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That's assumes the folks making hiring and promotion decisions at your work knows the employee and that his experience, knowledge, and ability is superior or at least equal to those with better credentials. Or at least know someone at the company that they trust will vouch for that employee.
Once you get outside that comfort zone, the folks making hiring decisions are much more gunshy in promoting or hiring someone with lesser credentials when there are other decent candidates with superior credentials. It is not that easy to determine the skill level of various candidates that you do not know or worked with based on a resume and a short interview.
It shouldn't be this way, but if that person doesn't work out, the hiring manager will get their judgment questioned and ultimately blamed for all the faults of the employee by higher levels of management. However, if they hire the person with the best credentials and experience and that person doesn't work out, no one blames the hiring manager.
That's why if it is a job where a degree isn't required, but lots of candidates have one, they are much more likley to get a job and be promoted.
That's why I said degrees are good for getting a foot in the door.
So, for instance, I can become an engineer or CPA just by working my way up? No specific degree necessary for either field? Has anyone on this board ever accomplished this in their career? I'm just trying to get some insight so I can decide if going back to school is a good idea for me.
This doesn't sound right. Where I work, all of the engineers must have engineering degrees, and those who want to get anywhere must have their PE.
EDIT: Read a subsequent post--you weren't talking about actual engineers but "telecom engineers", whatever they are.
I think the person who could pass those tests through self-study is a very rare bird, but I know that you cannot get a CPA license (in most states, anyway) without at least 150 college credits. Some of those have to be upper-level accounting courses.
I think theoretically you could take the bar exam without law school, but I've never heard of anyone doing it (I could be dead wrong here- I really don't know), but I'd be shocked if such a loophole existed for nurses.
You can, or at least could in the past, although some states require the law degree now. I knew someone who worked in the law department for years, studied on his own, and passed the bar exam to become a lawyer without going to college.
There's also a famous trivia question, "Which of the following was kicked out of law school?" and then it names Abraham Lincoln, Clarence Darrow, and a couple of other famous lawyers. The answer is Clarence Darrow, because none of the other ever even attended law school.
This doesn't sound right. Where I work, all of the engineers must have engineering degrees, and those who want to get anywhere must have their PE.
EDIT: Read a subsequent post--you weren't talking about actual engineers but "telecom engineers", whatever they are.
I was referring to engineers in general, but using telecom engineers as an example. Honestly, from what I gather, telecom engineers are not engineers in the traditional sense. It sounds like they receive instructions from vendors on how to put equipment together. They don't actually use math and science to design things, like perhaps a mechanical engineer or an electrical engineer.
So, for instance, I can become an engineer or CPA just by working my way up? No specific degree necessary for either field?
Of course not. This is moronic advice that only a person who passed up college would utter. The notion that these guys could get hired for all these jobs is silly. Here's how it works in the real world:
Without a competitive degree, many hiring managers for qualifying higher-paid positions will not even talk to you - and that will make it tough to get the experience needed to enhance your competitiveness.
Without a competitive degree, fewer doors will open for you in the form of competing job offers, recruiters, networking contacts, etc.
Without a competitive degree, you're more likely to work lower-skilled jobs that pay materially less - and even if you do get that college degree-level job, you're likely to come in at a lower salary than your peers who have good degrees.
Of course not. This is moronic advice that only a person who passed up college would utter. The notion that these guys could get hired for all these jobs is silly. Here's how it works in the real world:
Without a competitive degree, many hiring managers for qualifying higher-paid positions will not even talk to you - and that will make it tough to get the experience needed to enhance your competitiveness.
Without a competitive degree, fewer doors will open for you in the form of competing job offers, recruiters, networking contacts, etc.
Without a competitive degree, you're more likely to work lower-skilled jobs that pay materially less - and even if you do get that college degree-level job, you're likely to come in at a lower salary than your peers who have good degrees.
That's why I said degrees are good for getting a foot in the door.
It's not just for your first job, but also internal transfers. Some jobs are a step by step progression up through a specific group or division, but often it is more messy. You might start in one group, then have to move around laterally because of a piece of the business downsizing, closing, or being sold, or just if you want a better opportunity or a chance to diversify your skills in another area.
Those transfers often require interviewing, just like your first job, though they might be more informal.
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