Topics: First job/Recent graduate · All topics

Career advice: Is a College Degree Useless?

Zooeycity withheld

A college degree today is almost useless in getting ahead. I worked hard and got my bachelor's degree six years ago, and I can tell you personally that in the jobs I have been hired for, it was totally useless for getting hired. I sweated plenty in having an outstanding grade-point average only to discover that employers don't even bother to look at it for a position. No one is going to hire you just because you have a degree in something. The only thing a degree might do for you is get your resume past the preliminary screening a human-resources person does when initially looking through received resumes for a position.

All the talk about "research" showing "statistics" about how much a college degree increases your lifetime earnings, etc. is just propaganda put out by the college academic community to protect THEIR jobs by keeping up this farce. Don't waste the time and money on a college degree. Get into training for plumbing or car repair, or a skill like carpentry or welding. Don't saddle your kids with four years of sweating over books, tests and a huge debt at the end of it. There are truck drivers in my area who make more money, have a more secure future and are in greater demand than me with my degree.

I dare anyone to challenge the assertions I have made in the above!

Frances's advice

While we would never challenge anyone on his or her personal experience, it’s almost too hard to resist questioning the basic premise of what you’ve said. Earning a college degree is not useless. It’s not useless in two very important ways. It’s not useless in a practical way (having to do with employment) and it’s certainly not useless in a personal way (having to do with a person’s character and the very quality of their life).

Most employers do look to see if a person has a college degree in the preliminary stages of hiring. They look, not so much to see if it substantiates any particular body of knowledge, but to see if a person has the stick-to-it-iveness and perseverance to finish something that does require stamina, hard work over a long period of time, and shows a personal desire to set and reach goals. Most people aren’t hired for just one specific reason (like having a degree) but when put into the mix of all the things a person brings to a job, we think it’s better to have a degree than not. If you truly believe that’s wrong, try removing any mention of your degree from your job hunting documents, and see how far you get then.

Secondly, and most importantly, the truest benefit of any endeavor is measured by what we take from the experience that helps us develop into a person with depth and breath. Setting a goal and reaching that goal, especially when it’s hard, gives a person a sense of self-worth and pride. Striving to do something to make yourself into a better and more interesting person doesn’t seem like wasted effort to us. However, if your only reason for obtaining a degree was because you believed it would somehow magically open more doors for you or allow you to make more money, then you probably would have been better off going to plumbing or truck driving school. Education is not only about advancement in the work force, it is about advancement if life. If you think we’re wrong here, just imagine what your life would now be like in terms of social standing, your interests, admiration from those kids you mentioned, and even your vocabulary if you hadn’t sweated over those books. It’s doubtful to us that you would even have taken the time to write into the Career Journal without this particular life experience. Don’t give up on your degree; it serves you in more ways than one.

Topics: First job/Recent graduate · All topics