Why do many employers want their employees to have degrees?

[Batya33]

1 hour ago, SC2005 said:

Thank you! I’ll probably still attend university and it’s not that I’m not suited - I did pretty well at school and am a person who loves to read, think and learn. It’s just I was thinking if it’s the best and fastest way to financially progress in life. 

I think it's a bit of a gamble depending on what you want to do.  And depending on whether you take out loans -I did for grad school and did not for college. Depends how much financial progress  you want and what that means to you.  I would not have built up my nest egg/portfolio without my grad degree -worked 15 years full time with that and now 8 years part time - the career I had with the college degree was not lucrative but I knew that going in.  Sometimes it's not the speed of progress but longevity. I'm 58 and if I needed to work full time for some reason my degrees allow me to do that much easier than someone without and I can command a higher salary than someone without.  For some jobs you can make $$$ really fast without a degree but then it doesn't sustain long term.

Also let's say what makes you $$$$ without a degree in your 20s you can't do in your 50s either lifestyle or simply aging related conditions - a degree can give you more flexibility/versatility.  My late inlaws had college degrees -and my MIL a grad degree - and my FIL was an educator for decades -didn't pay well but -pension/benefits/low cost travel summers for teachers/able to be home with family.  My MIL didn't work full time the whole time as the SAHM but she had skills and talents and wide network from college and grad school friends so she could make $ doing lots of different things including teaching -which required at least a college degree. 

My friend's daughter and son in law have no degrees -barely finished high school.  3 kids. In their 20s -he has a wildly successful business.  She's a SAHM for now and  tried to make some money selling some diet  drink thing.  (Didn't really work of course). So.. if his business which requires constant travel/networking/long hours/stress cannot be sustained long term and they don't save properly then what?

Does she/he go back to school while raising kids? She has no work history but if she had a degree she could go back to where she went for career help from her alma mater, she'd have more of a network, and be more employable at a higher salary.  I think it's risky in that situation but obviously also depends if  you aspire to marriage/family and home large enough if you want more than one child, etc.  

[SC2005]

20 minutes ago, Batya33 said:

I think it's a bit of a gamble depending on what you want to do.  And depending on whether you take out loans -I did for grad school and did not for college. Depends how much financial progress  you want and what that means to you.  I would not have built up my nest egg/portfolio without my grad degree -worked 15 years full time with that and now 8 years part time - the career I had with the college degree was not lucrative but I knew that going in.  Sometimes it's not the speed of progress but longevity. I'm 58 and if I needed to work full time for some reason my degrees allow me to do that much easier than someone without and I can command a higher salary than someone without.  For some jobs you can make $$$ really fast without a degree but then it doesn't sustain long term.

Also let's say what makes you $$$$ without a degree in your 20s you can't do in your 50s either lifestyle or simply aging related conditions - a degree can give you more flexibility/versatility.  My late inlaws had college degrees -and my MIL a grad degree - and my FIL was an educator for decades -didn't pay well but -pension/benefits/low cost travel summers for teachers/able to be home with family.  My MIL didn't work full time the whole time as the SAHM but she had skills and talents and wide network from college and grad school friends so she could make $ doing lots of different things including teaching -which required at least a college degree. 

My friend's daughter and son in law have no degrees -barely finished high school.  3 kids. In their 20s -he has a wildly successful business.  She's a SAHM for now and  tried to make some money selling some diet  drink thing.  (Didn't really work of course). So.. if his business which requires constant travel/networking/long hours/stress cannot be sustained long term and they don't save properly then what?

Does she/he go back to school while raising kids? She has no work history but if she had a degree she could go back to where she went for career help from her alma mater, she'd have more of a network, and be more employable at a higher salary.  I think it's risky in that situation but obviously also depends if  you aspire to marriage/family and home large enough if you want more than one child, etc.  

Another consideration for me is honouring my parents, who absolutely want me to go. 

