Is a college degree really worth much these days?

[CrazyDe1]

Originally posted by: Jumpem

Originally posted by: glugglug
Unless you are in a field where a degree is absolutely REQUIRED, i.e. medicine or teaching, a degree is a waste of time & money. Particularly for those going into the software development field, I would say a psychology degree would have been more useful in the corporate environment than my computer engineering degree, even as a software engineer. That should give you an idea about how relevant college actually is.

You're wrong on the software development field. The two companies I have been doing software at will not hire an SE without a degree.

Some of the best SE's don't have degrees and have extensive experience in open source development.

You'd be an idiot to not hire some of these people to work at your company...

 

[Jumpem]

Originally posted by: CrazyDe1
Some of the best SE's don't have degrees and have extensive experience in open source development.

You'd be an idiot to not hire some of these people to work at your company...

Open source is trash. People and companies both need to be reimbursed for the work they do.

 

[Kalbi]

A degree in sociology will get you nowhere.

 

[OulOat]

Originally posted by: Kalbi
A degree in sociology will get you nowhere.

Except in teaching socialogy. And the vicious cycle continues...

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: Jumpem

Originally posted by: glugglug
Unless you are in a field where a degree is absolutely REQUIRED, i.e. medicine or teaching, a degree is a waste of time & money. Particularly for those going into the software development field, I would say a psychology degree would have been more useful in the corporate environment than my computer engineering degree, even as a software engineer. That should give you an idea about how relevant college actually is.

You're wrong on the software development field. The two companies I have been doing software at will not hire an SE without a degree.

Actually, you're both wrong; you're wrong in that you're pretending that your experiences alone somehow apply to the industry as a whole. You can't get more fallacious than that.

I could easily argue, and easily prove, that I have more experience than both of you in this industry, but still I wouldn't endeavor to apply my experiences to yours. The reality is that it always depends, and it depends not on the paper but on the person. Some of the best I've known in this industry were degree-less, and still others had PhDs in CS.

I know, and work with, people that work for top companies (e.g. Microsoft, Ernst and Young, Fidelity) making over six figures and are without degrees. A degree is just another value indicator, and if you don't meet it you'll be left behind no matter where you went to school.

In the end, there is only one way to truly value a person: Their ability to perform the needed work that continually exceeds expectations. You can argue a degree all you like, but there's a whole segment of people out there making well over twice the cubicle farmers without a degree.

Also, just a general understanding of life: Never apply hard rules, because all you do is limit your potential. If someone tells me that I can't do something without or because of something then that's just another reason for me to show otherwise. If you can't meet them with expectations you can beat them with results.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: Jumpem

Originally posted by: CrazyDe1
Some of the best SE's don't have degrees and have extensive experience in open source development.

You'd be an idiot to not hire some of these people to work at your company...

Open source is trash. People and companies both need to be reimbursed for the work they do.

Ok, you can officially be ignored as it's become clear you don't have any real experience or understanding as to how the rea software industry works.

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation
It's a piece of paper that shows you are trainable and opens doors to higher paying jobs.

Fixed

 

[CrazyDe1]

Originally posted by: Jumpem

Originally posted by: CrazyDe1
Some of the best SE's don't have degrees and have extensive experience in open source development.

You'd be an idiot to not hire some of these people to work at your company...

Open source is trash. People and companies both need to be reimbursed for the work they do.

Wait...who's the one who had to sell their new STi because they couldn't afford the payments?

 

[funboy6942]

I would say that with corp downsizing and jobs going over seas to lower paying people if you want a job that would ALWAYS be in demand I would take up HVAC or Appliance repair with computer training on the side.

I think that the computer tech field is over crowded with alot of people taking jobs that 10 years ago would pay 100K per year come out of school and do it for 30K.

HVAC: Yes unless you decide to go out on your own you will be a tech the rest of your life BUT you will never have to worry about loosing your job. No matter what happends in the world people will always need heat or air conditioning. No mateer what state you live in there will ALWAYS be a job for you. You hate the area you live in you can actually pack up and leave without thinking twice because you will find a job. There is a high demand right now for this kind of work. Pick up and newspaper and see for yourself. Well this and over the road truck driving if you want to make $50K+ a year but you will never be home.

Appliance repair because just like HVAC everyone no matter what happends will need an appliance fixed.

Computer training of some sorts just because everything will be heading this way.

I know this is what I would be pushing my kids towards instead of going to college.

 

[HombrePequeno]

Some degrees don't seem worth it. Going to school for a communications or liberal arts degree doesn't make sense to me.

 

[SVT Cobra]

yes stop posting these stupid posts ppl

 

[tfinch2]

Let's put it this way...

I've never met someone WITH a college degree who wasn't semi-successful (besides a BA in IT), but I've met plenty of people WITHOUT one who are struggling to even live (financially).