College

[clonetrooper264]

FWIW college was worth it for me. I have no qualms with people who don't do college and make their own path doing what they like, nothing wrong with that. Not going to college because you're lazy and don't wanna do anything is a different story, but I doubt that pertains to anyone in this thread.

 

[nvanprooyen]

For me, it always just seemed like a waste of time. When I was in the USAF, I had a part time job doing tech support for a company. When I got out they offered me a promotion and full time, so I rolled with it. I was thinking about college at the time but I didn't see the sense in investing all that time and money into a degree, when I was already making about what someone entry level fresh out of college would make. Also, education sucked back then for the stuff I was interested in doing and thought I could do a better job educating myself through experience and self study. Worked out. People are usually shocked when I tell them I don't have a degree.

 

[ijustposthere]

Who gives a shit (I mean that in a good way)? I received my undergrad when I was 28 and my masters when I was 38. I had a good union gig from 19-25, and that paid the bills. Once I was laid off I decided to finish my undergrad in Electronic Media.
Moved to Chicago in '04 and started my MS in '08, then decided to go for the MFA in Digital Cinema in '10.

Oh, and our work is expanding. Anyone with an AV background that wants/needs a change hit this up:
http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobseeker/jobs/jobdetails.aspx?utm_source=job-recommendation&utm_campaign=regular-rec-email&HostID=US&SiteID=cb_emailrec_US&Job_DID=J3L75S63BFM9YZT72JJ&utm_term=2015-02-08&je=myrec&showNewJDP=yes&utm_medium=email&IPATH=JEHRAXP&sc_cmp2=10_JobMat_JobDet

We may be hiring a Video Technician soon. I know we're hiring one at our AZ campus (full time).

Appreciated, but I'm not sure I could do it anymore. I haven't looked at any video software in a few years, and I haven't had any experience with any equipment in almost 6.

 

[BlackHawkPaul]

Appreciated, but I'm not sure I could do it anymore. I haven't looked at any video software in a few years, and I haven't had any experience with any equipment in almost 6.

We're a university. Things move slower here.
We just migrated from Final Cut Pro 7 to Premiere CC.

 

[Crystallas]

For me, it always just seemed like a waste of time. When I was in the USAF, I had a part time job doing tech support for a company. When I got out they offered me a promotion and full time, so I rolled with it. I was thinking about college at the time but I didn't see the sense in investing all that time and money into a degree, when I was already making about what someone entry level fresh out of college would make. Also, education sucked back then for the stuff I was interested in doing and thought I could do a better job educating myself through experience and self study. Worked out. People are usually shocked when I tell them I don't have a degree.

You might appreciate this story, while some others may feel offended. I'm not sure anymore.

I've had a few slumps in the last 20 years where I decided to look for work in the wild. About 95% of the time, I have gotten this arrogant, 'everyone must go to college to be qualified' type of person interviewing, or someone a bit nicer, but deep down they were just humoring me and wasting my time. Once I had a business owner who flat out gave me an interview, we were both nice, he snapped on me at the end because he assumed I had a degree with the experience I had. This guy was mad because I wasted his time, told me to go back to school, etc. He really ripped into me with his poor temper when dealing with those without degrees(he was really nice to everyone and myself until that point), and all I did was watch him melt down as I had nothing to gain by getting into a spat. What did I do? I took a position for his direct competitor and made sure his business went under. Four months, and he lost all of his clientele and major contracts. How did I do it? I hired other uneducated personnel to work the field and split the difference in training.

I have a lot of stories just from getting treated differently based on not having a degree. Yes, I take the treatment personally, because it is completely personal if you share the philosophy that human beings aren't just numbers. Especially when someone has enough experience on their resume to make the interviewer look totally unqualified to do the interview themselves.

IMO, if you think you can judge a person based on a resume and the education completed, you shouldn't be hiring(and only get away with it now because so many other HR/managers do it as well.) Systematic leadership can, but not always, keep boats afloat and get through the journey, but a true leader changes lives and everything around him/her while taking that boat to a whole new level.

