CareerAdvice: Feeling Undervalued with a College Degree?
Hey there! Are you feeling frustrated with your college degree not helping you in your career as much as you had hoped? 🎓 Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Let’s dive into some actionable advice and steps to help you navigate through this situation.
Understanding the Situation
You’ve put in the hard work, earned your Bachelor’s degree in Business, and have years of work experience under your belt. Yet, you feel undervalued compared to others without a degree, who seem to be progressing faster in their careers. It can be disheartening, especially when you see personal connections playing a significant role in career advancements.
Evaluate Your Current Situation
Before making any drastic decisions like moving to a different location, take a step back and evaluate your current situation:
- Assess Your Skills: Take a closer look at your skill set and see if there are any gaps that you can work on to make yourself more marketable.
- Networking: While you may not have strong personal connections, building professional relationships through networking events, LinkedIn, or industry conferences can open doors for you.
- Research the Job Market: Look into the job market in your area and see if there are industries or companies that value both education and experience.
Making Meaningful Connections
Building meaningful connections in your industry can significantly impact your career growth. Here are some tips to help you connect with others who can benefit you career-wise:
- Attend Industry Events: Networking at industry events, seminars, or conferences can introduce you to professionals who may value your education and experience.
- Utilize LinkedIn: Connect with professionals in your field on LinkedIn and engage with their posts or articles. This can help you build relationships and showcase your expertise.
- Join Professional Organizations: Being a part of professional organizations related to your field can help you meet like-minded individuals who appreciate the value of education and experience.
Exploring New Opportunities
If you feel like your degree is not being valued in your current location, exploring new opportunities in different areas might be a good option. Research job markets in other cities or states where your education and skills are in demand.
Conclusion
Remember, your education and work experience are valuable assets that can help you excel in your career. Don’t lose hope and keep exploring new opportunities and building meaningful connections. Success may take time, but with persistence and the right approach, you can achieve your career goals. Good luck! 🌟
Now, let’s work on turning that bitterness into motivation to propel your career forward!
>Are there any employers that actually honor degrees and work experience?
Sure, I have an associates in nursing myself and every hospital wants college educated nurses that get their RN license. There are vocational nurses and LPNs that do not have the same college education and they aren’t as marketable or utilized.
What did you originally intend to do with your BS in business? Also how long has it been since you’ve been in the job market with your degree?
It seemed as though many of my friends and acquaintances from high school and college that got business degrees had a hard time finding jobs and/or getting compensated for their degree. The ones that were successful got their business degrees with a specific plan or even own business model in mind from the ones I know. Others I knew that got sociology, psychology, and art degrees equally had a hard time until they furthered their education or just fell upon something eventually. All are good now, but some of my closer friends it took longer than others to find a well paid position.
What do you do that your employers never required a degree for you job?
For me, I’m i feel like I have a foot in both worlds. I dropped out of 4 year college and finished up at county college. The county degree helped me get a decent job in manufacturing. From there I got a technician job that pays surprisingly well. Meanwhile my wife with a master’s is now taking an online course so she can switch careers and hopefully make as much as me.
I dread the thought of finding another job, but every decent job I look at requires a 4-year degree or specialized training. So yeah, I do actually appreciate my degree.
You sound lost. What was your original plan after you got your business degree? What did you want to do with it? Many of my friends with business degrees who struggled after college struggled because they thought that with a business degree they could waltz directly in to being a manager or running a small company, and that’s just not how that works. You need to be able to work your way up. They all pretty much now all have well paying jobs, one is even at Goldman Sachs, but it took time. And every single one of their employers finds value in their degrees.
My bachelors degree is in elementary education. I always had aspirations of becoming a school principal or a school district leader. After a few years of teaching we were given district devices with zero training. Because I was the youngest person in the school at the time, I became the de-facto “tech person” and I found out I actually really liked it. Many years and a masters degree later, I haven’t had a classroom in 6 years. I never became a principal but I did ascend up to district leadership overseeing technology integration in 5 different schools, and for the last 2 years I have exclusively worked in FAANG environments driving technology strategy. When we work with new partners they specifically point out my degrees and experience as a value-add to the team.
Not at all, fam. Idk how you can go through 4+ years of college which is difficult but then graduate and have no idea how to use your degree. 🤪
I also have a BS in Business and HR. My first job outta college I was only making $0.70 over minimum wage. It’s been 4 years, I went to a new employer and have been promoted several times. Before taxes I make around $100k in a low cost of living area. Most jobs around here pay $30-40k… and there’s not many opportunities unfortunately. But I found a good employer, decent job, pays great! These jobs are out there but sometimes you gotta work your way up.
