degrees. who needs 'em?

More ranting on education.

So while surfing the net the other night I came across a freelance designer's personal website. Nice enough site.. but without a link to a full CV and without any mention of education. Judging from her skill set, i'd say she definitely had a degree or TAFE course.. but no mention anywhere on her otherwise fairly extensive site. So i got to wondering, do you really need to show your qualifications? do they mean anything?

The importance ( or not) of getting/having a degree is not immediately obvious. Most people I know in my field claim they learned nothing at university or college, so why do employers always ask for "relevant qualifications" etc? Is this just a memory of how recruitment works in other fields? Or is there some hidden fount of usefulness in a degree that none of us can see?

Especially in the field of design, I believe it is true that the fundamental flaw in the system stems from the fact that the field of design requires passion and dedication to creativity and Most creatives see teaching as stifling their creative outlets. SO the university system (at least in aistralia - I'm assuming this holds true everywhere) can not provide us with teachers, lecturers or tutors who are the top of their field. The result being a plethora of semi-skilled workers being "qualified" and flooding the market place. While it isn't their fault, the presence of these under skilled but technically qualified workers is further undermining the relevance and perceived value of degrees in the field.

Having said all that, if you have a degree you definitely want to put you qualification in your CV, on your website (maybe even on your business cards) after all, you spent a large amount of time and money getting that education; and its never a BAD thing to have a degree (it might be useless.. but it's not negative). Besides, when I come across your CV or site.. i can look and see if i know the school you went to etc... it's interesting and it satifisies my voyeurism.