I just tore up my degrees

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You seem to think it is the boss that set that standard, but it isn't. That standard is reflective of what the people who hire CPA's, the clients, want. The hundreds or thousands of clients each CPA firm has. So I, one person, am supposed to go out and have a conversation with each of those clients and convince them they are better off working one on one with the guy who can't communicate the realities of their tax situation to them, just because he is the smarter guy? That would make no sense.

I'll keep that smarter guy in the office, the office needs him, but those who can take what Mr. Technical knows, and successfully convey it to the clients, so that the clients are happy, will always be the one who has the client contact. And the one who has the client contact has control over if that client stays or finds someone else. If you think that person can be moved below the technician, you are wrong: he'll just leave and start his own business, taking all those clients with him. That is the reality of how CLIENTS act, and in a service business, EVERYTHING is driven by how CLIENTS act and what CLIENTS want. You can think all clients are wrong as much as you like, but you are not going to change their minds.

Who do want fixing your car? The mechanic who can do it right AND explain it to you so that you have confidence he can do it right, or the one you can't communicate with, and just hope can do it right? Since you aren't a mechanic, how are you supposed to know how smart he is? You only know how smart he is by how well he COMMUNICATES how smart he is. If he's a total scam artist, it will eventually come out in the Yelp reviews, sure, but not the difference between average and stellar.

In accounting, they DO hire the most qualified, and hope they can teach them the social and communication skills. That is what happened with me; I wasn't very good at the communication, but I learned well enough to move up the ranks. They sent me to working seminars and stretched me on it. But I had to accept this was going to be a very important part of my job, learn the skill, and not run from it. For those who couldn't make that leap, there are good accounting positions available, just not in PUBLIC accounting, which is a CLIENT centered, "people" business.

That isn't Wall Street; I have enough disdain for those over-confident clowns. It is just Joe Smith trying to get the taxes and accounting for his small business done and not cringe at the experience. I'm NOT going to blame him for wanting to actually understand what his CPA tells him, and for wanting to feel comfortable chatting casually with his CPA when he has questions; that he do so is actually in everyone's best interest.

What I wanted SadAspy to understand is that there is more to a job skill set than just the education, and the education does not have to be lost just because there are more skills to be had. Either figure out what those skills are and how to get them, or figure out which positions don't require them. There are enough of the later, but you do have to dig a LOT harder. I spent a LOT of time and effort trying to help him understand how he might find a more successful road, and get a job he will feel valued in, and have a chance to be successful in. Isn't that what all of us want for ourselves? Does it really matter what the next guy gets, if we feel good about what we are doing?

You call for revolution without understanding that sometimes there is actually a good reason some things are as they are. Pick your revolutions carefully and you might make them happen. Throw them in where they don't belong and all you get is frustration.

I think that strongly depends on which field it is in the humanities. Music, in my opinion, is a useless degree unless you want to teach it or something of the like. You don't need a piece of paper to say you're a great musician. Same with art. That said, someone could still go to university for music or art related degrees and love it, do well, and get a job with their degree.

Also, just research the field you're interested in before diving into it - if you want a high paying job, or an easy time getting a job, you might want to avoid some fields. On the same note, if you go into those fields, don't be surprised and angry and burn your degree when you can't find a job. My majors are German and International Studies with a minor in History. I do not expect to easily find a job with what I have; I do it because it's what I like. I'm a semester from graduating, and plan on going for a masters. Still narrowing down the potential schools and pathways for that, though, and whether I want to do it immediately or wait.

1) if you hate it so much, move to Europe. Problem solved.
2) I'm sorry, what is so "ass backwards" about being paid in a way that correlates what you offer to other people? I can think of many ways that a plumber, electrician, mechanic, etc can help me out. To say that your degree alone puts you on a pedestal, as someone who deserves a certain standard of job, is incredibly short sighted and a slap in the face of these people.

Poly sci is already dubious in it's vocational relevance, and most people I know who find jobs out of college w/ that degree, work low end ones, because in all actuality, they know nothing yet. Having a masters just tells me you know more about stuff that the guy who needs his muffler fixed doesn't need. Add in that it's one of the most popular degrees, and you have a situation where you have a lot of people competing for not a lot of jobs.

Add in the fact that you admit to strangers (albeit anonymously) that you ripped up your degree "instead of cutting" suggests a low maturity level. Once again, something else to address.

Sometimes the system stinks. You can blame the surplus of hack degrees floating around the ecosystem right now. However, the fact that you've nothing to offer an employer in terms of skills (or at least not enough to justify a certain wage/salary level you would like) is not society's fault, it's yours. Change.

More sh*****g on blue collar people. Great

Fact: Most people 25 or older in this country don't have a bachelors degree. Most of those same people live well above poverty. These are, as you'd call them, "blue collar" people.

Fact: 24% of people who started 4 year college in 2003, had no degree (not even an AS or certificate) in 2009, and were not enrolled anywhere else. Not everyone is cut out for intellectually demanding fields.

Fact: People with STEM degrees (Science/Technology/Engineering/Math) see returns on their investment fairly easily. Reason being that their studies equip them to serve people, be it as a business owner, or the client of a company they go to work for. Sure, maybe you're the resident expert on Israeli-Palestinian relations w/ a poly six degree, but when you have to compete with someone who has spent 4+ years trying to obtain skills that can help meet a client's needs in a various field, well, you're going to lose.

