Steve Jobs didn’t finish college. That sentence is used as a defense when people say that college doesn’t matter when it comes to getting a job. Steve Jobs didn’t go to college. Steve Jobs was successful. Steve Jobs didn’t go to college and was successful Therefore, college is not needed to be successful. It’s a smart logic. Bill Gates didn’t finish college. Michael Dell, the guy who created the Dell computer, he didn’t finish college. Richard Branson didn’t. It’s all right here. See. Proof. Going to college does not mean you’ll get a job. There are no promises. Why do people spend so much money to go to college when so many people (the list has 15 people) either didn’t go or didn’t finish and they are mad rich! What’s the point of college? It doesn’t matter when it comes to getting a job, right?
No. It doesn’t.
Intelligence is needed. Skill is needed. Drive is needed. Ability is needed.
Getting a job is all about knowing what you’re talking about, having the skills that the job requires and convincing someone that you can do the job better than the other people that are applying for the job. You don’t need to go to college to gain these things. You can find them other places. Maybe if you look under your mother’s couch. Maybe if you sit in your room and play “World of Warcraft” all day, you’ll find them. Maybe if you work at that crappy job, making that crappy pay, and if you work that long enough, someone will walk in a say, “Hey, you? Yes, you. The guy doing that really crappy job making not much money. Yes, you. Why don’t you come work for me making all the money? Yes, all of it. Because, just by seeing you there, I know you have what it takes. I bet you didn’t even go to college, did you? I didn’t think so.”
If you want a really nice job, and make all the money, you need the skill to do it. College happens to be the place to find and acquire those skills. With it comes the degree, the tangible proof (they give you a diploma) that you have those skills. When I was applying for teaching jobs, there was no end to the amount of times I had to send my transcripts and reference letters to would-be employers. Countless times. They needed to see that I was who I said I was, that I did the things that I said I did.
True, this is some bullshit. You have to pay money to gain the proof needed to get the job you want. If you went to college for business, and took all the business classes and made all the “As” and never worked hard and didn’t learn anything, why should you have to pay money for the diploma that says you know what you know you already know? The reason is that employers don’t have the technology to rip open your skull and peer into your brain to see what you have knowledge of. Even if they did, it probably wouldn’t be cost effective.
I’m very much for personal responsibility, oddly. If you think you don’t need college to get a great job, by all means, don’t go. But, half the time, it feels like more of an excuse not to go to college than a logical, thought out reason. It’s like saying that you don’t need friends to have a good time, then you sit in your room on Friday night eating ice cream and watching re-runs of “Fringe” trying to convince yourself you’re having a good time. That metaphor was pushing it, but you get the point.
