Is a college degree all that important?

TheBiz

Every conversation with my parents about my future ends in 'oh yeah sure, after you have your degree'.
Everyone unless they make a point of not going to college, goes to college. It's just the norm.

But is a degree really that necessary to succeed nowadays?

diomed

Yes. Start studying.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

It depends. How do you see yourself spending the rest of your life? What do you want to do?

Falthyron

My brother earned ~160 points in the Leaving Cert. He is now practically a manager for one of the largest software developers in the world in the U.S. He has no degree, or diploma, beyond the Leaving Cert. He earns a lot more money than I do and I have a postgraduate degree.

In short: It entirely depends on what you want to do. A degree is no longer the be all and end all of employment prospects, but having some sort of a third level education can enable you to have a broader toolset for a great many things both inside and outside of employment.

The_Valeyard

Honestly depends if the degree is the road map to your career.

Psychologeeee

As with everything- entirely depends on what you would like to do in life.

Fr_Dougal

Hit the books OP, you're more likely to get a job with one. Lot of US companies insist on them, even if they're not relevant to the role you're applying for.

TheBiz

Yareli Gigantic Horsefly wrote: »

It depends. How do you see yourself spending the rest of your life? What do you want to do?

I am actually in college at the moment, studying business.
I want to specialise in the area of IS/Information Management, but it's not going too well (I don't like most of the course.) I want to learn to invest, I want to own properties (rental, selling)..

Mainly, I want to be self employed down the line. I want to learn about data analytics, big data, systems, SEO/what its changing into.. but I also like things like Jewellery design, style etc.. so I'm not sure, there are a lot of areas I enjoy and if I end up not continuing with college I will try to get my IT certs, learn programming languages, Software security etc, try to get some experience on my resume be it free web design for shops or something to that effect.. I know not having a degree will hinder me in the long run but considering I don't want to work for others unless it is in a start up I'm early into, or as a way to learn about a new area I don't feel like not having a degree will be as big of a hinderance.

I'll still try to continue with my degree, but I'd rather not be flat on my arse if it comes down to me not moving on.
I got on quite well in my Leaving considering I heard the phrase 'never amount to anything' more times than is polite.. but I got 425 for someone who just learned English quotes I liked.

Pelvis

Yes is the short answer. There are exceptions if course, but they are just that.

368100

Its not essential but it opens up more opportunities as a lot of jobs require a degree. I don't know how much It benefits you from a skills point of view though, depends on the degree and chosen career I guess.

I didn't do a degree starting out and I feel like I'd to work harder than peers who did have a degree to get jobs. I've done one since though.

Tsipras

It's great craic anyway, who cares if it's worth it, you'll have 4 years of partying with no responsibility

daheff

3rd level qualification or a professional qualification opens alot more doors and more easily than not having them.

Sure you always here about the one who did exceptionally well without a degree...but you never hear about the thousands who are barely getting by.

jive

TheBiz wrote: »

I am actually in college at the moment, studying business.
I want to specialise in the area of IS/Information Management, but it's not going too well (I don't like most of the course.) I want to learn to invest, I want to own properties (rental, selling)..

....


I got on quite well in my Leaving considering I heard the phrase 'never amount to anything' more times than is polite.. but I got 425 for someone who just learn English quotes I liked.

Just plough on and get your degree which will open plenty of doors and even if you never need it the skills you will learn in getting the degree will be applicable to many areas of your life.

You can still do everything that interests you and have a degree to fall back on if they do not work out. You can still pursue your interests while attaining your degree too; there's no point in limiting your options just because you don't like the course - the curriculum is what it is, it does not mean you would not enjoy a job related to the degree.

Burial.

Just think of it as a ladder. A degree in your back pocket has you several rungs higher than someone without one. Some jobs will require a degree to even get on the ladder but discipline, hard work and creating and taking opportunities can help you bypass someone with a degree in a host of occupations.

r93kaey5p2izun

Depends what you want to do. There are of course exceptional cases, but I think either a degree or an apprenticeship is pretty important if you have the opportunity.

JohnCleary

Funny how I thought a degree was so important. I came out with a 1:1.

Took me 1 year in the corporate world (working for a multinational software company) to realise that I hated the 9-5 office job. Started my own consultancy and few years later it's now well established and earning a decent living.

