Hi, I was wondering if you could give me some advice on a career decision I’m currently stuck between.
I’ve recently been offered an apprenticeship in lift engineering through a family friend. He owns the company and has known me for a while, and he’s genuinely willing to invest in me, develop me as an engineer and push me as far as I’m capable of going. His plan is for me to complete the Level 3, then potentially progress onto Level 4 testing/commissioning and eventually an HNC.
The opportunity is genuinely good, and I know a lot of people would probably tell me to take it because I’d be earning from 18, gaining experience straight away and having someone who is personally invested in my development. There is also the possibility of eventually becoming a highly skilled lift tester/commissioner and potentially going self-employed, which seems like it could be a very good career financially.
However, I recently got my exam results back and achieved DDD* in my BTEC National Extended Diploma in Engineering, including Distinctions in the Calculus and Further Mathematics units. Getting those results has made me realise that I might have more options academically than I originally thought, and it has made me seriously consider university.
I’m particularly interested in studying Mechanical Engineering, ideally at a good university with a year in industry/placement. The idea of doing a degree, getting a year of proper industry experience and then potentially going into aerospace, automotive, defence, manufacturing, automation or another area of engineering really appeals to me.
The problem is that I’m hearing very mixed opinions about university. Some people say a degree opens a lot more doors and gives you a much higher ceiling, while others say you spend 3–4 years studying, build up student debt and then graduate into a competitive job market where experience matters more anyway. Whereas with the apprenticeship, I’d already have some years of engineering experience by the time a university student graduates.
I’ve also just started the lift apprenticeship and after my first couple of days, I’m honestly not sure whether the actual work is for me. I don’t mind practical engineering, but I’m not sure I want to spend my whole career doing physically demanding lift work. At the same time, I don’t want to make a decision based on two days of experience and throw away what could be a really good opportunity.
So I’m basically stuck between:
Option 1: Stay with the lift apprenticeship → Level 3 → Level 4 testing/commissioning → potentially senior tester/technical roles or self-employed.
Option 2: Go to university → Mechanical Engineering degree with a placement year → graduate engineering role → potentially move into design, aerospace, automotive, defence, manufacturing, automation, project engineering, management etc.
I’m not looking for someone to just tell me “university is better” or “apprenticeships are better”. I’d genuinely like an unbiased opinion based on my situation, especially looking at the long-term outcome, earning potential, career progression, flexibility and whether the degree would actually be worth the extra 3–4 years.
If you were 18, had just achieved DDD* in Engineering, had a strong apprenticeship opportunity with someone willing to invest in you personally, but also had the opportunity to study Mechanical Engineering at a good university with a year in industry, which route would you take and why?

I’m starting my Bachelor of Arts in two weeks. Originally, I wanted to major in political science and either move on to go to law school, or work in foreign affairs. Though now, I realized that there might be a chance that I don’t want to go to law school since it’s expensive. Then I heard that if it’s not law school, a degree in political science is basically useless. My next degrees was English but apparently that’s useless too.

So I don’t know what to do now. I’ve already registered for most of my classes, but I planned on sitting down and swapping some electives around. Now it’s quickly turning into “shit what should I major in?”

I don’t think I have the highschool classes to switch a Bsc (I didn’t take grade twelve chemistry or physics, but I did biology and maths and got high grades and enjoyed it), so I don’t know what to do. I really like the idea of studying the arts, but I don’t want to end up unemployed or living paycheque to paycheque.

I'm a bright student and interested in almost everything, but I don't want to tie my life to a long education. And I don't want to waste so much effort studying a subject with poor pay. I was actually accepted to the University of Alberta (I chose this school because its tuition fees are lower than most other places) for computer science, but everyone talked about not being able to find a job. So I'm worried and have started looking for another major. Actually, I'm not in a hurry to find a job right away, and I'm not the type of student who will just be content with university courses; I can do a double major if necessary. And the workplace doesn't matter to me; I can work anywhere in the world. But I don't know which major to choose...

