Originally Posted by
tomgoodman
How it started: Graduates of military academies had a four-year degree, so other officers needed one too. Military fixed-wing pilot training was mostly limited to officers, so almost all the military pilots had degrees (and these days, having "only" a bachelors degree may raise eyebrows at some promotion boards). The airlines used to hire almost exclusively from the military, so any civilian applicants needed a degree to be competitive. Those who did the hiring, of course, had degrees themselves. Perhaps the rationale has been that a degree helps with the non-flying aspects of the job, and that's just become "conventional wisdom". In any event, applicants have little choice but to show up with the credentials the companies want.
True, but if I was the one doing the hiring, I would much rather take someone that has work experience in many different fields over some kid with a newly minted college degree... I'd be willing to bet that option A would handle those non-flying aspects of the job much more professionally than a new grad with little to no work experience outside of school. It's this "conventional wisdom" that needs challenged sometimes. It's where I focus wayyy too much of my energy.
That is if you haven't noticed
I see it all of the time with these interns or new grads getting hired at my office (well not anymore since the economy). They come in there all arrogant with this entitlement mentality because they went to whatever big name university... Then when it comes down to it they don't know anything about anything. I think respect needs to be earned through life experience and true knowledge of the world around you... Not some Latin piece of paper with your name printed on it. Maybe my train of thought is even more "conventional" than modern conventionalism when you think about it... =)