The value of a Degree

[James B]

*checks over his shoulder*

 

....

 

My gf has got a BSc and Doctorate from Durham uni, and she actually works their now.

 

Whilst I would say that it shouldn't matter which uni you got your degree from, it will always be the case that the established uni's will be deemed to be better.

It wasnt that long ago that Teesside Uni was a polytechnic.

 

But I don't care.....I don't have any degree's!

 

 

 

She works 'there'

[Lexx]

*checks over his shoulder*

 

....

 

My gf has got a BSc and Doctorate from Durham uni, and she actually works their now.

 

Whilst I would say that it shouldn't matter which uni you got your degree from, it will always be the case that the established uni's will be deemed to be better.

It wasnt that long ago that Teesside Uni was a polytechnic.

 

But I don't care.....I don't have any degree's!

 

 

 

She works 'there'

 

yeah, pesky IPhones!

[Chesterfield]

As an employer from the small business sector, I dont really put the educational qualifications at the top of any must have list. I think that any institution or corporate entity may choose to employ only those with degrees on "graduate" courses as they believe this will naturaly weed out all those who would be better burger flipping, is just doing this as they can't be bothered to interview properly. While it may be true, that only asking for graduates to apply may weed out burger flippers, it can also throw out the baby with the bathwater. As an extreme example, some organisations looking for sales directors that only look at CV's from graduates, would throw Alan Sugars CV in the bin based on his educational qualifications alone.

 

When I was looking for more sales staff, if a candidate had nothing better than D grades at GCSE, then they probably wouldnt have got an interview for a sales position, but at the other extreme Im not going to favour those with degrees just for the fact they have a degree.

 

I look at employment history, tasks undertaken in the roles they have held, and how committed to their roles they have been. Someone could apply with a 1st in sales and marketing, but if they haven't worked for the same company for more than 6 months without moving to another role elsewhere, then I would question their dedication to an employer - something very key to a small business. Blanket accepting people for consideration just because they have a degree is no substitute for actually interviewing people properly and getting to know the candidates.

 

Some of the best sales people in our company have not got degrees, HND's at best, and at least one top salesperson has no higher eductaion qualifications at all. I only went as far as a HND myself.

 

To those who are worried that the university they wanted to go to hasnt accepted them, and their degree from a "lower" university wont get them as far, or those who are worried that by not getting into university they are harming their career prospects, I would say dont worry. While a degree may open some doors earlier on, it wont open nearly as many as experience and a good CV will later on. I know several six figure earners who haven't got any form of degree at all. Its not the be all and end all. Those who get a degree and then expect to waltz straight into a £30k per annum job on the back of it, are also for the most part extremely deluded imho.

[martinmac]

I am a big fan of the old apprenticeship system. Get the work experience and do the qualification at the same time. The best of both worlds.

[sasha@lazytrips]

In my experience, both in terms of looking for a job and hiring people, degrees from different places in different subjects can have an impact, but in reality, the majority of decent employers will consider the broader picture including any work experience, relevance of the degree to the job at hand, etc. It is also a fact that for every person who is easily impressed by a good degree from a top university, there are two who will tell you to your face, before even leting you speak a word, that the mere fact that you attended a good university must necessarily mean that you are a spoilt rich kid with no understanding of the real world.

 

This happens more that you'd think and creates an almost polar effect where some employers will undoutedly have a preference for good degree/uni combinations, others will put you at a disadvantage. I'm speaking from personal experience.

 

One thing that does annoy me is certain people's presumption that there is an inherent link between wealth of one's parents and their attendance at a good university. Given that the cost of all universities is the same and the fact that professors choosing their intake are actually smart enough to choose on the basis of merit, I fail to see what the direct link here is.

[ATTAK Z]

I have a degree, one of my sons has a degree, my eldest son doesn't .......... guess who earns the most money !

[Ricey]

The employer would pick the person with experience!

 

Unless its a specialised field.....+ a gazillion.

[DoogyRev]

The Value of a Degree........ Yep 8 Years later I am still paying it off

 

.................But I am glad my Student Loan was only 13k (over 4 Years), kids these days will be racking that up and more in a single year.

[scubapics]

The employer would pick the person with experience!

