Re:U.S. Citizens Now Hold About $1.3 Trillion in Student Loa...
by nickik on Monday November 21, 2016 @11:57AM
(#13006872)
I basically agree with you, but there is just a lot of people that don't. In IT you can get pretty far, without a degree. I did so, and I am very happy with that choice.
I don't see that working for a lot of other people I know.
I think the US is approaching numbers where you might really be better of without a degree in a increasing number of fields.
Re:U.S. Citizens Now Hold About $1.3 Trillion in Student Loa...
by kesselvon on Monday November 21, 2016 @10:24AM
(#13006008)
Most places will not take your resume seriously if you don't have a degree attached. Startups tend to be more lenient sometimes, but Big Corp. isn't going to touch you without a degree, nor will you have a promotion path without one.
It's the reality of the situation, and until there's a significant change in attitude, not having "a" degree is going to hurt your career prospects unless you're a wildly successful entrepreneur or have great connections/independently wealthy.
A signal, I can agree with that. But isn't that only because someone is unable to signal that (s)he can be a valuable asset in other ways? The type of person to only rely on their degree is probably a person that isn't creative enough to find more effective ways to market themself.
I think education is great and learning new things is massively important in life. I just personally don't believe in the degree fetish that a lot of people have. Just look at the quality of the average graduate in a lot of universities and/or colleges in the US and Europe.
To me, at best, a degree is an inefficient way to differentiate yourself from a group of similar people with similar skills. Maybe not a bad thing if you're at the start of your career. But at worst, it has zero additional value.