The Perspective

The past few weeks I have focused on conducting interviews with professionals in my top three fields of focus. I also did research on the factor of debt in a college equation. The results have been insightful. I have been able to resolve some of the most prominent questions in my mind.

My Focus

After surveying High School Students at Jefferson Academy I found that the top three career fields most considered by students are business (marketing, finance, economics, etc.), engineering, and criminal justice. Business was the top choice. It was selected by 41% of the students. Engineering came in second and was selected by 21% of students. Criminal justice came in third with 18%. Therefore, I conducted interviews with professionals in the top two fields. In the business industry, I spoke with Bruce Jensen. He is a former business owner of a consulting company in the oil and gas business. He dropped out of college to acquire work experience. I also spoke with Clinton Wright. His official title is General Manager for Pauley Construction. Wright obtained a bachelor’s degree in economics.

Below are the questions with responses for my interview with Bruce Jensen:

1. What kind of business did you own?
   1. A consulting business for oil and gas. We did consulting for construction projects
2. When considering new employees, what is more valuable on an applicants resume: a bachelor’s degree in business or 5 years of work experience?
   1. Both equal. The balance of it depends on individual and background. Both are good.
3. Upon entering this field what credentials did you have: a degree, work experience, or both? Did it help or work against you
   1. Work experience and no college degree; it helped because I had background knowledge of construction and a basic understanding of the work I was doing. A degree would have helped but the experience gave foundation. At a younger age I was a complete hands-on learner but as I grew up I began learning differently.
4. How do you feel social norms as far as going to college have changed over the past ten years?
   1. I wouldn’t say there has been a social change, however, there is a big financial shift. A financial issue. Before you could work full-time in the summer and have enough money to pay for college. However, now that’s not the case. You have to work full-time and take fewer classes to pay. Therefore, before, more people could go to college however now it’s out of line with cost, especially if you want an extended degree (Masters etc.)
5. How did you progress in this field with work experience or degree?
   1. When you start your business I used my knowledge and experience. Knowing how to apply that was really useful. In order to grow as a company, you have to have a social game. Your name is spread through word of mouth and reputation (what you accomplished after working with different companies, what you did, and doing it right).
6. What types of work experience are the most impressive? Which are the most beneficial to the knowledge of the business field?
   1. Internships give insight into what someone will be going into and doing. Hands-on work helps that too. Hard to find a part-time job in this field. Everything is mostly full-time jobs so finding a part-time position would be difficult and might not offer the same perspective. Volunteering doesn’t appear often in this field. In my experience of working full-time, I was able to gain knowledge of pad construction and site construction. This also helped me understand how to read and understand prints.
7. Transferring fields: Did it work?
   1. Oil and Gas slowed down so I transferred to Pauley Construction. I had done some work like this before so already had a little bit of experience. Having past work experience helped me perform better in the new job. I had a headstart. In the business field, you have to understand how to make decisions. You need to have a developed thought process. As I progressed in the business field I learned to look at things more in depth before making a decision and taking the time to fully understand my options. This was really useful when exploring a leadership position in telecommunications.
8. The average bachelor’s degree college graduate is 39,000 dollars in debt. Do you think the factor of debt plays a role when one is deciding to go to college?
   1. Has a lot to do with it. When you go to college you want to get a degree in which when you will get out of college you will make a decent amount of money to pay off the debt. If it’s a basic degree is it really worth it? Or is it better to go straight into the workforce to get experience and work your way up? Almost need a specialized degree in order to make it big right out of college. It shouldn’t be that way. You should be able to find a basic knowledge without worrying about the cost. It plays a part in people not going to school.
9. How does work ethic play a role in promotions?
   1. Plays a lot in my opinion. Everyone says the new generation is lax with new technology. However, any individual that shows up every day, on time and is ready to learn, has a desire to learn and move up will go far. If you think you are entitled because you have a degree then you should know that’s not how it works. Hard work, diligence, being there and involved are all key characteristics. In either path, this is a huge factor. No company would exist or make a profit without work ethic. If you don’t have it your company will fail.
10. What is your  Personal opinion?
    1. I went to college but didn’t finish. Personally, I think work experience is more important. I have seen a lot of younger people get out of college and be given a higher business position due to their degree however the decisions they make don’t apply to what needs to be done because they don’t have the hands-on experience. I do agree that some higher levels of jobs, like engineering, need a degree to understand the structure and basic knowledge. And Having extensive knowledge is great. Honestly, I think a balance of both is best. People out of college are smart and have the knowledge however they need to know how to apply it with work experience. It depends on the individual as well. You need to have street smarts and book smarts. Overall, I think a person can get the same knowledge from both routes. Need common sense to apply everything you’ve learned. I have worked for smart and sharp engineers that have education and experience whereas the younger ones have the knowledge but don’t realize that the real world is not on paper. Needs a balance of both. College might be a quicker route to basic background knowledge of completed in 4 years. To get full basic work experience knowledge it would take closer to 5-6 years.

