life after getting an academic degree?

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gatoradedrinker

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this might sound stupid, but do you get a job related to your degree as your service? or is it "normal" active duty, then what you majored in (management or finance etc.)
this feels like an idiot question. i would like to know anyway.
 
It’s not an idiot question. It’s counterintuitive that your job post graduation, would not be in your field of study.

But guess what? That’s exactly the case. Your major doesn’t matter for service assignment (for the great majority of people). It took this mom a while to get that. And it took a good post by @Capt MJ (that I will always remember) to show me that after AD, it’s still doesn’t really matter what your major was. BC you will be hired for your leadership and experience as an Officer. You won’t necessarily be doing the physical job (ie: as an engineer), but rather managing people.

Specific to USNA (my knowledge base), history majors are pilots. Aerospace majors are SWOS and Marines. Etc, etc.

You can search this question, in the search function, as it comes up every now and again.
 
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Adding to @justdoit19: I worked for many years for a Fortune 200 company, alongside numerous former JMOs. Among them: a Navy submariner who went into finance, an Army paratrooper who went into marketing, an Air Force intelligence officer who went into human resources.

Your value as an SA grad and AD veteran will be less about your college major, and more about the fact that you managed dozens (if not hundreds) of troops and thousands (if not millions) of dollars of materiel. In short, it'll be about your leadership -- the ability to achieve organizational goals through others.
 
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MidCakePa said:
Adding to @justdoit19: I worked for many years for a Fortune 200 company, alongside numerous former JMOs. Among them: a Navy submariner who went into finance, an Army paratrooper who went into marketing, an Air Force intelligence officer who went into human resources.

Your value as an SA grad and AD veteran will be less about your college major, and more about the fact that you managed dozens (if not hundreds) of troops and thousands (if not millions) of dollars of materiel. In short, it'll be about your leadership -- the ability to achieve organizational goals through others.
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My major at USNA: International Security Affairs (International Political Science)

My Navy Career: Surface Warfare Officer with several billets in state of the art Missile Systems

My primary Civilian Career: Engineer and follow on management positions in the Aerospace Industry.

Retirement Job: Professor in the Humanities (English) Department at a University
 
Appreciate the real-life example of @OldRetSWO career. That breadth and variety is not at all unusual. Like him, I teach at a university, and this I tell my students: Expect to have several different careers in your lifetime. And the further you get from college, the more likely you'll deviate from your college major. Life is funny -- and enriching and exciting -- in that way!
 
Navy side, usually it doesn’t matter what you major in. They like to have a certain percentage of students (ROTC and USNA) get a STEM degree each year, but the actual major doesn’t really matter for service assignment. I’m a polisci and fly person and had 0 flights hours before starting flight school.

The only thing I can think of right now is Naval Reactors (very small community, different from subs and SWO(N)) likes to choose people with engineering or other hard science degrees.

But I have heard of non-STEM majors going Subs or SWO nuke.
 
I'll share my weird career trajectory in hopes that it'll help inform your analysis.

I think it's great that you're asking questions regarding academic major and relevance to potential warfighting specialties.

Me: USNA, Political Science

Also Me: USMC Logistics Officer (3 years FMF overseas then 1 year Recruiting Duty)

Still Me: Telecomm Operations Manager (3 years, 2 separate Fortune 500 Companies)

Me Now: Fire Department Battalion Chief (22+ years), major metropolitan paid professional fire service
 
I will add this and I know I am the exception not the rule. But I do believe HARD work beats talent all day long. I do not have a degree (never even attempted it) and there is this belief that if you don’t go to college you won’t make it. I enlisted at 17 in the Marines did 6 years active duty as an Avionics tech / Crew-chief on 46s. Served abroad numerous times and got out only to accept a LE position. I am currently the Chief of a large metro PD having beat out on several levels of promotional exams competitors with advanced degrees. Choose what you desire and work your butt off at it. I am in my 26th year now and have been involved in some pretty cool stuff along the way. Don’t go into crazy debt for school and don’t comprise what your end goal is ever.

Full disclosure both my DS USNA 25 and DD state university are doing well so I am not discouraging college, university or academy just saying find your why and chase it like nothing else matters. One other thing, build a good family and that is ALWAYS #1. ALWAYS …..

Many ways to skin a cat get out there and break the mold!
 
Old Enlisted Marine said:
I will add this and I know I am the exception not the rule. But I do believe HARD work beats talent all day long. I do not have a degree (never even attempted it) and there is this belief that if you don’t go to college you won’t make it. I enlisted at 17 in the Marines did 6 years active duty as an Avionics tech / Crew-chief on 46s. Served abroad numerous times and got out only to accept a LE position. I am currently the Chief of a large metro PD having beat out on several levels of promotional exams competitors with advanced degrees. Choose what you desire and work your butt off at it. I am in my 26th year now and have been involved in some pretty cool stuff along the way. Don’t go into crazy debt for school and don’t comprise what your end goal is ever.

