Look at this short list: Real work experience, job-related competencies, good people skills, and a suitable diploma
Those all seem like the characteristics that a perfect candidate would like to have in an interview for that nice job in Google, Apple, or Ernst and Young.
What if I told you there is one of them you don’t actually need?
It may shock you, but it is factually true. Which one would you say it is?
It seems like a tough question, after all:
People skills could ensure that you ace the interview and integrate well into your new working environment. Job-related competencies can help you be a problem-solver from the start at your new position. Work experience shows the employer you can perform in a real professional environment and deliver results,
An adequate diploma shows that you are certified by a university to have relevant knowledge for that field… Right?
Let’s not try to figure it out ourselves alone (even if things seem to be getting clearer), let’s ask the employers themselves!
“When you look at people who don’t go to school and make their way in the world, those are exceptional human beings. And we should do everything we can to find those people” – Google Senior Vice President
We got our hands on an extremely recent report from Glassdoor to answer this question for you.
Glassdoor is a number 1 website that covers jobs and company reviews, as well as recruiting, salary reviews and far more. In brief, yes, these guys know what they are talking about.
The report compiled 15 large companies that no longer require a degree for people to be able to work with them.
This is Google, Apple, Ernst and Young, Bank of America, IBM and other 10 similar companies who we are talking about.
They are no chumps.
They know the world is changing, and they need to change with it.
With half the college grads working on jobs that don’t require a degree and only STEM grads faring better than the average (75% working on a position requiring a degree), it is becoming extremely hard to justify the soaring costs of college education.
If you are going to end up working on a job that did not need you to have a degree, why get a degree in the first place?!
Listen, we know. If you want to be a doctor or a lawyer, or you want to go deep into STEM, a degree may be your choice.
However, know there are plenty of options out there that don’t require you to spend 4 or more years outside the job market and accumulating debt.
It is not like you may be restricted to low-paying jobs.
The companies presented by Glassdoor are not lacking in resources and chances to go up the professional ladder, and there are plenty of possibilities to be earning 6 figures without a college degree.
The moral of the story is that more and more companies are realizing what we already knew:
“If you have the skills and experience, you do not need a piece of paper stating you are able to do a job, you can demonstrate it.”
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