College graduates most often search the relevance of job experience over a degree course or vice versa. Most of you looking for a job have a similar thought running in your heads. Right? Which path would lead to a better career path? Means more money, a respectable position in least time possible. Well, drawing a conclusion would not be the exact right thing to do. Degree or job experience can only be evaluated on what the future holds.
A job description stated a requirement of 2 years of work experience. Other than that each word present in the job profile suited the skills and interest of a student who just passed out of remember. So should he let it go? The thoughts that run in his minds were endless. There is when the question raised in his head and the debate with endless conclusions came into picture.
Work Experience or an Education Degree? This is an old age dilemma where there have been number of arguments in favour of both. But still what is missing is a clear solution to this problem. In today’s era, most of the entrepreneurs feel the following when questioned about the importance of both:
- Work experience and good professional degree individually are good. A combination of both is excellent and that in the recent past is exceptional.
- There are fields where a fancy degree will earn you money and some, where with only experience you will get a raised pay check
- And lastly, if you stay in the same field all through experience gains more importance than any higher education degree
So, experience or degree?
Like every coin has two sides, each of the above has pros and cons attached to them. The easy way is to balance both and conclude if a degree is more important or experience in the career path you decide to pursue. Talking about each one would help you take a suitable decision for yourself.
It is said that education reveals much more about a person than just academics. The overall learning process is in itself an experience. For fields like engineering, architecture, business or computers, a degree from a reputed school will definitely mean more money.
An education degree can add a lot your personality and benefit all parts of life including social, sporting, intellectual, artistic, ethical and more. A degree acts like the first step towards the success of your future career path and then experience. Take it like it is supposed to be and you are bound to receive opportunities for further development. Education helps you understand the whys of concepts easier and faster. It enhances the learning ability, increases the grasping power and makes you confident as a person. And definitely in the long run, a college graduate is going to earn more than a high school pass out.
A study at Georgetown University states that a degree carries a wage premium and even in the worst conditions in the job market, a degree has held its importance.
Key Rule: Both go Hand-in-Hand
It is no doubt that college will open a lot of doors for your career but unfortunately a definite answer of education or experience, there just cannot be one answer that fits all. The amount of education that you need to pursue completely depends on the field you choose.
Then why there is always a need of “relevant experience” by the employers. It is because employers value experience whether it is a paid full-time job, volunteering, internship or any other form. This is one of the reasons that most of the professional degree courses are including internships as a part of their curriculum.
What are the Employers Actually Looking For?
A strong resume, cover letter, additional certifications and work performance at internships or any other type of experience are few of the important parameters on which an employer judges a potential candidate.
So even if your score cards have highest of the grades, an added benefit would be presence of some work experience. Education matters and so does a relevant experience. Gaining both and tailoring your future is what you need to do.
Lastly
None of the above can be considered being one above the other. It is just that today experience is as important a need as a professional degree for a job. So even you are gaining experience without any monetary benefits, you should always accept it. In the long run, this is going to help you get a better job.
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