Full disclosure both my DS USNA 25 and DD state university are doing well so I am not discouraging college, university or academy just saying find your why and chase it like nothing else matters. One other thing, build a good family and that is ALWAYS #1. ALWAYS …..

Many ways to skin a cat get out there and break the mold!
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Much respect, Chief. Your rise through the LE ranks has provided an education that can't be learned in a classroom. I can't imagine the stress and responsibility felt by a big city police chief in today's environment. Teaching in public education is a battlefield in its own right but I've got it pretty easy by comparison.
 
Thanks for the kind words DOC and I say DOC with much respect. The Corpsman that due their job well are the linchpin that allows the rest to get out there and get their job done knowing you have their six. And as far as teaching goes that is a job I can say pretty confidently is not meant for the weak. DD is headed down that road and I hope she is successful because I think she will be great at it. Time will tell!
 
The other thing to consider is how few people actually know what they want to do at 19, you know, the time when you have to choose a major.

At that age there are a few that know exactly where they want their life to go and follow through on it for 40 years. Some may love a subject but not have a great grasp of its career path. Others might want to try something for a while knowing they'll turn from that path eventually. But many have a vague notion of where things will go until they're 25 or so and then things get hazy fast. That's why they say to pick a major you like, or are at least pretty good at, so it solidifies your chances of graduating with good grades. And if you still don't have a path at that point you start to see the genius of not tying majors to assignments too closely.

The world changes a lot these days, more and more each year. Entire career fields rise and fall almost overnight and you just have to stay loose and take your chances as they come. Semper Gumby.
 
I’ve told the story of my son’s journey to a bachelor’s degree after attending five schools, yada yada, but my daughter is the real badazz of the family. She wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon from an early age. She went to college to major in biology but found out how hard it was to major in a hard science, play D-3 sports, have a social life, and pay her share of living off campus. One day she called and by the sound of her voice and the time of day that she called, I thought that something bad had happened. It wasn’t the worst thing, but it felt like the air left the room when she told me that she had changed her major to English.

My kids grew up in base housing, which was better than I had it growing up, but they had to move and live the military kid life. We transferred and moved when she was in middle school, which is the worst time of a kids life in many ways. She packed her bags though and without a complaint checked into her new school and didn’t miss a beat. Her English degree worked out just fine. She now has an MBA, teaches a college business course, has a high paying job as a supervisor in a tech company, is the president of the PTA, and is the best mom in the world to my grandkids.

Our destination in life is never in a straight path and the college major many times has little to do with the journey.
 
Devil Doc said:
I’ve told the story of my son’s journey to a bachelor’s degree after attending five schools, yada yada, but my daughter is the real badazz of the family. She wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon from an early age. She went to college to major in biology but found out how hard it was to major in a hard science, play D-3 sports, have a social life, and pay her share of living off campus. One day she called and by the sound of her voice and the time of day that she called, I thought that something bad had happened. It wasn’t the worst thing, but it felt like the air left the room when she told me that she had changed her major to English.

My kids grew up in base housing, which was better than I had it growing up, but they had to move and live the military kid life. We transferred and moved when she was in middle school, which is the worst time of a kids life in many ways. She packed her bags though and without a complaint checked into her new school and didn’t miss a beat. Her English degree worked out just fine. She now has an MBA, teaches a college business course, has a high paying job as a supervisor in a tech company, is the president of the PTA, and is the best mom in the world to my grandkids.

Our destination in life is never in a straight path and the college major many times has little to do with the journey.
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If one of my kids told me they were changing their major to English, i would cry😰
 
Devil Doc said:
She’s doing good. Lives in the country club and takes five vacations a year. No student debt. It worked out for the best.
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i was mostly kidding as i realize people can be successful regardless of their major. A college education especially one in English can lead to many avenues. I have always been a believer in majors that lead to a direct profession. I took accounting and I am now an accountant. I realize not everyone works that way nor should they. Honestly, when i graduated in the middle 80s, all you needed was a degree and you could get a job in any profession.
 
Humey said:
i was mostly kidding as i realize people can be successful regardless of their major. A college education especially one in English can lead to many avenues. I have always been a believer in majors that lead to a direct profession. I took accounting and I am now an accountant. I realize not everyone works that way nor should they. Honestly, when i graduated in the middle 80s, all you needed was a degree and you could get a job in any profession.
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I knew you were joking and shouldn’t have been so dramatic. Sometimes I can’t help myself. Like I said above, the air left the room when she told me. It was worse when my son told us he was leaving college after one semester.
 
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