Nowadays, many people believe that the best method to acquire a good paying job is to get a university degree. Whereas others are adamant that skills and experience are more significant than a mere degree. These two arguments will be discussed in this essay.
During one’s academic journey at a university, they are taught several skills, be it personal or professional. To give an example, many universities around the world –such as Harvard– provide internships at world-class workplaces that can help nurture the skills that were taught at the university, needless to say that the place during which the internship is held is determined by the student’s field of study. During the internship, students gain experience and knowledge under the supervision of experts at the workplace. Therefore enriching the students with both academic and professional knowledge. Moreover, a student can have higher job opportunities because they studied at a certain university. For instance, many Harvard University students get jobs in the blink of an eye, just because they studied at Harvard. A degree is not only for academics, a degree is there to learn how the corporate world operates, and to strengthen the individual’s CV.
Skills and experience can be learned at many places, it does not necessarily have to be at a workplace. Nevertheless, many organisations demand for people who have already pursued a degree. They do need experience and skills, yet having a degree makes the application appear stronger in the eye of the HR department. I have met several HR managers, and most of them have mentioned that the most important element in one’s application –after hobbies and extracurriculars– is the degree, and the university that gave the degree. One may argue that skills and experience can get someone a job. That is absolutely true. However, it cannot get the individual a good paying job. Logically speaking, I cannot go to a workplace and ask the HR department to recruit me as the manager of a certain department, when I only possess a secondary school degree. That would not make any sense whatsoever.
To sum it up, degrees have a stronger impact on one’s application, as they provide both academic and professional knowledge that can help the workplace prosper, skills and experience are not unimportant. Even so, they are not as useful as a degree when it comes to job applications.