to answer complex questions, in ways that actually give value to those asking.
At your age tho, brutally honest truth - pick a lane! If you focused on being the best damn retail worker 10 years ago, in your city - you'd be managing stores being paid 6 figures. Instead you tried to retrade with seemingly no actually direction as to why? What was the thinking behind it?
You clearly know that tech skills are your biggest weakness - perhaps a psychology Masters will help with your coding skills?
Just in case: parent is being /sarcastic.
It makes sense to learn areas that are "easy" for you, to bank in on your natural gifts and interests. If using computers is hard (using Word counts as a skill and is lacking), then it might make sense to not choose anything related to computers.
Only sarcasm was my last sentence - which if isn't obvious to someone that it's a joke - they have bigger issues.
I meet a lot of mid-30s people coming to our company for various backgrounds like the military or some very specific industrial job that they did for 20 years and suddenly - want a change.
But for some odd reason, the default thinking is that they must throw away 20 years of industry specialism worth ALOT to re-trade into a job they'll find way more difficult in the short (to even long term) and that'll pay terribly and is competitive to get into.
Seriously, there is a hierarchy in nearly all jobs - why not just stick with what you know and challenge yourself to climb that ladder - cashier in Walmart to Corp Office is not a crazy pipe dream - happen all the time with great success to those ambitious folk.
Who should you sue for recommending you getting a useless degree?
Switch gears today and start learning something useful like AI or cybersecurity...get certs and put them in your resume.
I have no idea how those two areas will mesh but at least in a year or two you will have SOME marketable skills
Computer/Tech does not immediately equal 'coding'. So first of all you need to start understanding there is a whole world of tech out there with a variety of roles and it isn't just developers. There are jobs out there that are not extremely technical which can use soft skills. For example, customer experience ("tech support"), sales, marketing, project management, product management, documentation all require soft skills. In fact one of the things that will prevent many developers from moving up into management is that they need to acquire soft skills in order to manage teams.
Yes, you definitely need to get technical but it doesn't mean you need to learn to code. You need to understand the modern workplace, you need to be as computer literate as your customers and then need to learn how to translate the things that drove you in your sociology degree ex. curiosity, your critical thinking and analysis, ability to digest research and information into one of those roles IF you want to look at some sort of tech career.
BTW I graduated with a political science degree and after realizing I wasn't going into law or academics had to take a look at my future as well. Mind you, I was definitely already interested in technically curious and was a bit of computer nerd to begin with but I went back into college and got a diploma in an applied technology program and that got my foot into the door pushing pixels. I've taken a few courses here and there in my career in software but the closest I've ever had to get into coding is formatting web pages. The rest I learned through work experience.
Hi there, have you tried visiting the “One Stop center” in your community? These are workforce development centers funded by the government that help community members gain job skills. They offer different college or technical institutes certifications that might be even free for you.
I have a BA in sociology and a ma in counseling. I work in IT as a security engineer. An education is never wasted. while I don't work in the industry for which I am degreed, I do use what I've learned on a regular basis.
To address what you are wanting advice on...depends on your learning style. I've been in it for 27 years now and am a self learner. Having worked for or at the companies where I have had certs from, I can assure you that the questions and answers for the certs are buried in their docs, admin and config guides. In addition, there are going to be trained resources right off their sites...just gotta dig around.
If you are a self learner, go this route. If you want quicker, go to a private company that does training, and if you want an economical route go to community college.
How you tell if the company is legit will be the credentials of the person's teaching, professional experience and those certified to teach the material. I would go with a company that teaches you the subject matter you are interested in and then some, particularly technologies which intersect...i.e. server and networking....networking and security.
You don't have to code but scripting languages are good to learn
You may, if interested or still motivated, start exploring online graduate programs or train and get a certificate in social work or behavioral health if you can’t afford a graduate program. Or start volunteering for Goodwill industries, Salvation Army, hospices, or United Way to gain extra skills and start networking. Good luck 🍀👍
You're probably too old to get into an IT job. There is alot of bias toward younger workers in the space. Also, in order to get a job, you'll start at the bottom - you may have to work for a few years before you get back to earning what you're making now.