 

Not so. Many employers would reject a cv from someone without a degree but with 15 years experience in the specific expertise but happily interview someone with a degree and 2 years experience. It's a bit of a nightmare unfortunately.

[James B]

The employer would pick the person with experience!

 

Not so. Many employers would reject a cv from someone without a degree but with 15 years experience in the specific expertise but happily interview someone with a degree and 2 years experience. It's a bit of a nightmare unfortunately.

 

I honestly cannot see that happening unless there were a situation that you would have expected them to be more senior. E.g I'm at a certain level in IT sales and if someone wanted to join our team but had 10 years more experience I would question why their career hasn't moved forward more.

[Stew]

I don't employ myself however the company I work for is rather picky about where people studied. I have found when training new employees that quite a few highly qualified new hires didn't know which end of a screwdriver did what, they just weren't interested in installing complex oilfield equipment. This was mandatory for their progression though. I also had a new start that didn't speak to me for about 2 months as I was one of the youngest field guys we had at our base. They only started speaking to me when they were informed that although one of the youngest I held the most senior position.

 

 

My father on the other hand does employ. Well actually he has people that employ for him. He can have a say in hiring as at the end of the day it's his company. He generally employs people that have served apprenticeships and those that don't flit from employer to employer. His sparkys obviously have to have the correct qualifications coming from apprenticeships but his office based Engineers have all graduated from workshops rather than universities.

 

He said he's wasted time, money and energy on graduates in the past and generally it's not worth it to him. He'd rather give someone a chance in a shift that just hung up their coveralls.

 

For the record he has no school qualifications, didn't even sit any exams. Half his teachers probably didn't know his name as he was never there. Hard work and good mentoring has made him and his business the success it is today.

 

 

 

At the end of the day, it's what you do in your job that counts. Getting the all important foot in the door can be hard but once in it doesn't matter if you graduated from the inner city school of chav with an honours degree in being a c*ck or with a PhD from Cambridge. If you work hard you WILL be noticed.

[scubapics]

The employer would pick the person with experience!

 

Not so. Many employers would reject a cv from someone without a degree but with 15 years experience in the specific expertise but happily interview someone with a degree and 2 years experience. It's a bit of a nightmare unfortunately.

 

I honestly cannot see that happening unless there were a situation that you would have expected them to be more senior. E.g I'm at a certain level in IT sales and if someone wanted to join our team but had 10 years more experience I would question why their career hasn't moved forward more.

 

I speak from experience unfortunately. I have 15 years experience in my field and my career has progressed no less, in fact better, than others with a degree and same length of experience. I was actually asked to apply for a job by a colleague who was in charge of a department only to find that the HR department could not consider my application because I had no degree. My colleague was furious as he knew me and my capabilities and experience and yet the HR department would not budge. I'm an engineer of both software, hardware and mobile phone protocols. I have designed systems, lead multi-disciplined teams of engineers, regular full project life-cycle experience, telecoms architect. Just about what you'd expect for that many years in the field. But this company, even on the recommendation of a member of their management team who had been with them for 8 years or so, would not even telephone interview me.

 

I find this more so with larger corporate businesses and much less so with smaller firms.

[Chesterfield]

Because larger corporate firms cant be bothered to interview people properly or consider people for what/who they are rather than the qualifications on a bit of paper. Its just like the way they treat people as a number rather than a person.

[scubapics]

Because larger corporate firms cant be bothered to interview people properly or consider people for what/who they are rather than the qualifications on a bit of paper. Its just like the way they treat people as a number rather than a person.

 

Isn't that another form of discrimination? I find it rather odd that there isn't an employment law on this just as there is a law on age discrimination.

[Carla]

I have a Hons degree in Criminal Justice......................I am now a Technical Coach in the finance industry!

 

I'd go with experience, but it does depend on the industry.

 

I applied for approx 15-20 jobs in the Criminal Justice Industry after I graduated, all the responses I had explained they required someone with experience!! I would still love to get into the industry

 

Don't take this the wrong way, but I think your friend comes across a little rude to brag his degree is worth more, a degree is a degree and both should be congratulating each other, not comparing.