My management job I’m in now does require a 4 year degree. I come from poverty and the first one in my family to graduate from college. I don’t have any connections either but I have learned to network throughout the years.
Good luck OP. You will find something that will pay what you’re worth!
My college only provided great memories. I use grad school stuff constantly
My college degree absolutely helped me career wise, however it was not tide to my success.
I graduated with a UG in History and a G in History. So began pathway of public service (AmeriCorps). Two years after that, I served as a Naval Officer (college degree enabled this). After serving 9 years, I got out and received my MBA. This led to my current career track within O&G.
But this is only my experience.
Not all degrees are valued equally. The same goes for business degree. Accounting, finance, and MIS are majors that require rigorous studying and attention to detail which is way harder than marketing or a general business degree. If you didn’t learn this in college then idk what to say to you.
The “work hard, get educated, and success will follow” narrative can sting when it doesn’t appear as promised.
But I think you raise a valid point. In some areas and industries, connections and inside tracks matter more than credentials on paper. It’s an unfortunate reality but not an impossible one.
My Opinion? First, don’t sell yourself short. The perseverance and commitment it took to earn that business degree are precious traits, even if employers have not recognized them explicitly. You’ve got grit.
Second, have you considered exploring opportunities outside your current location? A change of scenery where your qualifications carry more weight could be reinvigorating. Research industries and companies that genuinely value higher education.
Lastly, **reclaim your life by saying NO more often**. Don’t let yourself be taken for granted or stuck in a rut. If an employer undervalues you, politely decline to give more than you’re compensated for. Your time and skills are worth advocating for.
You’ve got this drive and degree under your belt. You can forge meaningful career connections by selectively saying no, exploring new locations, and leaning into your tenacity.
My undergrad didn’t help much because the school shut down just as I graduated due to leadership malfeasance and didn’t provide any industry networking (most of the professors decided to just retire) or job placement.
That’s where the real value is in a degree. A good school should be able to help you get a foot in the door.
I did get into grad school from it (which worked out much better), but that’s about it.
I didn’t finish my degree because I thought I was Mark Zuckerberg, but my time in college did teach me how to research and develop my professional skillset. I theoretically could have taught myself how to develop new skills, so a degree is probably most useful for credentialed careers; like doctor, lawyer, etc.
Honestly not that much, it’s more that it became an expectation to have degrees. But from my perspective at least, a lot of jobs can be done without a degree.
That being said it would prob be harder to even land something without one.
For me, the experience of learning various subjects and working with various people during university, regardless of degree, was invaluable in making me the person I am today. The degree itself is irrelevant, it’s everything else that went along with obtaining said degree is helpful in all aspects of life. For me anyways.
I know I wouldn’t have the problem solving skills, initiative to figure out new things (and the confidence!), and general aptitude if I just grinded work without post secondary. I loved learning. I didn’t just regurgitate.. i still remember what I learned in even anthropology and sociology years later. Philosophy, maths, sciences, economics!!! (Probably the most valuable class I use in every day discussion especially regarding politics), etc.
It may have, but I know for a fact no one has ever checked if I ever actually obtained it.
I went to a community college for band and fine arts. Now I’m working as a Technical Account Manager. So no 😂
Although I do find tech work and solving customer blockers to be creatively fulfilling in a weird way. 🤔
nope
No.
I have an engineering degree in kind of a niche discipline. I’ve moved into the software side of things, but the only reason I have my current position is because the title matched my previous position + I was able to gain some relevant skills there, and a big reason I landed that job was because I had a degree + good GPA (this was a company that would use both to filter applicants).
I’ve only recently began getting jobs through former social/work connections, and those are via people I’ve personally worked with, not pre-existing connections I had before starting at the job.
The most use I’ve gotten out of my Master’s is decoration on the wall. My two-year polytechnic degree, on the other hand, started netting me 100K+ in my first year post-graduation whilst allowing me to work MAX 15-20 hours a week, time off whenever I want.
My degree is in chemistry and I definitely couldn’t have gotten the jobs I’ve had without it or at least something similar like bio or biochem
Now, that’s one question. The second question is do I feel I’m fairly compensated? Lol no. Terrible field and I regret the degree greatly.
But to address your thesis yes I did need the degree to get the jobs I’ve has
If you have a job that requires a degree then obviously it helps otherwise you would not have had the job in the first place.
