As an IT recruiter with more than 20 years of experience working with some of Australia’s most impressive businesses, I’ve noticed a gradual but steady change of opinion relating to University by industry employers. It’s important to note that my experience applies exclusively to Information Technology and in no way applies to industries outside of that domain. I say that in part as I sit here recovering from a 2 hour procedure performed by my very impressive Dentist. Frankly, the idea that he has performed many hours in higher education gives me some sense of reassurance that he knows what he is doing. But I’m not discussing Dentists here, I’m discussing IT professionals and the experience I have gained from the importance placed on higher education by employers in the current market.

When I first arrived in recruitment, a degree was almost always deemed essential by prospective employers. Most position descriptions that were sent my way mentioned a degree in IT as a prerequisite. We’d even have employers refuse to interview candidates if they did not have a degree. This situation is absolutely no longer the case and I actually cannot recall the last time an employer asked about degree status for a prospective employee or if an employee holds one. Why? Simply because a degree, which was once a fantastic tool to identify driven and suitable candidates over others has become a commoditized factory of little to no value.

There are a number of reasons that a degree is no longer useful in the IT domain. Firstly, higher education in the mainstream university sector seems to be more focussed these days on bending individuals to a political ideology as opposed to preparing individuals to enter the workforce. Take for example Melbourne Universities most recent 3 day Marxist conference. A literal mental orgy of communist values spread throughout the university under the guise of education with the giddy enthusiasm of the Deans. Or Victorian Universities senior relationships with many of the most progressive political parties in Australia. Or Monash Universities direct relationship to the Communist Party in China. These institutions are no longer interested in educating individuals for the workforce, but instead, are creating “progressive” political activists that by all accounts are liabilities for any employer seeking to remain on point.

To that end. I recall leaving university and securing my first position. The manager asked me, with wild bright curious eyes, “Do you consider yourself a socialist?” I responded, “Why yes of course”. I’m embarrassed to even reflect on this situation now however I realise in hindsight, I was a direct product of the subject material disguised as higher education and frankly, didn’t even know what defining myself this way meant. At the time I was highly involved in social justice issues and believed that the oppressive ruling class were exploiting us vulnerable workers. It’s only with life experience and observation of the real world (that many academics never have the ability to experience that I’ve come to realise just how seriously wrong many of those views were). I am only grateful that my manager gave me a shot, because frankly, if I interviewed myself today, there is not a chance in hell I’d hire myself.

Putting aside the indoctrination component of these marxist factories, what of the actual suitability of the course material? Well in short, most individuals who have done a degree in IT are not even close to technically prepared to add value in the workforce. From a software engineering perspective, they’ve typically worked with languages that are so redundant that the learning curve is significant. From a networking perspective the same holds true. In short, most University qualified individuals come to the workforce with a social chip on their shoulder, a $66,000 debt and a philosophy of entitlement which is why, just last week, a client of mine pointed out that when choosing an employee, previous working experience is far more important than any “useless degree” in fact if we can find a developer with strong experience and no degree, that would be a preference.

So the question remains, for individuals considering entering IT what is the best strategy to add value to prospective employers?

In short, it’s experience. But to get to that point I’d highly recommend investing time in courses specifically geared around the job you wish to be employed. For example, if you wanted to work as a web developer there are some brilliant Tafe courses which actually provide real life development in the same language you’ll be working with. There are also a number of 3 month rapid development courses that do the same. Any course that will allow you to work on a real project with a team is exactly what adds real value to your resume and is what is sought by todays employers. For individuals wanting to go down the infrastructure path, I’d recommend using Coursera, doing some online learning and then obtaining certification from Microsoft, Cisco or Citrix. These certificates are typically held in much higher regard than any of todays IT University Degrees.

What's ironic about this is that the status quo insists university is important and whilst that reality holds true it is quickly getting dismissed by many leads who know better. Elon Musk recently declared, "I don't even care if you graduated high school" when he announced he was hiring developers. Bill Gates held no degree and Mark Zuckerberg was a uni dropout.

Perhaps the greatest shame is that Universities are conducting themselves in a manner that no longer represents higher education as it existed in previous decades. By default, those students of the past who spent years obtaining their degree will today and tomorrow be viewed with the same outlook that many employers view the current batch of newly qualified entrants. Simply put, the Universities of today in no way reflect the same enterprise that many graduates experienced twenty years or so ago and the investment committed by yesterdays students will continue to be eroded until the sector is realigned to reflect its core mission statement which should simply be, preparing individuals to be of high value to the workforce!

IT evolves so quickly and the slow gears which power the machine of universities have proven again and again that they are not capable of moulding their course material to keep up. This in conjunction with their politicalisation of students and redundant learning material have resulted in an almost zero sum gain for employers and students alike.

Unless Universities begin to decommoditize their offerings and refocus on creating high value employees as opposed to social justice importation factories I doubt the current perception of their graduates suitability for prospective employers will improve anytime soon!