 

[clonetrooper264]

College degree =/= you are good at whatever. No college degree =/= you are worse than one who does have a degree. A college degree can be a helpful tool if you use it right, but at the end of the day, it's about how well you do what you do.

 

[nvanprooyen]

Yep. Completely agree. I've had similar experiences, although never had someone completely melt down on me. The funniest comment was "wow, based on your experience...I just assumed you had an MBA". That should tell you something, dipshit. Maybe you're fixated on the wrong set of requirements....and because of that, I probably wouldn't want to work here anyways.

 

[Nail Polish]

I knew a guy who built a house from scratch with a 2 year HS education

He did everything himself from digging the hole to finishing the inside

Being educated doesnt make you smart, it just makes you educated

The college bias crowd makes me laugh, because with all their education, they are the ones acting like uneducated boobs

 

[nvanprooyen]

IMO, if you think you can judge a person based on a resume and the education completed, you shouldn't be hiring(and only get away with it now because so many other HR/managers do it as well.) Systematic leadership can, but not always, keep boats afloat and get through the journey, but a true leader changes lives and everything around him/her while taking that boat to a whole new level.

You really nail it in that last paragraph.

 

[Scoot26]

You might appreciate this story, while some others may feel offended. I'm not sure anymore.

I've had a few slumps in the last 20 years where I decided to look for work in the wild. About 95% of the time, I have gotten this arrogant, 'everyone must go to college to be qualified' type of person interviewing, or someone a bit nicer, but deep down they were just humoring me and wasting my time. Once I had a business owner who flat out gave me an interview, we were both nice, he snapped on me at the end because he assumed I had a degree with the experience I had. This guy was mad because I wasted his time, told me to go back to school, etc. He really ripped into me with his poor temper when dealing with those without degrees(he was really nice to everyone and myself until that point), and all I did was watch him melt down as I had nothing to gain by getting into a spat. What did I do? I took a position for his direct competitor and made sure his business went under. Four months, and he lost all of his clientele and major contracts. How did I do it? I hired other uneducated personnel to work the field and split the difference in training.

I have a lot of stories just from getting treated differently based on not having a degree. Yes, I take the treatment personally, because it is completely personal if you share the philosophy that human beings aren't just numbers. Especially when someone has enough experience on their resume to make the interviewer look totally unqualified to do the interview themselves.

IMO, if you think you can judge a person based on a resume and the education completed, you shouldn't be hiring(and only get away with it now because so many other HR/managers do it as well.) Systematic leadership can, but not always, keep boats afloat and get through the journey, but a true leader changes lives and everything around him/her while taking that boat to a whole new level.

The system is even worse now. While I haven't personally experienced it, I've had friends who said they've been turned down for jobs just because of the college they went to.

 

[nvanprooyen]

That's a shame. I feel for people in their early to mid 20's entering the work force these days. If it was me, I'd live at home, keep my expenses as low as possible and start trying to build a business. Much easier to fail forward without the heavy responsibilities that tend to come along later in life.

 

[clonetrooper264]

The system is even worse now. While I haven't personally experienced it, I've had friends who said they've been turned down for jobs just because of the college they went to.

FT used to say that if he saw you went to school online you were automatically eliminated from whatever he was trying to find. This mentality is silly.

 

[Crystallas]

The system is even worse now. While I haven't personally experienced it, I've had friends who said they've been turned down for jobs just because of the college they went to.

Wait until the student loan bubble bursts. Then we'll have the argument about debt forgiveness paid off by tax payers(many of those who are at a disadvantage in this "system" forced to put them at a greater disadvantage) versus the I-told-you-so/you-never-learn group. Then the system will be even worse. The polarization, oh the bias! It's going to create impossible demands while the whole problem will be swept under the rug, as the natural cause of machines taking jobs(fallacy).

 

[Scoot26]

FT used to say that if he saw you went to school online you were automatically eliminated from whatever he was trying to find. This mentality is silly.

