Did you utilize your college degree (if you had one)?

Yes, to OP question.
Went to college for Electrical High Voltage Lineman. An 11 month trade school then 4 years of apprenticeship with tests each month and final each year. Then the final after 4 years to get my Certificate.
Worked my way up the ladder to Line Superintendent Operation Manager. It was a dream job I knew I wanted when I was about a 4 grader. I seen a line crew do work and I was fascinated by the work they were doing.

I worked for a contractor on summer vacation as a Freshman, Soph., Junior and Senior years. I never had a car so I stayed away all summer, where ever we worked, never got home at all for summer vacations till a few days before school started.
 
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street said:
Yes, to OP question.
Went to college for Electrical High Voltage Lineman. An 11 month trade school then 4 years of apprenticeship with tests each month and final each year. Then the final after 4 years to get my Certificate.
Worked my way up the ladder to Line Superintendent. It was a dream job I knew I wanted when I was about a 4 grader. I seen a line crew do work and I was fascinated by the work they were doing.

I worked for a contractor on summer vacation as a Freshman, Soph., Junior and senior years. I never had a car so I stayed away all summer, where ever we worked, never got home at all for summer vacations till a few days before school started.
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Did you ever find yourself humming Glen Campbell's version of Wichita Lineman while you worked?
 
marko said:
I have an odd one: Degree in Avionics. Just before graduation, a small but growing tech company put an ad out for a technician with "aircraft experience".

Turns out the HR lady who posted, misunderstood the requirement because the project was just code-named for an aircraft but had nothing to do with flight.

Jobs were tight so I took the job. Thirty four years later, (involuntarily) REd as Senior Vice President. My only exposure to flight was logging 4 million air miles in a passenger seat.
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Sort of related, while getting my engineering degree had to pass all of the high level math required. But I joke that once working as an engineer the hardest math I had to do was adding up my expense account.
 
street said:
Yes, to OP question.
Went to college for Electrical High Voltage Lineman. An 11 month trade school then 4 years of apprenticeship with tests each month and final each year. Then the final after 4 years to get my Certificate.
Worked my way up the ladder to Line Superintendent Operation Manager. It was a dream job I knew I wanted when I was about a 4 grader. I seen a line crew do work and I was fascinated by the work they were doing.

I worked for a contractor on summer vacation as a Freshman, Soph., Junior and Senior years. I never had a car so I stayed away all summer, where ever we worked, never got home at all for summer vacations till a few days before school started.
Click to expand...
Did you ever w*rk out of a helicopter? I've seen them in our hills occasionally and think this: "You couldn't pay me enough to hang out of a helicopter and play with energized high-tension lines!"

I guess when you know what you're doing, it's not so scary.
 
Because this population is skewed, I am one of many engineering majors that ended up directly using information I learned in college courses. It seems as though engineering/CS/finance/medicine/law and other professional-aligned degrees tend to lead fairly directly to post-graduation jobs (unless life decisions take precedence). Even year later, after I moved into the marketing, strategy and corporate development site, I was still using information and principals covered in my classwork, often popping up in unexpected ways (e.g. I was evaluating a startup for a corporate investment and my classwork in advanced wave theory and modeling proved to be quite helpful in understanding their technology). And yes, the discipline, critical thinking, abstract visualization, and knowledge of fundamentals helped more indirectly with adapting to new challenges and rapidly coming up to speed on related concepts. On the other hand, some of my optional electives may have done little or nothing for me.
 
yes and no. lots of degrees between DH (phd/mba) and I (phd). But we retooled our careers in our 30s which we both used our degrees and now do something else. He couldn't be doing what he's doing without having gone to university and Disneysteves post #54 is spot on nails even now how DH approaches hiring people.

He wouldn't be where he is today if he didn't learn to think. And the skills he learned in his phd translated into what he's doing. He's way more brilliant than I. Me? I just got tired of working as a bench scientist and decided to do something different. I should have been an actuary or auditor out of college.

