Quality Career Without a Degree

[Mikey324]

I came from quite humble beginnings. Parents were farmers, but not the wealthy kind. I've had to work for literally as far back as I can remember. That said, when old enough to be on my own, college was simply not an option for me. It was a choice of perusing a degree, or having shelter and food to eat. Even then it was a lot of $1 Whoppers and ramen noodles.

I fell into my original quality roll by working in the plant. Working hard, making good product. I am a relentless studier. I research everything. 20+ years later, I have lead the quality department for quite some time. Implemented the change from QS9000 to TS16949 to IATF16949. All without high level training. But self study, lessons learned, and pure hands on experience.

It's not easy, but it isn't supposed to be I guess. A degree is simply not for everyone. I think employers are starting to realize that while a degree is fantastic, nothing beats boots on the ground experience. Do what's right for you, but there are definitely options should you choose to not seek out a degree.

 

[Randy]

It's not easy, but it isn't supposed to be I guess.

Level of ease reduces the level of appreciation.

A degree is simply not for everyone.

I meet some pretty stupid people with degrees (many of whom didn't pay for them out of their pocket...you can tell). My generation was sold the "Go to college" line because of the Space Age back in the 50's & 60's and in this humble Master's holder, the majority of those getting a sheep skin don't do much more than contribute to global warming and climate change with their exhaled breath and flatulence.

 

[Mikey324]

Level of ease reduces the level of appreciation.



I meet some pretty stupid people with degrees (many of whom didn't pay for them out of their pocket...you can tell). My generation was sold the "Go to college" line because of the Space Age back in the 50's & 60's and in this humble Master's holder, the majority of those getting a sheep skin don't do much more than contribute to global warming and climate change with their exhaled breath and flatulence.

Depending on the field, 10 years hands on will most always be more capable than a masters and no practical application. The masters will no doubt get you there, but you still have to put in the time. The person with 10 years experience is going to get you where you need to be faster in most cases.

 

[TPMB4]

I've not used my degrees since working. A level maths at times but not my degree courses. Degrees are there to show what you should be capable of but experience is there to show what you have been capable of.

Needless to say I'm between degree and school of experience. One thing education vs experience has shown me and that's university and last years at school taught me how to think and it's that thinking that's got me the experience. It is still the case that whether leaving education at 16 or 21 with a degree you grow up a lot working. In quality I learnt what I know in my last company without any paper certificates, but employers like paper certificates as it's a lazy recruiters crutch when they can't be bothered to look deeper at what a candidate can do. No bog roll certificate let's screen him out straight away. We're left with 10 identikit candidates for the line manager to beat into shape or bounce on to someone else. I do joke of course.

 

[sonflowerinwales]

35 years as inspector/quality manager/product assurance in a wide variety of disciplines, no degree and no problems getting a new job.
Experience counts for a lot.
Cheers
Paul

 

[Miner]

The biggest benefit I personally got out of my degree, was when a manufacturing engineer was bs'ing me about why they couldn't implement a certain countermeasure, and I told them "You know, I do have an engineering degree." then watched the blood drain from their face.

 

[who'stheowner]

I enjoyed college but didn't finish. Right out of high school I had a family to support, so, part time work wasn't an option.
I found that going to college and working full time ment that I was missing my kids precious years as little ones. That was a deal breaker. So I cut back to just taking a class or two. Which was slow going. Then, at some point, I had a eureka moment where I realized that I had taken a bunch of classes over the years and couldn't really remember very much of what I'd spent so much time and money on. On top of that, by then I had been in the work place for a while and I had some experience working with my degreed colleagues and found that most, not all, had no more on the ball than I did, and some were real head shakers. I vowed not to take any more classes unless I knew it was something I would use, because..."use or lose it", and I had lost too much already.
So now I'm 35ish years in and have been a Quality Manager for the last 10, Quality Engineer and Quality Supervisor, Inspector, Assembly line worker before that. I've always studied and put to good use some of the advice in these previous posts. I do think I could be making more money if I had the degree, but I really have no regrets. My oldest kid will be 40 this year and I still treasure those days when she was a toddler and I was there.

 

[Timetraveler12]

Level of ease reduces the level of appreciation.



I meet some pretty stupid people with degrees (many of whom didn't pay for them out of their pocket...you can tell). My generation was sold the "Go to college" line because of the Space Age back in the 50's & 60's and in this humble Master's holder, the majority of those getting a sheep skin don't do much more than contribute to global warming and climate change with their exhaled breath and flatulence.

I've met some pretty stupid people "without" degrees. They get by as long as they can by playing politics and the good ole boy game. That usually only gets them so far until they have to start throwing their BS curveballs because they're not competent or capable enough to solve problems. I see it day in and day out, they often don't know what they don't know, because they haven't educated themselves outside of the job. Unless you have a support group that knows better you will often be less efficient and effective than someone educated. For example, trying to screen and optimize inputs one factor at a time instead of utilizing a DOE(I've literally seen this on the job).

I've been in roles where I had to train or educate myself because the OTJ training was subpar or nonexistent. You're OTJ training may/may not be as broad and encompassing as what a structured learning program would be. What you learn OTJ may very well have some depth to it, but it would be a longshot to think it's going to cover everything you would learn in say a Mechanical Engineering undergrad.

I have worked with some that are not formally educated that are hard working and willing to do what needs to be done to see a project to success. They certainly have my respect. However, one would think that the average performance of an educated individual with 5 years experience and an individual with only 5 years of experience would show a statistically significant difference in some form.

Bottom line: You can't be complacent or too comfortable. You must always be willing to learn and know how to learn. Formal Education and OTJ experience both have their pros and cons. The most prudent person would look to have both if possible.

But hey, I'm just a college graduate that paid out of pocket(other than FAFSA) while working part time. Now if you'll excuse me, I can get back to doing my part to contribute to global warming and climate change.

 

[Ed Panek]

I had about 80% of my degree for the first half of my career. After the navy I used the gi bill to get started but it took another decade to complete it online.

Generally a company will consider a technical degree important in areas like engineering and math and health science. Some other areas a degree is less important. I think quality is such an area.

A degree then become a barrier to the position. Don’t have a bachelors you can get the job. I don’t think most companies actually care about the degree itself though.

The other soft skills are more important. Can you work in a team? Are you curious? Engaged? Can you persuade people. Can you remain calm? Do you understand your customers? Your suppliers? Your staff? What’s your personal story? Can you tell it in a way that shows you’re passionate about something and work hard to progress?

If you can do that it’s very good.

 

[optomist1]

today, more than ever the official degree designation is less of a constraint...(full disclosure, I have degrees and certs), practical, actionable experience is in great demand. "Working" while pursuing a degree, certs etc., is many times more valuable...text book knowledge combined with real life experience is a potent combo...my two euros worth