Did getting a degree aid this? ABSOLUTILY. I learned a lot (I practice now what I learned back then), it also gave me confidence etc... you have to think of the in-direct benefits.

Was it essential? Not at all, could have learned the lot online / self-study.


If nothing else, go to college for the craic (as has been mentioned above). While it's not the responsible thing to say, college will most likely be the most craic 3-4 years you'll ever experience. But don't forget to study etc... there are genuinely thousands of people who would love to college but will never get the chance.

mzungu

Considering everybody has a degree now, it is almost expected that you will have one when applying for most jobs. Whether or not that applies to you OP, depends on what you wish to do after school.

Yourself isit

Falthyron wrote: »

My brother earned ~160 points in the Leaving Cert. He is now practically a manager for one of the largest software developers in the world in the U.S. He has no degree, or diploma, beyond the Leaving Cert. He earns a lot more money than I do and I have a postgraduate degree.

In short: It entirely depends on what you want to do. A degree is no longer the be all and end all of employment prospects, but having some sort of a third level education can enable you to have a broader toolset for a great many things both inside and outside of employment.

Practically a manager?

Alpha_zero

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Honestly depends if the degree is the road map to your career.

Stop spouting gibberish

Fathom

TheBiz wrote: »

But is a degree really that necessary to succeed nowadays?

Can't speak for Ireland. In America 20% of population has 4-year degree or above. Highest paying positions normally demand it.

LirW

Don't like the misconception of degree = smart.
There are plenty of degrees you do not need to be overly smart for and you can get them by basically sitting through the 3 or 4 years.

Really depends on the area. In jobs that are very skill-based like proper art jobs or programming it matters very little.

The_Valeyard

Alpha_zero wrote: »

Stop spouting gibberish

It makes perfect sense. Try reading it again.

cajonlardo

Thread on this very recently http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=104008398

HONKEY TONK

Deffo. Do a degree in Arts and Music.

Multinationals a screaming out for people with these degrees

andekwarhola

Everybody will trot out a story about somebody they know that got a brilliant job without a third-level education but that's still a relative rarity. Personally, I think you should always get as much education as you can, especially if you come from a modest background. It's not about hackneyed notions of smartness, just easing your way into a career as smoothly possible, not to mention the life experience that accrues from applying yourself to further study and attending college.

I remember Jonathon Philbin Bowman on TV years ago advising people not to go to college and 'go for it' and it made me furious. Easy for people like him to say.

rounders

TheBiz wrote: »

I am actually in college at the moment, studying business.
I want to specialise in the area of IS/Information Management, but it's not going too well (I don't like most of the course.) I want to learn to invest, I want to own properties (rental, selling)..

Mainly, I want to be self employed down the line. I want to learn about data analytics, big data, systems, SEO/what its changing into.. but I also like things like Jewellery design, style etc.. so I'm not sure, there are a lot of areas I enjoy and if I end up not continuing with college I will try to get my IT certs, learn programming languages, Software security etc, try to get some experience on my resume be it free web design for shops or something to that effect.. I know not having a degree will hinder me in the long run but considering I don't want to work for others unless it is in a start up I'm early into, or as a way to learn about a new area I don't feel like not having a degree will be as big of a hinderance.

I'll still try to continue with my degree, but I'd rather not be flat on my arse if it comes down to me not moving on.
I got on quite well in my Leaving considering I heard the phrase 'never amount to anything' more times than is polite.. but I got 425 for someone who just learned English quotes I liked.

Have you ever heard of a course called Business Information Systems? Massive amount of jobs in it and covers a lot of what you mentioned above!

368100

Yourself isit wrote: »

Practically a manager?

And I'm practically CEO ...;-)

Ray Palmer

TheBiz wrote: »

I am actually in college at the moment, studying business.
I want to specialise in the area of IS/Information Management, but it's not going too well (I don't like most of the course.) I want to learn to invest, I want to own properties (rental, selling)..

Mainly, I want to be self employed down the line. I want to learn about data analytics, big data, systems, SEO/what its changing into.. but I also like things like Jewellery design, style etc.. so I'm not sure, there are a lot of areas I enjoy and if I end up not continuing with college I will try to get my IT certs, learn programming languages, Software security etc, try to get some experience on my resume be it free web design for shops or something to that effect.. I know not having a degree will hinder me in the long run but considering I don't want to work for others unless it is in a start up I'm early into, or as a way to learn about a new area I don't feel like not having a degree will be as big of a hinderance.

