General Discussions

**theinspirer** · 10-05-2007, 12:37 PM

How many of you think that the degree you get from a college decides your career? I'm personally against it. But in countries like India you cannot survive without having a degree. Your career is decided only based on the marks you score at your University level and most of the companies here doesn't give importance to your knowledge but to your marks. And i personally know a few people who were recruited by IT companies for their marks, who don't even know how to boot a computer. But people who have intensive programming knowledge are jobless and they are neglected just for the fact that they receive poor marks in Academic level. Well, what is your opinion in this issue.

**mhaye_01** · 10-05-2007, 01:26 PM

Why would you study for so long then get a job that is not related to your degree.. I graduated with a Bachelor Degree in I.T and now working related into it.

Maybe it would become useless if you have poor grade because some company look after it

**PC Catastrophe** · 10-05-2007, 04:42 PM

I know a lot of people who have not used their college education towards their profession. I think this typically happens because as teenagers fresh out of high school you are forced to decide what you want to do with your life. Fresh out of high school I wanted a law degree. Four years a go I only wanted to do networking. Now, I am working on a web design degree. People's interests change over time. I read the average person changes careers three times in their life time. Their is so much to choose from, sometimes its difficult to figure out what ties all of our interests and knowledge into our own package.
As far as people walking around with degrees, but don't know what in the world they are doing....Well, thats just going to happen. I commented on this same issue as far as Microsoft Certified Professionals sometime ago.
I learned in a business class that within the first thirty seconds of an interview the employer decides whether or not they are going to hire you. Maybe some people get jobs based more so on that first impression.

**cleverdesigner** · 10-05-2007, 10:40 PM

As for me, I don't care if I have a degree or not although i feel like its an advantage if you do so.. i feel the same for those who have degrees but doesn't even have the skills and those who don't but are so good at what they're doing. if that is the company's point of view in hiring people, its their loss.

**PC Catastrophe** · 10-06-2007, 09:52 AM

I know that a lot of web designers do not feel like they need a degree because you can teach yourself most everything and some people are just extremely talented. I am not so sure I completely agree with this though. Here is why...
A standard college degree offers something that schools that are focused in just the degree; no math or English; and natural talent do not offer. They offer the basics. I know this does not apply to everyone, but some people it really does apply to. There is nothing more disgusting than browsing through a web designers/ hosting company portfolio to run across grammatical errors. Even more pitiful considering we have spell check these days. A designer was showing me his site, ever so proud of his work, the second word, in red, was spelled wrong.
Like I said, this doesn't apply to everyone, but sometimes that degree, with decent grades, at least means you can write a paragraph and communicate with customers.
Please don't beat me up for this one guys, I know how most of you feel about degrees being unnecessary.

**Michelle Ü** · 10-06-2007, 12:23 PM

i graduated with a degree on bachelor of science major in management. i do work related to what i finished but honestly there are times that you would think that what you're doing is not related to what have you studied or vice versa. there are also things which you will not learn on books, in school, your determination and eagerness of things makes you aware of everything around you.

**serandfae** · 10-06-2007, 12:25 PM

Well, I'm going to go out on a limb, here...I was an International Studies major, and was on the fast track to either the State Dept. or any number of multinational corps. but went from being a lifelong 4.0 student to crashing and burning without knowing why. No drugs or alcohol involved, nothing I could pinpoint.

Turned out I'm manic-depressive. Been fine for years now, but didn't go back to school, 'cause I decided that my other lifelong passion--art--was more my bag than politics. It's been 12 years since I left college, and I've just dedicated myself to learning as much as I can about as much as I wish. And it's a far more diverse education than any college can offer.

Matter of fact, one of the pet projects I can tell you about (the others are trade secrets I'm marketing) is a one-man, twin prop helicopter. At this point still in blueprints, though I'm about to start on the engines (twin turbines powered by LP). Look up what an airgeep looks like, then imagine what a one-man craft would look like, riding it like a motorcycle. It's going to be a chopper!

Long story short--your path is dictated by your will. Your education, however you get it, is merely a tool toward that. Too many people become imprisoned by their dreams or their drive, because they lose sight of the fact that they are in command of their direction.

**theinspirer** · 10-06-2007, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by serandfae

your path is dictated by your will. Your education, however you get it, is merely a tool toward that. Too many people become imprisoned by their dreams or their drive, because they lose sight of the fact that they are in command of their direction.

Well said, Well said indeed.

**swiftmed** · 10-06-2007, 09:50 PM

i dont think it decides anything personally. i didnt even complete my exams in school (or high school in america), and yet, i left school, and now own 2 very sucessful companies which allow me to live my life without the worry of money, i have a nice car, a nice house.

however i think a degree would help if you were applying to work for somebody else. i dont think id be in such a great position right now if i decided to work for somebody else knowing i dont have any exams, but if you plan to work for yourself, and you have the determination and beleif in yourself, i truely beleive you can be a big success!

**serandfae** · 10-07-2007, 12:13 AM

Nope. Right Guard.

(I've tried to resist posting that...but I just couldn't)

**w3bmaster** · 10-07-2007, 04:11 PM

School doesn't get you a job that's for sure

School didn't helped me in any way

And a degree is just a paper what counts ? is what are your skills and knowledge

**zrohder** · 10-08-2007, 05:04 AM

it really depends.. for some it doesn't matter.. for some it does.. but for me schools a waste of time.. i got a job without a degree i even get paid more for some graduates out there..

**ewomack** · 10-08-2007, 05:26 PM

From an employer's standpoint a degree means everything. A lot of jobs here require a college degree minimum. I see more and more IT postings that actually spell out a certain kind of degree: IT, MIS, etc. That didn't used to be the case. Fifteen years back almost anyone with a B.A. could waltz into an IT department, boot a computer and press the "Start" key and get offered a job. It was all "on the job training" from that point on. Those days have passed like last week's lunch. Whether it's fair or not, many use a degree as a baseline of knowledge. That's not to say that you need a degree in every possible case, but getting into the sciences or a highly technical research field without the paper will prove very difficult.

**Learning Newbie** · 10-08-2007, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ewomack

From an employer's standpoint a degree means everything. A lot of jobs here require a college degree minimum. I see more and more IT postings that actually spell out a certain kind of degree: IT, MIS, etc. That didn't used to be the case. Fifteen years back almost anyone with a B.A. could waltz into an IT department, boot a computer and press the "Start" key and get offered a job. It was all "on the job training" from that point on. Those days have passed like last week's lunch. Whether it's fair or not, many use a degree as a baseline of knowledge. That's not to say that you need a degree in every possible case, but getting into the sciences or a highly technical research field without the paper will prove very difficult.

I agree and disagree with you. At my age, and maybe coming from a Russian family, I think education is next to Godliness. But I know half of that is my up bringing. My parents wouldn't let me out the house until they'd read the paper to me until I was around 14.

Nowadays I get the impression education is less important. It used to be that even if you had a English major or Philosophy or something worthless, it just showed you can deal with the demands of corporate life. Attendance, reports, work, all of that. It separated the blue collar workers from the white collar ones. But now that everything is changing so fast in the electronic world I think it doesn't matter so much.