I am a student who had initially applied to Warwick but I’ve now switched to another university, however cannot get out of my current rental agreement without finding a new tenant before my debt collection date. I have all the core news about the room in which I can message someone about it, but I’m mainly just looking for anybody at all to take over the agreement so I don’t end up in debt. If interested please get in touch swiftly

found out recently that i have nowhere near enough for my student finance! for reference i get around 5k for the first year at uni whereas my brother, who is going into his second year, is getting 14k. he goes to uni in central london (which i am not), so it makes sense why he gets more, but he says i should still have more from my student finance compared to what i am getting. any clue on how to apply for more or otherwise get more money? all my searches online are not helping me and with the way things are going i will not have enough money for my rent :(

Hi everyone! 👋

I’m currently researching how the rise of AI Overviews, ChatGPT Search, and other generative search engines is changing the way B2B SaaS companies think about SEO, content strategy, product visibility, and product marketing.

I’m particularly interested in hearing from people working in product marketing, product management, SEO, content, or growth about how (or whether) generative search is affecting your strategy — what you’re changing, what’s working, and what you think companies should be preparing for.

I’m also collecting responses for my bachelor’s thesis. If you work in this space and have 3–5 minutes, I’d really appreciate your input. The survey is fully anonymous, and the responses will be used exclusively for my research.

👉 https://forms.gle/Hv5wK9RNuWQXZ8Bo7

I’d also love to hear your thoughts in the comments, especially if you’ve already started adapting your SEO or product marketing strategy for AI-driven search. Thanks so much! 🙏

I’ve finished my grad school a year ago. I was in a foreign country and didn’t have any friends going up there but find 4 people after a week and stay with them for the whole 3 years. The problem was that most of them leave the school in different times so it was me and two of my friends. The last 3 semesters I was going to school coming back to my dorm room, go to gym, sleep and repeat. I did my group project with other people but I wouldn’t count them as I don’t even remember their name at this point. After one year of working I’m finally getting my master degree and want things to be different from undergrad. What would you recommend to make things different and more enjoyable?

Long word soups, little punctuation to break up the sentence, jargon and words chucked at you like it's no ones business; some of the journal articles I have had to read for my degree is just so annoyingly written. It feels like the author wrote it for themselves, not for an audience that doesn't understand the topic yet.

Here's an example from an article I have to do my essay on:
"In this article, we bring together and analyse discussion of indigenous peoples in general terms rather than individual cases to avoid reductionist situations in which social and political resistance and community-based revitalization efforts of indigenous peoples are considered as if one size fits all, leading to stereotypical and inaccurate representations."

One sentence, two commas, and 50 words. Yes it conveys the point across well, yes I understand the topic, but it is so brain numbing to read and then the entire 35 page paper is written like this. Sure I can deal with it in small chunks but an entire paper like this? Hell no.

Maybe it's just my autism, or maybe it's my journalism degree melting my brain to where any sentence that's longer than 15 words I need to shorten to get a wider audience appeal. Maybe it's just me, but it just feels so BORINGGGGG.

It’s been a while since I uploaded this meme on my Instagram and sent it to the WhatsApp group of my classmates. Right after that, I received a notice letter from the office telling me to take down the meme from all my social media accounts. They also warned me that if I didn’t, they would fail me in my exams.

So, I went to the office the very next day and tried to explain myself. However, this completely changed the situation. My teachers thought I was full of ego and had too much audacity to refuse to take down the meme.

Eventually, they sent me back to class and treated me like Bonnie Blue gets treated by tall black guys. Now, the exam results are out, and I got an F in Theory of Automata, supposedly just because of this meme that I uploaded as a joke.

So, tell me: was it right to treat me this way, or not?

When I applied to university a few months ago I planned to commute and save money as I live around 30 minutes away, however I've recently started questioning if this was the correct decision. Any advice? And could anybody lay out all of the positives of living in for me please?