People like you who try to insult people and apply your own subjective rules to what's "valuable" in society annoy me. You resemble the Europeans in their opinion of the Jews, or the Malays in their opinion of the Chinese, or the natives of Sierra leone in their opinion of the immigrant Lebanese. Rather than adapting and learning the techniques making them successful, you'd rather disdain them and attempt to use political clout over them.

As for liberal arts degrees, well, one new hire in my data science department dropped out of college, but was in linguistics while in school (albeit with a computer science minor). We hired him because of a base knowledge and a demonstrated capacity to learn.

So, you can whine about "mean old republicans" for daring to say a plumber made a good life decision, or you can recognize that your little world view blows, and come to grips with the fact that people need to serve other people to make a good living. My ultimate customer is my CEO, my functional customers are business developers (sales, account management) and clients. Because they like my contribution, I am paid a market competitive salary. It's really not that hard. If I didn't like my compensation, I would be free to look elsewhere. If I still didn't like it, I'd be free to start my own enterprise.

Tl;dr, quit whining and mocking people who work for a living implicitly.

Ding ding ding.
With no client, there is no business. The product you produce, be it a good or service, has to be sold (or in a more personal way of putting it, displayed to the public). This is where client relations come into play.

For example, in online advertising, I could develop an algorithm that is almost as good as mechanical Turk (aka a room of people selecting choices) at predicting if a user will click on an ad (in other words, it's almost as smart at this function as a human). Great, wonderful, but it doesn't matter at all if our sales team can't explain to a client how this will help them meet their goals.

This being said, turnover is far higher on the client facing half of the company, as it is with most companies. Reason being is that they represent the company to the outside world. So sure, while it's annoying to see the sales guy who makes $110k a year that is unable to figure out anything you don't explain to him, it's a hell of a lot better than hiring a bunch of mediocre guys who should be pimping used appliances door to door and seeing your business (and also, your function within it) go bye bye. Not like there isn't promotion potential for talented people in the actual product developing world, either. Sure, my knowledge base has to be higher than a sales guy's. I also know that as long as there is a need, I have a job (generally speaking) and don't have to face the career volatility a business developer would have to. It isn't even like they aren't working hard; our business development team works wicked hard to close deals, taking cross country, red-eye flights so that they can be in the office to do more tomorrow.

For a sports analogy, take, for example, an O-lineman on the Arizona cardinals. In the gym constantly, getting beat up in games, only to see the QB get more money? Do you pout, or keep working hard and hope the QB will make you both better off? Sometimes you get the Kurt Warner who will help elevate your organization to new levels. Or, you might get the Matt Leinart who simply won't get better. At the end of the day, though, when things go south, it's not you that loses his job, it's Matt Leinart. As long as you're still doing your job well, you get to keep it, be it for the current organization or a new one.

More long winded comments, I know, sorry.

Although I agree that degrees can be considered pretty much worthless nowadays because they have been watered down to the point that anybody can get one, I have actually just embarked on a degree myself fully knowing that.

Why? Because there are somethings that a degree allows you to do that cannot be done without.

In my case, it is that I would like to do go to grad school in Japan, and even if that falls through, there is an exchange program to teach English in Japan with a degree as the only requirement.

A degree is what you make of it.

Indeed you didn't read. I was telling this guy that he's wrong and I wasn't making a value judgment about workers.

Or maybe I should have put stress on the racial element that this guy brought up as well.

How much help can someone without a degree expect from a certification?

Hey! Not cool! I'm a high school dropout (though I don't have much experience because I was in college), I know you're pissed at the job market but don't take it out on dropouts!! seriously! why the f**k does everyone think that's f**cking ok?! I worked really freaking hard to be where I am, and just because your too f**cking lazy to actually get an entry level position and put your degree to work you're taking it out on the dropouts!!
NOBODY would hire you if you aren't willing to work your @ss off; it doesn't have anything to with what level of school you finished at! That's LIFE, get used to it!

I agree with most of this.

Employers won't hire someone just because he/she is smart, educated or has a degree. The person also needs to be able to produce on the job. If the job involves helping people with the their finances or taxes (CPA) or helping people through legal issues (lawyer) or helping people who are sick (medical), then the job candidate needs to be good at helping people. There aren't many jobs where you can use your intelligence in the abstract.

Every job also involves completing tasks, either in real time or with deadlines. I was a very strong computer programmer when I was younger, but I couldn't succeed as a programmer in a job. The job assignments were "boring" and didn't hold my interest. When I was focused, I would be such a perfectionist that I had trouble finishing tasks at an acceptable pace. The work I did was brilliant, but no one cared because I wasn't producing. People who weren't as smart or skilled as me were turning out "crap" work and having more success.

Eventually, I had the epiphany that, while I am smart enough to do any job, I don't have the skills to any job. I stopped thinking about myself in terms of my knowledge and intelligence, and started thinking about what I can actually produce in a job.

Please tell the children this:

Topic of note: Getting a degree and getting high grades does not guarantee any form of employment. I graduated with around a 3.4 GPA, member of an honor society, three internships, and a stint doing research for three months. When I went to the interview not a single employer asked me about my grades or what I did while in research- they only cared about my past work experience.