Feb 13 2013: I think the problem here may come from laziness. Let me explain:
The employer essentially wants to hire someone with the right skills/traits to do the job. Instead of devising a way to seek out and/or test for those particular skills/traits, they rely on a degree to tell them his person "knows" their stuff (a very sloppy/lazy method for obtaining this objective).
The job seeker knows the employer is lazy and looks only at degree status so the job seeker goes into massive debt obtaining a degree in order to be considered for the high-paying position they desire. Had the employer been seeking out specific experience/skills/traits, the job seeker could start with an unpaid internship to get in and prove themselves and then work their way up. While many job-seekers might be willing to do this, it doesn't always work because the "lazy" employer sets standards for certain levels within the organization, requiring a bachelor's degree to reach any level of management for instance...even though the degree actually does very little in determining someones qualifications for doing the job.
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A comment on Conversation: What's a degree worth?
The employer essentially wants to hire someone with the right skills/traits to do the job. Instead of devising a way to seek out and/or test for those particular skills/traits, they rely on a degree to tell them his person "knows" their stuff (a very sloppy/lazy method for obtaining this objective).
The job seeker knows the employer is lazy and looks only at degree status so the job seeker goes into massive debt obtaining a degree in order to be considered for the high-paying position they desire. Had the employer been seeking out specific experience/skills/traits, the job seeker could start with an unpaid internship to get in and prove themselves and then work their way up. While many job-seekers might be willing to do this, it doesn't always work because the "lazy" employer sets standards for certain levels within the organization, requiring a bachelor's degree to reach any level of management for instance...even though the degree actually does very little in determining someones qualifications for doing the job.