College degree as a REQUIREMENT

[shinytop]

The military pretty much bases its policy for officers on current need. In the late 60's you get into Officer Candidate School based on Army testing with or without a degree. Every time I came up for promotion I was told I would not be selected because I had no degree but I did advance to Lieutenant Colonel before I retired. The Army's education program for officers should get more weight by HR departments but so few of those have any knowledge of the system. Without a degree I attended the Advance Officer Course for my branch and the Command and General Staff College. My last five years were as an instructor for CGS. None of that helped with civilian job placement. With a little help from my brother I learned programming and computers and had a decent second career.

A large part of the question is that the people doing the hiring or asking for a position to be filled have degrees. They are reluctant to admit any shortcomings o that route to success so they value college grads over those without a degree. While many college graduates applied themselves we all know of just as many who did the minimum required and partied a lot.

Former military of any rank have learned and demonstrated how to be part of a team and, for many individuals, leadership. They are mission oriented and for the most part would be dedicated employees.

I should note that the military schools I attended are now called something different. That process was beginning when I retired.

 

[jjrandorin]

(moderator note)

This year + old thread was resurrected by a new account posting what amounted to spam, that had nothing to do with this topic. That account has been banned, but this is an explanation for why this thread surfaced back up. It is not a new thread, nor was there actual real new activity on it before the post today from @shinytop .

 

[shinytop]

My bad for not noticing the date on the last post. However, in my defense it was not spam, it was a different view on the posted topic. And the thread was at the top of Off Topic section so I thought it was recent.

 

[jjrandorin]

My bad for not noticing the date on the last post. However, in my defense it was not spam, it was a different view on the posted topic. And the thread was at the top of Off Topic section so I thought it was recent.

I wasnt calling your post spam, its on topic. The spam post has already been removed, and the reason I am calling it spam is because the same new user posted the exact same text in another unrelated to this topic thread. Taken by itself, it would have been just a thread resurrection.

 

[EVer Hopeful]

It is cheaper for the employer to hire a 23-year old college graduate over a 35-year old person with 15 years' experience. The chances that the college graduate is married with a family are much less than the 35-year old. And the wasted cost of the learning curve for the recent graduate will still be cheaper than hiring the older experienced person.

but the chances that the college graduate is going to stay for about two years before moving on are much MORE than the 35 year old

 

[nwdiver]

Now they're literally selling pieces of paper....

 

[EVer Hopeful]

That way they can build a list, and before long start sending out letters requesting donations to the Excelsior University Alumni Fund