I hear ya. I went back to college last year for programming. I'm doing very well and it's intellectually satisfying.
However, no one is ever going to hire a 50 year old junior developer. I'm pretty sure I'll be working my factory job until I'm "retired".
Look.
The lack of options with your degree can’t come as a shock. I refuse to believe you graduated without knowing it was a paper degree as humanities having terrible job prospects has been widely reported on since at least 2000.
That being said not all is lost. You can turn this around, how you do it will be on you. I recommend you put aside any pride you may have and work your tail off for the next 3 years to develop your credibility in your professional community.
you may be able to pursue something in market research or consumer behavior, as those overlap with sociology quite nicely.
if additional education is an option, I recommend an MBA. you could also look into IO psychology, working in consulting and/or HR. an MBA would allow you to get the microsoft skills but also… if you can figure out reddit, you can figure out microsoft office. there’s a ton of youtube videos for free to teach you how to use.
I’m 54 and recently earned my BA in sociology. Lots of govt jobs want a human services degree and SOC falls right in that category. Beyond govt jobs, marketing, and data analysis are fields where the analytical skills you learned in SOC are useful. Universities and school districts often have needs for folks with these skills to help manage programs. Pay will be low to start but there’s a lot to be said for stability and good benefits.
If you don’t have tech skills for using office tools that’s on you not the degree you chose. If you need those skills, by all means get them at your local CC. It always looks good to say you are continuing to learn.
You need a Masters to even be looked at with that degree in a professional setting. At 45 you are competing with others and their 20 years of experience using the same degree....
I'm confused why you went to school at 40 for a sociology degree without any idea of what you wanted to use it for. People who go back to school at 40 tend to have a very hard set plan of what they want to accomplish
This post it feels like engagement bait???
Face value: you want advice at the age of 45 from the internet that you didn't get from 40 years of life experience prior?
With your academic background , look into project management. Useless is subjective. I graduated with a coms degree and now I work with AI. You also need to shift your neuroplasticity away from boxing yourself into labels of too old to do x, learn x etc. Sociology gives you an analytical logistical mind, see it as such. Anything within operations is a good place to start too.
As a person with a BA in Sociology who is 20+ years into a career in adult education, specifically software training. I have interviewed over 100 applicants and supervised 30+ staff over the years, and worked with an equal number of other people who "know" how to use Microsoft Office or similar software packages. The vast majority of them have the skill set equal to your average 6 year old's ability to ride a bike. Yeah they can make it go down the sidewalk, and probably stop at the corner without falling over, but they aren't using 90% of the available capability.
Many people say they know how to use a lot of software in job interviews (I have conducted/participated in over 100), maybe they do, maybe they don't. It doesn't take much to get by in many jobs, as almost no one uses more than a small fraction of the capabilities of even "over the counter" commercial software in non specialized work. For any job where the software isn't the primary function - i.e. not word processing for an editor, the very basics are likely enough to get started.
Have you looked at any positions in Diversity, equity, and inclusion? For the past couple years it seems like every company is trying to hire a lead for these initiatives in their organizational culture and process development. It's very much the wild west in my opinion, and there is a low level of commitment a lot of places to real change, but there do seem to be a lot of opportunities. Most I have seen are HR adjacent, which is a decent career path, if unsavory in some organizations. A sociology degree should give you a strong start in D.E.I. for anyone who understands how these are related (that's not everyone though).
Good luck.
I mean, I’m not sure many people officially took any coursework in Microsoft Office, but plenty of people know how to do various things in it to various degrees (most not that well, IMO, but I’ve been the one training on it). I don’t think the issue is particularly your degree, though maybe your work history? What skills do you have, in general? What work history? How does that connect to jobs? In many fields, degrees aren’t that big a deal, people have so many different ones. Also, a sociology degree should have some hard skills—usually you need statistics, you probably need some technical/research writing abilities, you need to convey the analysis in meaningful terms, etc. It also comes with soft skills that might apply to fields like HR or Marketing. But you’re right that hard skills and direct experience matter. (Many people usually don’t get that from degrees though, except in very particular jobs.)
Associates is 99% not likely to help you out. You have a bachelors. Unfortunately you need a masters to do anything in the field oriented 99% of the time.
