Thread by @QuinnyPig

So I want to talk a bit tonight about college degrees.

Let me begin with the obvious: I don't have one. Today that's a fun story; my 20s were harder as a result.

It's clear that a degree makes you more employable than no degree.

But I've spoken with a few people lately who aren't happy with their current jobs and are toying with going back to school for a(nother) degree.

Slow down a second, Hasty Pudding; let me unpack that one for a minute.

A degree is expensive; I'm not going to do the math for you on that one. But it's also a lot of time that you're spending not making money, in most cases.

I've spoken to several people with two degrees who are convinced that a third will make them more employable.

Before you sign up for five or six figures in debt that's incredibly hard to discharge through bankruptcy, fast-forward to what job you're going to land with that degree.

Then find five people who are doing that job today and take them to coffee in return for a conversation.

I did this myself a while back. My "throw a dart at a wall" direction was to be a c-level (or sea level) exec at a large company.

"Maybe I should get an MBA" I thought.

Most of those execs (but not all!) have MBAs. It's undeniable that it'd be helpful, and nobody would fault me for having it.

But I'd need to get my GED first, then an undergraduate degree, and then the MBA.

That's a giant pile of money.

So let's unwind back to the present day and pretend I have that giant pile of money sitting in front of me. Should I get the degree, or is there a better way for me to spend that "war chest" to get me where I want to go?

I started spending that money on buying coffees for anyone I could get to spend ten minutes with me. I borrowed their insight, perspective, and advice at a cost that was dirt cheap.

(This same pattern works for most career decisions, by the way. Talk to five people who are doing the job you think you might want to be doing in 5-10 years. If they all say the degree is necessary? You're probably going to school.)

We've lied to kids for at least a generation now that "a degree means you'll always be employable." It doesn't.

Make sure you know what you're getting into. If it's something you want to do for yourself? It's a hobby; fund it like one.

A personal pet peeve of mine is seeing job descriptions that require a degree. It's a form of exclusion against far too many people who didn't have the privilege to (in my case) squander years at @UMaine with nothing to show for it past a few stories.

There are of course exceptions. My attorney, my doctor, my dentist, and my Quantum Computing researcher all presumably have degrees. You aren't going to get those jobs via schmoozing alone.

But stop telling kids to spend $120K on English degrees just so they can apply for various entry-level office jobs. It does them no favors.

You'll need a piece of paper to get started in a corporate career that says you know things. A degree is traditional; certifications also work for this. Eventually that piece of paper becomes "your résumé full of escalating roles and achievements" and then things change.

The problem as I see it is she's talking to HR.

HR can only say no; they can't say yes. I'd bypass them entirely by talking to hiring managers directly via networking. Sell them on your candidacy, they can often handwave away HR gatekeeping.

https://twitter.com/chlsmith/status/1387942233425514502

Yes! Absolutely!

This is *exactly* why taking people who are on your career path out for coffee/advice is so critical. Find people who look like you do; get the RealTalk from them about this and much more.

https://twitter.com/jackrnewhouse/status/1387946734458859522