Subj : Re: New to this
To   : Gamgee
From : boraxman
Date : Wed Apr 23 2025 01:15 am

On 21 Apr 2025 at 08:06p, Gamgee pondered and said...
 
 
 Ga> -=> boraxman wrote to StormTrooper <=-
 Ga> 
 Ga>  St> One of the problems is, where we went from having an undersupply of
 Ga>  St> grads and the education itself was the hurdle, there were plenty of
 Ga>  St> positions to go round.  Now here at least, we had about 30 years of
 Ga>  St> feed everyone you can into that education mill, just having the degre
 Ga>  St> or whatever it might be is no longer enough on its own.  You're back 
 Ga>  St> it being an absolute minimum and experience with the work and a work
 Ga>  St> environment have become more imortant in thinning the applicants out.
 Ga> 
 Ga>  bo> Technically, you need a science degree to do my job, but I reckon 95%
 Ga>  bo> of it can be done without one, and the other 5% you could muddle
 Ga>  bo> through without it or just research on the go.  I definately don't ne
 Ga>  bo> the entire degree to do this.
 Ga> 
 Ga>  bo> Same with programming, I learned it myself, and see people with degre
 Ga>  bo> who struggle to do what I taught myself.  Degrees are overrated.
 Ga> 
 Ga> No doubt that *sometimes* degrees are very overrated.  But there are 
 Ga> some jobs that you CANNOT do the required work without that degree (and 
 Ga> even advanced degrees), because you simply would not understand the job.
 Ga> Those kind of jobs can't be faked.  I'm talking about things like 
 Ga> nuclear work, physics, chemistry, some medical work, and more.  You 
 Ga> can't learn some things "on the fly" or with OJT.  Another example of 
 Ga> when a degree is required is when the employer won't even consider you 
 Ga> unless you have that "credential", regardless of actual knowledge or 
 Ga> experience.
 Ga> 
 Ga> In the end, I think it's self-regulating.  People with useless degrees 
 Ga> end up in jobs that don't require a degree.  People with no degree 
 Ga> sometimes hit the right combination and make it big.  People with 
 Ga> "trades" skills often make much more money than many "degreed" jobs.
 Ga> 
No doubt that I would prefer someone who studied medicine to perform surgery, over someone "self taught".  However "degree preferred" type jobs?  Someone smart, able to learn would be just as good.  A friend in the software development industry was saying his company for a time was looking at SPECIFICALLY people who were self taught, did not do a degree in software, to get a different perspective, and not be dissapointed.

I'm lucky that I did my degree before they became super expensive, but I'm not sure its self regulating.  Even though I'd be capable I think without it, if employers feel its necessary, they'll select only for those with the credentials.  There are enough candidates for them to not have to drop the requirement.  And if there were NOT enough candidates, they'll just complain there is a skills shortage and get someone on a work visa, or ask the government to bring in more people.

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