This is how big of a scam university is, compared to doing a course for a trade.

I spent 4 years in university, studying tourism and hospitality management, and racked up ~£30K worth of student loans.

Worked in that industry before starting and during my time at uni, and managed to graduate with a first class degree.

When trying to get a role as assistant manager graduate, I had no luck, despite my work experience and good grades.

Ultimately, I barely used that degree, because of how low paid management positions are, relative to the amount of work and responsibilities you have.

Few months ago, I invested £1,400 in getting qualified on 3 different heavy machinery to work in construction.

My goal was to work as an ADT driver, but got a couple other tickets just to increase my chances of getting a job in the industry.

Despite zero experience, I managed to land a job as an ADT driver within 2 months of doing the course.

Yeah, I had to accept slightly less money, because of my lack of experience, but I already had my pay bumped after 3 weeks and will get it reviewed again in a couple of weeks.

Safe to say, it took me only a few weeks to recoup the money I invested in the course, even though I only worked a couple of full weeks, because of job demands.

I can only imagine how many years it would take me to pay off the student loans with a management position in the tourism and hospitality industry, and the amount of stress and long hours I'd have to deal with.

All I can say is, I wish I had done this sooner, but I didn't know what I didn't know.