Finding a job without a degree (college, to move, best)

[vnodak]

Not to be negative but I think a degree is important. My husband was making 6 figures and had 20+ years of experience in his job. His company went out of business and alot of places would not give him an interview for a job as he did not have a degree. We found he could not get past human resourses as one of their criteria was a degree. This did not just happen a few times but many many times and they would come right out and tell him. I do not know that you need a masters but I would definately get a four year degree. I also have a four year degree in one field and a two year degree in another. I work in the field of the two year degree and have not been able to advance even with many years of experience.

[vnodak]

Originally Posted by allforcats

I agree with the previous posters that a Bachelor degree is seen with much greater favor here than an Associate, and it is definitely worth your time and money to get a Bachelor. A Master? Here, that's usually necessary for only academic fields and personal enjoyment, and is not a requirement nor an enhancement to the usual business career.

In my 20+ years of working and hiring in western Washington, I absolutely feel that it's not a snobbish or elitist mindset. What employers want is a person with a broad range of knowledge, a background of adaptability in widely different circumstances, and with the hands-on brain experience of finding out where the info is, slogging through the research, collating info, questioning, thinking of possibilities, coming to conclusions, choosing a path, making recommendations, and supporting a position in articulate prose. Make sense? They might never ask an employee to do all those things, but it's the brain training they want to know is there when they consider hiring someone. They will pay more for that kind of mind; that's why a degree will bring you higher salaries over the decades.

Another consideration: this is a very educated population where an Associate is definitely considered a half-way point to a Bachelor degree. Your competition for any job will be with people who do have a Bachelor degree or more, regardless of the field that the job is in. Since the employer can choose from among several individuals with the "brain training", the ones without tend to receive the letter saying "we'll keep your resume on file..."

I hope this helps, and I hope you enjoy your choice. :-)

agree totally

[CityGirl72]

I wanted to agree with AllCats too

Without sounding really bad though, I'm a manager, and if I was hiring. I usually toss out any resume that says AA degree, even if the experience is stellar. To me, as a hiring manager it says you couldn't hack it to finish your BA.

[wannabeaTexan]

Wow. I'm so glad most are so willing to consider experience instead of a degree at my company.

If not, I and others I know would be stuck working as a food server or cashier forever. Yikes.

[vnodak]

Originally Posted by wannabeaTexan

Wow. I'm so glad most are so willing to consider experience instead of a degree at my company.

If not, I and others I know would be stuck working as a food server or cashier forever. Yikes.

That is a consideration along with poorer pay than your fellow workers and little or no advancement. The old saying goes becarefull what you ask for as you just might get it.

[wannabeaTexan]

Originally Posted by vnodak

That is a consideration along with poorer pay than your fellow workers and little or no advancement. The old saying goes becarefull what you ask for as you just might get it.

Admittedly, my not having a degree has slowed me down, but it has not stopped me. I always think you should get a degree if you can. I messed that part of my life up early on and can't get back on track yet for various reasons that all involve "life".

It's not that I don't value a degree, but you don't necessarily need one to get a good job here. Well, that obviously depends on who is looking at your resume.

I think the hiring managers in my department are fair. I make less than a good friend who had the same title as I, but she had direct experience in what we do, and I only had transferrable skills, for the most part. She doesn't have a degree either.

At any rate, I'd rather have the job I have now and be paid less than my peers than be stuck being a server or cashier (which really don't pay what I make anyway).

[jwb123]

Again, it's never even been an issue with my husband. He's always had good, very well paying jobs once he's had 2 yrs of experience. Perhaps it's specific to the tech industry.

[chris]

It's certainly more related to the tech industry than other fields. Experience will always be an advantage over a degree alone. The issue that may arise is at some point, in order to "move up", the degree may be considered advantageous when being considered for a position (management). Especially if the hiring person has a degree(s). It indicates that the potential candidate took the extra step of completing/accomplishing something.

A degree means almost nothing to me (20+ yrs in tech) when seeking out potential employees, but I've witnessed several instances where a degree did make a difference in whether or not a person got a position.

[seattlenextyear]

Programmers with degrees tend to write more elegant code and are better able at reducing "junk code" that just slows down processes. That's generally good for software companies, but not necessarily as good for programmers who work for smaller businesses, where code just needs to be written as fast (and as sloppily) as possible.

[VeronikaW]

Originally Posted by chris

The issue that may arise is at some point, in order to "move up", the degree may be considered advantageous when being considered for a position (management).

That might be, but my husband is being moved into management, without a degree. He is in the tech industry, so again, it could be that.

V. =)