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A college degree signals to an employer that "this person can finish something". That's why the worst thing you can ever do is put on your resume "Some college

A college degree signals to an employer that "this person can finish something". That's why the worst thing you can ever do is put on your resume "Some college". That signals "this person cannot finish something". It doesn't matter what the reason is, just don't put it on. I have to interview a lot of people and I look for qualities that signal the person has the type of personality that can work on a problem, even an extremely boring one, until it is _done_. It doesn't necessarily have to be a degree, but that is an easy signal. A PhD is even better. That person worked on something for very long and had the discipline to write it up. That speaks volumes for someone's work ethic. I'm not saying this is the best or only way, you will get outliers. If you are a betting man, this is a very good strategy and you will be right more than wrong.

mdpopescu 10y ago
An alternative way of judging a degree (I'm not just playing Devil's advocate, this is what I believe) is that people who finished college - or worse, have a PhD - are people who do well in artificial, hierarchical environments, where prestige is overwhelmingly more important than knowledge or "getting things done". (You can see a similar mentality with government employees, for example.) A good exemplification of this is in the Big Bang Theory show, where "Dr." Sheldon is obviously superior to any non-doctor around, no matter how badly adjusted he actually is in the real world. The fact that a lot of people believe that Sheldon is a good model to follow is seriously baffling to me.
- laichzeit0 10y ago
  Yeah that's definitely a possibility. I personally know a guy who took 8 year to finish his Masters degree. It wasn't especially difficult, he's just overly pedantic and perfectionist. But I'd probably ask someone why they took so long to complete. Actually come to think of it that type of person you describe is perfect for a corporate environment. They want someone that can follow process, not rock the boat, and eventually get something done. Perfect for government too.

mdpopescu 10y ago

An alternative way of judging a degree (I'm not just playing Devil's advocate, this is what I believe) is that people who finished college - or worse, have a PhD - are people who do well in artificial, hierarchical environments, where prestige is overwhelmingly more important than knowledge or "getting things done". (You can see a similar mentality with government employees, for example.) A good exemplification of this is in the Big Bang Theory show, where "Dr." Sheldon is obviously superior to any non-doctor around, no matter how badly adjusted he actually is in the real world. The fact that a lot of people believe that Sheldon is a good model to follow is seriously baffling to me.

laichzeit0 10y ago
Yeah that's definitely a possibility. I personally know a guy who took 8 year to finish his Masters degree. It wasn't especially difficult, he's just overly pedantic and perfectionist. But I'd probably ask someone why they took so long to complete. Actually come to think of it that type of person you describe is perfect for a corporate environment. They want someone that can follow process, not rock the boat, and eventually get something done. Perfect for government too.