But we tell both our kids all the time. College is to teach them the skills needed to have a job across any field. Being smart and learning to apply those skills will be invaluable.
 
Yes, I got my JD, then passed the Bar Exam and practiced law for 28 years. Semi-retired since 2011.
 
My undergrad degree was in science, which punched a ticket to grad school and masters and doctorate degrees. Those set the foundation for a 40-year career that was turbocharged when I added an MBA.

I feel fortunate that I had an intended career path that worked out. Many find that their degrees cannot be readily monitized.
 
The university experience changed had an incredibly positive impact on my life and on my future.

It is the reason why funding our grandchildren's respective post secondary education choice is the first provision in our respective wills.
 
Koolau said:
Did you ever w*rk out of a helicopter? I've seen them in our hills occasionally and think this: "You couldn't pay me enough to hang out of a helicopter and play with energized high-tension lines!"

I guess when you know what you're doing, it's not so scary.
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No I never have. Climbed alot of tall sticks though my time. 75 and 80 foot poles with hooks and belt. I had times in winter storms up some of those tall pole with wind blowing and snow coming down made me wonder why!! Lol
Was a great career in the outdoors everyday experiencing many new things. A lot of sleepless nights and long hours but I loved every minute of my work.
 
street said:
No I never have. Climbed alot of tall sticks though my time. 75 and 80 foot poles with hooks and belt. I had times in winter storms up some of those tall pole with wind blowing and snow coming down made me wonder why!! Lol
Was a great career in the outdoors everyday experiencing many new things. A lot of sleepless nights and long hours but I loved every minute of my work.
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I'm sure a lot of folks don't even know what all you did to keep their lights on so they'd never think to thank you in person. But, thanks!
 
Koolau, Thank You. I can tell you when the lights go out I guarantee every lineman wants too get those lights as fast as they can. It is all the safety and processes that goes into an outage that takes most of the time.
In most jobs there is so much the general public doesn't understand why.
 
Definitely, Associates in Computer Science, Bachelors in Accounting, Masters in Finance and Management Information Systems. Spent my career in banking sector; Controller, Auditing, Fraud, Project Management, Corporate Planning, Financial Operations, Business Analysis.
 
Definitely. I majored in economics and spent 40 years working for 3 different employers, the last of which was myself( :p ), all of which involved finance to one degree or another.
 
I did BS and MS in EE. A degree is a requirement to get a job in most engineering fields. I used some things that I learned from EE college degrees directly in to my job but more importantly, EE college degrees prepared me with the building blocks and attitude/ability to build on a solid foundation. I don't think anyone without an EE college degree can be productive in our jobs even after years of training. Heck, I have met many people WITH EE college degree and they still couldn't do it despite years of training.

More generally, a college degree is still important if it has a rigorous learning standards associated with the course work. A good college degree can teach you how to learn on your own which is the most important skill for any job. Having said that, there are too many college degrees which are too easy. I don't think those college degrees help you with any job skills. YMMV.

PS: I just finished reading all the post. I am glad that I am not the only one who thinks "a college degree teaches you how to learn". DD hates math and is doing pre-med. She always complains that I am never going to use complex math in medicine so why do I have to learn it?
 
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I did BS and MS in EE and ECE. Yes, I utilized them in my career.

Ask Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg if they utilized their degree in their careers. Oh, they don’t have college degrees. They are college dropouts.
 
The best jobs I’ve had required a college degree. Not necessarily my exact degree, but a college degree. My college degree has been worth every cent! I worked full time while attending college full time, and paid my own way through, graduating with a small loan. It’s the best thing I could have done for myself!
 
I never used my major/minor in my working career.

I did learn skills in logic, law & business through electives that have helped me get where I am today.

I also made lifelong friendships that helped make me who I am.

College, for me, was priceless. Even though it gave me no formal training applicable to my career nor a degree.
 
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