I'll still try to continue with my degree, but I'd rather not be flat on my arse if it comes down to me not moving on.
I got on quite well in my Leaving considering I heard the phrase 'never amount to anything' more times than is polite.. but I got 425 for someone who just learned English quotes I liked.

There is so little money in web design you might as well do it for free. Learn program languages is by far more difficult than you think. You won't get lose to your own development without having to learn how to fix other peoples' code. You won't get hired to even learn that without a degree and a couple of certs won't cut it.

As for property the market no matter what is going to be radially changed over the next 20 years that it will be more luck than anything else for a novice to make money.

Degrees with IT are not vital by any means but you need it in many ways stating out just to get somewhere. Being self employed consultant requires experience.

Not being a downer but you need to really be very sure about this.

Permabear

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TheBiz

rounders wrote: »

Have you ever heard of a course called Business Information Systems? Massive amount of jobs in it and covers a lot of what you mentioned above!

I have, I've talked to the head of the department in my college, other lectures, I've actually looked at transferring to an IT college for BIS but I went with the advice of my lectures as they said I would better off with a degree and a masters in relatively the same time span (3 year degree, a year maybe two for masters as opposed to a 4 year degree) not to mention I can probably further specialise into a specific area.

Falthyron

Yourself isit wrote: »

Practically a manager?

He is to be made manager by the end of the year. The work he is doing at the moment, is 'practically' the work of a manager.

franklyon

Permabear wrote: »

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And have 0 friends and be a virgin. College is meant to give you a general education too. You go away from home for the first time,you learn to cook by yourself,most people would also meet their best friends in college. The ones you are friends with for life also 99 percent of Irish people are virgins when they enter college and so for many it's a sexual education too. Spending 3 or 4 years in a library will give you a 1.1 academically but a fail socially.

TheBiz

Permabear wrote: »

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I agree. But that's not me. I don't put that much faith behind a college degree, I had a talk with lecturers about my results (fails) and they were genuinely surprised I did not pass. Giving as an example I passed a Statistics module with 30% of the overall grade lost from me not doing my continuous assessment.
I'm proud as it shows I am somewhat competent but it shows a complete waste of my time.

I would like to be someone who gets top marks but I am not, it's down to me not doing it simple as, but that being said I don't just switch off and do nothing, I look into what ever is interesting me at that time, be it seo, or the basics of jewellery design, I read case studies and watch documentaries I am constantly learning or at least trying to find something that I think will be useful..

i might be sitting in an economics lecture and i will be looking at proprietary, and I might see something about fitech and then see about some start up in that area.
I take notes but I'm not focused, I went to college primarily to find like minded people, I joined all the tech, business, entrepreneurial society, the best thing about it was I went to a talk about a prop trading house in Dublin, I talked to the lad afterwards and he, the people holding the talk, were surprised because everyone else in the room was either a final year financial maths student or in postgrad.

accensi0n

Permabear wrote: »

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Neeeeeeeeeerrrrrrd!

freshpopcorn

Depends on what you want to do!

Permabear

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Surreptitious

franklyon wrote: »

And have 0 friends and be a virgin. College is meant to give you a general education too. You go away from home for the first time,you learn to cook by yourself,most people would also meet their best friends in college. The ones you are friends with for life also 99 percent of Irish people are virgins when they enter college and so for many it's a sexual education too. Spending 3 or 4 years in a library will give you a 1.1 academically but a fail socially.

This is ridiculous. How are these random people you might not even ever see again going to help you secure a career?

Permabear

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rounders

Permabear wrote: »

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Coming from someone that has just graduated. I spent my first year and a half with my head in the books and knew no one in my course and was pretty missreable. At this moment I made a decision to move out of home, be proactive to get to know people and get experiance in stuff outside my degree such as societies and Students Union

From changing my attidute to college, I enjoyed college more (4 years is a long time if you dont enjoy it) I made loads of friends, I got lots of experiance such as representing my college on a national level and finally, consequently I got better grades. When you enjoy something more you make more effort at it. The experiances I got from societies, student union and living independently helped my confidence and skill set to get a job on graduating and have since graduated with a First Class Honours. A large part of achieving this grade was cause my group of friends knew how to party hard but also knew when it was time to buckle down and we worked as a team to help each other through exam times.

