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(LOL, I missed your tongue-in-cheek intention at first too! )
So anyway, let's say you have two employees at a widget factory.
Employee #1 has a degree, but is slow, lazy, and makes an average of 50 widgets a day.
Employee #2 has no degree, but has a good worth ethic and lots of experience in the field. They make 100 widgets a day.
Who is more valuable? Who is more hirable? Who helps the company make more profits?
While some bureaucratic or snobby establishments might favor a degreed employee over a non-degreed one (even non-degreed ones who are very competent), few companies are going to keep a useless employee on the payroll, regardless of their degree. The degree without doing good work is not worth much. Someone with no degree, but with good work, at least has some hope!
There are some fields (particularly creative ones) where at the end of the day, the degree doesn't mean much. We like what we like and if we like it, we pay for it. For example, does anyone know which of their favorite authors, artists, singers, have college degrees and which don't? Would you enjoy a person's book or song more if you discovered they had a degree? Would you enjoy their work less when you found out they didn't?
Last edited by elvira310; 03-10-2015 at 12:16 PM..
I find it so strange that some people get so defensive and intimidated by those with degrees. I wonder what caused them to get that way. Was it something they conjured up in their head and decided was a big deal? Was it drummed into them that it was so important?
I do recall one time a friend of mine refused to date an attractive guy who was interested in her, "because he didn't have a degree." I think it was her inelegant way of saying that the guy wasn't very educated/smart. But it sounded so snobby.
I guess if someone meets enough people who are snobs, they might develop a chip on their shoulder!
As I said in earlier posts, I think it's more about what you can do, rather than your certification or degree. Some people get very caught up in thinking that the degree or certification is all that is necessary, without considering the reason behind the degree—to do something with it!
I once met a woman who had an advanced degree in an area that she was not currently working. (As far as I am aware, she hadn't done anything to develop her skills or training in this area since she got out of college.) She acted as if the degree (just saying she had one) should garner awe and respect, without her having to do anything more than that. She also acted somewhat annoyed when someone without a prestigious degree was advancing in their career, far more than she was (because she wasn't doing anything with it!). It was almost as if she expected that no one could possibly "do" anything of worth unless they had a degree. (Which was rather ironic, since she wasn't doing anything herself with it! ) People are funny sometimes.
On the other hand, I know someone who is very capable and hard-working, and actively DOING good work within his field, yet he has had very little exposure to a formal education. While for the most part he is excellent at what he does, I sometimes detect some "rough around the edges" areas which could benefit from some further education. I think he senses that I can "tell" and he gets defensive about it. But in his case, I think it's more about the actual abilities (what he can and cannot DO) rather than some nebulous criticism that "He didn't attend college/doesn't have a degree." He could attain these additional areas of training without the degree, easily. And he should!
Many degrees are nothing more than literally a piece of paper. Especially the more common degree programs. Ask any student today, what they are truly gaining from most of their academics and they will admit, it's just a needed tool and you go get it. Wisdom and experience trumps all. The boss is where he is for a reason. Not because he screwed off his way through four years frat house partying anc Bsing his way through a few exams he knew nothing about and then waived to mom and dad with a big smile as he taunted his degree on graduation day.
I have nothing against college degrees. I have one. But it did little for me in reality. I still paved my own path and was hungry to get there. Some of the least intelligent people I know have a degree and most of the smartest, creative, hard working go getters I know, do not.
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)
) People are funny sometimes.