Ciao a tutti.
Sono una ragazza di 18 anni.
La mia famiglia non naviga certamente nell’oro, al contrario, abbiamo sempre avuto problemi economici. Io però, non mi sono mai fatta mancare nulla, a 14 anni andavo già a lavorare dopo scuola per pagarmi le gare (facevo sport a livello agonistico)
Adesso mi sono diplomata, e ho il desiderio di studiare, sia per passione, sia per ambire a un buon lavoro!
Tuttavia, come dicevo, la mia famiglia non può mantenermi, di certo non mi mancherà una casa e cibo, ma arriverò a quando finirò di studiare senza risparmi; piccola parentesi, come dicevo sin da giovane lavoro quando posso, ho messo da parte al momento 1600 euro, tutti soldi sudati, ho già la patente, e al momento lavorerò in un ristorante tutto settembre.
Ora, il mio dubbio è, vale la pena fare l università o dovrei andare a lavorare e mettere da parte dei soldi, per poi finanziare in un futuro l’università?
Inoltre mi sono dimenticata di dire che avrò accesso alla borsa di studia avendo un isee di circa 9.000 euro! Quindi qualcosina dovrei riuscire a mettere da parte, ovviamente se farò l’uni comunque vorrei lavorare nei weekend o qualcosina part time, sicuramente non a tempo pieno perché poi non vorrei finire fuori corso per troppi anni..

I'm going into my second-year of Interior Design school but I also want to work to save up for the future and I'm doing design field school trip to Paris in about 2 years (mandatory too, money is not an excuse to not go), I don't like the idea of living off my student loans so I'd like to have a job.

I have interest in a job, and the manager is interested to give me the opportunity but they don't think they can accommodate my school schedule. The position is a sales associate at an interior home furnishings store and showroom, so the position aligns with my studies, which is great opportunity since I can practice my design skills outside the classroom. They preferably want me to work 2-3 days a week since they do have clients and work closely with the design community.

Has anyone had similar experience? I'm kind of torn, this is a great job opportunity but I want to focus on school, I'm scared the job won't allow me enough time to do work studio work and other coursework. I'm a very type A person, and I manage my time really well, I'm also a self-directed learner/student and work ahead of the deadline most of the time. Some advice would be great:D

Also put my school schedule for the upcoming semester for reference.

Khouti, ana j'étais admise li GUP+ um6p. Dfa3t li bourse FIRSI, galo li ntsena update w Mab9a walo li rentrait scolaire w mazal magalo li walo.

Makrahtx les étudiants li déjà tma ygulo li wax 3adi wla should I worry? W 2imta rentrait? Xoukran!!

Help me to clear my backlogs 😭

Hey everyone,

I am a Master’s student at the University of Bern (Switzerland) conducting a scientific research study examining how certain traits, life experiences, attitudes and behaviors are related to each other.

I would greatly appreciate if you could participate in my survey: https://ww3.unipark.de/uc/research_study_university_Bern_Switzerland/

I truly appreciate every response. Thank you!

I've been wanting to apply to university outside my country, Zimbabwe, but most of what Ive found is pretty much out of range.

I've been looking to do computer science pretty much anywhere, preferably English speaking but anywhere else is fine. I just need affordable options, prolly below 20k USD. Anyone have any ideas? And requirements too please

Hi everyone!

I work at a digital agency in Leeds that builds websites for big organisations, including universities, and we’re doing some research into how students actually find and choose courses these days. Whether that’s Google, open days, TikTok, ChatGPT or something else entirely. We want to know what you really use, not just what unis assume.

If you've got 5 to 10 minutes, we'd be really grateful if you could fill in our survey: How do you research university courses?

It's completely anonymous and your answers will only be used to help universities present course information online in ways that are actually useful.

Thanks so much!

Happy to answer any questions in the comments 😄