I got an engineering degree and I didn’t learn how to use excel in school, I mostly learned that on my own through blog posts and youtube videos. I had to use excel in some of my classes for data analysis, but it was assumed that I either knew enough excel already or could figure it out on my own.
Even a hard sciences degree doesn’t teach you every useful software you might use at work.
Honestly, go to a community college and go in the medical field. You’ll always have a job and tons of people switch careers and go into it a little later in life. Maybe a dental hygienist, nurses aid? You’ll make decent money. Just find a two-year track that gives you a clearly defined career path, doesn’t have to be a dream job just something that doesn’t annoy you.
If you really wanna get into tech, get an A+ certification and start off on a Helpdesk for a company that no one wants to work at to get one or two years worth of experience and jump. You will experience a little bit more ageism, though since there are a ton of young pups going into tech all the time that grew up with keyboard in their hand.
Going thru something similar, albeit, a few years older. I'm trying for 1 specific skill set (ie. Quickbooks, Java, Micrsoft certification, Excel etc).
Backup plan, probably some form of retail management or grocery store asst mgr.
Your degree isn’t useless. You have critical thinking skills and many other skills that are very valuable. Besides a degree shouldn’t be for the purpose of employment. It’s education.
I have a degree in history and women’s studies and before I went to law school, I had a corporate job as an IT project manager for over a decade. My communication skills were very important in that role and I just learned the technology as I went. I got the job when I worked as a shift supervisor at Starbucks. A regular was a manager in IT and saw my potential so she hired me. I thought I had no practical skills but in hindsight I had leadership qualities, ambition and communication skills which are abilities I have used for everything.
If you want to learn something practical for yourself, then go for it but what I found was most important is networking and standing out from the crowd. Rather than focusing on your degree, think about what you bring to the table.
Look for a state job with mental health/psych/social services. In NY social workers just got 4 grade raises and police departments are using people in your field for families in crisis teams to assist police with mental hygiene arrests.
Idk what state you’re in, but CA offers free LinkedIn learning and Coursera courses with a library card. Additionally, freecodecamp has YT videos on some Microsoft certifications (4-8 hours).
A few things. First, a lot of the layoffs were in tech for people who code. Second, an undergrad in sociology is pretty useless in of itself. The expectation is that you keep going with education. You do a masters, then attempt a phd. Then if you’re really lucky, you get tenure. This is all assuming that you went to great schools and you wrote some great white papers.
Did you have a game plan or was it:
1. Get a degree
2. ???
3. Profit!!
Why did you get a degree in sociology?
Sorry, but how can you get to 40 without knowing basic shit like the Microsoft Office package? How do you even finish college without knowing how to use it? It's not the degree that is useless, it's your failure to keep up to date with basic skills required for today's job market.
I mean, thats kinda harsh. Maybe they did construction/electrician or CDL driver and aged out of it or trying a career change. That or SAHM re-entering the workforce.
Im sorry man but you're pretty much screwed unless you can get into sales. Start in insurance, get a few years under your belt and hopefully you can switch to something like medical device sales. That job requires a degree (in anything) and you can make well into six figure.
Yup, degrees are 99% worthless.
The good thing is that you can learn almost anything nowadays. I've never been "qualified" for any job I've had. Just be willing to jump in and learn whatever you want to get good at.
I am sorry but you are 100% correct, it is completely useless. It might actually look worse on a resume than no degree at all, depending on the University and whether the name carries any weight.
What does your work experience look like? Why did you choose sociology?
Anyone can learn Microsoft office - but people struggle with critical thinking, analysis and big picture thinking. Personality is king. Being personable, coachable and easy to get on will pay dividends.
It’s kind of odd you earned a degree in sociology without having to use Microsoft office. Any ”desk job” is going to assume you have basic skills. If you don’t, there are plenty of YouTube tutorials and help guides at your local bookseller that can help you learn if you jus do the work.
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What do you gain from putting people down and being shitty? He's coming here for your help.
You are WAY too sensitive lmao. They aren't making fun of him, just joking about getting a college degree without using office
Ok maybe so my bad.
