How essential is a degree to your job?

No.

No.

Audio Electronics Test Team Leader

Can I be the first to point out that one of the possible answer combinations is illogical?

Essential (another uni’ lecturer here).

yes + postgrad
yes

lawyer

Probably need one to get in here now, all the new / young people seem to have them.

no, I’m the only one on my team without one and am by far the most experienced and knowledgeable there.

ourmaninthenorth – Member

yes + postgrad
yes

lawyer

When I was a young customs officer, many year ago we did bail applications and remands in front of a bench of mags – no legal training and no prosecuting solicitor present – always a touch nervous for those 😀

Electrical design engineer here with only an onc. Experience got me the job over a couple of straight out of uni lads. However…. If I try with a consultancy they like degrees so in a very professional then probably!

BA Hons in History.
Painter and decorator to pay the bills. Im great in a pub quiz though!

Zero for me.

I teach physics to 16-18 year olds

So yes you need a degree

I couldn’t imagine being able to do my job without a physics degree. Even though I don’t use all the specific content of my degree

Need a degree to be a teacher. My master and PhD are not much use though.

Get job without degree:- no

Do job without degree:- no

Vet, no other way to acquire the knowledge and practical training without a degree course.

There are several occupations where you have to be registered with a professional body to work in that field and a relevant degree is part of qualifying for membership eg doctors, lawyers etc

However I am sure that lots of jobs that require a degree to get the job completely fail to utilise the knowledge gained in the pursuit of the degree. Some jobs that have gone to degrees from more vocational training have had problems because of this drive for degrees eg nursing.

Get the job – no
Do the job – no

As a community development officer I can safely say academic knowledge/skills would in no way prepare you for how social housing really is. Saying that I did artificial intelligence at uni so what the hell would I know?!?

PhD essential for me and further qualifications beyond that too

No and no for my job but I work in alternative dispute resolution and I don’t think you can do a degree in that.

Mrs Labsey works in a lab and you need to either have a degree or be working towards one (placement) to get a job there. She has a masters.

She reckons that it makes naff all difference to the job (QC) as it’s pretty much about learning routines and being able to prioritise work.

Get it – Yes
Do it – Yes

University Lecturer.

Really? In Creative Arts? At Staffs?

Wow that place has come up

We talked about this previously.

IMO, in my trade (IT) , a degree gets your foot in the door. After that, worthless. I know very few people in my trade who has a degree in an IT related subject. I’ll go further and say that all the people I know in my trade who have a PHD, don’t have a PHD in an IT related subject.

I could debate on the comparison between IT people with a degree and those without, but that’s probably not a constructive path to take. And it’s fairly subjective too.

One could neither get nor do my jobs* without a PhD or higher.

*I wear a few different hats, but they are all academic related.

My specific job role – no you couldn’t get it without (graduate civil engineer)

To do the job – you COULD learn from on the job training but most firms will insist on some form of either degree of HND or HNC (not sure what’s what) to degree level. Most definitely to be a chartered engineer!

Not at all but the ability to spell commonplace words is.

Nurse and all newly qualifieds are at degree level. When I did it and qualified it’s a Diploma in Higher Education, but I’m topping it up to a degree and hopefully move up to Band 6 and beyond. Assistant practioners need a foundation degree in Health and social care also

Nurse and all newly qualifieds are at degree level. When I did it and qualified it’s a Diploma in Higher Education, but I’m topping it up to a degree and hopefully move up to Band 6 and beyond. Assistant practioners need a foundation degree in Health and social care also

I also work in the oil industry (QHSE Manager). The big problem we find is that people fresh faced out of uni with degrees lack the practical skills that can take years to develop. Somebody that has a degree does not make them any more competent at doing a job then somebody who has gone down a different route i.e. on the job work experience.

Some people can’t handle the pressure of exams but can be brilliant at what they do at their jobs. We sometimes find that new graduate engineers think they know a lot more than they actually do and quickly have to be brought back down to earth.

A degree is a great thing to have but i don’t believe it is essential if you are capable of doing a job and have gained skills and experience by other means.

My first job – yes, wouldn’t have got it otherwise; useful foot in the door
My current job – no, my experience got me this one

Get yes, do no.
I am a primary teacher

No but in most companies yes.
Again no.
I currently teach and do consulting for many degree only organisations my work bio lists me as the leading expert in the country in what I do.

Got two degree in Mathematics and Computer Vision. Both essential to *this* job. You’d be utterly out of your depth without the correct degree.

Neither was essential in my first job (Oracle related), which ended up being better paying than this one.

Get it – No, most places require a Masters or at least be prepared to go get one.

Do it – Yes, writing the same old boring reports week after week after week is driving me INSANE.

I can’t stand another 10 to 15 years of doing this so I’m looking to go back to software engineering or I’ll do another Masters just so I can change jobs. Big risk though.

In a similar way to nursing, new entrants to the profession (Paramedic) now need a discipline-specific Diploma or Foundation Degree as a minimum. Many paramedics currently working do not hold this qualification, as the system used to be much more like an apprenticeship with some intense training weeks/exams thrown in, led by the employing ambulance services.

Qualified Glacial Geomorphologist now work in pr – so no and no.
Do our new recruits need one – no and no – sharp, alert mind and good writing skills are all that’s needed.

Get it-no
Do it-no

Photographer & part time bike mechanic

Get it, no.
Do it*, no.

*Because I have skills learned through one of my degrees I get given other stuff to do that no-one else could do/or cost £1000s for the IT contractor to do.

There’s no job that needs a degree. Some may need advanced / specialist technical knowledge, but you can get that without going to University. However, lot’s of employers require you to have a degree to be able to apply for their roles.

You’d be fecked without a degree in most engineering design jobs. Even if you could learn the engineering side from others in the office as you went allong, you’d probably need a degree in mathematics too because A-level didn’t go far enough!