The value of a degree
Do you need a degree to be a high-flyer in the business world? If the last series of The Apprentice is anything to go by, then no. After all, not only did eventual winner Lee McQueen not complete a degree, he was caught lying on his CV about the amount of time he did stay at Thames Valley University (four months, not two years as he claimed.) And yet after 20,000 applicants, he was eventually given the £100,000 salary working for Sir Alan.
Competition to get the top jobs is fierce. In 2000/1 there were an average of 940,000 full time undergraduates in the UK, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
These figures, combined with a rise in unemployment rates to 5.3% in April this year make the prospect of coming straight out of university into a dream job somewhat bleak.
So what does Lee McQueen have that’s more important than a degree? Experience, and lots of it. (That’s not to say he was confident it would be enough, saying: “I'd never condone lying on a CV. It was all due to my insecurity about my education and not having a business degree; I wanted to show I'd at least attempted to go to university.”)
Does this suggest then, that all of us who want to go into business (there were approximately 120,000 full time undergraduates in the UK reading Business and Administrative studies alone in 2000/1) are wasting our time, and money, at university?
Ed Boal, 22, 4th year Law student at the University of Northumbria, thinks not:
“A degree is vital in the labour market. However now you need something more, you need personal characteristics and acumen and experience to set yourself apart from everyone else.
“My degree gave me the chance to work in a Student Law Office with real clients and this experience has definitely made me more employable.”
A study of 500 employers by the University of Hertfordshire in 2006 revealed that approximately half looked for relevant work experience as a priority. But just a quarter of employers were interested in the class of degree.
Employers focused on the following areas in decreasing importance when hiring graduates:
- Relevant work experience
- Good work ethic/attitude
- Degree subject studied
- Ability to be a team player
- Mature attitude
- Class of degree
- Easygoing, cheerful attitude
- Reputation of university attended
- Ambitious and career-minded
- Natural leadership
The point is that employers, in a competitive job market, will hire graduates. A degree is still a necessity to get your CV seen for a huge number of jobs, even if employers aren’t that concerned what you studied or how well you did.
Karen Elder, 22, Business Studies student at Sheffield Hallam University says:
“It’s kind of swings and roundabouts because through having a degree you can get onto a graduate scheme that will fast track you into a management position. If I hadn’t got a degree, I could have just tried working my way up, but with the amount of students graduating with a business degree now, it would be difficult.
“A lot can be said for experience though as it can be hard to relate what you learn in a classroom to real life. I was lucky in my degree as I had a placement year and so I began to learn what it was like to apply your business theory to practise. We have also been told that having that experience will put us ahead of other graduates.”
Uljana Molitor March, 22, International Business Studies student at Northumbria University adds:
“I think a degree isn’t the ‘be all and end all’ of working in business. If you have what it takes you can start from the bottom and work up. However, banking and finance sectors are hard to get into with no degree unless you have connections.
The best thing is actually the degree and work experience even if it’s just from summer holidays working in the area you’re studying in as you can put the theory into practice.”
Work experience, and even life experience, is what employers need. Lee McQueen had enough of it, and impressed his future employer so much that a lack of degree (and a less than truthful CV) didn’t stand in his way. But would he have even got to an interview with Sir Alan if this was a more standard, non-televised, job application process? Probably not.
