Warning Negative Gearing is a Dead Duck

I was on $182 a week as a 1st year Apprentice, and that was not that long ago..

 

[/QUOTE]
I wrote that early this morning. Not enough coffee in my system. I think you would agree that trades work physically harder (generally) than Uni students. I'm not saying Uni students do not work hard though the lack of capping leaves most of the current crop holding a worthless, ironically expensive, degree.

 

Not sure what makes you say degrees are worthless. Plenty of jobs around where a degree is mandatory

 

Because entry is historically easy, everyone has one, few actually provide skills for a job.

I did not say a degree was worthless, but to be worth something, it would only be available to the top 5 - 20 per cent of the population in terms of academic achievement in their given field. Then, it's hard won and worth something.

Medicine, pharmacy (though plenty of the work can be done with a TAFE qualification for lower pay) and some nurses, some law, some engineering is worth it for some still. IT is fast being outsourced overseas, or to non Uni skilled people, and the sector is shrinking.

 

I've temped across many sectors e.g. social work, finance, retail, business, admin. Mining, transport, automotive. Most people do not have a degree and they do well. Obviously trades need a trade qualification. Hairdressers in Tasmania are not required to complete a TAFE qualification any more. So all I need are some scissors and good insurance.

We charge young people ever more to study and then take away the point entirely and wonder why they are demoralized!

 

Most employers say a degree is mandatory. It rarely is.

 

That would be a lot more interesting if you provided evidence to back up your claim. If it was a serious claim I would link to a whole bunch I job ads where a degree is a required prerequisite. I won't waste my time.

 

I learnt an incredible amount in my 5 years at a university.

It's given me skills that on the job training simple can't.

I have finished my degree 10 years ago and am not in my industry yet still look back on with extremely positive sentiment.

Ability to research and process information extracting desired information is a great skill I learned

 

I guess people don't know what they don't know even if they pretend they do.

I was looking at jobs today, thinking of getting into the public sector in WA. There are heap of jobs labelled 'specified calling'. I called up a couple of managers to find out what it was about. All of these positions are 'relevant degree only' no negotiation. Experience is not a substitute. Progress towards a degree is not a substitute. If you have the wrong degree then don't bother. I asked them if there is any way around this and the answer is an emphatic 'no'. Department of Treasury in Western Australia has set the rules and enforce them very strictly.

It is not my opinion that a relevant degree is a requirement for all of these positions. It is the reality.

 

Let me ask you this. How many of those people, where the job ad says "degree required" within the organization have a degree? How many needed it to get the job? I found hospitality experience far more valued.

It's a way for HR people to reduce applicants and save time. Sure, some public servants need degrees. Of the three well paid, current PS in my family, one has a degree specific to his job. And those jobs keep on being reduced by government (Fed) with little translation to non public service roles.

 

I've been told more than once to take my degree off my resume. I lost count.

 

Of the ones I was enquiring about today? All of them. It is a mandatory requirement.

There are a lot of jobs outside of hospitality. My first job in I.T. out of uni required a degree. Every employee in the company had an I.T. degree.

The last 18 positions I have applied for all required degrees. Experience not a substitute. Non-related degree not considered.

That's your opinion, not a fact. In my experience, this is most certainly not the case.

I found out today there are a big group of jobs in the WA pulic sector that I am not eligible for unless I have a relevant degree. No exceptions.

 

All that means is that the degree you did is not relevant to the jobs you were applying for. That doesn't mean that degrees are worthless.

 

No, the degree was often relevant - why bother else?

Like I said, having a hospitality qualification and experience opened doors. I built on it with skills in other areas and used it to be able to move across industries, then added more skills.

People respect hospitality because it proves professionalism, stamina and an ability to deliver customer service. Few degrees offer those competencies.

 

Oh and the ability to run in heels, that didn't hurt

 

Another thing to consider regarding trades vs desk jobs is that many trades can't work till 65 because of the physical stress of the job. Sure we all know some that do but I personally know many more that really begin to slow down after 50. I'm in IT but having grown up in a very blue collar suburb I know trades feel the urgency to make as much money as they can while they're still in good physical condition.

 

If the degree was relevant to the position then why were you asked to remove it from your cv? That literally makes no sense.

Either way it is irrelevant to your argument that hr departments require a degree to save time. Try getting a job as a lawyer, doctor, nurse, physiotherapist, teacher, geologist, engineer, environmental scientist, accountant or many others without a degree. You will find you are locked out of those. Hospitality is completely different and I would not advise someone to get a degree if they want to work in that industry.

 

hobartchic I think you missing a point about the degree, it sometimes got nothing to do with the job
but what getting a degree teach you is ability to research, have certain capabilities and intelligent

so when an employer asked for a degree that the only way they can tell that this person has gone through that process at uni.

because employer are neutral people they don't know each person individually so they have to have some sort of filters, no filters is perfect but that is one filter to applied.

there are plenty of people without degree that more than capable for the job but unless you know them personally it hard for an employer to judge.

that is what we really look for when we asked people for degree, yup he gone through Sydney Uni or whatever and he done 3-5 of that process so we have to rank him above someone who doesn't have a degree.

some of the best managers I know has an art degree and no management degree or MBA, still they have a degree and they gone through the process

 

I agree that some of the roles I am interested in applying for these days clearly state that a university degree is required for the role and is a prerequisite and not a desirable trait. Obviously, there are degrees out there that are nice to have, but not going to assist you obtain a meaningful employment.

 

There are definitely useless degrees from the point of view of getting a job. There are also jobs that require no qualifications and others that require a trade qualification.

But just because there are useless degrees doesn't mean all degrees are worthless. If it wasn't for my degree I would not have been employed in my last 8 positions. They all had a 'relevant degree' mandatory for the position. Experience is not a substitute.