I have a useless degree. Now what? How about accounting?

Good with figures but not with picking a major with immediate career prospects? Luckily there is a relatively cheap and easy way to salvage things. The CPA PREP program, offered by the people who actually grant accounting licences in Ontario (and their counterparts elsewhere), is a relatively inexpensive online upgrading program for those without a 4-year degree in accounting, and puts you on an equal legal footing (for licensing purposes) with those who completed four-year accounting degrees. There is still more to do in the meantime and thereafter if you wish to get your accounting licence, but this process levels the playing field a bit.

If you have a three or four year degree in anything, you can register for the program. The worst-case total cost of the 14-module, $500/module program is CAD $7,000, but you only need to pay for one module at a time. If you can get exempted from a module for undergraduate courses you have already passed with a grade of at least 65% (e.g. first-year economics, statistics), your total cost is even less.

The best part is that you can pick up useful accounting/business/finance skills (even if you or the market decide against an actual career in this) and you can do it all while working a day job, wrangling kids, or sunning yourself at an internet-connected beach resort.