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I have seen and read the stats before that indicate those degreed do suffer less from unemployment and the economic slow-down. It does make some sense.

I spent several years in college but never got a degree. I was a very, very good student all the way up from grade school but college absolutely bored me to tears. I could go for a couple of years and then had to get away from it, come back a year later, last a year, etc. I was a History major by the way because I was never terribly good at advanced math and knew I wasn’t going to get a degree in anything requiring more than a general College Algebra credit.

I eventually made my way into the workforce in sales and then moved to retail where I worked hard and after several years I had worked my way up to regional management. Stayed there for years until the Great Recession killed my organization. Now I’m in program management in the airline industry.

As I found myself jobless over the last couple of years and went about the interview process with new employers, I was rarely (twice out of dozens of instances) asked whether or not I had a college degree. The questions were always much more often about my work experience and leadership abilities.

My parents always wanted me to finish school and get a degree because, well, that’s just what a person should do and it was the only way to get a “good” job. Well for many years now I’ve been making more than they did at my age (accounting for inflation, etc.) and largely enjoying what I’ve been doing. I don’t hear anything about college anymore from my dad at all.