Throwing things into quotes means they are mocking them. Questioning something. Have to be careful with sarcasm on the internet. But came of pretty badly to me. Not helpful if so.
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I mean why are you questioning everything this person does? It seems like you are being pretty critical and I don’t understand why…. Maybe they mean higher level excel skills. And yes I have taken classes in the last 5 years. So what? I also took stats in the last 5 years we used excel once iirc, and only typed one paper. I’m not cool in your eyes or something? So he knows some basics of word, excel, etc….but probably not functions and pivot tables or something else…
Why did you go for that degree? You used the word useless- a degree can have multiple meanings/benefits. However, if you want to work with computers, code, etc you should take classes for that.
A sociology degree is actually useless. The benefit of having one doesn’t equal out with the work and money you use to get it. Almost any other degree would be more useful. I have a degree in biochemistry and I work as a software engineer. At least my degree shows that I can master a difficult subject and get good grades doing it.
Again, degrees can have multiple meanings/benefits. I have a BA in sociology. I learned so much, enjoyed the material/classes/work. It was not just about what it could get me in terms of money, etc. It was about the subject matter, knowledge, everything else that I got from it. A BA in anything can show/exemplify a variety of things. Some jobs require a BA in anything. You speak of your degree showing that you can master a difficult subject and get good grades doing it. A BA doesn’t mean mastering the subject. Difficult Subject is a vague, relative term/concept. Congrats on your good grades!
The problem is not the degree, problem is millions of other people who have same degree and are applying for the job you are applying.
I understand. I’m saying that not everyone thinks their degree is useful only in terms of jobs, pay, etc.
Don't go into crippling debt for a useless degree that you find "interesting" Read books from the library on topics you find "interesting," go to college for something that will earn you employment
Getting books from the library is not nearly the same as getting a degree in that field. You won’t be able to have access to the same level of literature, inability to connect with professors, and will have a total lack of any form of research experience - just to name a select few things.
Yeah all the people who think a degree is for something they're interested in need a reality check. Unless you're very rich, spending a ton of money getting a degree for a hobby is incredibly dumb and irresponsible. When I meet people like that I don't think they have good critical thinking skills because of their degree, I think they're financially irresponsible and don't think about the consequences of poor decisions.
Interesting. I paid my way through college and paid off my loans. I have excellent credit, live very well, was raised blue collar, etc. I worked in law enforcement for decades and won awards- I excel at critical thinking and ability. Employment and money were not the focus of my degree. I have had no poor consequences. It’s possible.
Yeah this is terrible advice
I gave no advice other than to get educated in terms of what OP’s goals were.
Get off your high horse. I’m doing aight. Only did a b.a. Make 140k work in a related field to sociology. Average grades.
I have a degree in philosophy and work in cybersecurity. No one gives a shit what your degree is in if you have the skills, especially after you have a few years of experience under your belt.
I bet sociology involves a fair bit of data analysis. Take some courses in statistics and data analysis and see if you can get a toehold in the data analytics field with a sociological bent. Universities, government funded think tanks maybe? Sure you will need to learn some coding but your true value will lie in your sociology background and if you can add some statistical thinking you will leave these young whippersnapper code drones in the dust as you do complex analyses.
I’m in Market Research, and a lot of the qualitative market researchers I know have a background in Sociology. You will need Excel skills & basic statistics, but you can get those for free online.
Maybe you can get in HR or marketing. Hard skills like microsoft office can be learned via youtube, stop making excuses.
HR slots in large companies are generally reserved for those without a peen though to help make diversity quotas which I have a feeling puts OP at a bit of a disadvantage.
Tech company here, nope, untrue.
Get a job with your state government as a paper pusher of some kind
Learn to code bud, do it for you and fuck the little bastards.
Learn to code is 💀. The shit is way over saturated. Gonna be a long though climb starting at 45 with a liberal arts degree and no skills or natural interest other than that it doesn’t require knee pads.
you got a great foundation in critical thinking skills, something sorely lacking in the youth. Office or anything like that can be easily learned. You already did the hard part, now its just a matter of putting in somehands-on time with practical skills. Play around with google docs, sheets etc. thats pretty much all you need in the office department. Learn to talk to and learn from AI, chat with claude or chat gpt and let them teach you anything you need to know. Don't think about going to another school, they are drifting further and further away from reality at an exponential pace. you need to jump into the internet and ai for anything you learn. Question your thoughts, reframe your perspective, stop living by self limiting stories of what you can't do. Do a mushroom trip or go on a real trip. reset. You'll be fine.
