The candidate

I philosophize that a portion of men feel the need to be dicks to make up for the organ which they lack in their crotch. As for women, I have no clue. I'm a man, we were never meant to understand women.

@30 You don't sound like you understand men or women... I also don't understand your reference to the organ that "they lack in their crotch". If they are a man with a crotch there is an organ there...? No philosophy is required; the human mind is wired to thrive on negativity thus people enjoy being dicks.

I avoid people like you like the plague. If you thrive on negativity you're a toxic person.

Holy shit I didn't know that this many people, especially on this super politically correct liberal site, would completely shit on philosophy like this. Although yes it's not practical in our world today but like this person made their decision and there's no point in ******** on it

well it was a shitty decision... if one is to have a masters degree in philosophy, there is a reasonable expectation that they know they spent a lot of money getting a degree that will make it difficult for them to become gainfully employed.

#59, there's two things you need to acquire. One is the ever elusive Sense of Humour. It is very rare nowadays. Secondly, you need an education in the human anatomy. The penis is an organ. Only men have penises. I was joking saying that jerks don't have penises, therefore insulting their masculinity. Also, I understand men perfectly due to the fact I am one. I, however, do not understand women, even after dating a girl for over a year and living with multiple female family members. Many men can probably agree with me there. Also, I'm no philosopher and I wasn't insulting philosophy. I was just making a harmless joke at no one's expense except for jerks.

Better than majoring in being a ********. Rage harder, loser.

I really want to believe that he meant OP deserves the job... Trying really hard right here...

#9, no need to validate their statement. #2 is just a dick.

Or we could all live in the real world and admit that #2 is right even if he was a dick about it. I mean, how can you expect to get a job with a philosophy degree when people who majored in higher demanding areas can't even get a job??

Can you really think of a job that requires philosophy? You only get a masters or PhD in philosophy if you're going to teach it at a university. At least Psychology and sociology have jobs to go into. To be honest, basket weaving would probably have been a better major to go in.

^19 Might have added a couple of smiley faces to the interview if they had gone in for the harder under water degree

Seriously, I mean if you aren't getting the degree so you can find a job then by all means go for that philosophy degree, but if you expected to get a job out of it... how did you pick your major with such little research or thought?

A philosophy degree teaches you how to think and reason, not to mention write, structure, and support arguments. People with philosophy degrees become lawyers, teachers, writers/journalists, data analyzers, media consultants, think tank runners, CEOs, innovators, and inventors. As a liberal arts major (and philosophy minor), I get irritated when people down play things like philosophy, literature, history, and art. Studying those things teaches you critical thinking skills, abstract reasoning, and problem solving. The only useless degree is the one where you learn nothing and don't grow as a human.

@41 While I agree that philosophy is a great foundation for many fields, it doesn't serve well as a degree in and of itself. Most of the jobs you listed require degrees of their own. Maybe minoring in philosophy while majoring in something else will suit you better, but a masters is philosophy isn't very practical.

Philosophy has transferrable skills. It teaches you to have an open mind, to be able to debate, negotiate, recognise the other person's view point and and think critically as well as tackle complex issues.

You wasted your time and hopefully just your own money

You are totally fight, I can't believe the ignorance of these comments

Teaches you how to debate, reason, critically analyse, innovate? Lol we learnt how to do these things growing through life, and specialised in high school. Any university degree will teach you that things are mathematics. Art history literature, and not economic mainstream thus difficult (almost pointless) to make money off.

Successful people with philosophy degrees: Phil Jackson (basketball coach), Steve Martin (actor/writer), Alex Trebek (game show host), David Foster Wallace (writer), Bruce Lee (actor), Carly Fiorina (politician/CEO), Angela Davis (activist), Peter Thiel (PayPal CEO), Patrick Byrne (overstock.com founder/CEO), Carl Icahn (activist/investor) Stewart Butterfield (Flickr co-founder/CEO), Gene Siskel (film critic), Sheila Bair (former head of the FDIC), Herbert Allison (Fannie Mae CEO), George Soros (former head of the Bank of England), Ricky Gervais (comic/writer/actor), George Levin (former CEO of Time Warner). Granted, not all of these are entirely ethical, but the world would be dull without them and their "worthless" degrees. Education is what you make of it.

Well almost all of them are self employed or entertainers. Just supports that you don't master philosophy if you want a job instead.^^

#79 OK, that doesn't really prove anything for a ton of reasons. 1. Compare that to the number of successful people who majored in other things... you might find way more of them on other majors. 2. Those people are almost all self-employed. OP obviously isn't. 3. Nobody said philosophy is bad, but what we are saying is that if you expect to find a job easily, you obviously didn't think things through very well.

It did not teach you to think very well. To tell that people with ph degree become all that you mention is like saying "people with short hair become all of those". They do, but not due to the short hair, or the ph degree

I learnt all those things by getting a job. Practical skills are far better than a degree in something that is overlooked by the majority of the professional world.

I'm guessing it wasn't a position as a philosopher.

What position as a philosopher?

#12 Are there really any careers in this field?

^21 There is if you don't mind holding a sign as the last person in a check out line.

#12 well there are some jobs for which philosophers are suitable. Like being an ethics coach or a researcher. Getting a master in philosophy also signifies that you have a certain level of thinking, which is valuable in many jobs. (BTW I'm a student of economics and law myself)

so, if you are a philosopher is it a job or a way of life?

31, if you have a degree in math, is it a job or a way of life? Are there jobs out there for Math? "what do you do?" "oh, I am head of the Math position at a big company." Degrees often provide useful skills, even if they are not directly relatable to a job position.

#44 It'd be more likely to get a degree in finance or accounting. I've never even heard of someone getting a "math" degree, but I do know that finance and accounting majors have an easier time finding jobs after college and they actually make good money from the beginning.

#44 are you serious? not every degree means you should be a director of that field. if you don't see how mathematicians are valuable and very much needed in tech, science, industrie etc your loss. but mathematicians sure as hell don't deserve to be compared to a philosophy major. it's a stupid degree and the only reason people should be majoring it if they are not planning to have a career in it, just want a degree that proves they are "intelectuals".

Lol a lot of people major in specific fields of math, and they call themselves math majors

#51 my husband has a degree in applied mathematics. He got it for free and got a stipend (roughly $600 a month) the last two years in college. Why? Because the Air Force paid for it. He was an officer when he graduated and had to put in four years at the minimum.

Well, I wouldn't say in any environment majoring in philosophy doesn't give that many career choices, like if he was applying to be a lawyer, a philosophy degree would be useless.

Or maybe he does have one. Something like Master's Degree in being an a-hole!

A bachelor's in something relevant to the job is more important than a master's that isn't.

Maybe not, but he does have a job. I know what I'd prefer.

but he has a job. Masters in philosophy. - zero Having job. - win

Cold as hell, but you're totally right. You can't complain about not being marketable when you chose a degree that makes you unmarketable

Cold, but I'm with you. I graduate in a week with my bachelors in civil engineering and I already have had a full time job lined up for a month that I start as soon as I finish finals. You have to pick something that there is a market for, in my area there are a shortage of civil engineers, so almost everyone in my graduating class has job offers and we haven't technically graduated yet.