Education vs. Experience: Which One Is More Important? As we hit 'back to the school' season, many people may start to think whether college education is a must.
By Ceren Cubukcu •
This story originally appeared on Personal Branding Blog
As we hit "back to the school" season, many people may start to think whether college education is a must. College education is expensive but certainly important especially in some fields. However, graduating from college is not a guarantee of landing a job immediately. You also need experience in your desired field. So, which one is more important: education or experience? Is having experience enough for you to land your dream job without a bachelor's degree? Or do you certainly require a bachelor's degree with good academic grades? Keep reading below and decide yourself.
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A college with a good reputation can open you many doors.
It is obvious that a college with a good reputation can provide you many opportunities. Good colleges have career fairs in which many employers attend. This enables you to find a job easier. Also, most colleges have alumni networks and this network can help you land a job. However, if you attend a college which no one has ever heard of, that won't help you as much as you hope for because everybody can get four-year degrees nowadays. The important thing is how you stand out among this crowd. Similarly, if you decide not to go to college but instead, work full-time and just go to work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day but don't grow yourself personally, don't add any new skills to yourself or don't take any major responsibilities, then your experience doesn't matter as much because you are not moving forward.
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Employers do not just want experience, they want relevant experience.
You may not have a college degree but have five or six years of experience. However, is this relevant experience or did you hold different jobs in different fields? It all comes down to how your experience is related to the job you are looking to work for. You can work and study at the same time and this makes your degree and experience even more valuable because it shows that you are a very hard working person and disciplined at the same time because doing both of these at once require dedication and discipline. If you feel working full-time is too much for you while studying, you can try summer internships or co-ops. In this way, you can increase your experience and still get your four-year degree. Also, you can stand out among the crowd because you will have both.
