Why a University Education is Not Your Ticket to a Great Career
While a university degree may help you to learn specialized knowledge and hone your critical thinking skills, it is not a job training program.
A degree in English does not correlate to future employment in “English jobs”. And what is an “English job”, anyway?
Let’s not forget that univerisities have been around a lot longer than the modern cubicle society. Some may be adapting their courses to better serve corporate America, but by-and-large universities haven’t “caught up” - nor should they. Universities serve a clear purpose which needn’t be muddied up by attempts at vocational training.
Notable exceptions include programs like Optometry where students actually practice, in a clinic, exactly what they’ll be doing in the office. That’s vocational training.
But in general, the notion that there is a one-to-one relationship between degree programs and “jobs” is beyond silly.
Not only does it sound ridiculous for an employer to hear you inquire about “history jobs”, but more importantly, thinking of yourself in those terms will severely limit your future accomplishments.
You are not the sum of your degrees
To believe that your degree is your ticket to a job is to believe that you’re a carbon-copy of everyone else who holds the same degree. It’s that vocational thinking again - you’ve been trained to do a job, and now you just need to do it over and over again.
You will begin to think of yourself not as simply holding a degree in computer science, but actually being a computer scientist.
The former view of the world is actually far more powerful than the latter. There are many CEOs who have a Bachelor of Mathematics - but they didn’t go through life thinking of themselves as mathematicians.
Conversely, just because you are the proud owner of a freshly minted BMath does not necessarily mean you are on a C-level career path.
When a PhD is a liability
Companies like Google are known for hiring only from certain universities and only people with high academic averages and advanced degrees. This actually makes sense - Google wants thinkers in their company, and thinkers are the one kind of person that universities can produce reliably.
But in many corporate environments, an advanced degree can be a liability. Academics are known to be too rigid in their approach. They are used to the small, well-controlled sandbox that is academia and have difficulty operating within an unpredictable business environment.
If your resume lists academic achievements like advanced degrees, scholarships, or publications, be sure to balance it out with “real-world” accomplishments. Failing to do so may mean that your employer will pigeon-hole you into a particular role suitable to an academic.
Conclusions
University is a great place to learn about yourself, make connections, and build critical thinking skills to last a lifetime. But unless you’re in a highly regulated professional program, it shouldn’t determine where you go with your career. Your potential is not bounded from above OR below by your degree.
Related Categories
Career Path,
Education
Leave a Reply
