How do you view people with degrees vs. people without?

[Just__A__Thought]

Just wondering on how people judge/view/respect people who have a college degree vs. people without one?

If you are working at a job and two people who do the same thing at the same quality and with the same ethics and one has a degree and one doesn't - do you respect the one with a degree more than the one without?

Suppose you work for someone who is a terrible manager, has no experience, poor people skills, and is demeaning to others - if they have a degree do you give them more respect? Suppose you have a degree but work for someone who doesn't - even though they have been there a long time and have proven work successes?

Or if you work for someone who is a great manager, has lots of experience, great people skills and treats everyone with respect - if they have no degree do you not respect them as much?

Do you think the person with the degree should be promoted before the person without the degree - even if the one without does a better job?

Just curious because of some things going on at my work now.

[Star]

Personally, having a degree or not means nothing to me in the workplace. If a person does a great job, is respectful to co-workers and a go-getter, then why would having a degree matter?

Someone having a degree doesn't impress me in the least. The hard working respectful person will impress me, whether he/she has a degree or not.

[Vautrin]

Originally Posted by Just__A__Thought

If you are working at a job and two people who do the same thing at the same quality and with the same ethics and one has a degree and one doesn't - do you respect the one with a degree more than the one without?

Depends on the field. And the degree going with it. Some degrees are worth nothing in my opinion. Such as a degree on International Law. Worth nothing, because of the premises included in the application of International Law.

Suppose you work for someone who is a terrible manager, has no experience, poor people skills, and is demeaning to others - if they have a degree do you give them more respect?

I call such a person a man-ager. Hate people like that, and with a degree they often think they are God incarnated. Although the God incarnation type runs around without degree too.

Suppose you have a degree but work for someone who doesn't - even though they have been there a long time and have proven work successes?

No problem with that.

Or if you work for someone who is a great manager, has lots of experience, great people skills and treats everyone with respect - if they have no degree do you not respect them as much?

I respect them as much, and depending on the field a bit more.

Do you think the person with the degree should be promoted before the person without the degree - even if the one without does a better job?

No. I attend university now, and you would be amazed at the sheer stupidity of some of the students. Do not promote people like that, that would be disastrous for any company. Promote those who earn the promotion most, that is by hard work, good display of skills, etc.

[darkangelism]

no, ,a degree isnt something that provides a better judgement of someone, anynbody can get a degree, all a degree show is that a person has a certain set of skills, which may or may not be helpful for certain jobs.

[Merika]

Hi Just_A-Thought! I seem to always miss it when you are online here!

It seems to me that on the job now, everyone under 24 years of age has a degree in broadcast journalism. I think the stupidity of people willing to waste 4 years of their time and their parent's money on a useless degree is why so many of them are working at McDonalds. If I was going to bother getting a degree....I would atleast chose one that comes with a job applicable skill. We have a job market out there flooded with people with useless degrees.

And yes, I resent it when they get management positions based on that because usually they are too stupid to fart.

[Weiser]

Well, the way I look at it is if you have a degree, great. If you don't, so what. Promotions within a company should be based on who is the most qualified, with the most experience. Not necessarily who has the best schooling. Hands on experience is much more important than anything you could learn in school (in certain fields anyways).

Just like hiring at a company. If they have one position open and one person is applying fresh out of university, while the other doesn't have a degree, but say 5 or 6 years of related experience, the second person should get the job. That's not always how it works though.

[sweetbilly]

A person fresh out of college dosen't have much experience and is not the most desirable person for most Co's to hire. However, having a college/university degree and experience in a particular field makes you a VERY desireable candidate for the job i which you are applying for. College is not always just about gaining knowledge, it's also about learning skills pertaining to logic, this is what most companies are looking for anyways, people who are very detailed, experienced have covered a very diverse, broad range of materials in their field.

Having completed my degree in Geology and now working on my Chemistry degree i would say school makes a big difference in the job market. However, anyone can learn what i've learned but not everyone can think logically about what they have learned. So i guess i don't believe a degree proves how intelligent a person is one way or the other, but i do have more respect for someone with a degree than someone without a degree. They have proven they want to be successful and are willing to sacrifice to achieve their dreams and asperations ...thus they obligate themselves to their jobs. Someone without a degree usually figures they don't have a need to be successful thus they can find a job anywhere, so most companies don't often care for people without degrees. However, i don't have much respect for someone with an art appreciation or a degree in culinary arts, degrees like this only shows how lazy and unmotivated they are.

[Meanon]

A degree makes no difference at all in my work place but then people are recruited, appraised and promoted on performance and transferrable skills.

Some of my friends have degrees, some don't. You can be bright and interesting with no degree. Having said that I think it's easy to get lazy and use lack of a degree as a way of sifting out those not so bright who you would have to invest resource in assessing to weed them out some other way. It's not particularly fair and it doesn't mean the best candidate gets the job, but it's done regularly to narrow the field to a manageable number.

I do respect arts graduates, creativity is an essential requirement for many jobs. Most of those I know have gone on to write or get post grad vocational qualifications (eg. teaching).

And yes, I resent it when they get management positions based on that because usually they are too stupid to fart.

Classic I know some of those too.

[BattleaxE]

I would choose people that have experience in the workplace rather than someone who went to school and got a degree with no working experience but thats me. This might be awful to say but some of the smarter people with all their certificates hanging in my workplace seem to have no common sense.

[darkangelism]

it also depends on the job, as some jobs require a college degree, who wants their doctor to just have a HS diploma?

[TKDLady]

I agree with DA. It depends on the degree. I have an engineering degree. I don't feel all engineers are equal and I know quite a few people who I work with who know more than some engineers but only have high school degrees. Those people have worked in the field for years however. All jobs require experience. A college education gives you the tools to learn but not the experience. You never stop learning and most fields change daily so you have to continue to learn throughout your life. Doctors go to clinics and seminars to get smart on the latest techniques as do Engineers and anyone in the science related fields. It is a must if you want to stay competative. I am sure that goes for most other occupations as well.

Having a degree doesn't make you better than someone without but it shows a little more initiative. I realize some people just couldn't afford college and have done what they can. Those with a good work ethic regardless of education or not are the ones I put my money on all the time. They are the ones who get things done and are successful. There are some things that require an education and if you don't have it then don't bitch when someone else younger and with that degree passes you on the career ladder.

[Merika]

I personally would prefer dentists, doctors, engineers, rocket scientists, and a many other career choices being professionally trained.

Hi...I don't have a dental degree but I'm gonna drill awhile cause I have lots of time logged in watching other people do it.

[Vautrin]

Originally Posted by Merika

I personally would prefer dentists, doctors, engineers, rocket scientists, and a many other career choices being professionally trained.

In order to justify spending cuts on education: "Good monkey. Nice open heart surgery. Next time make certain the patient does not die."