In a sense, I can understand that mentality because a lot of online schools are just crap. The thinking is if you're stupid enough to go to one of those online schools you're too dumb to work this job.. That kind of thinking.

I still think you should judge a person on their character and qualifications. I suppose its different when you're interviewing a recent college grad vs a person in their mid 30's who may have a load of experience, while chances are the college grad has next to nothing.

 

[Crystallas]

That's a shame. I feel for people in their early to mid 20's entering the work force these days. If it was me, I'd live at home, keep my expenses as low as possible and start trying to build a business. Much easier to fail forward without the heavy responsibilities that tend to come along later in life.

And start your business on the down-low. The cost to run a business 100% lawfully, is ridiculous unless you enter into either a heavily saturated market or a dotcom.
This is what happens when laws and regulations are written based on envy. You may get one victory over a business that takes advantage of others, but wind up clipping your wings in the process and hurting everyone more.

 

[Scoot26]

That's a shame. I feel for people in their early to mid 20's entering the work force these days. If it was me, I'd live at home, keep my expenses as low as possible and start trying to build a business. Much easier to fail forward without the heavy responsibilities that tend to come along later in life.

I went through struggles entering the work force. Was stuck in a crappy part time bank teller job for years as I couldn't find full-time work.. Eventually that part time job got rid of me (they wanted me to go full-time and was focused on sales)...and I went to a temp agency and now ended up in accounting for a corporate real estate company . But, now I'm just unmotivated and content enough to force a change on myself (like a new, higher paying job).

 

[BlackHawkPaul]

In a sense, I can understand that mentality because a lot of online schools are just crap. The thinking is if you're stupid enough to go to one of those online schools you're too dumb to work this job.. That kind of thinking.

I still think you should judge a person on their character and qualifications. I suppose its different when you're interviewing a recent college grad vs a person in their mid 30's who may have a load of experience, while chances are the college grad has next to nothing.

Some firms are hiring people with less on their resume as a way to pay less. They can then train them n specific areas to reduce overhead.
I now have to figure out what to omit just to have certain employers take a look at me.

 

[Scoot26]

Some firms are hiring people with less on their resume as a way to pay less. They can then train them n specific areas to reduce overhead.
I now have to figure out what to omit just to have certain employers take a look at me.

With the amount of millennials who want jobs, I'm surprised that matters. Seems a lot will just settle for whatever is offered to them because they just want a job.

 

[clonetrooper264]

In a sense, I can understand that mentality because a lot of online schools are just crap. The thinking is if you're stupid enough to go to one of those online schools you're too dumb to work this job.. That kind of thinking.

I still think you should judge a person on their character and qualifications. I suppose its different when you're interviewing a recent college grad vs a person in their mid 30's who may have a load of experience, while chances are the college grad has next to nothing.

Yeah I mean I get where he's coming from, but I do happen to know a guy who's doing online college who has good work ethic with his jobs. He's a vet which may have a lot to do with that. But you never figure that out if you never give the guy a chance. Though chances are 99% of such people that a hiring guy may experience may be dumb as rocks so it's easy to generalize.

The whole experience thing was really the hardest part about finding a job. It seems like every job req out there requires some degree of experience and college grads just don't have it. They have to get it somehow, but no one will hire them so they can actually get experience. I lucked out because a CS major doesn't have to deal with that quite as much, but I know a lot of other people I went to school with kinda got screwed by the whole experience thing.

 

[nvanprooyen]

An interesting side note to all this - the opportunities to self educate today are greater than any time in human history. You just have to want it and be willing to work. Sooo many great resources out there now. Want to learn about finance and capital markets? Cool. Hop over to Khan Academy and learn about it for free - https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/core-finance . Hell, you can even attend classes from top professors at MIT, Harvard etc if you want to - https://www.edx.org/schools-partners . It's insane. How educated you are really comes down to a personal choice and your capacity to learn.

I totally respect the desire to want to go through the formal education process. But companies that put so much emphasis on it annoy me a little. Google has even come around a little: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-hiring-non-graduates-2013-6 .