dbj1000

It doesn't seem to disprove anything other than that you are an exception to a general rule. Assuming, that is, that you're not telling us that the less education you have the higher your salary will be, on average?

Well done to you. The fact remains that the higher your level of education, the higher your salary is likely to be on average.

effi

To a certain extent I agree. My husband is in one of the higher pay bands on the Poll. He has no qualifications, left school at 15 and joined the RAF as an apprentice and did 25 years, slowly moving up the ranks. His experience got him the job he has now. Sometimes plain common sense means more than that all elusive piece of paper.

As an aside though, I watched an interview of recent college grads the other nite. None of them have been able to find jobs in the fields they want. Maybe their expectations are too high. Some of them seemed to think they would leave college and move right into a $70thou a year job, pretty unrealistic. Gone are the days of people being prepared to start at the bottom of a company just to get a foot in the door and prove themselves. Most of them are waiting tables to make ends meet. Bring back the days of apprenticeships at large companies, let kids learn a trade from the ground up, instead of thinking they should have everything handed to them on a plate. Also interesting on this show was the amount of student debt each college grad had acquired. For some of them it will take 30 years or more to pay it off, not a good way to be starting your working life.

Chopper-Chris

aka data processing director...

can anyone think of a more boring job? They'd have to pay me a damn sight more than 100K to do that.

you're a more patient man than me

hhmaker

Your right, they would have to pay me more than $100K to do this job. The good news is they do!!!!

Chopper-Chris

You actually mean, "you're right"

Shame they didn't use some of that money to educate you in correct use of English grammar.

USBound

ooooohh miiaaaaaaaaaoww!!!

Manc

Insurance agent..........

Chopper-Chris

don't be hard on yourself Manc.

Ben

I put hubbies qualifications on too because it was his salary I put on the other poll. I don't work so don't count

matt_in_philly

With all due respect, this is one of the most biased posts I've ever read. I read your posts before and I remember you as a person whose words made a lot of sense to me. However, this one is nothing but making fun of (at least worded that way) "kids" who actually spend a fortune and all those long years to get that "elusive piece of paper". I didn't realize that in year 2004 somebody would still think that in a corporate environment a high school dropout should make significantly more than a university graduate and it's totally normal etc. (except sales and non-professional jobs though). Especially the fact that it comes out of your keyboard is a big surprise.

ironporer

Sorry but I have to agree with effi on this one- at least in the Manufacturing sector anyway.

Give me a 30 year old with dirty hands and a degree from the local community college over some new ME with a MBA fresh out of the UNI of where ever anyday of the week.

matt_in_philly

Chopper-Chris

It depends on the job…and how much training is required to do that job well, (not just an adequate job). It also depends on the individual and their ability irrespective of whether they completed the course (completion of an academic course doesn’t necessarily prove intelligence, but it does however show a level of commitment to completing the job in hand). Likewise, in general, those that have no qualifications at all raise a couple of questions…or statements (and I apologize that these are generalized)

1) They are incapable of getting qualifications
2) They are unwilling to get qualifications
3) They have not been given the opportunity to get the qualifications

There are very few people that fall into the third category, which only leave those that are unwilling or unable…either way, I wouldn’t employ one of those people...I would employ the one that had proved that he/she was capable of learning in a regimented system but still had the ability, drive and humility to keep learning while on the job.

Lets look at this another way…2 questions for those of you who ‘made it to the top of the salary table’ from the other poll with few or no formal qualifications

1) How many people have you employed in the last year?

2) How many of those people dropped out of high school?

Its simple, in order to survive these days (even to get a foot in the door at a low level) you need a degree…in anything (unfortunately)

effi

That is not at all what my post meant. I feel sorry for the kids coming out of college today. I know they work extremely hard to get that 'elusive piece of paper' and go into considerable debt to get it. My point is that a lot of them come out with the view of "ok, here I am, pay me my $70 grand now that I have done all of this studying. In my view they still have to prove themselves in the workplace. What is wrong with starting at the bottom, after all they have no work experience. I was not necessarily talking about a corporate environment either. I know the company my husband works for (it is one of the biggest companies in the US) came out with a policy that they would only hire college grads. Well, it did not work, they soon got rid of a lot of them. Also the company I used to work for did the same thing, they just disrupted the whole process of doing things. Ways of doing things that had been successful for over 30 years were changed by these college kids who thought they knew better than the old farts teaching them on the job. It did not work, we lost contracts because management gave them the leeway to try things their own way, the majority of them are also no longer with the company.

Like I said, common sense and work experience count just as much as 'the elusive piece of paper', my husband proved that. He is in charge of over 70 guys, some of them with PHDs in engineering. Go figure.

Gross50

experience is the best teacher. a paper qualification doesnt hurt either.