Useless Degree?

I often peruse the blog “The Future Buzz” and today I stumbled on a blog post addressing an article by the New York Times that explained how the college degree that I have been working so hard to achieve is actually little or no help in today’s workforce.

As you can imagine, I was appalled. If it’s not worth much, why have I wasted the past four years of my life trying to get it? There are so many people in today’s society earning college degrees and so I understand the need for companies to find the best candidate but I don't think that college degrees should be belittled or looked over. College degrees, while they are more common, are no easy feat.

It is in my opinion that college degrees should be looked at with respect, not just a checkbox on a resume. Adam Singer posted on his blog “The Future Buzz”

“I’ve never considered education to mean anything other than be a checkbox section of a resume. Sure it’s needed, but it isn’t really a qualifying factor.”

There is a reason for universities and expensive tuitions: because it shows that a person took the time and effort to learn about a subject and practice.

I do appreciate the use of hands-on experience and it plays a huge factor in the workplace. Actually using skills and knowledge are much different from learning about them. As a person who has made a firm effort to get hands-on experience I can tell and appreciate the difference. However, I think they come hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other. The best candidate will have a broad knowledge of a subject and have the ability to apply that knowledge to practice.

With that said, employers should appreciate the time and effort put in to achieve that piece of paper that they gloss over in a resume. Once upon a time it used to mean something great, and to many it still does.