“I just wish employers would stop requiring irrelevant or useless degrees.”
Unfortunately, if you want to hire a white who has no degree, but 20 years in the field and his competition is a minority with a degree, you’d better be prepared to prove in court why you hired the white. It’s a legal issue. Companies are risk averse, so they hire the guy with the most degrees as they can justify that in court.
Having hired many people, I can tell you that college degrees are, for the most part, not an indicator of how people will perform. If you need a mechanical engineer, the fact that candidate A, with no degree builds hotrods makes him infinitely better than candidate B who got straight A’s in engineering shchool and has no outside interest in mechanical stuff. The same is true in all professions. An electrical tech with a ham license is 50 times better than a degreed engineer who has never built any of his own equipment.
You are correct. MGD has been working as an un-degreed mechanical engineer for over 20 years and he can run rings around people with PE's and perfect college pedigrees. And yet his employment opportunities are limited to small companies with self-made owners who don't care what your papers say as much as what you can do for them.
“If you need a mechanical engineer, the fact that candidate A, with no degree builds hotrods makes him infinitely better than candidate B who got straight A’s in engineering shchool and has no outside interest in mechanical stuff. The same is true in all professions. An electrical tech with a ham license is 50 times better than a degreed engineer who has never built any of his own equipment.”
I remain skeptical of your assertion about qualifications. Engineers need a good understanding of math and science. Building engines does not provide a good background in math and science. Obtaining a ham license does not provide sufficient training in math and science for electrical engireering work. I agree that a degree is not sufficient but practical experience as a mechanic or radio operator does not provide sufficient training. In most cases, it is far easier for a degreed engineer to obtain relevant work experience than a mechanic and electrician to obtain background in math and science.
I agree that that a degree is not a prerequisite for engineering work. Individuals need training and experience with some certified credentials especially for entry level positions. University education needs major overhauls for much lower costs, increased flexibility, and standardized results.
“Having hired many people, I can tell you that college degrees are, for the most part, not an indicator of how people will perform. If you need a mechanical engineer, the fact that candidate A, with no degree builds hotrods makes him infinitely better than candidate B who got straight A’s in engineering shchool and has no outside interest in mechanical stuff. The same is true in all professions. An electrical tech with a ham license is 50 times better than a degreed engineer who has never built any of his own equipment.”
I doubt that you’ve ever hired anyone. Such nonsense.
Quite frankly if you actually believe that you are an idiot.