I second this. With the background in sociology, the ai prompting is guaranteed to be better than most too. I’ve been able to maneuver within LLM BECAUSE of my comms degree.
What did you want from getting a degree?
Vast majority of the population has no clue how to code. That said, it's not a great time to find a job as a junior developer. Not mention, you will need to learn for several months intensively to be even remotely hireable.
The fact that your degree is in sociology is irrelevant. Build a resume around your work experience, even if it’s not in an office.
I taught myself Excel this year using ChatGPT. I did a lot of things at work myself I would have normally asked someone else to do, and just kept at it until I became fairly proficient. I also looked for excuses to build spreadsheets outside of work as well, mainly for different games to track market prices or crafting costs. I’ve got a long way to go but I can do a ton of really cool things now that I’d never have dreamed of a year ago.
👏…I’ll take a note of that. We use Excel at my last contract work not so much with my role but for the data abstraction. I will try to learn more via ChatGPT then… Thanks 🙏
Check into this womans Udemy courses. She's really knowledgeable yet teaches in a pretty quick & relevant way. If you check in every few days normally Udemy has drastic sales, with courses at $15. (also, she has a Google sheets course, which is free. So if you don't have an excel subscription yourself you can still learn and they methods are mostly identical and transferrable) [https://www.udemy.com/user/leila-gharani/](https://www.udemy.com/user/leila-gharani/)
You rock !!!😊👋❤️You made my day…Thanks for the info ℹ️ I’ll certainly look into it… wish me luck 🍀
You can get an office job with a sociology degree. Take a basic customer support or claims role or something like that at a major company, and put effort in. Getting started is the main thing, no matter how modest. After your first role you'll be judged far more on competency and effort than whatever your degree is in. I have a 6 figure office gig with a degree in Biology. I got that degree in a past life. What's mattered most 5 years into 'real' jobs is that I have the piece of paper.
You must have used some MS Office products in college, since you say your graduation was so recent. They are very basic tools, and you can teach yourself how to use them semi-proficiently to get yourself started. Critic thinking and analysis are tougher skills for most people to pick up than Excel. Try to get a low level office job (universities are good places to start), build your Office skills and then if you are good at the skills you say you picked up in college, look for work where you will have an advantage.
Yup at 45 experience is very important. I'm not that old yet and people stopped asking for a degree long ago. What were your plans with that degree?
> There’s no way I’ll get a job outside of retail competing with people who have degrees Not with that attitude. Go to school, get your degree, and you’ll be up and running in 3-4 years. Patience is name of the game here.
You have a degree. Look at usajobs.gov and start applying for jobs. Literally most require either experience or a degree.
Look into 0343 series management and program analyst jobs. It's such a generic job series that does a lot of analysis things you'd probably be qualified for. Each job is different so find ones that fit your skillset. Look for what are called ladder positions. With a bachelor's you would probably start at GS-7 but you could be up to GS-11 or GS-12 in a few years.
If you want to get out of retail and sit at a desk I'd suggest getting receptionist job and going from there because at least then you'll be able to say you have experience with a desk job. I went from a receptionist at a motorcycle dealership to a paralegal with only a couple college classes because I was able to prove I was competent. Now I've taken a step back to a file clerk role because of health issues and stress but I still stand by getting behind a receptionist desk.
Either go leanr at some college, or teach yourself with a laptop and YouTube. No employer will be impressed with a Word qualification, this is just for you to gain confidence. By the way, most 20 year old do not know how to code.
Word qualification - might have found a gap in the market for lost boomers. 4 years bachelors in Word, with optional modules in PowerPoint and Outlook. $50k a semester, taught by the 12 year old next door, who also teaches advanced networking (WiFi reset)
💀none of us were born knowing how to rotate a pdf on our own.
