When Did This Happen?

[forsyth]

When did a college education change from an education into job training that you pay for yourself? Because that's all a lot of degrees have become these days. And the costs keep going up, too. And you pretty much need a college education for almost any halfway decent job today. Nice setup for the companies, innit?

Comments

[frustratedpilot]

I've noticed lately that employers ask for impossible levels of education or experience simply because since nobody could qualify, they would not be obliged into paying the advertised wages/salary. Or to hire anybody at all (so they can promote somebody who's already in-house).

No, they're not really looking for somebody who can make the letter of the requirement. In fact, it is very likely that the position actually requires lower or fewer qualifications. But not meeting those higher qualifications is still enough justification for them to dismiss you if they want.

[evilcarp.livejournal.com]

If you're working for places that actually do shit like that, you should stop. I have never seen anything like that happen.

Though, I have seen employers ask for high levels of education or experience, but allowed applications from people without it, and then decided during the interview process if they could waive the requirements for them. And all this without any kind of pay cut. It's certainly hard to break into certain kinds of work because of the education and experience required, but I've never seen "impossible" requirements.

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

Places will do it if they really want to hire someone from inside, but for legal or bureaucratic reasons have to go through the motions of at least pretending to consider external applicants.

And it's true about requirements often being set way higher than they need to be on the paperwork. Especially in large companies, where the people writing the job requirements are often completely different from the people who will be doing the actual interviews. Just apply for everything, regardless of what the ad says.

[evilcarp.livejournal.com]

Which companies? You need to start telling us who the hell you're talking about instead of leaving it to a vaguely threatening "them."

I don't see a lot of degrees that are basically job training. There are certainly degrees that prepare you for a career, but it's not like you can get to a job and not have to be given any training. I don't know of many companies historically that have paid their employees to put them through years of training just to lay the groundwork for their career before they actually get a job.

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

http://slashdot.org/articles/02/08/14/2029255.shtml

[leticia.livejournal.com]

Common myth.

Frankly, if I could tell today's high school seniors one thing, it'd be "Skip college. You can go later when you're succesful and wealthy. Go to Vo-Tech. Become an electrician, a plumber, an auto mechanic. You have more job stability, higher pay, and more chance of being your own boss. It costs less and takes less time."