By Cyril KimbiEvery year lists circulate ranking degrees as “useless”. They are almost always wrong, and they are wrong in a specific way: they compare subjects when the actual variation is between students within the same subject. Two graduates of the same programme routinely end up in completely different positions, and the difference is rarely the subject on the certificate.
Why the “useless degree” lists mislead
They usually rank by average starting salary, which conflates three different things: the subject, the type of employer that hires into it, and the students who choose it.
A subject that feeds public-sector and non-profit work will show a lower average than one feeding finance, without either being a better or worse education. And the averages hide enormous internal spread — the best graduates of a “useless” subject frequently out-earn the median of a “safe” one.
The more useful question is not what is this degree worth but what does this degree let me prove.
The three things that actually predict employment
1. A capability someone will pay for
Not knowledge — capability. Can you analyse a dataset, write a clear report, model a structure, teach a class, audit accounts, run a study, argue a case? Employers hire demonstrated capability, and a transcript on its own demonstrates only attendance and grades.
Some degrees hand you a capability by construction: engineering, accounting, nursing, computer science, teaching. Others give you strong general capabilities — argument, research, writing, synthesis — which are genuinely valuable but which you must name and evidence yourself, because no job advertisement asks for them by degree title.
2. Evidence accumulated alongside the degree
This is where the real variation between graduates comes from, and it is almost entirely within your control.
Two students complete the same history degree. One graduates with a transcript. The other graduates with a transcript, two internships, a dissertation on a subject an employer recognises, a year running a student association, and a portfolio of written work. They will not have the same outcomes, and the difference is not the subject.
Start in the first year, not the final one. Evidence takes time to accumulate and cannot be manufactured in a last semester.
3. Whether the market exists where you are
A degree that leads to abundant work in one economy may lead to very little in another. This is the factor most often ignored, and it is the one that most affects students in Cameroon.
Before committing, do something concrete: read fifty job advertisements in the market where you actually intend to work. Not a careers guide — real advertisements. What qualifications do they ask for? What software? What experience? Which sectors are hiring at all? Fifty advertisements will tell you more about your prospects than any ranking, and the exercise takes an afternoon.
Choosing, working backwards
- Name three roles, not three fields. “Data analyst in a bank” rather than “something with numbers”.
- Find their stated requirements in real advertisements.
- Identify the qualification that satisfies most of them, and note what it does not cover.
- Plan the gap — the certification, the internship, the project that fills what the degree leaves out.
- Check the exit doors. If this route fails, what else does the qualification open? A degree with one exit is a risk; one with four is not.
Reading this in the Cameroonian context
Two structural features change the calculation here, and both are worth planning around explicitly.
The concours route front-loads the decision. Entering a grande ecole by concours means committing to a professional field at eighteen or nineteen, with a professional qualification at the end and a comparatively direct route to work. Entering a faculty through standard registration keeps options open but leaves the specialisation — and the evidence-building — to you. Neither is better; they suit different people, and the post-Bac orientation guide sets out the trade-off.
Bilingualism is undervalued. A graduate who works confidently in English and French has an advantage that shows up in almost every employer’s shortlist, including international organisations and regional companies. Cameroonian students routinely fail to mention it, treating it as normal rather than as the differentiator it is outside Cameroon.
A third point, said plainly: in a market where formal graduate positions are limited, the ability to create work — a trade, a service, a small business alongside study — is not a fallback. For many graduates it is the primary route, and it is worth building deliberately rather than defaulting into.
If you have already chosen something you now doubt
Switching is not the only option, and usually not the best one. Three alternatives cost far less:
- Add a technical layer. A recognised certification alongside the degree often changes its market position entirely.
- Choose the dissertation strategically. It is the one substantial piece of work you fully control, and it can be aimed squarely at the sector you want.
- Specialise at master’s level. The first degree does not have to be the final answer, and a specialised master’s on a general first degree is a common and effective combination.
Frequently asked questions
Are some degrees really useless?
No. Some have weaker direct routes to employment, which means the evidence you build alongside them matters more.
Should I choose a subject I dislike because it pays better?
Rarely. Performance and completion both depend on engagement, and a poor result in a lucrative subject beats nothing about a good result in another.
Does the institution matter more than the subject?
For a first job it can, particularly where employers recruit from specific institutions. Over a career, demonstrated capability dominates both.
Is a technical degree always safer?
Usually more directly employable, and not automatically better. Technical fields also change quickly, which makes the capacity to keep learning the durable asset.
How do I find out what employers want?
Read fifty real job advertisements in the market where you intend to work. It is the single most useful hour in this whole decision.
