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"I think the reality is that most companies are going to 'require' a degree for most corporate positions going forward."
Ummm, that's been the predominant situation for close to a quarter century. Since the late 70's the common message/believe was that they key to a "Good Life (tm)" was through getting a college degree, and by the early 90's the majority of people were going straight into college. The federal government started the Guaranteed Student Loans program in the late 80's which really boost these numbers where blue collar families wouldn't have been able to afford to go otherwise. Of course easy money and the Good Life myth resulted in degrees being seen just as expected as a HS diploma was previously. The easy money led to many schools expanding programs and lowering standard in order to capture the money flowing from the federal government (which is exactly what should economics indicates should be expected) leading to many degrees no longer being an indicator of knowledge, skills or ability.
The short of it is that a BS has replaced the HS diploma/GED as the baseline filter, even though it's no longer an effective filter.
I think the reality is that most companies are going to 'require' a degree for most corporate positions going forward. I also think that is a shame because it is going to cause companies to miss out on potentially good candidates who don't have degrees.
I knew an old timer who started on the assembly line and worked for years - always working his way up the ladder. Eventually he landed in an engineering role where he was outstanding for the rest of his career. He basically apprenticed his way up the ladder. He would never have that opportunity today.
Another example, I knew a Ford engineer that was a career GSR8. This guy was absolutely qualified to be an LL6 - and probably higher - but he hadn't gone to college. He moved from a plant-level engineer to a corporate role in the late 80s. Since then, management always passed him over or rejected him when he applied for LL6 spots. He eventually became unhappy and jaded and basically rode out his time until retiring with full pension a few years ago.
Having said all that, there are benefits to the degree. It is ~4 years of consolidated training in problem solving within a specialty/focus. Not saying the right candidate couldn't learn similarly on the job as an apprentice. But I think HR must feel that the degree weeds out a lot of 'bad candidates'...
The old PERDC manager who was terminated in August would hire PHD engineers. Sad thing is that most of them were hired under false pretences. Nice people but incompetent for the jobs they were hired.
I’m concerned that one of them is going to hurt themselves or terminate their own existence by working on high voltage battery packs. No safety precautions, procedures or training was ever put in place. Complaints to HR and safety at EEP are ignored. Thankfully a few people are documenting all the corruption.
There will be lawsuits when someone gets hurt
it did trouble me when engineering managers or above did not have a technical degree. because when you tell them things about reality, their eyes would glaze over and they just didnt get it. you could tell they didnt get it. you knew you were in trouble when you were discussing a technical topic and they started talking about management platitudes. or religious platitudes. when you go to engineering school, you realize that what you read in popular mechanics at the barber shop is only a tiny tiny bit of what is required to make a robust product. i only had a bachelors degree, but it made me realize that i did not know a lot of the advanced stuff. so you are more cautious about doing something d-mb. i think that was hackett's issue, he would read things at a pop science / wired magazine level and think he knew all about it. you could tell he realized he didnt really know when he started getting questions from the press. having said that, some people in engineering school had little interest in the topics involved and only wanted to make money. so there is that.
From an EngineerWe already have a working transportation solution that works. Why replace it with one that does not and costs even more to implement than gas stations and the energy it supplies is actually more scarce than gasoline considering that the liquid fuel shortage is artificial like their global warming. Climate changes as it is supposed to and to suggest that it should not indicates just how little respect academia has for the public.
With good cause...
Kinda like my dad. Tool and die guy from wayyyy back to the days of the Henry Ford Trade School. He could figure out how to fix just about anything mechanical.
Ya gotta have aptitude, intelligence and persistence and have practiced your craft for 10000 hours to be truly good.
The best engineer I ever worked with was a guy who didn’t actually get his engineering degree until his mid 50s. He was a farm kid who learned from his dad and granddad to manufacture what ever part / gadget they needed to get their work done. Everything this guy came up with had a clean simple design that would stand the test of time. He got his degree after having been an engineer for 30 years.
Many of the engineers I have worked with at Ford have been engineers in name only.
Not really. Especially not for the skills needed for the EV and data future. A few months in a software boot camp and you are good.
Degrees show much more , it means a person has persevered onto something and achieved it. That speaks a lot to hiring person when there are resumes without degrees listing BS as experience.
@bmz+1k2O2iZk SO your degree in English makes you a great engineer.
No but you may need something to teach you how to title your post coherently. Whatever you got yourself didn't work.
@OP. Yes and No. Yes, certain positions need a degree, specially when designing
something newer. However, design is not always most of what an engineer do. They also troubleshoot and improve existing systems, where experience trumps "book" knowledge.