Where I live, it’s very difficult to get a job paying over $40K if you don’t have a bachelor’s degree. What drives me crazy is that some places don’t even care what the degree is in. My sister-in-law has a bachelor’s in music therapy….and she’s been working for Chase Bank for the past 8 years making $90K
It’s one less reason to be automatically rejected
i’ve only had my bachelors degrees for a year but i work entry level minimum wage jobs and i haven’t been able to get interviews for anything else.
luckily my degrees are relevant at one of my jobs so it doesn’t feel like a complete waste. but the minimum wage feels like a slap in the face.
eta: the “relevant” job made $1.25 over min when i got it, but the minimum wage was raised in january and my wage was not
My undergraduate degree in English education enhanced my critical thinking and conversation skills. My graduate degree in education played a key role in getting me my current position as a BI Analyst. I excel at explaining complex ideas and collaborating effectively. I am working on a tech degree in data to help me in my current role and that is helping for obvious reasons. I love education and will always be learning something new.
It should be helping you career wise, but it’s definitely not a given. The idea that going to college is always the best decision is untrue. There are studies that show that lifetime earnings of college grads are higher than non-grads, but they’re looking at average incomes and medians. If you’re below the average or median either due to intelligence, luck, geographic location, etc then you can absolutely make the same or less than a non-grad.
It sounds like you’re making less due to the area you live in. Moving could certainly help.
Just for getting past gatekeepers that would otherwise instantly write you off just because you don’t have one.
In my friend group I’m almost the only one with no degree. That’s why I’m also the only one with no house.
A Degree definitely makes a huge difference in one’s career. Without one I know for certainty that I would not be where I am as both a Manager or any opportunity to ever work for a F500 company. In both cases without a degree you have zero chance of success as an entry way to simply meeting the minimum requirements to apply for corporate jobs.
Having said that, your degree major MAY have an impact on you. Nevertheless, it is all about you and not your degree that defines your career success. A degree is simply a TOOL that helps you but doesn’t guarantee anything as in life. The rest is all up to you with a bit of luck, connections, timing and skill/experience, it all has to align.
It helped me absolutely fuck all. BSc in Information Management (bridging IT and Business, so includes skills like sql, project management and process analysis.) after Uni decided to give SAP a go, liked it, been doing it for about 7 years now. Used absolutely zero of the things I learned in uni. Noppes. Nada. Only reason it helped is that it’s a piece of paper showing I can apply critical thinking.
People feel like a degree alone should qualify you for a successful job. Whereas I’ve only ever looked at it as a piece of my overall resume. The resume is what shows you are qualified for a successful job.
That point of view has given me a great deal of success within just a few years of graduation. I’m not at six figures yet, but I got above the area’s median salary so I’m happy enough with that.
And I mean, I’m probably going to switch careers in the next year or two, but all that experience on my resume on top of my degree give me a great deal of flexibility. In today’s job search you just need to be patient unfortunately.
>We are taught to work hard, earn a degree, do extra and you will get ahead. I feel this does not always hold true.
it’s not true. Hard work doesn’t equal getting ahead. Being ahead doesn’t mean you worked hard for it.
Example: there was this girl in my graduating class of a photography program. she comes from money (like, her family knew a celeb type of money) so I assume her family paid her tuition (she wasn’t ‘spoiled’, as she had her own job bartending & played sports). BUT, her work & grades were mediocre. Our last year we all had the opportunity to apply for an unpaid internship at Nikon, located about 1.5h from our school, closer to Toronto (very high COL city, can’t even commute in as rent is nearly the same in the suburbs as the city), which is where her family home was. I lived on the opposite side of school, making the commute 2h – for AN INTERNSHIP. I was paying very little in rent at the time as I lived with family, but I couldn’t afford to live alone near their offices – I still can’t. Most of my classmates were in the same boat.
She got the internship which then lead to full time employment.
She didn’t work much harder than the rest of us. Her circumstances just lead her to be where she go to.
Personally, yes. All jobs I’ve gotten are on the basis of my comp sci degree, its a requirement in everything.
But I don’t think its a necessity in my field.
Work experience has arguably helped me more. When I was entry level I got a minimum wage job in my field but then I leveraged that experience to get a huge raise when I job hopped.
I want to add something to this:
> We are taught to work hard, earn a degree, do extra and you will get ahead. I feel this does not always hold true. If anything you get taken advantage of, stuck and for granted.
I don’t believe in working hard. Yes I have a degree but I enjoyed studying so it didn’t feel like working hard.
Now, professionally, I NEVER did extra. You WILL get taken advantage of in corporate and that’s not on you. I will argue that I’ve gotten my jobs on basis on marketing myself and fluffing up my experience/ability to speak rather than “hard work.”
Yes, I do my fair share of work. But nothing more. It’s just a job and it doesn’t dictate how worthy I am.
I do feel like ive lucked out as I don’t have any connections because of being extremely introverted, I don’t even have any connections with my college buddies. It’s just marketing my resume and putting on an act that I’m professional and put together.