Experience vs Degree

ajpatten

I have been tasked to find an equivalency chart that outlines how many years of experience is equivalent to college degrees for job descriptions. I have heard one thought that two years of experience is equivalent to one year of college. I appreciate any feedback you can provide. Thanks!

smaces_twin

For me it depends on the job. I went straight out of college to become a HR Manager for a medium sized pediatric practice that never had HR. I learned as much in two months at that job as I did in four years of college.

Bottom line there isn't a black and white equivalency. In your job listing you can say college degree or equivalent experience and then you make a determination from the resume and/or an interview.

National Guard

To me, there are way too many intangibles for each (experience or degree) that are not measurable by formula. The experience vs. dregee debate has been around a long time. It is subjective and you just have to make a decision the best that you can.

marc

One can also go nuts trying to compare the various degrees one to the other. Consider two equivalent degrees from the same school, same graduating class, etc. One graduates with honors and the other gets out by the skin of his/her teeth, partying until the end.

Some degrees have obvious necessity to certain jobs, but there are quite a few others that just open the door to the interview and the opportunity, and give the candidate a chance to show their stuff.

Just as SMaces said, he learned more in the first couple of months on his job than 4 years of college. I would agree that the first real job of applying all of the textbook theory and classroom case studies in a real live situation is a real eye-opener.

Putting together the day-to-day aspects relating to workplace production associated with your profession will leave you feeling undereducated and unprepared for the real world.

Real world experience is so valuable that one should hesitate even trying to quantify it. That said, this experience can often be most valuable in a particular company. One must be careful about experience because company cultures and specific procedures can significantly reduce how much of one's experience is directly translated to another situation.

Gillian3

As the others have said, there is no equivalency. The key requirement is the knowledge, skill and ability it takes to do a particular job and that comes from a variety of sources, including education and experience.

Pork

AJPATTEN:I don't think you will find one; besides, it there is one it would be put out by a self centered organization. What college would ever put out a chart to show that eight (8) years of experience in the field of engineering would make you a certified construction engineer, or a civil engineer, or a mechanical engineer, or whatever.

The order is mis-directed and internal to your companies needs. If your company wants to accept that (8) years of experience on a survey crew makes one qualified for some technical experience position that you might have in the surveying field of vocation then fine, let it be known and decided that your company will accept (8) years of experience verses the 4 year college degree in the field of Engineering.

Bottom line is a college degree is only meaningful for one real purpose and the is a personal charcteristic of "STICK-TO-ITIVENESS", THE COMPLETION OF SOMETHING OF IMPORTANCE TO YOU THE INDIVIDUAL. I have an undergraduate degree in education and I have taught a lot of subjects in my past but have never taught a single "SHOP CLASS" beyond my practicum before I graduated. My youngest son has a 5 year degree in Bio-Physics and he has been a retail store manager for the 13 years since he graduated. He is a great leader and manager, but retail has very little to do with Bio-Physics.

I had no farming knowledge nor Swine Industry degrees, but I did have leadership and people management experience, so this company dropped the advertised requirement for an HR with Swine Indstry experience and Animal Science degree. They gave me credit for my miltary experiece and all of my HR experienced and agreed with me that I could learn the PIG science.

PORK