College vs Experience

I wanted to take the opportunity to address a topic I've wrestled with so often over the years, and it is well worth posting on it.

I've posted about this before (not on this particular blog), and I've said (circa 2010):

I fully believe that college degrees just mean that the person knew how to take the test at that time, and doesn't mean they know anything now.  Experience, I believed, counts for far more than a mere degree.

I stand by that claim.

Now, before I'm crucified by the masses for this statement of equal self-importance, allow me to caveat that I would revise that statement to add this: 

"If you want a job or career that requires some sort of specialized or expert knowledge, you should get a college degree."

The difference in the last nine or so years is that I am quickly closing in on retirement and the prospect redirecting my career (though slightly).  It will require a different mentality, to be sure.  It will also require a resumee.

"Ay', there's the rub..."

I want a job that values my vast and varied experiences, but I also want a job that I can actually be interviewed for because my resumee has made it past the initial selection.  So, it seems that the initial cut is determined by how educated I may look on paper.

How I look on paper...

This is my postulation on this:  Until a person is known independently by name and/or reputation, their "paper face" is just as important as their true qualifications and potential.

To that end, a degree is important to prove multiple things...at least, on paper.

A degree shows that you have the aptitude to pass the program of study at a college-level.  A degree shows that you have the drive to follow-through with a course of action.  A degree shows a minimum level of proficiency.  Having a degree is a definitive discriminator.

A degree doesn't have to mean you know more than another person in the same field, but when you are starting out, it is extremely important to show that you have more "extra" than the next person.  If you don't have the experience in the field, or a name that respected people may recognize as someone worth a damn, then you need some other way to set yourself apart.

Get a degree.  If nothing else, it will open up more doors than it closes.