Communications Coaching

Do you really Need a College Degree?
by Michelle Shelton

First. You don’t need anything. Is it a good idea? Maybe. Maybe not.

I find it interesting how many employers want someone to have a college degree before they will even talk to them. It has been my experience that the qualities that truly make someone successful are not taught in a college. Number one is commitment level. Now, it can be argued that it takes commitment to attain a college degree and it does take desire so I can certainly see how those two qualities can come into play.

Please know, I am not knocking the value of a college degree. There is value in every experience we have in life. My biggest question would be, does a college degree actually make someone more qualified for a position? I would think not.

I think in terms of an iceberg. 90% of the iceberg is below the water. This is typically the most dangerous part of the iceberg. What we cannot see. I am going to suggest that it is the same when with a resume and even a personal interview. The 10% they allow you to see on a resume and in a personal interview is going to be the shiniest parts of themselves. What about the 90% that lies below the surface. Do they cheat? Do they steal? Do they lie? What is their integrity like? They have skills, do they have integrity? How do you measure that?

Based on results, I have come up again and again, belly to belly with people with degrees and I have found that in a sales situation I will win every time. In marketing I will win every time. In street smarts of dealing with people, again, hands down, I will win. I don’t write this to be arrogant. I simply am saying that a degree teaches people to do one thing and one thing only. I also find that people with degrees are boring. Not all. I just find that because I have a wide range of experiences, I can connect with nearly anyone you put me in front of at a level they will appreciate. It goes deeper than football and small talk.

The interesting thing is I go to many seminars and independent classes so I constantly value education as a whole. Often time people will cock their head at me and say, “where in the heck did you go to college?” They are shocked when I tell them I didn’t go to college. I explain that I read a lot and I get out and experience a lot. I do.

Do I wish I had gone to college? Yes and no. I love education. I read at least one book a week if not more. I read about what makes people click. I read about sales, marketing and business. I read about budgeting. I read about people’s struggles and what motivates them to keep going. I don’t necessarily read how to make a sale. I read about people and their lives. Everything is about people. When you learn to deal with all kinds of people, you can sell. You can market. You can connect. You can lead. I would say I am more of a modeler. I don’t want to read about theory. I want to be about what worked and what didn’t work. I can learn from people who write about what worked for them and what didn’t work.

To me, college is an institution that clumps people. I envision the admissions counselor pointing and saying, “You go in that group. and you over there with them.” It has classes and I don’t mean the kind of classes you sit in and learn something. I mean cliques. I don’t have cliques. I love people. Young, old, rich and poor. People amaze me. I learn from them. I am fascinated by them. I can connect with religious, spiritual, fat, skinny, young and old alike.

My father was a great teacher. I worked in his stores all of my life. He built an empire, one store at a time. He had me work every position from stocking to clerk, payroll, administrative and finally sales and marketing. I was good with people. He taught me to connect with people. He taught me to have integrity and to stand for something. It was okay if people didn’t like me as long as the cause was something bigger than myself. He taught me to laugh, be kind, have fun, get excited about my life and to give. Everything is on a balance. He also taught me to work. I don’t remember counting the hours until I got off work. I was present. When I was there, I worked. I enjoyed it so it didn’t seem like work. I was serving people.

Do I wish I had gone to college? I still can. I choose not to spend my life wishing about something that I don’t have. I enjoy success. To me success is working in an environment that enjoys me as a person. A trusting environment that empowers me to do a job and is there to support me if and when I need it. I don’t wish I had gone to college. Every experience that I have now is because I didn’t go to college. I would have missed those experiences and I would not be the person I am today. Why didn’t I go? My parents didn’t see the value in college or perhaps they would have supported me in going. After all, there was work to do and that came first. My father was a rich man and he had an eighth grade education. So, it is only a limitation if I allow it to be.

I remember my senior year in high school. It was the final semester and everyone was talking about where they are going to college. I had decided I would go to Kearney State and this is what I was telling everyone. One kid asked me about the entrance exam. I had no clue what he was talking about. He asked if I had talked to a school counselor? I said no. He suggested I do that. I went in and talked to the school counselor and told him my intention. He sort of chuckled and said, this is the first time we have talked about you going to college. I didn’t know you wanted to go to college. He said he didn’t see how we could make it happen at that point. Wow. I was angry. I was mostly angry at myself for not realizing I had to set things up a certain way in order to go to college. I knew I had to do something. What could I do. I started to search. I learned I could go to beauty school. Not exactly my ambition but I figured it was something and then I could ready myself for college later. That is what I did. Of course I excelled in the product sales and received awards. I was an okay hairstylist. I knew it wasn’t something I would want to do forever. I wanted more.

As a sales person, it is my job to remove obstacles. I truly believe the only obstacles are in our minds. They are made up. If we see them as obstacles…they are. The funny thing is, I don’t see not having a degree as an obstacle. Employers do though and just like in a sales situation, it is my job to remove those obstacles from their mind. I have choices. I can go to college or I can get in front of them. For me it is simply another experience that will keep me moving forward in my life. The journey as a whole continues to be exciting. I do think the finding is reserved for the seekers.

Now, where did I put that course catalog?

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