Free Public College

If you rely on a piece of paper to win you a job, you already have proven you were not the best candidate.

You have to look good on paper. In the US, when you apply for a job, so do 500 other people. They only have one or two positions, and they are not going to do 500 interviews. The first thing the hiring manager does is sift through the hundreds of resumes they got. Probably 90%, if not more, of those do not get interviews. That means you have to beat at least 90% of people, on paper. Unless you were specifically recommended, or someone high up saw you at work and told you to send it in or contact them, they have absolutely nothing else to judge you based off of.

I'm not saying that a degree should be required, and I'm not saying it should be the deciding factor, but both of these things are true. Why? Simply because they make you look 100x better than the guy on the next sheet that doesn't have one. That's why a degree is so important in the US, and why a degree will get you a job while not having one most likely will not. Your resume will get thrown out when your Education section is missing or lacking. Why? Because assumptions and questions. Why didn't you finish/go to school? Are you stupid? Are you a bad worker? All of these things are questions they don't want to be bothered to answer.

Here's my problem, and maybe I didn't outline it well enough earlier, but I'll try to do it well here: If everyone has a degree, then there's going to be something else to sift through that list of resumes. What makes you look even better than when you have a Bachelor's Degree? A Master's. A Doctorate. A degree means so much, so a better one will mean that much more. That's why free college is bad. Affordable college on the other hand...with stricter guidelines and harder and more direct coursework (Why am I taking English 210[random number, might not exist] when my major is Science/Math related? Why am I learning Physics when I want to be a news reporter?) is a far better idea. The petition is basically asking for handouts from the government. "Make it easier for me!" It should be harder, because then two things happen: 1) The degree is worth more (more for your money, for sure. I'm in debt out the a$$hole and I have almost nothing to show for it!). 2) Less people have it, making Experience on your resume worth more, because every single candidate won't have a degree you won't immediately get tossed because you don't have a degree like you do now.

I think some companies have already realized that a degree isn't everything, but it's far from enough. My brother got a job with a game development company without finishing school. I know some people who have obtained a job or two without one as well. But those companies are few and far between, and it involves a LOT of luck (Think: In the right place at the right time). Every story I've heard of this happening is also in a tech field, so if you're not in one you're screwed.

Those of us who are not lucky...we have to play the game. We don't get to leave early, so to speak. That means going to school, getting a magical piece of paper, and making a flashy resume to catch eyes. Regardless of how useful school actually is for us.

Employers need to rethink the worth of a degree. If being a cashier requires a degree, it had better be a job worth getting a degree for. Don't put a requirement for a degree just because it looks better. Don't assume that people coming out from college/uni will be better (in whatever irrelevant ways) than those with a diploma, or none of those. Why the hell does a waiter, a chef, a cashier, or some of the "lower-tier" professions need a degree?

A degree does NOT make one more skilled at... say... punching keys on a keyboard. It does not necessarily make one better at teamwork or communication, or make one more trustworthy. A degree equips one with knowledge in that area, and maybe some project work experience.

[Also, I've been through undergraduate on a scholarship. I'm also sponsored for Ph.D. That tells a great deal about where I'm from, for those who are curious, and just how lucky I am.]

Hadriel

To be fair, you don't need a degree for Cashier jobs and stuff like that, but you also don't get a livable wage from them. You will get minimum wage at part-time. It's impossible to live off of a "lower-tier" profession, as you call it. Everyone I've met that has one also has at least two jobs, usually three, and is spending almost all hours of the day working. You get no benefits either, because they intentionally do whatever it takes to ensure that no one meets the qualifications for benefits (There's actually some petitions on change.org about this problem. Ironically, Obama-Care made these things worse, not better).

This is where the "You have to get an education!" mentality came from. Those from my parents' generation that did not go to college are stuck at these jobs, working their asses off night and day, to support their families. They didn't want their children to have the same life they did. Now a degree is required for anything that would be higher than a "lower-tier" job, because they're so common.


I think it's interesting to point out that you sometimes don't even need a degree relevant to the job. My company hires ANYONE with "Engineer" in the name, or can be considered "Engineer". For a while we had a guy who went to school to be a Physicist, until he moved on because he was way too smart for my company. Why do they want anyone with Engineer in their degree? Because they can gloat about it to look good. They don't care how intelligent or useful you are, just that you have that fancy name. That's all that matters. It doesn't have anything to do with education, skill, or anything else. It has to do with the name. That's how stupidly bad things are around here.