A coworker of mine who is based in San Mateo is down in our home office with us this week for a few days (yay! finally another girl in the office with me). It's a nice change of pace and great to have her energy here. After work yesterday we went out for a much-needed drink and started talking about life and work. I've been with this company for 2-1/2 years and she has been here for about three years. Due to the market, we have gone from a large, flourishing niche recruiting firm to four recruiters. She encouraged me to go to college so that I could continue to progress in my career.
My question to her was, Why? Why is it that I have to go to college in order to make a decent living? I understand that people who go to school for something specific certainly have something I could not get on my own. However, I would make more money right now if I had a degree in . . . well, anything. I see people around my age who have degrees in sociology or communications. No offense, but usually they are not using those degrees for anything specialized. They didn't know what they wanted to do, so they just got a degree. And they will make more than me at my job. I started working here when I was 18. So that means that the four years they spent at college (probably partying) I've been getting real-world experience in learning how to do the job.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing college. College is a good thing and everyone that can go, should. However, I don't feel that just because someone completed a four-year degree, they are smarter than me or automatically more qualified to do my job. And I understand that in this society, you absolutely have to have a degree to get a really good job. I just feel that it is unfair to those that do not have the opportunity to go to college, but have the drive and smarts necessary to do fantastic at a job.
What do you think? How did going to college help you in your career?
Cookery: Obsessive Baking with The Artful Baker
6 years ago
1 comment:
I would have never found HR (my passion) had it not been for graduate school.
I was completing my undergrad degree trying to figure out what I was going to do with it when I was told that I could go to graduate school all expenses paid. Well then I had to figure out what I wanted to go to graduate school for! I did a lot of research and some soul searching and found HR. Who knows what field I'd be in now had it not been for this experience.
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