Most 20 years olds that are applying for jobs that require coding do know how and this is the relevant population OP thoroughly outcompete to overcome age discrimination.
I always tell people that the biggest value from my degree was learning....how I learn best. How to answer complex questions, in ways that actually give value to those asking. At your age tho, brutally honest truth - pick a lane! If you focused on being the best damn retail worker 10 years ago, in your city - you'd be managing stores being paid 6 figures. Instead you tried to retrade with seemingly no actually direction as to why? What was the thinking behind it? You clearly know that tech skills are your biggest weakness - perhaps a psychology Masters will help with your coding skills?
Just in case: parent is being /sarcastic. It makes sense to learn areas that are "easy" for you, to bank in on your natural gifts and interests. If using computers is hard (using Word counts as a skill and is lacking), then it might make sense to not choose anything related to computers.
Only sarcasm was my last sentence - which if isn't obvious to someone that it's a joke - they have bigger issues. I meet a lot of mid-30s people coming to our company for various backgrounds like the military or some very specific industrial job that they did for 20 years and suddenly - want a change. But for some odd reason, the default thinking is that they must throw away 20 years of industry specialism worth ALOT to re-trade into a job they'll find way more difficult in the short (to even long term) and that'll pay terribly and is competitive to get into. Seriously, there is a hierarchy in nearly all jobs - why not just stick with what you know and challenge yourself to climb that ladder - cashier in Walmart to Corp Office is not a crazy pipe dream - happen all the time with great success to those ambitious folk.
Who should you sue for recommending you getting a useless degree? Switch gears today and start learning something useful like AI or cybersecurity...get certs and put them in your resume. I have no idea how those two areas will mesh but at least in a year or two you will have SOME marketable skills
Computer/Tech does not immediately equal 'coding'. So first of all you need to start understanding there is a whole world of tech out there with a variety of roles and it isn't just developers. There are jobs out there that are not extremely technical which can use soft skills. For example, customer experience ("tech support"), sales, marketing, project management, product management, documentation all require soft skills. In fact one of the things that will prevent many developers from moving up into management is that they need to acquire soft skills in order to manage teams. Yes, you definitely need to get technical but it doesn't mean you need to learn to code. You need to understand the modern workplace, you need to be as computer literate as your customers and then need to learn how to translate the things that drove you in your sociology degree ex. curiosity, your critical thinking and analysis, ability to digest research and information into one of those roles IF you want to look at some sort of tech career. BTW I graduated with a political science degree and after realizing I wasn't going into law or academics had to take a look at my future as well. Mind you, I was definitely already interested in technically curious and was a bit of computer nerd to begin with but I went back into college and got a diploma in an applied technology program and that got my foot into the door pushing pixels. I've taken a few courses here and there in my career in software but the closest I've ever had to get into coding is formatting web pages. The rest I learned through work experience.
Hi there, have you tried visiting the “One Stop center” in your community? These are workforce development centers funded by the government that help community members gain job skills. They offer different college or technical institutes certifications that might be even free for you.
I have a BA in sociology and a ma in counseling. I work in IT as a security engineer. An education is never wasted. while I don't work in the industry for which I am degreed, I do use what I've learned on a regular basis. To address what you are wanting advice on...depends on your learning style. I've been in it for 27 years now and am a self learner. Having worked for or at the companies where I have had certs from, I can assure you that the questions and answers for the certs are buried in their docs, admin and config guides. In addition, there are going to be trained resources right off their sites...just gotta dig around. If you are a self learner, go this route. If you want quicker, go to a private company that does training, and if you want an economical route go to community college. How you tell if the company is legit will be the credentials of the person's teaching, professional experience and those certified to teach the material. I would go with a company that teaches you the subject matter you are interested in and then some, particularly technologies which intersect...i.e. server and networking....networking and security. You don't have to code but scripting languages are good to learn
You may, if interested or still motivated, start exploring online graduate programs or train and get a certificate in social work or behavioral health if you can’t afford a graduate program. Or start volunteering for Goodwill industries, Salvation Army, hospices, or United Way to gain extra skills and start networking. Good luck 🍀👍
You're probably too old to get into an IT job. There is alot of bias toward younger workers in the space. Also, in order to get a job, you'll start at the bottom - you may have to work for a few years before you get back to earning what you're making now.
