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View Full Version : College degree on no college degree



LinuxFanBoi
February 28th, 2010, 04:52 PM
Weigh in..

clanky
February 28th, 2010, 05:31 PM
I haven't voted as my opinion doesn't fit the poll.

I think a degree is a huge benefit, if you can get one then go for it, but it is not a must, it is possible to get through life and do very well without a degree.

Personally I have a masters in mechanical and process engineering, but there are people who do my job just as well without a degree.

cap10Ibraim
February 28th, 2010, 05:52 PM
If you want that degree then it's a must , otherwise skip it

Queue29
February 28th, 2010, 07:49 PM
It depends on what you want to do...

Zoot7
February 28th, 2010, 08:22 PM
It really depends on the area you want to go into.

I'm almost finished my degree in Electrical and Electronic engineering, and in this particular field a degree is indeed a must, but for some other field it might not be so. What is it that you want to do?

phrostbyte
February 28th, 2010, 09:06 PM
For being a plumber? No.
For being a engineer? Yes.
For being a lawyer? Yes.
For being a doctor? Yes.

PS: There is no shame in being a plumber. Many of them make more money then you'd believe.

blueshiftoverwatch
February 28th, 2010, 09:15 PM
PS: There is no shame in being a plumber. Many of them make more money then you'd believe.
Especially if you own your own business, don't hire any employees, and work locally. Once you have all of the equipment bought it's relatively high profit coupled with low overhead. At least compared to other business ventures.

steev182
February 28th, 2010, 09:16 PM
It's not necessary to have one in IT, I'm living proof of this, but it sure as hell makes things a lot harder when trying to break into it/progress.

If I could go back to when I was 16, I would've stayed on, done A Levels, gone to Uni and I'd be a step higher than I am now.

I don't think I'd have know more, or had more wisdom in my field - I fact I'd have less, but that little line of text on your CV/Resume shows your prospective employer that you can learn quickly without you having to prove it yourself.

Kdar
February 28th, 2010, 09:24 PM
I think before, when all this technology just started to grow, degree wasn't needed. I know a lot of people in my field who started working without a degree.

But I think right now, you need to have it to able to start working in some IT or Engineering field, well, maybe not IT, but engineering for sure.

I am currently studying for electrical engineering. And I don't think I could have gone into this field without a degree.

Master degree is under question, since someone else, with just bachelor degree could have a much better job experience. But I am still planning to get it, maybe soon after I finish with my bachelor.

Mark Phelps
March 1st, 2010, 12:37 AM
Depends mostly on two factors:
1) what "profession" you want to pursue
2) what "hiring managers" demand from job applicants.

As to 1), quite obviously, professions like law and medicine require not only degrees but also professional licenses.

When you're talking about IT jobs (which I know from personal experience), 2) comes much more into play.

Having done lots of degree work, including graduate and post-graduate, I can state that in several decades of computer system engineering, I have never ONCE been called upon to use ANYTHING I learned getting any of my degrees.

When I was hiring folks, I looked for willingness to learn, technical background, enthusiasm -- and other such traits that have little or nothing to do with degrees.

But these days, the current flock of "hiring managers" seems to use degrees (or more appropriately, the lack thereof) as a way to eliminate candidates.

So, while having a degree is no ticket to success, NOT having a degree can stand in the way of getting the opportunities to succeed.

LinuxFanBoi
March 1st, 2010, 01:12 AM
Sorry i wasn't more clear with the intent of the poll. This was for the IT/Computer science/engineering fields.

sgosnell
March 1st, 2010, 01:18 AM
Your poll choices are bogus, and far too limiting.

Having a college degree always helps, even if it's in a non-related field. It shows you have the basic intelligence to walk and chew bubblegum at the same time, and that you have the persistence to get it. It's not necessarily a must, but almost every time a person is hired, if there are two otherwise equally-qualified persons are being considered, the one with the degree will be hired. You can make yourself more desirable without a degree, of course, and not having one won't always keep you from being hired, but having one is always an asset.

WinterMadness
March 1st, 2010, 01:23 AM
many places hire on skill sets.

If a company tries to hire you based on a degree then that company is inferior and backwards (in regards to most IT jobs that is).

If you want to goto college for computers and such, its totally fine. I just think if you know the material (which many do) then you should be able to goto the interview and be treated as an equal.

I did job shadowing (yes im getting a degree lol) and one of the people told me how they hired someone who got their masters and graduated at the top of the class and they couldnt do basic things, while they hired someone who just knew everything (programmers, mind you) and theyve been there for a while.

cprofitt
March 1st, 2010, 01:49 AM
This question is multi-faceted.

I have a BA (non-IT degree). Due to my timing I did not need an IT degree and doubt that my BA helped in getting my first IT job. Getting my second IT job was different. The college degree was a pre-requisite. The fact that is was not in IT was outweighed by my IT experience.

For a person looking to get in to IT I would say a degree is essential now... at least a two year degree.

For people with experience -- I think they can continue trucking w/o a degree unless they want to be management.