Since our early childhood and growing up in middle-class families we are told that one should have a good education to get a high-paying job. We pressurize our children to get higher marks in the class. Getting the first position in the class gives the false perception to their parents and children themselves that they are heading in the right direction. It gives them a surety that they will land a good job in the future. We are enrolling students in schools and colleges so they can land a good job after completing their education. Is it necessary to get high grades in college to get a high-paying job?
Well, the question is a college degree necessary to get a job. In this article, we will discuss how to land a good job without having a college degree. How the hiring companies are updating the hiring requirements and preferring skills over a degree? Let’s delve deeper into this.
Skillset and the degree comparison:
Let me show you an example of student A who comes out of college with a high GPA in all subjects. He has pride over his hard-earned degree that he will clear the test and will easily get hired due to his impressive portfolio of GPA. There is another student B who has scored a moderate GPA, but he has experience of working in the relative fields, he knows how to communicate effectively, is highly confident over his skills, practically implements the knowledge by getting job experience. Student B will surpass the first one because the skill set and experience set is impressive and this is what employers are looking for in the clients. GPA plays only a small contributing factor for getting the job.
So skills and having good communication skills as well as leadership skills, dealing with people in the business, copywriting skills, confidence all count and add up in your portfolio and are a part of your resume.
Elon Musk said in an interview that “A college degree is not necessary to get a job. If you graduated from a top university it may be an indication that you are capable of great things but it is not necessarily in every case. If you look at Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Larry Elison these guys do have a college degree and they are doing great without the job.
Why College degree is not necessary?
Now it doesn’t mean that you should not get an education. You should be wise enough to know why you are wasting your four years to get a job. There are a lot of e-learning platforms that have free and premium plans and short courses to learn a skill.
The top websites are Alison, Edx, and Mindvalley, Skillshare, and Udemy. These websites have a short course of three to six months where you can learn anything. Some people have excuses like we cannot have healthy interaction with our fellows and teachers, so it makes these courses dull and dry. You can increase your interaction by doing an internship or part-time work(and yes you can get a job without a degree). Universities are great for research and they do a really good job. But why do you have to take the load of BS with you to guarantee you a job once you get out of college?
Glassdoor has listed 15 companies that don’t require a college degree including companies like Google, Apple, IBM have officially announced that having a college degree is not mandatory for getting a job there. Google has launched its sources of six months to prepare the employees for in-demand jobs.
How to go beyond college if you have enrolled for a college degree?
There are many ways you can be better than the rest of your class and the following tips can increase your chances of getting a job.
- By participating in the class activities, engagement in the class and public speaking skills can improve your soft skills.
- Enroll yourself in the communication skill classes, as most people don’t know how to speak, learn about persuasion skills and negotiation skills, etc.
- Work on yourself and read a lot of books relevant to your education.
- Always have side hustle hobbies and business that you can run on your own or by partnering with a friend.
Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp owner Mark Zuckerberg said in an interview: I think having the flexibility to explore a lot of different skills which you can do in college is one of the most amazing skills that you can do. You can work on your hobbies and try a lot of different things. This is amazing and exploring different things keeps you flexible.
Conclusion:
There are many jobs which you haven’t even thought about. The cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, cyber security, virtual reality, nanotechnology, and many other jobs which are not even taught in the college or universities, also there are many jobs that can be replaced by machines and robots in the future, but that’s another debate.
So do you still think a college degree is necessary for getting a job? We are living in a digital world where access to information is much easier. You can get to know about any kind of stuff sitting in your bedroom. So skills make the person valuable and unbeatable, if you are an ordinary person having ordinary skills, it means you are replaceable in the workplace. Get stick to one skill and give it enough time to master that skill, practice it, implement and learn how to sell it. Also, have a positive mindset for achieving your goals.
