Do degrees equal employability?

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A degree doesn't guarantee anything

However, if you have a first with honers and maybe a masters in maths or physics from a top institute like Cambridge or Oxford your laughing.

 

Good article Ken!

 

I was dating a girl the other day, who was convinced having ANY degree from a top ten university and no experience would trump someone with no degree and years of experience in the industry, she was also sure that all hiring managers ONLY cared about WHICH university the person got their degree from.

I dumped her.

 

Also, that doesn't compensate anywhere nearly enough for the fact you're a scouser

 

Well you are a girl on the weekends after all JK. So what do you want me to call you?

 

I can see how going to top 10 universities would help a lot, usually when you join an alumni you gain connections that could help you land a career. But if we're just comparing experience vs degree and both have no connections than I would say experience is the winner. Of course a university degree is great to have!

 

...and an amazing amount of useless spam/snail mail regarding uni local items that have no interest to you

 

Like I said degrees dont guarantee anything. Its true that experience counts more for most job positions, however, ever considered that when there are loads skilled and experienced people applying for the same jobs that employers look further back on your CV to get the bigger picture?

If your a good student and have a top degree from a top establishment it can open doors. I know some people that went to Cambridge got top masters in physics, got head-hunted by Microsoft all expenses paid and sponsorship to emigrate to the states and trained up as developers to work at Richmond, paid more in their first year than it took me a life time to achieve . (Microsoft fund research at Cambridge)

Accenture is another one that snaps up top graduates from the top 10 and pays very well I couldn't get a figure from a friend who works for them i know its well over 20K, I believe its around 25K. Accenture sends its graduates to a training camp in the states and apparently from what i have heard from people that have been its the best thing they have ever done.

Also I have had several interviews for positions in the past that turned me down because I dont have a degree and we are not talking about graduate positions. Like I said I personally don't have a degree, however, I wished I had the opportunity. I would say for software development its a must.

 

Of course with my success stories we are talking about very a small fraction of people from those that get degrees.

 

That is very true especially from people that you knew.

 

But in all honesty, we are not in that rarefied league, for the most part, I am never going to come head to head with someone from Cambridge or Oxford, as in, I am unlikely to ever be sat in an interview alongside another candidate who was at Cambridge. As you said, it opens them doors that means they don't hover around our position on the ladder. Pity really, but at least it means I don't have to compete with daddies credit card, friends and the brainiacs that come out of that place. Which is just fine by me.

 

That post you quoted has nothing to do with my original post. Like i said i never went to uni, however, I know people that I went to school and college with that work for companies with IT departments, I know several people that work for recruitment companies surely you cant tell me that these are not good contacts to have? Well its the same for contacts you get at uni.

That's fairly stereotypical of you. You must be a lonely nerd with no girlfriend because you work in IT

 

That's my life summed up really. I hate my life

 

Considering I have met people this week that are out of work, terminally ill, losing benefits, facing been a homeless family or a combination of these things it pretty much puts my sad little life into perceptive. Thats the way i look at things anyway and things are fairly bad my end at the moment hence i haven't been on certforums for months.