charliex

It really depends on the type of company, some do have a structure that says only hire or promote people with college degrees, some have an internal promotion style and others only want people with experience. Generally companies equate 5-10 years experience in a compatible field equal to a degree.

As for backing up your statements, I'd hope college also teaches you that its not a good thing to make such a generalization, half the CEO/CTO's I know have no degree and generally are college drop outs, but thats common in my field, its less common in a financial institution for instance.

Basically companies often ask for degrees because its easier to quantify than experience, however after a point experience is a lot easier to prove, the levels of knowledge, references etc, so for people starting out in the work place a degree is a good thing.

If you friend isn't being promoted, has the needed skills, personality and there are openings, perhaps its time to look elsewhere, smart companies know how to handle good employees, degrees or otherwise.

Lets look at an example, I went to google, which I'd say most people would agree is a smart company

Here is the listing for "Business Development Manager"

- Proven experience and strong understanding of the -news/publishing industry and/or web-based content aggregation.
- Proven experience negotiating and closing strategic partnerships.
- Ability to think strategically and creatively.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
- Strong organizational/project management skills.
- BA/BS, MBA a plus.

Notice that the degree is the last thing listed and unlike the others is not an actual requirement, the key words in that job advert are "proven experience", now i didn't search all over to find a position that went with what I'm saying, I went straight to google and clicked jobs, and into bizdev, that was the only one there. Granted you could probably go elsewhere and find one that said degree required.

Heres the list for senior purchasing manager

- BS/BA or equivalent in business or related field, MBA a plus.
APICS and/or NAPM certification required.
- 8+ years purchasing management experience in a high quality environment; multi-national company experience preferred.
- Strong knowledge of procurement and purchasing processes, workflow and practices.
- Strong knowledge of technology and IT industry, products and trends.
- Significant experience in contract and IT vendor negotiations required, as well as in-depth interaction with Legal department.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Excellent analytical skills and very detail oriented.
- ERP experience a must with Oracle being strongly preferred.
- Excellent PC skills (including Excel, Microsoft Project, Power Point, Visio).
- Ability to create a work environment that is motivating, productive and fun.

This time it lists the degree first, but it also says equivalent experience, but more importantly it goes on to list more experience, so at the end of the day, a degree is good and will help a lot, but you will still need experience too, and equivalent experience will give you both the requirements for most high level jobs.

To me it seems more likely that lower end positions will ask for degrees, since they are looking for people to pay less for, and for that they will want people with less experience.

So for an executive assistant, a PA basically, which is a lower paid job, and arguably less critical, the requirements are

- 3-5 years administrative experience in a fast-paced, high-tech environment.
- College degree: BA or BS.
- Proven mastery of Office applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
- Interest and experience in using technology to improve work efficiency.
- Interest and experience in interacting with all levels and departments within a company – to include working with several field offices, domestic and international.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
- Strong organizational skills, detail-oriented, and the ability to handle multiple priorities.

So they are looking for someone with less than the usual 5 years+ equal to a college degree, and a degree is listed as a requirement, with no mention of equivalency.

Of course I only used google, which i suppose could be more laissez-faire in its practices, unlike say a bank, so i looked up a bank job listing, "senior relationship manager, speciality finance" for KeyCorp

QUALIFICATIONS: Education: College degree BA Finance; MBA preferred. Experience: Minimum eight (8) years as RM in Healthcare or Commercial Banking or equivalent experience in underwriting team or product specialty area.

As expected a financial institution is asking for a degree.


How about CEO of Tyndall Federal Credit Union

Applicants should have 5-10 years of large credit union management experience with specific success in building strong consumer lending programs, promoting growth, and targeting underserved members. Good leadership skills and a commitment to providing excellent member service are required. Our client offers a competitive compensation and benefits package. Please
do not contact the credit union directly.

no mention there, but not really a fleshed out list i think.

CFO ? Ledyard National Bank

All candidates should be detail oriented, with advanced accounting skills, excellent communication skills and previous supervisory experience. Minimum of 10 years of formal accounting experience, with a bachelor's degree in finance/accounting. A strong preference will be given to candidates with CPA credentials.


So all in all, it really depends on the companies arena, technology/internet companies are less concerned with degrees, financial companies moreso, I am fairly sure it'd be a lot harder to get a foot in the door of a financial company with no degree and therefore unable to get the required experience.