Degree or Not Degree?

Do you need a degree to get that job? This is an old question that keeps coming up. Those who have degrees will answer with an emphatic “yes!”. Those who don’t will answer…well…maybe.

If you are among those who do not have a degree your answer will depend on whether or not you have been turned down for positions that required a degree, or whether you believe that not having a degree is holding you back from a better position within your company.

The truth is that not having a degree in most career fields is holding you back. At a minimum, it’s holding you back from earning more money since people with Bachelor’s degrees earn over a million dollars more over their lifetimes than people without a college degree. Even those with only an Associates’ degree earn about $500,000 more over their lifetimes than those without a degree. Check out the research!

As to not getting the jobs you dream of, or at least avoiding careers that suck,…getting the piece of paper matters. More and more, even jobs that used to accept high school diplomas as a matter of practice are recruiting college grads hot and heavy. For instance, retailers like Target, Lowe’s, Home Depot and The Limited are mainstays at college recruiting events. They have programs specifically designed to fast track college grads into management roles. Other employers with college fast track programs include Enterprise Rent-A-Car, WalGreen’s and Wal-Mart.

Does this mean that you can’t get a good job without a degree? No. It means that it is harder than it ever was to get a job that pays more than $10 an hour and requires any special skills without a degree. Low-wage jobs such as cashiers, clerks, janitors, fast-food counter/window help and receptionists will continue to be the domain of people without degrees. Employers simply cannot afford to hire or retain college graduates in these positions.

So what about experience? Where does that rank here? Well, experience still ranks fairly highly. Employers scan the resumes for the college degree, then they look for relevant experience. If you have a significant amount of experience many employers will select you over a college grad with little or no work experience. In fact, many employers list this in their ads “college degree or equivalent experience”. This usually means that if you have 5 years (for mid-level jobs) of experience, but no degree and you are applying for a job that requires 2-3 years of experience plus a degree, your experience may be seen as equivalent to the degree.

So, where does that leave us? Well, if you have lots of experience in a field and you want to continue to be employed in that field, your chance of getting to the job of your dreams is pretty good. But, if you want to change careers, you’ll need the degree (or a hookup). If you have little experience and no degree, you have two choices–get the degree or get the experience. This means taking a lower level, lower-paying jobs just to gain the experience.

Finally, if you have the degree and no work experience, you’re not all set. The degree opens the gate and possibly gets you into the cheap seats, but won’t take you all the way. You’ll still need to prove yourself and build your skills and experience to get where you want to go. But, don’t despair, once you’ve got a few years under your belt, then you’re sitting pretty.

Got more questions about careers or job search? Ask Miss Celanea or visit Careersthatdontsuck.com.