Comments on: What lying about degrees reveals about an American employment obsession

By: Ian

Ian — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:50:15 +0000

Nondegreed people are considered flunkies
even if they have several post secondary diplomas from legit accredited schools.
There are a lot of interesting courses
going to waste because the are not
degree material. People have to study
things they don’t need. The emphasis on
The need to have a degree has led people
to use phony degrees or lie on their resume.
The job requires a degree and a person needs the job because of health insurance
And other benefits. An associates or a
two year diploma is the maximum we should impose on society

By: Quin

Quin — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 04:03:27 +0000

I have an MA in Classics (Latin and Greek) and have failed utterly. And not just in Academics, but at just about everything. No, everything.

There might be a lesson in this, but I’ve failed to learn it.

By: almostgotit

almostgotit — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:56:16 +0000

Great comments, all, and from recruiters, teachers and managers as well as professionals with advanced degrees of their own.

The fact that degrees cost so much money (thanks again, Dad) adds another disturbing level to the debate, as WG and David B. both correctly mention. Can’t afford a degree? Buy yourself a dialect coach instead. I have also found that the total accident of having the right acccent – I’m *not* from the South – has been remarkably powerful at times.

@ Dennis: well, *underwater* basket weaving, you should have said so sooner. An appropriately specialized degree such as yours will take you a long way, indeed. The computer science MS too, of course.

By: Dennis the Vizsla

Dennis the Vizsla — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:52:14 +0000

So my Master’s in Underwater Basket Weaving isn’t going to open the doors they said it would?

Seriously though, I think my MS in computer science has been helpful getting jobs in my field. However, it seems that what impresses clients are IT certifications from Microsoft, Novell, etc., not college degrees.

Unfortunately, I don’t know of any degree that guarantees success as an author, except maybe a degree in being related to somebody who’s already successful …

By: Ask a Manager

Ask a Manager — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:12:17 +0000

Ooooh, I’m glad you took on this aspect to it. I couldn’t agree more. Requiring a degree for most jobs has always seemed like the lazy way out to me — like it’s easier than actually, you know, evaluating candidates on their merits.

By: David B

David B — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:06:50 +0000

I totally agree. I got a Masters in Public Administration from an expensive university to help leapfrog me in my career, which it has done. However, the job-related skills I learned in that program were miniscule, I would have learned far more if I had just worked for those two years (but I believe the rules in the the city government where I live equate something like 5 years of work experience to a 2-years masters degree but I actually think the skills learned ratio is the other way around), and would have saved LOTS of money. There aren’t many scholarships for MPA students, so the degree reinforces whatever economic inequalities already exist by favoring those who can afford the degree (who then leapfrog over, for no good reason, people who can’t afford the degree).

By: A Little Tea or Something

A Little Tea or Something — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:47:33 +0000

Oooops…my own liberal arts degree fails me, just now. Noted redundancy in my sentence about Mr. Balanchine. Feel free to edit!

By: A Little Tea or Something

A Little Tea or Something — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:44:56 +0000

Funny thing, college dance departments. Frankly, they are usually not very good (with some notable exceptions of course). Why? BECAUSE THEY ARE USUALLY STAFFED BY PEOPLE WITH MEANINGLESS DANCE OR DANCE PEDAGOGY DEGREES. When I was a snotty little performing arts school student in the 1970s, people who went to college to pursue dance degrees were thought to be pathetic in some way. Everybody knew that if you were really talented and accomplished, you didn’t go to college, for Pete’s sake—you joined a company right out of art school. Some of that has changed over time, and some schools have decent dance departments that offer additional training to those who need it before moving on to life as a professional dancer, although not so much in the world of classical ballet. But if you decided to pursue dance in a college program, would you rather have a non-degreed teacher who once danced for Mr. Balanchine at NYCB as your teacher, or Dr. Demi Plie, with lots of papers from some college or university somewhere? I will submit that the dance department head at Connecticut College is a chump.

To be sure, there are times when a degree is hugely important. If somebody plans to cut me open and remove or repair a body part, I would prefer that they have documentation proving that they obtained a degree in medicine beforehand. That’s absolutely proper in today’s job market.

I think you’re right on. You don’t need a degree to be a visionary, or even, sometimes, to be just really, really good at what you do, whether you’re Bill Gates or Mikhail Baryshnikov. (And I also thoroughly agree that a liberal arts degree is better and more useful for life beyond, because you will emerge knowing how to write—an essential skill, I believe.)

By: Working Girl

Working Girl — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:41:21 +0000

Bravo!

It’s one of my pet peeves: Jobs that require college degrees for no apparent reason. Other than as a screening device, of course.

And now that getting a degree can put you in serious, long-term debt–that’s a dangerous combination. We have been conditioned to believe that having a degree is going to “guarantee” us a well-paying job. Is it a conspiracy? Well, no, but things have gotten seriously out of hand, imho.

Jobs such as office administration, human resources, hotel management, retail management, and for sure public relations—why do they require degrees? Really, why?

Thanks for the opportunity to rant! (I worked in PR for years; my degree was in political science.)