Help choosing a University subject.

This is where our community discusses almost anything! While we're mainly a Cambodia expat discussion forum and talk about expat life here, we debate about almost everything. Even if you're a tourist passing through Southeast Asia and want to connect with expatriates living and working in Cambodia, this is the first section of our site that you should check out. Our members start their own discussions or post links to other blogs and/or news articles they find interesting and want to chat about. So join in the fun and start new topics, or feel free to comment on anything our community members have already started! We also have some Khmer members here as well, but English is the main language used on CEO. You're welcome to have a look around, and if you decide you want to participate, you can become a part our international expat community by signing up for a free account.
Birdy
Tourist
Posts: 14
Joined: Sat May 24, 2014 5:59 pm
Reputation: 0
Great Britain

Help choosing a University subject.

Post by Birdy »

Hi,

My eldest daughter is starting Uni in Phnom Penh and we are looking for a subject that would give her the best chance of a decent job when she completes her studies.All her friends are taking business studies but we have been told that so many students have a degree in that area that the market is saturated. Could anyone offer her some advice,teachers,employers or someone with experience in the jobs market that knows what she could study to give her the best chance of a decent future. :please:
User avatar
juansweetpotato
Expatriate
Posts: 2637
Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2014 8:45 pm
Reputation: 75

Re: Help choosing a University subject.

Post by juansweetpotato »

How about TEFL teaching? Seems like the Khmer are taking over the industry. Beltei reckons they only have under 80 foreign teachers in all their 13 soon to be 14 campuses now. It's a booming market with more kids and therefore jobs on the way.
Not the highest rates of pay though. Communications was a good industry pay wise, not sure if it still is.
Last edited by juansweetpotato on Tue Jun 09, 2015 1:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
"Can you spare some cutter for an old man?"
prahkeitouj
Expatriate
Posts: 2653
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 11:46 pm
Reputation: 12
Cambodia

Re: Help choosing a University subject.

Post by prahkeitouj »

I think you should ask her what she really like?
I helped my sister to choose a suject for her. I only asked her what subject are you good at? I didn't ask what she want to be? but now she said she doesnt like it. Why I just chose this subject for her? I regret....
កុំស្លាប់ដូចពស់ កុំរស់ដូចកង្កែប
User avatar
AE86
Expatriate
Posts: 954
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2014 8:36 am
Reputation: 139
Japan

Re: Help choosing a University subject.

Post by AE86 »

Science! Hard science, physics, chemistry, biology, anything! There's a huge lack of science in Cambodia, but that's me being wishful.

I'll be honest in saying that the way look at degrees is this way. If the degree is something "vauge", like "Business Management" or "Humanities", I tend to shy away as I see it as a "Oh, that's a good degree for money, I'll get that." because of my past experiences with employees. They all seemed to be disconnected with thinking for themselves and were a bit like sheep, always wandering around wondering what they were supposed to do.

If they had a degree however that matched something with community services or hobbies they did, I immediately put it in the future reads pile as at least they knew what they were doing in my mind, and often I was proved right.

It's not a one size fits all deal, but I guess the "red flag" for me would have been a generic degree that everyone was going for, at least if the position wasn't degree specific. I mean, I obviously wouldn't consider a Physical Therapist training certification good for electronic engineering positions, etc.
-insert signature here
JackRoad
Expatriate
Posts: 22
Joined: Fri May 01, 2015 7:53 pm
Reputation: 0

Re: Help choosing a University subject.

Post by JackRoad »

Say no to Accounting.
I knew so many "Accountants" in Phnom Penh and none of them could use an excel spreadsheet or even count for that matter. I asked a girl I knew who had her Masters in Accounting, what she had learned. She stared right through me.
It's all bullshit, so you should tell her to choose what she wants to do.
Since she most likely can't decide, she's fucked either way because until she knows what she wants to do its doesn't matter.
It depends who she knows anyway, you're better off finding her a job through people you know now and saving the money.
"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.
khmer sruol rien
Tourist
Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Dec 14, 2014 4:40 pm
Reputation: 0

Re: Help choosing a University subject.

Post by khmer sruol rien »

A common answer in the US nowadays is to do some sort of engineering or learn a skill. I don't necessarily mean a trade like carpentry but something specific that she can point to and say, "I know how to do that and do it well". Most college degrees don't provide that. They just let you say, "I studied some stuff related to something(but I probably don't know how to do what you want unless you teach me)."
User avatar
phuketrichard
Expatriate
Posts: 16790
Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 5:17 pm
Reputation: 5733
Location: Atlantis
Aruba

Re: Help choosing a University subject.

Post by phuketrichard »

MY daughter is going for a degree in veterinary medicine, already almost finished enough credit for her vet tech degree and working p/t as well.

It will be a growing field in Asia. Not sure about Cambodia but there some very god vet schools in Thailand.

DO NOT allow her to go for a degree in English,
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
kiwiincambodia
Expatriate
Posts: 4267
Joined: Mon May 19, 2014 1:06 pm
Reputation: 471
Korea North

Re: Help choosing a University subject.

Post by kiwiincambodia »

Anything IT related would be a good bet. It is hard to find decent hardworking IT professionals that really know what they are doing and haven't just bought their degree.
eriksank
Expatriate
Posts: 295
Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2015 11:25 am
Reputation: 24

Re: Help choosing a University subject.

Post by eriksank »

The ability to collect payment for your work, requires a skill, that is, the ability to solve a particular kind of problems. Studying an academic subject does not lead to acquiring any skill, but in the best case leads to acquiring proficiency in a particular academic method:

[1] Conducting repeatable experiments in order to search for counterexamples for a particular statement (the scientific method)

[2] Demonstrating that all untruth in a statement can only be the result of untruth in a set of underlying statements (the mathematical method)

[3] Demonstrating that all untruth in an alleged fact can only be the result of untruth in a set of written testimonies about that fact (the historical method)

In themselves, these methods do not solve any problems directly. They are just meant to control the total amount of untruth in which you believe. A possible side effect of studying an academic subject is the fact that you will increase your level of literacy. But then again, secondary education was already meant to deal with that. According to the definition, subjects like management, political science, marketing, or international relations are not valid academic subjects. They will not teach you a skill, but they will not even teach you a method.

If you want to acquire a skill, you will either need to become an apprentice with someone who already possesses that skill, or else you will have to learn it on your own. Universities simply do not teach skills; never have, and never will.
User avatar
vladimir
The Pun-isher
Posts: 6077
Joined: Mon May 12, 2014 6:51 pm
Reputation: 185
Location: The Kremlin
Russia

Re: Help choosing a University subject.

Post by vladimir »

phuketrichard wrote:DO NOT allow her to go for a degree in English,
Why? A decent proficiency in English is almost a guarantee of work at companies that are going to be working with multi-nationals or in the service industry.

A Khmer with excellent English and zero formal education could still be trained to work front desk at Intercontinental, but a guy with a commerce degree and very poor English would be turned away.

Also lots of teaching jobs available in the future.

No English, goodbye.
Jesus loves you...Mexico is great, right? ;)
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bobby66, Khmu Nation, Moe and 1233 guests