British University Degrees

As a Brit myself, and as someone who studied History at university, I always get odd looks from my continental counterparts (e.g. German, French, Italian) who work in the same capacity but almost without fail studied a more vocationally relevant degree (e.g. Finance, Economics) when I tell them what I did for undergrad. I know the UK's pretty unique in the fact that you can, say, study Classics at Oxford and then go into equity derivatives structuring (providing, of course, you demonstrate the required level of competence / interest). I am curious, however - what is the sincere perception in mainland Europe of this quirk? And how do you view your British colleagues that maybe studied a less "technical" subject at university but work in the same team / department / role?