Education vs. Experience: Which is Considered More Important for Your Career?

The major question arises as to whether a hard-earned experience can substitute for a college degree.

This education v/s experience debate looms large on the professional field one works in and one’s ongoing career situation.

Undermentioned are the arguments to assess the importance of getting a degree or continuing an education.

There are several ways in which an educational qualification or degree might help a candidate in his/her career.

Education helps in getting a Higher Pay

A candidate is more likely to get a higher pay if he/she is more educated as compared to his/her competitors.

Some Professions require Education.

There are some professions that rely heavily on educational degrees, including fields like healthcare, education, engineering, and research.

Some companies also have policies that require applicants to have certain degrees. Scholarship holders are also given preference at times.

More future opportunities are available

Holding a post-graduate degree might open up several professional doors that might not be available otherwise.

Switching careers and changing jobs are easier for people with higher degrees as compared to people without them.

Furthermore, higher degrees can play a key role in getting promoted within one’s organization.

Higher education attracts better reputation

As per employers’ point of view, a person with a high degree will be in a better light than a person without a degree.

Higher degrees bring with them a reputation, hence it makes one’s resume more powerful.

But we should not belittle the importance of experience in the professional world.

Experience also has its own set of arguments to support it.

Some vocational fields require experience

Certain career fields require on-the-job experience, and for these jobs no amount of education can replace the competency that actual experience can offer, for example, construction and sales.

Although they are very different from each other, experience wins in both cases.

Old degrees can be considered as Obsolete

If a candidate has finished college 25 years ago, much of what he/she has learned in college might have gone obsolete.

In such cases, one’s experience gathered after college will matter far more.

Professional progression, practical experience, and contribution towards the companies worked for, will matter much more than education and degrees.

Experience makes a candidate Competitive

We now compare a new graduate with a couple of years of internship or part-time experience with someone who just obtained a degree but has zero years of experience.

Here, the candidate with experience would have the edge. Experience will always give him/her a competitive edge in career everywhere.

One will have the confidence that he/she has already done the job and can do it again in the future.

Therefore, knowledge will boost one’s confidence.

Future growth will require Experience

A higher degree never guarantees a higher professional position.

One has to work one’s way up the ladder, no matter what degree one has earned.

A lack of sufficient work experience can lead to a lack of promotions.

Norms are gradually shifting

An active job search will reveal that job posts requiring a bachelor’s degree are on the rise.

In spite of that, there’s a noticeable shift against the norm in certain fields and organizations.

At times employers consider a four-year degree as the least important qualification for selecting candidates.

The traditional pattern of degree inflation is gradually shifting, especially in the technology field.

Most of the large corporates nowadays do not require college degrees from job applicants.

Hence, in the battle of experience v/s education, none of them is a clear winner.

So, the verdict depends on where a candidate is in his/her career and field.

Education is essential because it supports long-term career growth across traditional career fields.

While experience matters a lot in technical fields

Therefore, a mix of both education and experience is required for a sustained and flourishing career.

Conclusion

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