
Do jobs that require college, really require college? - yummyfajitas
https://devinhelton.com/college-required
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bediger4000
No. Most "technical" jobs are just crank turning - some few people put in
place a process, and after that, all they need is some folks to keep the
process running.

I'm not limiting "technical" here to Internet/computer/network jobs. In the
1980s, the defense industry was full of people with engineering degrees that
just turned cranks. Given how the US government views defense companies, this
will not have changed.

I'll give another example: HVAC and steam plant engineers. They basically do
things from "the code". Building codes specify all the sizes and materials.
All you as an HVAC designer have to do is follow the code. Sure, there's some
tiny exceptional cases, but they don't really matter.

Gosh, that was cynical.

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szul
Even if you don't have a degree in your field, college offers an opportunity
to enhance your own critical thinking and problem solving abilities, which are
paramount to success in some fields.

Also, one has to consider the shifts in education that seem to be focused more
on graduation rates than quality graduates. In such a situation, graduate
school becomes the new undergrad, and undergrad becomes the new high school
degree. This isn't everywhere, but that seems to be the general trend across
many markets: a four year degree is become a minimum qualification.

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yummyfajitas
_...college offers an opportunity to enhance your own critical thinking and
problem solving abilities, which are paramount to success in some fields._

What does this actually mean in concrete terms? I.e., what measurement could I
make that would prove this true or false?

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davismwfl
My two cents on this.

I have met and interviewed plenty of well educated, degreed individuals that
couldn't find their way out of a problem no matter what help you provided
them. It doesn't mean these are poorly educated or unintelligent people, just
proves that a degree doesn't provided you with critical thinking or problem
solving abilities. College only provides you the opportunity to develop these
skills, which you can find in other places as well.

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Tycho
Reading Fooled By Randomness / The Black Swan / Anti-fragile would probably
put you on a better footing for critical thinking than any college degree.
(And probably some other books you could substitute.)

