Whatever, Al. All I know is that I wish I would've stayed in college and got, at least, an AA. Then again, there are degreed CEO's, CFO's, Senior Accountants, Financial Analyst and so on that made darn good money, but don't have to do the physical work that a tradesman would. As for me, I'd take the office/desk/computer way, way before I be under someone's sink or buried in their toilet, trying to fix something. But, that's me.
The Bachelors Degree she got from a California State University is invaluable on a job and through her career. That's what she just told me after reading what you said.
Well, I've met people that will talk down military experience that relates to a job they are applying for. I had one manager tell me, "I don't care about any past military experience anyone has." And then, he started to put-down college/university education, that was until I reminded him of how his education definitely helped him get his management job. He backed off. And, each and every college/university degreed person I/ve met, had a much, much higher knowledge of many things than I did. When a college student makes it to the College National Finals Rodeo, and wins a beautiful buckle and new saddle, that most definitely makes that student better than me.
One of the smartest people I ever knew was my old boss, President of our company. Yale undergrad and Harvard MBA. Another was our Minister for a number of years. Princeton Seminary. Another would be my mother, who earned her Bachelors (with honors) from a little backwater college, back in the day when women were expected to be bare foot and/or pregnant. Over time, when we were hiring accountants, we took to requiring, specifically, a Bachelors with an Accounting major. We tried several times to allow other majors, and in at least one instance, a person with no degree but lots of "bookkeeping" experience. Those attempts never, ever ended well. And if you are interested, you might want to take a look at our Supreme Court. Only one, Amy Barrett, of the current members did not get their law education at one of the Ivy League schools, and hers was at Notre Dame, which is not exactly a local community college. https://www.usnews.com/education/be...ere-supreme-court-justices-earned-law-degrees
I do believe and understand this (in red above). While at a city parade, where we lived here in Colorado before, my wife got to talking to an unemployed lady who had worked in accounting. When she told the lady to apply where she worked at, I immediately asked the lady "do you have a Bachelors Degree?" She said "no, why would that matter?" My wife told her "sorry, don't apply if you don't have that Degree. My Accounting Manager will only hire people with a Bachelors Degree." The lady said back to my wife, "but I've got lots of experience" and my wife said back to her "don't matter, they really want the Degree and experience".
I agree and will say it again: A degree doesn't mean or prove anything except that you can pass tests. I happen to know a young (younger than me) lady with no degree who dropped out of college to get married, got a secretarial job and now (years later) is a Sr. Vice President, International, with the largest corporation of its kind in the world. Chances are good you'll find same fancy school grads reporting to her.
Well, you tell that to a Bachelors, Masters or Phd graduate. Tell that to a military officer who had to take classes and graduate to get the commission of "officer". They will all tell you "there's much, much more to getting this Degree and/or Military Commission than just passing tests". And, in passing the tests, that how a major degree or military commission is gained.
You go preach your degree spiel but be sure to explain how it fits with people like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Henry Ford, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Dell, Sheldon Addleson, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Larry Ellison, Larry Page, Paul Allen, Kirk Kerkorian, Walt Disney, Richard Branson, Andrew Carnegie, etc. etc. etc. My spiel is simple: Look to the person, not the degree. On one of my stints as a director of engineering; we gave interviewees problem solving exercises to test for critical thinking and awareness skills. Those with a degree generally did no better than those without. Of those with a degree, people from midwest state schools (e.g. Iowa State U.) did just as well as those with "elite" school degrees.
However the tradesman didn't have a huge tuition to pay so maybe he gets a chance much earlier in life to take it easy.
Look Cody, I’m not bashing college or university degrees and most certainly a degree or multiple degrees from a prestigious school does definitely give one a leg up. Other pluses are where a person interns and even what their credit rating is has a lot to do with the choices that a potential employer might look at. Some high end employers even look at the Fraternity or Sorority a person is enjoined with. My goodness, some even like to see a minor in liberal arts on the resume’. What I and others are simply saying is that just because someone has a degree in whatever doesn’t make them the know all and see all of everything far and wide. Now, as far as being a commissioned officer goes, yes, they have to study and work hard to get a degree and commission but every single person in the military knows that it is very rare that some shave tail out of an academy is really ready to command. After all, the highly experienced and proficient First Sergeant has to change their diapers every time something goes boom so we all know who is actually in command.
Well, for some, a college/university degree may not mean a thing, but if you talk to a college/university graduate, they will darn sure tell anyone how much it means to them and to the salary they get. Go to Yale, Stanford, USC, Duke, Rice, Brown and others, graduate and see how good life can be! It's just like the position a person holds with a company. Years ago, a warehouseman I knew told me that he was just like the Director/Manager of Materials we both worked for. I told him right out, "no your not and neither am I. Neither of us has the education or experience he has. So, that means, at work, he is better than us." After thinking about it for awhile, he understood what I was talking about. There are those that can't afford to go to college/university, but, somehow end up with a great paying salary. But, in todays employment world, many, many high paying jobs (white-collar) have to have a college/university degree. Then comes: the nice car, nice house, nice vacations and on and on.
My son dated a Yale grad for a couple of years. I met and visited a number of times with a Japanese doctor, a surgeon in a small town south of Yokohama. He was a graduate of Princeton. Had two brothers, one graduate of MIT, the other a graduate of Yale, and an engineer, the other a general in the Japanese army and KIA during War2. I don't suppose West Point as a prestige university but if it should I knew a West Pointer.At the time I knew him he was Captain of Army Infantry and we often dined together, both in the NC O Club and in [the Officer's Club, both wearing civilian clothes. He from Synder, Texas; I from Wichita Falls. Grads of prestigious universities are scattered all over. Now do you know what they call a Texas A&M graduate? Boss.
As a thread-derailing aside, THIS is why manufacturing jobs have gone overseas. And this is not a slight, Cody, because that was my motivation to going to night classes to get my degree. Once the service economy took off, no one wanted to get dirty & sweaty. Plus you make more money. And your longevity doing office work is markedly longer than it is working an assembly line or crawling under houses to fix drains all day/every day. The National Manufacturer's Association has long-said that at any given point in time, there are 500,000 vacant positions in the manufacturing facilities we still have in this country because folks do not want those jobs, or applicants lack the basic English & math skills required to get their foot in the door. This industry was not exported, we turned our backs on it...or more to the point, our economy evolved past it. Sorry. But I get angry at political rhetoric that imparts ignorance and then exploits it (meaning I get angry a lot.) Back to the thread...