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You know how everyone used to say, "Go to college, get a degree, and you'll be set for life"?🎓 Well, it seems like that advice isn't the golden ticket it used to be. While bachelor’s degrees and professional licenses are necessary for specialized work, these aren’t the only ways to make a good living these days. The skyrocketing costs of higher education, alternative means of learning and acquiring high-income skills, and rapidly changing job roles have raised questions on whether a college degree is still worth your while.🤔

Why Traditional Degrees are Losing Value

It costs a fortune. Affordability remains to be the top reason for school selection. According to US News, the average cost of tuition and fees for an in-state public college is $10,662 per year and can easily cost four times more at a private institution. With these numbers, joining the workforce or looking for other ways to earn instead of attending college seems to be a more attractive option.

Higher education doesn’t always result in higher pay. Although college graduates typically earn more than those without a degree, this is not always the case. A recent report shows that 16% of high school grads and 28% of workers with an associate’s degree earn more than half of workers with a bachelor’s degree.💸 Without a guarantee of higher earnings, some people opt to skip college and start working.

Traditional degrees may be outdated. The curriculum of many traditional degrees cannot keep up with the rapid pace of technological advancement, producing graduates who are not equipped with the unique skills needed in emerging industries. This further casts doubt on the value of college degrees.

New college grads are underemployed due to a highly competitive labor market. 41% of recent college graduates work in jobs that do not require a degree and only 27% end up with a job related to their college major. The job mismatch can make you re-evaluate if college degrees are indeed becoming irrelevant nowadays.👀

Do Employers Value Experience More Than Education?

Companies like Google, Walmart, Apple, IBM, Delta Airlines, and Bank of America have recently changed their hiring policies to no longer require a four-year college degree in many of their job listings. It seems they have come to realize that the knowledge, skills, and insights gained from one’s life experience are as valuable as academic qualifications, if not more.⚖️

The government is following suit, removing college diploma as a prerequisite for thousands of state jobs. Overall, the number of jobs requiring a bachelor's degree has reduced to 44% by 2021, including high-skill and middle-skill positions. This strategy is believed to widen the talent pool, promote inclusivity and diversity in the workforce, and address the skills gap and labor shortages.

In place of a college degree, these companies now evaluate job candidates based on their experience, skills, and training.🖥️

So, does prioritizing skills, attitude, and experience over traditional degrees undermine the value of education?🧐

Interestingly, Google’s former senior vice president of People Operations, Laszlo Bock, shared in an interview that G.P.A.’s and test scores are not predictive of job performance at their organization.

Alternatives to Getting a Degree

Needless to say, education provides immense benefits that can lead to career advancement. But let’s not ignore the fact that the world is changing and some of the long-held assumptions about formal education are not applicable anymore.

There are lots of other ways to gain transferable skills and create a meaningful career outside the college route:

1. Start a business.💼 If you have an itch to solve a problem, improve a service, or develop a new product, (and really dislike working for someone else), then entrepreneurship might be the best path for you. Building a business from scratch develops your critical thinking and problem-solving skills, creativity, resourcefulness, and risk-taking abilities.

2. Join the workforce.🧑‍💼 This may be the ideal option for those looking for structure and stability in employment. You want to build your work experience as early as possible to gain industry knowledge, develop skills, and qualify for higher positions.

3. Learn via apprenticeship.📝 Ask a colleague if they can take you in as an apprentice to learn from their experience and expertise while gradually developing your own. If it is not accessible in your workplace, you can still reap the benefits from this learning approach by looking for apprentice programs offered by other organizations or finding a trusted mentor. 

4. Pursue a side hustle.💻 If you want to explore different fields, have work flexibility, and still pay the bills, consider getting a side gig or doing freelance work. This allows you to test out your various abilities and build your portfolio until you find the right job that matches your interests, skills, and schedule.

5. Attend boot camps or certificate courses.📰 Learn and master a particular technical skill set, such as data science, web development, cybersecurity, or user experience design by attending boot camps. You can also enroll in certificate programs in healthcare, real estate, firefighting, etc. These alternatives are useful when you want to apply for a specific line of work that requires training or upskilling.

6.  Do volunteer work.🥣 Offering your services to the community is a great opportunity to help others, expand your network, discover your passion and purpose, and gain valuable life skills. Knowing that you are part of something bigger and making a positive impact on the lives of others can boost your self-esteem and improve your overall well-being.✨

Side Hustles that Boost Your Skill Set

Here are some side hustle ideas to significantly enhance your personal and professional development, ultimately leading you to meaningful and successful ventures with or without a college degree:

• Freelance Writing✍️: Sharpens your writing, research, and content creation skills. It's an excellent way to enhance your ability to communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively.

• Tutoring or Teaching Online👩‍💻: Sharing your knowledge in a subject area, language, or skill can enhance your expertise in the subject, develop your communication skills, and make you adept at crafting educational content.

• E-commerce and Online Sales🛒: Running an online store on platforms like eBay, Etsy, or Shopify can teach you about e-commerce, customer service, inventory management, and digital marketing. In addition, selling on live-streaming platforms boosts your confidence, creativity, and communication skills.

• Mentoring and Consulting👥: Offering mentoring and consulting services in your area of expertise can deepen your industry knowledge and hone your mentoring, problem-solving, and client management skills.

• Podcasting🎙️: Starting a podcast can develop your audio editing skills, interviewing techniques, and content creation abilities, along with building a personal brand.

• Graphic Design🎨: Working on freelance graphic design projects can refine your artistic skills, software proficiency (such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator), and understanding of branding and marketing principles.

• Online Course Creation💻: Designing and selling online courses allows you to become an expert in your course topic, and sharpens your digital content creation, marketing, and video production skills.

You can learn more about these side hustles through the Fud app. Come and join the world’s first social-hustling community app that brings together like-minded individuals who are passionate about finding the ideal side hustle that maximizes learning and profitability.🔥

Fud’s vetted mentors and experts regularly create engaging content to effectively impart insights, tips, and know-how on specific side hustles. You can also subscribe to their membership programs to gain access to special live workshops, one-on-one consultations, exclusive content, step-by-step guides, and a lot more.💯

Perhaps the most important takeaway is the value of lifelong learning, regardless of the form it takes. As new industries and job roles constantly emerge, your willingness to continually learn and adapt is the true key to long-term success and fulfillment.

So, let Fud transform your learning journey as you discover your ideal side hustle and pick up valuable skills along the way!😎