The article mentions "about 10-15% of new hires at IBM don’t have college degrees” - so, the other 85-90% have at least one degree.
I think the long and short of it is: folks are judged in a superficial way whether or not they have a bachelor's degree. (The same holds true for a master’s or phD.) Degrees are not a measure of intelligence but superficially some people use them as a proxy. (They also serve as a proxy for other indicators as well.) That is separate from the true capabilities, interests and experiences of any one person. Almost no degree program creates someone who will be a perfect fit for a tech job on day one, especially for fields further away from academic degrees like system administration. Unfortunately, hiring is a quick process (compared to the length of time spent working) and is based somewhat on some superficial details and whatever else folks can think of, to judge fitness. Very few professions require a degree. I believe it is still the case, that in NY, you do not need a law degree to practice law; only to have passed the bar exam. Having said that, there are professions where having a degree will help you become expert. (You want a job designing gear to do x-ray lithography, spending a few years at a university doing that wouldn’t hurt.) So what is it that people are trying to hire? Experts, good workers, folks who will succeed. If you can demonstrate those qualities, you will be hired. If you can’t demonstrate that, it will be hard to get a job. Having made the case for being “not care-ish” regarding having a degree, I think pursuing a degree is a fine thing, with many wonderful side effects but I say the same for being curious or well-read. :) Eric Marshall > > http://qz.com/858194/ibm-employees-without-college-education/ > > An interesting article on how you don't need a college degree to work > for IBM. It quotes BLS statistics that 47% of Network and computer > systems administrators don't have four year college degrees. Food for > thought? > > Bill Bogstad > _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] https://lists.lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators http://lopsa.org/
