While writing the post “Do Employers Value Experience or a Degree” I was reminded of a colleague who does not have a degree. He would always argue that he
“Had a degree from the University of Life“
He was of course referring to the fact that whilst he did not have a degree he had a lot of life / work experience, which he believed was worth more.
To a point I have to agree with him, a degree is after all only a bit of paper, it does not ‘prove’ you can do anything useful in the ‘real world’ (I hate that term, just how many worlds are there, besides the real one?).
And he is right in that there is no substitute for hands on experience, and so, a degree from the ‘University of Life’ is certainly of great value (this person was successful, having a good job etc).
What I think this person missed was the fact that it is even better to have both, i.e. a degree and good life/ work experience, and that studying for a degree is, in itself good experience as, in order to do well you need to be self motivated, disciplined etc.
Also there is the question of transferability of work experience. Although the person who made the statement regarding the University of Life was in a good job, his skills were not transferable outside the organisation he was working in. I think that in spite of his strong experience he would find it difficult to find a similar role elsewhere without the paperwork (a 2:1 or 1s class degree) employers (often wrongly in my opinion) insist upon.