DEGREE Vs SKILLS

It is quite debated now-a-days; especially on social media; whether one should pursue a degree or acquire skills through short term training. You might have heard about a freelancer who goes by the name Azad Chaiwala. I assume he is a dropout but a successful entrepreneur. And currently he is actively campaigning urging youngsters to ditch their degrees and pursue training to acquire skills.

I agree that skills are very important. A person with a degree but zero skills holds no value. For example a lawyer; you can teach him the laws but you can never prepare him to fight in court if he do not have what it takes to be a lawyer. No book can prepare you to act spontaneously in front of the court. You never know what questions the judge or the counter lawyer would come up with. So to be a lawyer, one must have a very active and spontaneous mind and should be extremely attentive to details.

The issue with modern day degree; especially in our sub-continent; is that people pursue degree as status symbol. They just want to add the title with their name to get respect. Parents overlook their children’s desires or capabilities and pressure them to purse a degree in something which is TRENDING IN MARKET. You can make your child earn a Law degree but he will never be a successful lawyer if he/she doesn’t want to be. He would just learn enough to pass exams and will never actively indulge in the activities that will sharpen his LAWYER SKILLS that I mentioned above.

There is no course, no degree, no institute in the world that guarantees you a successful career. You can earn a degree from Harvard and still collapse. Because at the end of the day; if you earned the degree against your desires; it is just a piece of paper. And if you have a desire for something, sky is the limit for you; even if you want to be a burger flipper at McDonalds. Someone once said,” be the best of what you do; so if your job is to flip burgers, be the best burger flipper in the world.”

We often hear from the newly graduates that they don’t land the job for what they have studied. There could be many reasons for that but one of the reasons is that you earned the degree just for the sake of job. So when you go for an interview, the recruiter knows your actual worth. The recruiter is not hiring a piece of paper; it is looking for someone who has the actual knowledge and skills that comes within the degree.

Same applies to the freelancing skills. If you are just looking at successful entrepreneurs and assuming it to be some sort of a short cut, then acquiring skills is as useless as acquiring a degree. It all comes down to interest. Your interest can make your 3 months skills more valuable than a four years degree earned without any interest.

But if you have resources, you should pursue a degree in something of your interest. I won’t suggest dropping out and going after short courses. Why? For the same reason I mentioned above. If you want to drop out and go for skills, you have the same DEGREE MINDSET which is EARNING MONEY. Life is not just about money; your work your job is not just about money and your college/university education is not just about studies. You learn to live life, you develop yourself, your personality, you meet people, you help people, you make connections, you become a part of the society. University is not just for studying, it is a place that prepares you for the real world. You meet people, you make friends, you face betrayals, you face a lot of things and become an adult. It’s not just a degree that makes you an Independent adult; it’s the experiences that you face during your time in an institution that makes you an adult. It prepares you how to face the outer world, how to face your bosses, how to deal with crooked co-workers etc.

And most importantly, it’s the memories. If you are privileged enough that you don’t have any financial burden for your studies; remember; your student life will be the best part of your life because it is a pre-adult life. I am a high school dropout but my best days are indeed the ones I spent in my School, College and institutions. I never regretted to not have a degree; I am a firm believer that Allah is the provider, not the Degree alone. But I regret not going to University because I missed the golden period. I missed all the fun part that comes within the student life. I missed making memories so I ended up having no fun memories.

So go for it, earn your degree but earn it in a way that you learn the skills that comes within the degree. Never take anything for granted, student life is amazing and never mark MONEY as your sole goal. Don’t be a slave to money. Be it a degree or skills, do it with complete devotion and interest otherwise both are useless.