It's worth listening to this video because I propose an alternative to degrees for getting work that worked for me. Those who are too busy to watch the video (sad face) can see a very, very short summary write up at the bottom of this video descriptor.
Pedantry notes:
The following are a few examples of highly successful individuals whose success was not as a result of a degree, this isn't to suggest agreement with their moral or immoral behaviours or standpoints, but to show financial and career success isn't determined by educational qualifications:
J.K. Rowling - famous author, unemployed single mother when she became successful.
Alan Sugar - dropped out of secondary school to become an entrepreneur, became head of HSBC.
Richard Branson - started his career at 16, owns over 300 companies. Also runs a terrible train service.
Those wanting links to other examples:
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-15-richest-people-without-college-degrees-2010-11?IR=T
http://www.nairaland.com/1272474/top-10-billionaires-dropped-out
https://www.rd.com/advice/work-career/5-famous-billionaire-dropouts/
I'm sure there will be some angry members of STEM insisting degrees are important: within scientific research, most research occurs in academia (most universities contain labs of which experiments are conducted in), which in my opinion constitutes as part of the circular education engine. For jobs not relating strictly to scientific research - engineering and medicine - knowledge and skills can be both obtained on the job, working from the ground up. Indeed, a lot of hospitals will offer to train healthcare workers or assistances, which is a 'foot in the door' role, and engineering companies will tend to hire apprentices to learn their particulars of the trade from scratch.
People who require specialist knowledge for very specialised job roles are, by default, excluding themselves from a wide variety of other job opportunities - even lateral ones, and requires a follow-through commitment that many people honestly do not have - that is, of course, assuming they pass such challenging and specialist courses, and have the finances to afford as such.
University degrees are essentially an 'IOU' that offers you a job and more money later, for a temporary loss now. Most forward planning individuals think this is a good trade, and from a strict logical comparison, it is: however, the IOU rarely delivers, and reality intrudes: the job you do get is often not what you want, and most employers will try to pay you under or below par even if you do get a job you do want. Ultimately, what most people plan to pay off in one or two years, becomes five, ten or twenty years of slowly repaying the debt.
When compared to an alternative - you gain experience for free, and the only payment is hard work and time, and there's no debt at the end - volunteering becomes a superior way to learn a particular job industry. The other advantage is, it does not require that you commit 3 or 4 years of your time, and shackle yourself with five or ten years worth of debt, to do so. I don't advocate permanently working for free, lets face it, it's basically voluntary slavery, but compared to paying someone large sums of cash to teach you half-assedly, it's a far better alternative.
I think a lot of people have been tricked into thinking a piece of paper that says they got a degree dictates their entire worth, when in reality you are worth everything, the degree is a worthless piece of paper at the end of the day. You're the one who goes out and learns, you're the one who applies their skills, you're the one who goes out and gets a job, you're the one with the talent. You do not need a piece of paper to prove who you are, you don't need it to get yourself a job, and you can most definitely do without the debt.
I produced this video because I feel like our younger generation are getting skewered advice from self-interested groups who only see degrees as the only viable option, when in reality there are many alternatives (volunteering, apprenticeships, applying for a role and then demonstrating a talent/responsibility to get promoted, prototyping and demonstration of a concept to a firm, self-employment, learning new skills that give you greater employability etc).
I've produced this video to highlight what worked better for me - which was volunteering, however it's worth noting you should be open minded to the opportunities that apply in your own situation, and follow whatever works best for you.