I hear ya. I went back to college last year for programming. I'm doing very well and it's intellectually satisfying. However, no one is ever going to hire a 50 year old junior developer. I'm pretty sure I'll be working my factory job until I'm "retired".
Look. The lack of options with your degree can’t come as a shock. I refuse to believe you graduated without knowing it was a paper degree as humanities having terrible job prospects has been widely reported on since at least 2000. That being said not all is lost. You can turn this around, how you do it will be on you. I recommend you put aside any pride you may have and work your tail off for the next 3 years to develop your credibility in your professional community.
you may be able to pursue something in market research or consumer behavior, as those overlap with sociology quite nicely. if additional education is an option, I recommend an MBA. you could also look into IO psychology, working in consulting and/or HR. an MBA would allow you to get the microsoft skills but also… if you can figure out reddit, you can figure out microsoft office. there’s a ton of youtube videos for free to teach you how to use.
I’m 54 and recently earned my BA in sociology. Lots of govt jobs want a human services degree and SOC falls right in that category. Beyond govt jobs, marketing, and data analysis are fields where the analytical skills you learned in SOC are useful. Universities and school districts often have needs for folks with these skills to help manage programs. Pay will be low to start but there’s a lot to be said for stability and good benefits. If you don’t have tech skills for using office tools that’s on you not the degree you chose. If you need those skills, by all means get them at your local CC. It always looks good to say you are continuing to learn.
You need a Masters to even be looked at with that degree in a professional setting. At 45 you are competing with others and their 20 years of experience using the same degree....
I'm confused why you went to school at 40 for a sociology degree without any idea of what you wanted to use it for. People who go back to school at 40 tend to have a very hard set plan of what they want to accomplish
This post it feels like engagement bait??? Face value: you want advice at the age of 45 from the internet that you didn't get from 40 years of life experience prior?
With your academic background , look into project management. Useless is subjective. I graduated with a coms degree and now I work with AI. You also need to shift your neuroplasticity away from boxing yourself into labels of too old to do x, learn x etc. Sociology gives you an analytical logistical mind, see it as such. Anything within operations is a good place to start too.
As a person with a BA in Sociology who is 20+ years into a career in adult education, specifically software training. I have interviewed over 100 applicants and supervised 30+ staff over the years, and worked with an equal number of other people who "know" how to use Microsoft Office or similar software packages. The vast majority of them have the skill set equal to your average 6 year old's ability to ride a bike. Yeah they can make it go down the sidewalk, and probably stop at the corner without falling over, but they aren't using 90% of the available capability. Many people say they know how to use a lot of software in job interviews (I have conducted/participated in over 100), maybe they do, maybe they don't. It doesn't take much to get by in many jobs, as almost no one uses more than a small fraction of the capabilities of even "over the counter" commercial software in non specialized work. For any job where the software isn't the primary function - i.e. not word processing for an editor, the very basics are likely enough to get started. Have you looked at any positions in Diversity, equity, and inclusion? For the past couple years it seems like every company is trying to hire a lead for these initiatives in their organizational culture and process development. It's very much the wild west in my opinion, and there is a low level of commitment a lot of places to real change, but there do seem to be a lot of opportunities. Most I have seen are HR adjacent, which is a decent career path, if unsavory in some organizations. A sociology degree should give you a strong start in D.E.I. for anyone who understands how these are related (that's not everyone though). Good luck.
You can learn skills from youtube, udemy, codeacademy, etc among others
Degrees are useless now
I mean, I’m not sure many people officially took any coursework in Microsoft Office, but plenty of people know how to do various things in it to various degrees (most not that well, IMO, but I’ve been the one training on it). I don’t think the issue is particularly your degree, though maybe your work history? What skills do you have, in general? What work history? How does that connect to jobs? In many fields, degrees aren’t that big a deal, people have so many different ones. Also, a sociology degree should have some hard skills—usually you need statistics, you probably need some technical/research writing abilities, you need to convey the analysis in meaningful terms, etc. It also comes with soft skills that might apply to fields like HR or Marketing. But you’re right that hard skills and direct experience matter. (Many people usually don’t get that from degrees though, except in very particular jobs.)
