The Freelance Informer - startup or degree?

"Developing a strong work ethic from a young age is really important and we embrace apprenticeships within our business. We've launched many young employees into the world of work, helping them to learn on the job and earn on the job all without accruing mind-boggling levels of debt. "The importance of teaching soft skills such as teamwork, time management and communication early on are important and our apprentices nail it and go onto a successful and fulfilling career. We have had University interns who are late, can’t answer the phone or even think independently as they are used to being directed or carried by others, having the University culture engrained within them. "Having worked in industry myself from leaving school, I set up my own business, which has gone from strength to strength. The skills I need to run my business and experiences are those learnt from others in the “real world” of the businesses that I have worked in and not theories learnt from studying. While I embrace entrepreneurism, no amount of theory can prepare you for negotiating, pitching, communicating and collaborating with others in the business world, but apprenticeships and real life experiences can."

"There's huge value in a good quality university degree. That said, there's lots of value in real-world experience and apprenticeships should not be seen as a second class option. I know many people who have degrees in meaningless subjects working in office roles who are earning less than half of what a good quality brickie, plumber or sparkie is earning. My own route of gaining some decent A-levels, a few years in the military then attending Uni has served me well. After three years of studying Plato's forms, intertwined with an unhealthy dose of existential crisis some insight into Wittgenstein's private language argument, I do feel a more rounded person. However, that could be just because I'm overweight. Nevertheless, an appreciation of Amor Fati is positive for every soul."

"As a business leader, my recommendation is to get stuck into a start-up or venture into a business first. When you have gained enough deep experience, only then supplement it with formal educational programs alongside the business or profession you are involved in. In that way, the entire learning process becomes effortless and highly accelerated. "I am a performance and workplace scientist with a focus on accelerated learning at the speed of business. Personally, I have two doctorates in business, 2 MBAs and over 100 international educational credentials, which include several degrees and certifications. Most of these credentials I have gained while working on relevant projects. In that process, have seen the best and worst sides of education and have done a fair amount of research on career choices. "I observed that most academic and university programs are targeted at imparting education and knowledge. Very few of them are focused on actual workplace or business skills. Successful careers and innovative businesses now demand strategies, methods, skills, and well-rounded personalities. "However, such development only comes when people get immersed in something and experience business first-hand. In fact, most of the academic content will make immediate sense and learning will be highly accelerated when the content about a topic is learned after gaining practical experience in same. This might appear counter-intuitive, but is the key strategy to speed up learning.

"I never got a degree and never wanted to get one. Experience outweighs qualifications all day long. Recruiting now, I'd rather bring someone with three years' experience vs a graduate that has 3 years of theoretical teaching behind them. You only learn how to do the job, and do the job well, by actually doing it. "If a student is thinking of launching a business, why have a fall back option, make a success of it and learn in the real world. You can always fall back on the experience you have gained to secure employment elsewhere, if needed." Depending on your chosen career, sometimes a degree is the only way to get to where you want to be, racking up the debt in pursuit of a limited number of vacancies at the end of it. 2/3 of think3 owners never went to University and instead focused on gaining experience in the real world which has paid off for us.