 

[Stew]

Because larger corporate firms cant be bothered to interview people properly or consider people for what/who they are rather than the qualifications on a bit of paper. Its just like the way they treat people as a number rather than a person.

 

Isn't that another form of discrimination? I find it rather odd that there isn't an employment law on this just as there is a law on age discrimination.

 

The VERY large company I work for has brilliant internal training. Once you get to a certain 'grade' it not longer matters what qualifications you started with as you have proved yourself. The same 'graduation' process exists whether you are on the tools, in HR, office based Engineer or are a buyer. Every employee can go through and become management if they want it.

[JetSet]

My daughter is considering The Police force once she gets her MA next year, she already has an BSc hons. Looks to be a good career and the only people they seem to be taking on are graduates.

 

 

Pete

[DoogyRev]

I have to work with many different companies in private and public sector....... and there are some people who I have come across do not deserve their jobs, they are complete incompetent nobs, feck knows how they got them in the first place.

 

This week I have seen one bloke.... do nothing except pretend to type in a notepad file...... then delete and repeat. All so that is co-workers can hear that he's doing something. I know someone else who was promoted 5 times, because he was crap at each job...... but they could not sack him

 

This is to common for my liking, and it's most likely why this country is in the sh1t state its in.

[Carla]

My daughter is considering The Police force once she gets her MA next year, she already has an BSc hons. Looks to be a good career and the only people they seem to be taking on are graduates.

 

 

Pete

 

 

Their not currently recruiting, they are in fact cutting jobs. I got a position on the waiting list for the next intake, but Cheshire Constabulary are not having one for a long long time!

 

Best try North Wales

[ATTAK Z]

I'll die soon and I'm betting that HR and H&S will have worked so hard that the doers and the shakers will be totally pi**ed off and as a result, the world will be totally up sh!t street and have come to a virtual dead end; so my last wish is that I can come back and say ...........

 

 

 

 

.............. "I friggin told you this would happen"

[philb1965]

A degree in a subject where there is a need for the skills yes. A half arsed degree in some over subscribed subject offering no career path no.

 

Too many people go to Uni now, we need to get back to skills based qualifications and apprenticeships.

 

I'm ex military and don't have a degree but I work for a global Telecom equipment supplier. The majority of technical support engineers are ex services as uni's don't seem to provide the right training to be honest. When we do take graduates on their only mindset is 'I have to become a manager' and they rarely stay in the role past 3 or 4 years ( which is just when they are getting to grips with the role normally). Maybe a fault if the company but that's how it is.

 

So our jobs adds always say 'degree or equivalent experience'. I know though that the hiring managers would take experience over a graduate any day.

 

It all depends on the path you want to take. A degree should be relevant to the role being applied for not some random subject.

[Stew]

I know someone else who was promoted 5 times, because he was crap at each job...... but they could not sack him

 

 

A common idustry term - You F*ck up, you go up!

[Lexx]

I know someone else who was promoted 5 times, because he was crap at each job...... but they could not sack him

 

 

A common idustry term - You F*ck up, you go up!

 

Happens alot in my industry. the higher up they go, the less hands on they need to be.

[JetSet]

My daughter is considering The Police force once she gets her MA next year, she already has an BSc hons. Looks to be a good career and the only people they seem to be taking on are graduates.

 

 

Pete

 

 

Their not currently recruiting, they are in fact cutting jobs. I got a position on the waiting list for the next intake, but Cheshire Constabulary are not having one for a long long time!

 

Best try North Wales

 

She'll consider any area in The U.K, (except London) but she is looking at other career options too. If she can't find anything suitable then I fear she'll do a PhD next

 

 

Pete

[scubapics]

Because larger corporate firms cant be bothered to interview people properly or consider people for what/who they are rather than the qualifications on a bit of paper. Its just like the way they treat people as a number rather than a person.

 

Isn't that another form of discrimination? I find it rather odd that there isn't an employment law on this just as there is a law on age discrimination.

 

After a little digging around I have found that rejecting someone because they don't hold a degree yet have significant number of years of experience in the field of the job role can be considered as age discrimination. Of course it is up to the job applicant to take to prospective employer to a tribunal and the employer has to prove that it is not being discriminatory. Something to remember for future applications I think to put forward, in a nice way, should I ever encounter this in the future.