As someone who enjoys engineering in the trenches and getting my hands dirty, I always try to learn how much experience a person has when I interview them. HR a

As someone who enjoys engineering in the trenches and getting my hands dirty, I always try to learn how much experience a person has when I interview them. HR and other areas of the business will use degrees and certifications as proxies, but I've found them to be unreliable. I work in an industry where the skills aren't really taught in school, so we have to try to filter for people who are really dynamic learners. Degrees aren't a good proxy for that, so we have to dig deeper. Lots of people will have "bat boy" syndrome...a baseball team can make it to the World Series, and the bat boy gets to go with them, but doesn't provide any value on the field. These are engineers that were associated with projects, but didn't actually do any of the work. They just happened to be in the room when it was done, but put it on their resume anyway. That said, if you're relying on experience to open doors, I'd make sure that you can actually show people what you've accomplished. I have 5+ years experience at a very reputable and challenging company, but all the work I've done is proprietary. So people have to take me at my word,and it's difficult to convey how much you're capable of in an hour long interview. I think education will actually open more doors more easily. Another way to look at it: You're always getting experience(there aren't many gate keepers), but getting a degree can provide you access to lots of opportunities once you have it.