Is job experience or a graduate degree more important to an employer?

Experience or Degree More Important

It depends on the job. If the Master's Degree is needed to get a license or certification, as is often the case with teaching and I believe social work, then you need to get the degree right away. As a recruiter, I have always valued work experience more than a degree. I went to night school for my Master's and I found that most of my classmates were experienced professionals who were getting the degree becuase they were in a state job that required it, or they were getting it to get more money. Also, many companies have tuition reimbursement programs and you may be able to get tax breaks if you are going to school for something in your field.

Here are more opinions and answers from other FAQ Farmers:

• In countries like UK (Britain), USA, Canada and some other places experience does tend to be more important that a degree or university education. In other countries, a degree is more important and experience is secondary. First the person needs to have proper qualifications (i.e. degree) and then experience comes as a secondary matter.

• As others have indicated, it depends on the job and the organization. In some cases, if one doesn't have the degree, one does not get as much as interview. In other cases, the employer puts many more qualifications in the job "requirements" than he/she is really requiring. Particularly if one has a lot of experience in a particular area, it generally doesn't hurt to apply for a job that requires more education than one has. Be sure to emphasize how extensive your experience has been and how well you can apply that experience to the benefit of the employer. There are some questions that applicant should be prepared to answer: 1) Are you willing and able to get degree required? On your own dime/time? 2) Why do you think such a degree is important (or not important)? 3) Why don't you have the required degree? 4)Do you think that your not having degree will affect your relationships with others in the job situation - both those who do and those who do not have the degree? Applicants may want to bring up and address these issues on their own if the interviewer doesn't bring them up. If you can answer them in a positive way to allay interviewer's fears that you are not qualified enough. If possible, check with a friend with the degree about possible problems. This could also be a good reality check.

First answer by Crystal. Last edit by Crystal. Contributor trust: 1906 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 297 [recommend question]