College Degrees & Jobs

[totalia]

College is ALWAYS a good idea. Alot of places won't even consider hiring you without a degree.

If you think that college is just teaching you about a subject, you would be wrong. It's teaching you ways of thinking and of problem solving that would take you much longer to learn otherwise.

You may not get a job in the program you took but employers like what they see because they know a college trained professional will understand things that someone who isn't trained never will.

I think ANYONE who works beyond a supervisor should have a management degree for example. So few people actually have a clue about what they are doing in that area and it causes nothing but trouble.

It's just good business sense to have a degree.

 

[SC Minnie]

We just hired a person in my department (Fortune 100 Co) one step above entry level and a college degree was required. We weren't even allowed to consider candidates without a degree. There were internal people that applied but they didn't have a degree. These days a college degree is almost what a high school diploma was 30 yrs ago. You won't be considered for office non-clerical employment in most larger co. without one.

I know I would not have the position I currently possess or make the salary that I do if I did not have a Business degree. If I want to move up to the top of the ladder I know I need to go back and get my Masters but that's not feasible right now. There are many days I take my education for granted and then there are days I quietly thank my parents for sacrificing to make sure I had that piece of paper.

DH and I are prepaying for DD10's college and she knows that not going is not an option.

 

[ZachnElli]

Originally posted by tandrjohn
There are exceptions to every rule: Bill Gates, your DH...Generally speaking and statistically proven, if you have a college degree you are going to make more money in your lifetime than you would if you don't have a degree. The career versus job thing I think is a matter of opinion. I have a degree and a career but when I go to work in the morning, I go to my job!

ITA! I'm not really advocating not going to college, I'm just saying it can work like it did for my dh. Believe me, my kids have got college savings accounts going and they know it!

 

[robsmom]

Originally posted by EsmeraldaX
Virtually ALL of the people I know WITHOUT degrees are making signifigantly more $$$ now than folks I know with degrees.


esmeraldax - I invite you some time to come to my neighborhood and find out what people do and if they have a degree. I live in a nice sort of upper middle class neighborhood. Not rich, mansions or anything but comfortable. At the same time, i would ask you to go to the worse neighborhood that you can find in boston and do the same. when you are done you will know alot more people. then re-evaluate whether all the people without degrees are making more than those with. the majority of people in my neighborhood have degrees, not all but most. suspect that you would not find that in the intercity.

also if you get a chance go to the library and check out a book called the millionaire next door. It is a great study done by some professors at University of New York - rochester.

the book is about wealth accumulation. It isn't really about college vs non-college but has some good stats in it.

 

[Strawberry Lemonade]

Originally posted by ZachnElli
My dh has a career without a degree. He's been in the same business for 12 years, it's definitely a career. We bought our first house 10 years ago. The house we are in now (just moved), we just made a call, gave them our ss#'s and were approved. No proof of income or past taxes or anything needed.

I don't know your husband and I don't know what he does. Without getting personal, it is possible to hold a job for an extended period of time and it still not be a "career".

My point was that *I* don't know anyone that is more financially successful without a college degree than those with degrees. I'm sure many people have a parent/sibling/SO/roommate/what have you who is just raking in the dough with no higher education, but the point, which other posters have also mentioned, is that that statistics speak for themselves. People you know falling into this category are generally the exception, not the rule.