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Comment by SeanDav | Hacker News Reader

A large component of a university education is not so much what you learn at university, but the doors it can open for you later. In general (with some exceptions of course) it is unlikely you would be using very much of your university knowledge after a few years in your job in any case.

You can have a very successful career without a college / university education, it is just easier to do the same with such an education.

It is almost impossible to get certain jobs at all without a university education. For example, try getting into a major investment bank in any kind of well paid position without a good university education or serious work experience - it is just not going to happen.

This is not a comment about trade schools - it should be a completely valid and respected career path, I am just saying that one should try getting a university degree if at all possible and makes sense for your type of career.

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The "need that piece of paper" thing is sad but true. I do think it is changing, as I notice more and more IT job postings asking for X degree or equivalent experience nowadays.

Amazons current job postings (at least at pillpack) advertise the need for a degree or 3 YEARS of experience for every 1 year a degree takes. So 12 years experience = 1 degree.

I'm generally happy to see the "or equivalent experience" as someone who squeaked through HS. I picked up programming in my late teens while doing design work and just kind of naturally fell into it. My first 5-7 years working in the field were particularly difficult as more than half the jobs didn't have that as part of the statement, and the HR types typically wouldn't even let you past the gate.

Despite advice to the contrary the first step in the hiring funnel for coveted dev positions is to throw out applications w/o a four year degree. Ask me how I know. A bit different than IT, but related.

> Ask me how I know.

How do you know?

When applying for coveted positions in my city, I’m immediately disqualified despite twenty years experience in what they seek. Has been going on for years.

I’d agree with this. Sadly, the vast majority of the value that I got out of 4 year university was the piece of paper that said I graduated. The software development skills that I needed in my day to day job I had already learned by myself as a teenager. The advanced math and computer science classes were interesting but I can’t say I’ve used any of it after the exam. My career is no better due to my knowing what an eigenvector is. And the humanities fluff/filler they made you take to graduate was an irrelevant waste of time and money. I just needed that damn diploma. It is a signal to employers that says “this person has passed at least one standard hurdle and is qualified for a shot st the middle class,” but that’s about it. As OP points out, many career-training skills can be self-learned, especially nowadays, so I’m not sure why you’d go besides for the diploma.

If this is true, it does not bode well for universities.

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