Hello People,

For the past few weeks, I have been contemplating whether to get a degree.

Personally, I have no wish to get a degree because I am doing fine relying on my "SALES" skillset. I am doing it for the sake of my parents, and also to conform myself to what society expects of me.

In fact, I have already paid for the first semester. $2,000 SGD. Ouch! I know! At least I am proud to say that I paid for it myself, without the aid of my parents.

In this post, I will break down the pros and cons of having a degree and you will be the judge.

PROS

• Better Career Opportunities
• Personal Development
• Better Recognition By Society
• Networking

Cons

• Losing Out On Potential Opportunities
• Acquiring Knowledge That Might Be Irrelevant
• Uncertain Value

Are you ready to dive deeper?

1. Better Career Opportunities

In today's extremely competitive market, most job descriptions mentioned that a degree is necessary in order for you to even score an interview. It is evident that with a degree, it is easier to seek for jobs as compared to someone without. Given that all variables are the same, both candidates can perform equally well; A recruiter will easily hire the person with a degree as compared to someone without. Also, it is a given that having a degree increases your basic and maximum salary. A degree is the bare minimum for someone to even spend minutes to judge your resume. Without it, you really have to rely on your expeirences/previous achievements to impress the recruiter.

2. Personal Development

Personally, I think that in today's time and age, schools are not a place for you to simply acquire knowledge because that's what Google's for. But more towards equipping us with the right mentality and learning methodology so that we can carry on with our lifelong learning once we graduated. Important skill sets such as confidence, presentation, teamwork, project management, ability to think analytically and work independently. That being said, it is also dependent on which institute you graduated from, the different institute has different system and structure in place. That's the reason why people tend to perceive Stamford, Oxford and Harvard differently.

3. Better Recognition By Society

Kudos to the media! They have successfully brainwashed the vast majority of us to think that having a degree is compulsory if you want to have an awesome career. That is the reason why companies will include that as a requirement and also parents urging their children to get one. Worse still, the fact that 80% of students are on track to get their degrees. If you fall into the other 20%, you will be "standing out".

4. Networking

University is just one step before everyone heads to the working world. That is also the place for you to network, make friends and form connections with people who might or might not help you in the future. Afterall, there is a chinese saying, "At home, you rely on your parents. Outside, you rely on friends."
So, through university, you can meet like-minded people who will potentially be in your field of work that could benefit you one way or the other in near future! That's exactly why graduates in top schools have strong alumni groups to support each other!

On the other hand....

1. Losing Out On Potential Opportunities

Once you have graduated with a diploma, or maybe you have a certain skill that you are competent at, you can immediately monetize that and begin to work. There will definitely be opportunities for you to either work for a great company or even start your own. By studying for the subsequent 1-4 years for a degree, you are pushing back potential opportunities that might lead to something great. That could be something for you to factor in. How confident are you that the opportunity will skyrocket and is it opportunity very rare and will not come by after you're done with your degree?

2. Acquiring Knowledge That Might Be Irrelevant

I think this factor is the most popular reason why people do not want to get a degree. Personally, it's my number one reason. I am entrepreneurial and I don't see how having a degree is able to make me sell my ideas better or make me a better businessman. That is my primary concern. I don't think that learning marketing principles is going to make me sell hundreds and thousands of products on Instagram or Facebook as compared to learning the ACTUAL TECHNIQUES of those advertisements. To me, knowledge is available online and it is redundant for you to head over to a university JUST FOR this set of knowledge.

3. Uncertain Value

This point is linked very closely to my previous point. I mentioned that universities might not be imparting real-world knowledge that is applicable to today's market. Also, to add to that. If I am a professional plumber or technician, will having a degree bring more value to my career? "Maybe. I don't know'. Because of this uncertainty in the value of a degree, most people think twice or even thrice before getting one. Artists, Musicians, Entrepreneurs are better off taking the time and money spent on a degree to build their craft and hone their skills.

Conclusion

After weighing both sides, I would rather spend 3 years of my life getting this degree because I want to set this challenge for myself to study part-time and work full time. If I am able to handle this, entrepreneurship or future hurdles will definitely not be an obstacle for me. On top of that, I am currently doing social media marketing management services for my clients. If I were to venture in depth and head towards business consultancy, having a degree in marketing will make me seem more trustworthy and reliable. With all these reasons in place, I would gladly face all my upcoming challenges than to suffer the fate of regretting not having a degree.

DISCLAIMER

All these are my personal thoughts and opinions, feel free to challenge me by leaving your opinions in the comment box below!
Also, if you have any advice for me or people who are facing this same thing, feel free to drop your comments as well!

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