Education vs. Experience

I have two good friends who constantly argue about the importance of a Masters of Business and Administration (MBA). Eugene, a web marketing entrepreneur from Rochester, NY, argues that learning how to be a successful businessman is all about experience and learning from your mistakes and that paying for a piece of paper is unnecessary. Roman, a financial expert with a MBA, argues that a MBA education will teach you the knowledge you need to avoid making mistakes when you're in business and therefore is a valuable piece of paper to earn. They both recognize and agree that both experience and education are necessary but what does the job market value more?

Getting a job out of college is just like applying for college, in that you are competing to appear more worthy or qualified than your competition. Just like colleges use SAT or ACT scores to baseline your abilities nationally, hiring managers use education qualifications while searching for prospective applicants. It gives hiring managers a way to measure your ability. Whether or not you feel like your degree is representative of your knowledge or experiences, your degree is one of the best ways to measure you against your competition because our society highly regards education.

On the flip side, a degree could be an extremely costly investment. It can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans and decades to pay back. Most people learn better from experiencing something first hand anyway. Besides, there are  other ways to educate yourself besides pursuing a degree (Read about other forms of education at 1st Pillar of Success - Education). Unfortunately, it is much harder to prove this to prospective hiring managers.

So what's the bottom line? As always, it depends. But here are a few factors to consider when making a decision:

1. Figure out your career goals
2. Research the degree to see if it aligns with your goals
3. Talk to people in your profession that are in your desired positions, and ask them if a degree would help
4. Ask yourself if you are looking for an education or a degree
5. Is the degree a good investment?
6. Will the degree get me the job I want

No one can argue that both education and experience are extremely important in the future of your career. Just make sure you think about all factors that are involved for today and tomorrow.

Additional Resources: 1st Pillar of Success - Education