If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.
Options
single honours vs. dual honours
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
What are the pros and cons? Or does it not really matter?
I could either study 'English Studies', or do a joint honours in 'English Literature' and in 'Linguistics', to cover all aspects of English. Are there disadvantages to dual honours, or are they less respected in the world of work?
I could either study 'English Studies', or do a joint honours in 'English Literature' and in 'Linguistics', to cover all aspects of English. Are there disadvantages to dual honours, or are they less respected in the world of work?
Post edited by JustV on
0
Comments
dual honours = erm... for poeple unsure of what they want
Although that is far less of an issue for Arts students.
Although at school I was told it's better to do one subject, get the degree, then do a masters in something else if you fancy it.
But now I've changed from Maths to Accountancy, Business Finance and Management, which is something people had told me before wouldn't be that good (if you want to be a manager, go get a job, they said). But the course looks great!
I think too many people worry about what employers think of their degree, a good (2.1 or 1st) will get your foot in the door for most jobs that want a graduate, then it's just down to experience / added value really.
I would recommend single honours if you know what it is you want to study, but it's personal choice at the end of the day, and the dual honours course you are referring to sounds pretty similar to the single honours.
Exactly. I do Spanish and Russian and especially the former is no small committment.
Although I do a four year course (and only get a BA which kinda annoys me) and joint honours and I think it actually counts more in your favour when they see you've done two courses. It shows a broader range of interests and that you can apply yourself to a wider range of problems and challenges. I know that I certainly would be less employable if I only had Spanish on my CV though that may partly be due to the high selling factor of Russian.
In short, don't do a degree for how it will look to prospective employers. Do it because you want to do and because you're genuinely interested in it. To be honest, unless you want to persue a career with specifically technical requirements, most employers will employ people from a vast range of backgrounds. I've just got a job doing Internal Audit / Corporate Banking with RBS (haven't accepted yet but have the offer) and apart from A-level Economics, I have no mathmatical/banking background and am completely arty farty.
Doing a degree shows that you can apply yourself, work hard, research, think for yourself and show dedication and motivation. In most jobs, they can teach you how to be a banker / sales person / whatever, however, they can't teach you motivation, hard work, dedication etc. This is why unless you want to be an engineer or a doctor or something like that, they will accept people from any academic discipline.
So in short, don't think of future employers when choosing your degree. Do something you are interested in and love because you will do well in it. If you choose a degree cos you think it will look good on a CV rather than that you're interested in it, it will show both in the course of your degree and also when it comes to interview time. Hope this helps.
not that i've come across.
i do criminology and social policy. i wanted to do criminology but wanted to do something else to vary it a bit - broaden my knowledge etc.
it's not at all because i couldn't decide what i wanted to do!
the way it works with me is i do 2 units from each honour and then 1 that both honours do if that makes sense! now i'm in my final year and only do 4 units (and my dissertation) i do 2 from each.