Experience VS Degree

I guess it depends on the job but I'd probably prefer experience rather than degree.

Years ago when I was doing admin for a recruitment agency, we had hundreds of graduates coming in expecting to walk straight into a high paying job and were shocked to find they still had to start at the bottom as they didn't have actual experience.

I really think it depends what career you are aiming for and at what stage of your career you get the degree. In quite a few professional fields, getting a trainee contract without a degree is very hard. You may be able to get an A level leavers contract, but there are less of those around. So in the early stages a degree opens doors for you that wouldn't be open otherwise and that is the same today as it has always been. It can also be useful in later stages where you are changing careers as again, with no experience and no knowledge getting a foot in the door can be difficult.

However, after many years, if I'm looking for a new job they don't really care whether I started life with a degree. They look at my professional qualifications and look at what advisory projects I have been working on. I always have a technical interview with any new firms where they test my knowledge. My job is mainly law based - and tax law changes frequently so I can honestly say that my degree is of zero use to me now. But I may not have got to where I am today without the helping hand it gave me initially as I am in an academic field.

We were having the same discussion recently as SD who is 17 wants to go to Uni to do photography. It is just the only subject at school she is vaguely interested in as she is not academically minded at all. We aren't sure she is passionate enough about photography to make it as a career and if she is she would be better getting experience than a degree. We have tried to encourage her photography but outside of the arty type of stuff she does through college (bubbles in oil, or a hand painted white against a black wall) she has shown zero interest in photography. She hates doing any kind of portrait/action/holiday/nature photography - which pretty much rules out most avenues a photographer would use for business. She has refused to help out at local photographers to help with her experience as that isn't the kind of photography she wants to do. It just seems like the degree is an easy option so that she doesn't have to find a job and I am struggling to see how her specific degree would be helpful to her in the future, especially as she is also adamant that she does not want any kind of trainee contract which a degree would be a pre-requisite for. So there remains a lot to be said for getting out there and doing it in certain fields rather than wasting 3 years on a degree you don't need.

I am at the point in my career where 'next level jobs' mostly seem to be requesting degrees as a minimum requirement (I work in a Uni) which is incredibly frustrating for me.

I agree that there's no black and white answer to this and depends mostly on the type of job, but also on the recruiter. Some are old school and favour education over experience.

It totally depends on your job - my degrees are useless in my job. Not that I'm sorry I got them, I loved being in education. But I guess some employers look for a degree as a sign of commitment and that sort of thing, regardless of the actual subject.

When I applied for my last job one of the listed essential requirements was a degree. I'm a school drop out and have just a few O'levels. I knew I had all the key skills and experience to do the job. I applied anyway and got the job. Sometimes employers list requirements as a way of pre-selecting but if you are the right person you will stand out irrespective of the list.

We had this for a bit too - but then we made some noise about it - that of the twelve people in our office, none have a degree and we have all worked here from 5-25 years, yet we are excluded from applying for positions in higher grades ... they have updated the rule for the higher grades now so it's a degree OR extensive relevant experience. I'd go ahead and apply even if I didn't fit their criteria to make a point of how my experience qualifies me!

This is a really interesting question - in my career being "educated to degree level" has been a requirement on everything I've ever applied for.

There's a lot of writing involved, which I suppose an English degree is vaguely relevant for, but even then one has to relearn to fit office styles and technical language etc.

I'm actually kind of unusual in having worked my way up from the bottom - there's a lot of parachuting in, especially in educational fundraising, which really bugs me because it's invariably the people who don't know what they're talking about who leapfrog the system.

Mainstream charity is better though- v.much being judged on my experience here, which is great.

You have to have a degree for all the jobs i've ever done, but I was made redundant before I could finish mine, which means I have a qualification but not a full degree, as well as experience, so I balance myself out! I was told I would have trouble getting jobs as I don't have a degree, but I think to start with the fact that i'd worked for one of the largest companies going helped a lot, and now I have loads of experience, so that's enough

See I think employers have got greedy in a way & expect/want both.

In the area I work, experience & transferable skills are more valued, depending on the level but that is because they are more likely to invest in your personal development so it's quite common for people to be studying towards a qualification whilst workings. That's how it worked for me anyway. X

I think it depends on the job. Me and my OH have a degree, i dont think you need a degree for his job but it helps, think experience maybe more important though. They dont prepare you for a job at uni..least not at mine.

if you work hard i think you can do most things without one...depending on the job ofc nothing like hands on experience

Thank you for all your responses! It's really interesting to see different opinions, and it seems that experience seems to be just a little more valuable, but obviously this depends on the job itself.