Jensen’s answers were helpful. They reinforced ideas about the balance of work experience and a degree. He also offered strong perspectives on entitlement, work ethic, and hands-on learning. However, my interview with Wright was the one that got the wheels in my brain turning. His fresh ideas were vital to my study and are as follows.

1. What is your official job title?
   1. My official job title is General Manager

2. What are your credentials (College degree, work experience, etc.)? What type of degree do you have?
   1. Credentials: College degree, 4 yr college athlete, 10 yrs of experience working in telecommunications. I oversee about 200 employees across 2 states.  I have a B.A. in Economics.

3. How has your degree helped and/or hindered you in your career field? If possible provide at least one specific example.
   1. It has definitely helped me in my career field. More so when I moved out of a field labor role and into a managerial role. Economics is basically math. More specifically understanding interest rates, profit margin, production, etc. I look at a large amount of information on a daily basis. It’s typically all numbers. Having a background in Economics definitely helps process this information quickly and correctly.

4. What is your personal opinion on the debate of work experience versus a college degree?
   1. My opinion is that work experience outweighs a college degree in certain industries. Unless you are going to school for something very specialized (medicine, engineering, etc) you can get where you want based off of hard work. Having a degree in Economics didn’t get me to the position I have now. Putting my head down and working hard for 10 years has put me where I am. Unfortunately, in today’s society, there is a serious sense of entitlement from people coming out of college. I interview people frequently that think we have to hire them or we owe them something simply because they have a degree. They also have little to no actual life skills and don’t know how to function in the real world. I would much rather hire someone who has worked a steady job day after day and learned the struggles of being held accountable and having to provide for themselves/their families. That being said, there are some industries that won’t hire you unless you have a degree or you can’t get past a certain job title without one. Obviously, it would be more beneficial to have a degree over experience in this example. We don’t follow that train of thought at Pauley and as long as I’m around we never will. Some people don’t have the resources to attend college and that shouldn’t be held against them. Some of the smartest and most successful people I know didn’t attend college.

I would like to point out that being a college athlete probably set me up for success more than any degree. It taught me an abundance of life skills that aren’t taught in school and recent grads never seem to have. I learned I was going to be held accountable at a very young age. I developed time management skills to get everything required of me completed. I had to learn to work with others (even if I didn’t like them). I developed thick skin and the ability to take criticism when I failed. These skills probably did more for me in the long run than anything I learned in class.

Wright’s specific answers show he has probably considered the same debate of college degree versus work experience. Wright explains that his college benefits were not from the classes he took, his major, or the papers he wrote. His true reward of college was the social skills he learned during his participation on the football team. This was a factor I did not consider before the interview. His talk about work ethic is also very interesting. It shows the view on the millennial generation and shows that a degree does not signify entitlement.

Variable “$”

The study of a college degree versus work experience is comparable to a mathematical formula. Many variables are present and when you plug in certain numbers there is one result. I have examined variables such as work ethic, type of career, specialization, and learning types. However, the variable that seems to act like the elephant in the room is money. More specifically, the cost of going to college and the debt present post-education. It is important to find and consider statistics when evaluating the overall role of college debt when making pathway decision. The average debt per student is on the rise at 2,000 dollars each year since 2011. Therefore this factor if the equation is not disappearing anytime soon. Bruce Jensen stated the cost of college is getting “out of line” when compared to past years. However, the striking numbers do not stop here. 1.48 trillion is the total student loan debt in the United States. The average debt of loans per student is 39,400. A recent study found it takes an average of 21 years for one person to pay off all college debt. There is room for a shift in these numbers of course. Some job positions have great salaries and allow students to pay off their debt in less than 10 years. Other positions take up to 35 years to pay off debt. When the numbers are laid out it is obvious one must take money into account when considering college. Unlike the other variables of this career equation, money is a factor that makes or breaks dreams for many students. The cost of schooling is scary for many and conquered by few. For this reason, work ethic and work experience might be a person’s best bet to achieve their dreams. The military is another great opportunity to bypass some cost of education.