College experience and work experience are two pillars on which an employer relies when searching for employees. For them, the ideal option is when both factors are combined and equal. In other words, there is specialized education and experience in the required field.
But this only happens in an ideal world. Reality says that these two concepts, college experience, and work experience, are now challenging their dominance in the employment hierarchy. Is college experience important in achieving business success after graduation? Let’s figure it out.
By the way, if you are currently getting an education and studying is not as easy for you as you would like, it is better to ask for help. For example, you can leave a “write essay for me” request on https://payforwriting.com/ if you are not confident in your writing skills. These sites can even help you with writing a resume if you have already graduated from college and want to find a good job.
What is more important – college experience or work experience?
In terms of attitude towards college experience, all citizens can be divided into three groups.
The first are those who believe that college experience is a relic of the past; it is not worth wasting time on because you can achieve business success without it. The latter understand the importance of college experience but tend to believe that it is not necessary to have it to achieve success. Still, others attribute special value to college experience; they believe that only having several diplomas from a higher educational institution guarantees a person a bright future.
Let’s understand the situation how college experience and work experience influence a person’s future.
First, let’s look at the arguments of those who do not consider college experience valuable:
- Having college experience guarantees success only in the academic sphere. It is rarely needed for real work.
- Having college experience does not mean that a person has acquired the necessary skills and abilities. They are acquired as part of employment.
- The value of one year of real work is much higher than 5 or 6 years of college study.
- The success that has been achieved within the framework of work plays a greater role for the business than high grades in academic disciplines.
The arguments of those who believe college experience is valuable are as follows:
- Not all the skills and abilities needed for business success can be obtained at your previous job.
- If two candidates have similar skills and abilities, preference will be given to the one with a college diploma.
- The more college experience, the more the employee is ready to study large amounts of information. In addition, level of education indicates a high level of IQ.
- Among doctorate holders, there are virtually no unemployed people.
George D. Kuh conducted a number of studies and reflected on their results in his book, High-Impact Educational Practices. The author concluded that studying at a higher educational institution allows the graduate to have skills such as teamwork and time management. By the way, these skills play an important role in achieving business success.
Another study on vocational education and work experience was conducted by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2019. The result was the following conclusion that it is difficult to quantify the full value of education. But the data consistently shows (in dollar terms) that the more you learn, the more you earn.
From this, we can conclude that acquiring new skills and achieving business success is impossible without college experience. But we are talking here not only about studying at a college. For example, you can enroll in courses that will give you enough knowledge to become a good specialist in any industry.
“Higher education is compulsory”
It is both truth and myth.
When hiring for some positions, the employer does take into account the availability of higher education. Moreover, this state of affairs is provided for at the legislative level. For example, doctors cannot carry out their activities without an appropriate diploma. In this case, the applicant can apply for vacancies with a higher education but without work experience. However, for achieving business success, higher education is not a necessity.
People’s opinions differ greatly. What is more important: college experience or work experience?
Of course, college experience has its value. Without it, getting your first work experience is very difficult. But if you already have sufficient experience within any industry, then having college experience most likely will not play a role. When hiring, the following combination is considered ideal: at least one year of experience in the field and specialized education.
The employer should still pay attention to the candidate’s diploma for the vacant position. Its presence indicates that the potential employee has a wealth of knowledge in the chosen industry.
There are areas in which the result of work is of greatest importance, for example, in the field of sales. They won’t teach you this at college. When hiring for some positions, having a higher education is the main criterion, while work experience plays the main role for others. In each case, the requirements will be individual.
