Degree ? Waste Of Time

[sasguru]

I'm the standard conveyor belt model. Good A-levels at 18 then straight into a red-brick where I got a 2-1, but learnt bugger all. Did a business Masters in my early thirties after a few years as a contractor and got much more out of it.
Going back to university with a flash car and having your own pad means you have no probem scoring with the nice young nubile undergrads. And all the spotty male undergrads hate you

[privateeye]

No degree and not even any O'levels or whatever they are called today - local authority ran out of money to pay for exams as we were coming to the end of the last Labour dictatorship in the 70's.

I now work as a troubleshooting release manager and primarily work for all the clients where the people walking around with their HND's and PHD's hanging out have messed it all up and now they need someone who doesn't rely on a piece of paper to say he can do the job but can proove it in the real world.

Degree's or not the proof is in what you can actually do, if a degree is on a CV or not it doesn't matter to me, what I read is the experience and interview on that. The only contracts I've been rejected for are those writing scientific applications so in the whole it has not been a hindrance. I do not rate any modern day qualifications as they are all to easy to pass. An O'Level in my day is probably worth a degree these days.

[darmstadt]

Diddley squat (unless you count 2 O's in English) but I have nver had a problem in finding nor getting a job and am now quite well respected/known in my area of the trade. I don't think I was ever asked for my qualifications at an interview and I don't ever believe it was important for the interviewer, what was important was 'can you do the job?' Strangely enough here in Germany they want to know what I studied, where I studied and to what level. They're quite amazed that I never studied any computer subjects at all yet still know more than they do!

[TinTin]

Don't bother!

When I finished my degree in Computing (with Maths/Stats) in the early 80's, I thought I'd never be able to work as hardly anyone had ever heard of computers, let alone used one. There were no PCs apart from Apple and NO Windows (or even Microsoft for that matter). We were taught BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN and PASCAL in VAX/VMS m/frames. Only 1 in 4 went to Unis most of whom with just a few A-levels ranging from B-D (hardly any A's) Most of my class came out with 2.2 (or even Class 3) and I'm talking about one of the top Unis in London. Why am I bothered to tell you all this, you may ask. It's because today half of the students end up going for a degree, the majority have a handful of A-Levels (mostly A's and A+) and a lot come out with 1st or 2.1. Have the standards gone up ? I don't think so, judging by the lack of subject knowledge of most 'green-peas', not withstanding the complete lack of social skills. So in terms of paper qualifications, a degree today is worth 2 good A-Levels 20 years ago and employers simply upgrade their requirents to allow for current trends. I'd rather employ (and I have!) a savvy streetwise school leaver than a know-it-all wet-behind-the-ears graduate. You don't need a degree to learn or understand programming ffs!

[expat]

I've always wondered about these supposed 'soft' benefits of doing a degree ... I reckon 3 years of doing a job (any job) will get you at least some of the same if not more of these other experiences/benefits etc.

I don't reckon that at all.

If it was 3 years study or 3 years job, not both, it would be a question. But you'll be doing enough years job sooner or later anyway!

And I'm sorry, but I wouldn't even call it "'soft' benefits", that still smacks too much of economics-oriented cost-benefit analysis. The whole point is that it is something different from that.

[thunderlizard]

If it wasn't for my 4 years as a student I wouldn't have half the contacts I've got now. If I'm going for a contract at most of the top 50 companies in the UK, chances are there's somebody I can call to get the inside track: lots of them from uni. That's not to mention all the others in all dorts of jobs who are just generally handy and/or interesting in day to day life.

[Jabberwocky]

KnobJockey, stop dreaming. You'll have to pass your GSCEs first.

When you get near the top of the tree sasguru the competition is fiercer because space is so limited. It's true that I have no GSCEs. Education only teaches you what you can never have.

[zeitghost]

Went to school, I studied
And I got my G.C.E.
My City and Guilds and my Sky Diary
But it didn't do me no good
They didn't like my looks,
So I burnt my books

25 years doesn't matter anymore
I stand around the streets
And lie around the floor
looking at the sky
I watch the world go by

25 years, 25 years...

I started out one day
And I worked in a factory
My mind went blank,
I needed a battery
Didn't do me no good
I got the sack,
My work was slack

They said there's life up there in the galaxy
The world's in collision
There's people with an allergy
25 years of,
25 years of,
25 years of social research


Spent 25 years doesn't matter anymore

I stand around the streets
And lie around the floor
Looking at the sky
I watch the world go by...

25 years,
25 years

Hawkwind.

[Francko]

If it wasn't for my 4 years as a student I wouldn't have half the contacts I've got now. If I'm going for a contract at most of the top 50 companies in the UK, chances are there's somebody I can call to get the inside track: lots of them from uni. That's not to mention all the others in all dorts of jobs who are just generally handy and/or interesting in day to day life.

Those days is probably impossible to start without a degree. However, 10 years ago or so it didn't make any difference. If you can compare people with 10 years of experience with people of 10 years +4/5 education, you just realise there is no difference at all, the clever people will learn anyhow, whether in a uni whether at work, the dumb people won't learn neither from a red brick uni nor at work. Yet, it's hard to prove that you are brilliant and it is easier to have something to show off. One thing for sure, if you have an academic background you are able to express yourself to a better degree, and therefore you can bulltulip your way up with ease (I reckon that's the most importan skill ever).

[SAPBoy]

To my mind there are two types of people; the first being people with drive, ambition and the will to learn and develop. The second being those who are happy with whatever they get as long as they get by. A degree is by no means a guarantee of future employment or financial security - most plumbers get more per hour than IT contractors. It basically boils down to the individual. If I was aged 17 now and faced with the dilema of 3-4 years of study followed by 5 years repaying loans or going out and getting a trade/experience, I would probably go for the latter. I know a dentist on £160K and a guy who started a gardening business who retired at 40 with £13M and no education. It's about the person, not the schooling.