Basically what I'm trying to say is too much partying or studying isnt good. You need to ge the balance right. I know I probably sound like someones mother but it really is true.

Permabear

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dfx-

TheBiz wrote: »

But is a degree really that necessary to succeed nowadays?

Depends on what is and how much you want to do it...it is absolutely necessary in any of the science fields.

I see people taking science courses now who had no interest in it themselves and no inclination to put in the work they themselves required to catch up with those who are interested and don't listen or take instruction. Worse if they have studied the subject at Leaving Cert who think they know everything already. But if they fail....the world falls in.

Aside from the knowledge gained in chemistry/biology/physics over four years, the conversion of someone at leaving cert level to be sent into industry in terms of taking instruction, putting in extra work and time etc. is dramatic.

B.A._Baracus

My two cents is that it's both yes and no.

Some jobs won't entertain you if you do not have a degree. But at the same time would not dream about hiring you without good experience.

So having a degree can open a few doors to opportunities. But that's it. Experience weighs more.

But the crazy part is to get said experience you would need a degree to get a job. Confusing huh.

Permabear

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1874

sugarman wrote: »

It can be, id an uncle near 60 who was made redundant a few years back, due to the company pulling out of Ireland.

He was an electronic engineer and had the guts of 40+ years hands on experience. A great mind, could design and fix anything.

Anyway, he wasnt quite ready to retire and went on the look out for a new job. Think anywhere wanted to know if he hadnt a piece of paper? Nah. Few small offers, paying pittance but most places didnt even bother to call him to interview.

So he found himself going to college pushing 60 and doing a 4yr honours degree course in the space 6-8 months I think it was.

where did this occur, I cant see any 3rd level organisation changing the timetable for many or any. Unless it was OU and Im not sure how they are viewed.

Permabear

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Witchie

Burial. wrote: »

Just think of it as a ladder. A degree in your back pocket has you several rungs higher than someone without one. Some jobs will require a degree to even get on the ladder but discipline, hard work and creating and taking opportunities can help you bypass someone with a degree in a host of occupations.

This.

I always think that manners and an education are easily carried and even I'd you go work in a completely unrelated field it is no harm having the degree in your back pocket.

Finish your degree and there is nothing stopping you from moving to study in the areas you really want at a later date.

The Red m

They should have a degree in cop on. Would be more useful to the undomesticated young adults these days.

jackofalltrades

Falthyron wrote: »

My brother earned ~160 points in the Leaving Cert. He is now practically a manager for one of the largest software developers in the world in the U.S. He has no degree, or diploma, beyond the Leaving Cert. He earns a lot more money than I do and I have a postgraduate degree.

In short: It entirely depends on what you want to do. A degree is no longer the be all and end all of employment prospects, but having some sort of a third level education can enable you to have a broader toolset for a great many things both inside and outside of employment.

From my experience US tech companies are the worst when it comes to demanding a degree whether it's required for the job or not.
I'm guessing you brother is the rare exception, rather than the rule.

A degree requirement is just another way HR reduce the number of applicants they have to interview.
Not having one if everyone else in your profession has one is going to leave you at the back of the queue.

Wabbit Ears

a someone who doesn't have a degree and 20 years working in IT I have been ok without a degree.

That's said Its always been a noose around my neck. So many doors were closed because of it. If you have means and opportunity to do a degree then do it.

One thing I do say though is having a degree is what matters, not what degree you have. A lot of people do not work in the area they have a degree in so honestly don't focus on that. do a degree in something that you honestly believe you have a passion for that subject and that you will see the degree through.

Permabear

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Falthyron

jackofalltrades wrote: »

From my experience US tech companies are the worst when it comes to demanding a degree whether it's required for the job or not.
I'm guessing you brother is the rare exception, rather than the rule.

A degree requirement is just another way HR reduce the number of applicants they have to interview.
Not having one if everyone else in your profession has one is going to leave you at the back of the queue.

Yes, you are probably right. His VISA interview process was quite rigorous and went on longer than normal. Not having a degree was, most likely, a major factor in that.