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This degree/non-degree stuff is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned.
It seems to boil down to non-degreed people defending the value of
experience, and degreed people defending the value of a degree.
Onne lister (whose post I deleted, very sorry) said that she didn't have
a degree, and went on to discuss the battery of tests and interviews
that she had to go through to get her current job--because the company
believes in hiring the most intelligent people, not necessarily those
with degrees.
She approved of this method. OTOH, if I had to go through intelligence
and personality tests, plus a 4-5 hour interview, I'd bill for my
time! This is NOT a flame--just an illustration of the truth expressed
on this list time and time again--one person's heaven is another
person's hell.
To me, tests prove very little except that a person tests well (and I
am one of those people who test well--this is not sour grapes), and
intelligence does not necessarily indicate common sense, people
skills, or the ability to think on your feet. Nor does a degree
indicate this. Hiring anyone is taking a leap of faith--you do your
best to find the best person for the job, and then pray you end up
with a diamond instead of a lump of coal.
It is not surprising that companies try to weed out applicants based
on degrees, I.Q. test, personality tests, etc., but there is no one
reliable predictor of success on the job--at least none that I've
heard of. If there was, all companies would be using it!
Life is not fair, guys. If your dream job requires a degree and you
don't have one, it wasn't really your dream job. For those of you
whose companies require degrees to promote you, why don't you take
advantage of that tuition reimbursement plan and start working on that
degree? While I agree that one shouldn't necessarily "need" a degree
to advance in this field, why not at least start taking classes
towards one? It shows you want to continue to learn and grow. If the
classes just re-cover stuff you already know, then you should ace
them, right?
And if you're getting jobs and are perfectly happy without the degree,
then what's the problem?