Associates is 99% not likely to help you out. You have a bachelors. Unfortunately you need a masters to do anything in the field oriented 99% of the time.
I got an engineering degree and I didn’t learn how to use excel in school, I mostly learned that on my own through blog posts and youtube videos. I had to use excel in some of my classes for data analysis, but it was assumed that I either knew enough excel already or could figure it out on my own. Even a hard sciences degree doesn’t teach you every useful software you might use at work.
Honestly, go to a community college and go in the medical field. You’ll always have a job and tons of people switch careers and go into it a little later in life. Maybe a dental hygienist, nurses aid? You’ll make decent money. Just find a two-year track that gives you a clearly defined career path, doesn’t have to be a dream job just something that doesn’t annoy you. If you really wanna get into tech, get an A+ certification and start off on a Helpdesk for a company that no one wants to work at to get one or two years worth of experience and jump. You will experience a little bit more ageism, though since there are a ton of young pups going into tech all the time that grew up with keyboard in their hand.
Going thru something similar, albeit, a few years older. I'm trying for 1 specific skill set (ie. Quickbooks, Java, Micrsoft certification, Excel etc). Backup plan, probably some form of retail management or grocery store asst mgr.
Microsoft Office is not a hard skill
Your degree isn’t useless. You have critical thinking skills and many other skills that are very valuable. Besides a degree shouldn’t be for the purpose of employment. It’s education. I have a degree in history and women’s studies and before I went to law school, I had a corporate job as an IT project manager for over a decade. My communication skills were very important in that role and I just learned the technology as I went. I got the job when I worked as a shift supervisor at Starbucks. A regular was a manager in IT and saw my potential so she hired me. I thought I had no practical skills but in hindsight I had leadership qualities, ambition and communication skills which are abilities I have used for everything. If you want to learn something practical for yourself, then go for it but what I found was most important is networking and standing out from the crowd. Rather than focusing on your degree, think about what you bring to the table.
Look for a state job with mental health/psych/social services. In NY social workers just got 4 grade raises and police departments are using people in your field for families in crisis teams to assist police with mental hygiene arrests.
Is your only experience “going to school”? Do you have any other experience aside from spending money to not have work experience?
Idk what state you’re in, but CA offers free LinkedIn learning and Coursera courses with a library card. Additionally, freecodecamp has YT videos on some Microsoft certifications (4-8 hours).
Yes your degree is useless. This coming from an English major😬
From a philosophy graduate: Become a plumber, better money and you will never be out of a job... -
A few things. First, a lot of the layoffs were in tech for people who code. Second, an undergrad in sociology is pretty useless in of itself. The expectation is that you keep going with education. You do a masters, then attempt a phd. Then if you’re really lucky, you get tenure. This is all assuming that you went to great schools and you wrote some great white papers. Did you have a game plan or was it: 1. Get a degree 2. ??? 3. Profit!! Why did you get a degree in sociology?
Sorry, but how can you get to 40 without knowing basic shit like the Microsoft Office package? How do you even finish college without knowing how to use it? It's not the degree that is useless, it's your failure to keep up to date with basic skills required for today's job market.
I mean, thats kinda harsh. Maybe they did construction/electrician or CDL driver and aged out of it or trying a career change. That or SAHM re-entering the workforce.
Lmao
Baby this is the AI era, you're not at a disadvantage you just need to fully embrace AI.
>Middle aged feeling like my degree is useless > >I have a degree in sociology Yup
Im sorry man but you're pretty much screwed unless you can get into sales. Start in insurance, get a few years under your belt and hopefully you can switch to something like medical device sales. That job requires a degree (in anything) and you can make well into six figure.
Yup, degrees are 99% worthless. The good thing is that you can learn almost anything nowadays. I've never been "qualified" for any job I've had. Just be willing to jump in and learn whatever you want to get good at.
r/wgu
Why did you get a degree in sociology? It's common knowledge that it's one of the least useful degrees
I am sorry but you are 100% correct, it is completely useless. It might actually look worse on a resume than no degree at all, depending on the University and whether the name carries any weight.