[lostandhurt]

Coming in here late.

I did a lot of hiring for well paying career type jobs over the years that did not require a degree.  Many of these positions paid better than ones requiring a degree because of the skill sets needed and the ability to move up as your skills improved.  There were also many positions that required a degree that I did not do the hiring for and those managers often times looked down at people without a degree where I looked at the person, past employment, references and eagerness to learn.  A degree means you spent time getting a degree which unfortunately means a lot to some businesses.

 Interesting enough we lost a lot of really outstanding employees because they were passed over for promotion either because they did not have a degree or not the right degree so they looked elsewhere and 20 years of institutional knowledge in our field walked out the door and they hired someone with zero experience but the correct degree.  The place is currently hemorrhaging great experienced workers and beginning to flounder.  

 The biased towards degreed employees is starting to lesson as some companies are starting to weigh experience not just if you have a degree and they are doing very well but it will be some time before enough companies realize their mistake and look solely at the person, not a piece of paper. 

 My advice is to get a degree as fast as possible.  Like you mentioned unless it is for a specific field (engineering, doctor, accounting....) you just need a degree in anything for the majority of positions.  Once you get the job you can always take online courses to improve the degree for a possible promotion which many companies help cover the costs of advancing your education. 

Of all the people I know there are about 8 that use their degree for the career they are in and all of them are in medical or engineering, the rest are not even close to doing what their degree is in.

Lost

[Batya33]

3 hours ago, SC2005 said:

Another consideration for me is honouring my parents, who absolutely want me to go. 

Sure. But you have to do the work and you will have the loans. Our son is 15. We’ve encouraged him to go in the future and he’s told us for awhile now he plans on it and has a top choice in kidj already. I hope he goes. For many reasons. But it’s not any sort of requirement on mine or my husband’s part. For me it was assumed I would go. But I wanted to go by the time I knew what college was. So in elementary school I guess. 

[catfeeder]

7 hours ago, SC2005 said:

Thank you! I’ll probably still attend university and it’s not that I’m not suited - I did pretty well at school and am a person who loves to read, think and learn. It’s just I was thinking if it’s the best and fastest way to financially progress in life. 

One top consulting firm with whom I contracted encouraged people who were taking night classes to do their homework or study on the job whenever their workload allowed. This might be a great question for you to ask about on interviews.

[SC2005]

8 hours ago, lostandhurt said:

Coming in here late.

I did a lot of hiring for well paying career type jobs over the years that did not require a degree.  Many of these positions paid better than ones requiring a degree because of the skill sets needed and the ability to move up as your skills improved.  There were also many positions that required a degree that I did not do the hiring for and those managers often times looked down at people without a degree where I looked at the person, past employment, references and eagerness to learn.  A degree means you spent time getting a degree which unfortunately means a lot to some businesses.

 Interesting enough we lost a lot of really outstanding employees because they were passed over for promotion either because they did not have a degree or not the right degree so they looked elsewhere and 20 years of institutional knowledge in our field walked out the door and they hired someone with zero experience but the correct degree.  The place is currently hemorrhaging great experienced workers and beginning to flounder.  

 The biased towards degreed employees is starting to lesson as some companies are starting to weigh experience not just if you have a degree and they are doing very well but it will be some time before enough companies realize their mistake and look solely at the person, not a piece of paper. 

 My advice is to get a degree as fast as possible.  Like you mentioned unless it is for a specific field (engineering, doctor, accounting....) you just need a degree in anything for the majority of positions.  Once you get the job you can always take online courses to improve the degree for a possible promotion which many companies help cover the costs of advancing your education. 

Of all the people I know there are about 8 that use their degree for the career they are in and all of them are in medical or engineering, the rest are not even close to doing what their degree is in.

Lost

Thanks for this great response 

[Cooley]

It's that whole "well rounded thinker" thing. Its' crazy how employers love degrees, but, degrees fade with time. There is NO substitute for on the job experience