So how can you get the job in the first place without a degree? Both work hand in hand with degree being more important. Mind you, the process of gaining the degree(especially in good schools) is experience on its own.

AgapeCharis:
Wrong!!

Even if you have a B.Sc from Germany and an M.Sc from Canada, if you gat no experience, it's usually hard to secure a job except through connections.

True Story.

I learnt the hard way in 2004 during an interview that experience matters more than the degree.
Why do you think our companies employ foreign artisans and technicians who cant speak english to man our refineries and energy companies.

Technical know how separates the men from the boys, the school thing is one big fraud, check out the richest people in nigeria, they dont have degrees and most dropped out of school, yet they command wealth and respect even mr lecturer ends up dashing them honorary doctorate, which is still better than those who roasted themselves to get it.

I pity parents who waste our foreign reserves sending their kids to the uk and us and wherever only for these brats to come and start pushing cv about, I think its a wrong investment .

Get your experience and know how thought mentor-ship and apprenticeship programs, this is especially important for future professionals, getting your acca, cisa cisp or crips or whatever wont get you the high paying job you want if you dont have the commensurate experience.

Your better off learning a skill or trade, you dont have to waste 5 years of ya life polishing your English or knowing how to write, professional bodies make money from the forms and exams they make students and members to pay and not by adding any real value to the economy.

After going through some of the posts here, I cannot help but laugh. How on earth can someone say experience is more important. Experience will be more important if you want a job like mechanic, shoe making, plumbing etc. However, if you want to get a very good job, there is no way you can have it without having a degree. Who will even invite you for an interview in the first place?. This is not to say experience is not important, but it is your degree first of all. THE TRUTH IS TOYOTA FOR EXAMPLE WILL NOT EMPLOY THE VERY BEST ROADSIDE TOYOTA MECHANICS NOT BECAUSE THEY DO NOT KNOW THE JOB BUT BECAUSE THERE IS NO DEGREE. Even if they get employed, they get to stay at the junior level, whereas a degree holder comes in at a supervisory level.No one is disputing the fact that experience is important, but without a degree, your experience will not take you far, you will always be at the mercy of degree holders.

Chinese company: experience dem want
American company:experience dem want

Nigerian Companies: plenty degrees for jobs positions wey no even make sense

Other companies: just deliver result.... finish!

okay lets break it down from scratch your experience without degree will not earn you invitation for an interview with coy
having a degree in a particular field serve as a number one criterion, which implies that you meet the essential qualification or requirement
for you to apply for that job, thereafter you concentrate on building a wealth of experience in that line of work,
nevertheless both factors are necessary to get a job faster but i think degree comes before building an experience

my opinion tho!

It depends.

Elkewwty:


what do you mean by waste of time

biko dnt vex,he isnt refering to u

In the UK?


Your experience by a MILE.

Degree gets u job...Experience helps u keep it.

I have been working with this company for years and if you are newly hired with your so called degree i will be the one that will train you in. Guess what, i will make you more rookier because, i got the experience and you got the degree. After much frustration from the experience guy like me, you will be forced to quit and get a job at McDonald's...hahahaha

MyZoto:
Do you agree? Degrees vs. experience, which matters more?

This is an illogical question and a redundant comparative analogy . If you don't have the required qualification to begin with, how are you going to get the employment, which allows you build experience

Qualification --» Employment --» Experience

That's how it works in the real world ! We are not in Narnia

AgapeCharis:
Wrong!!

Even if you have a B.Sc from Germany and an M.Sc from Canada, if you gat no experience, it's usually hard to secure a job except through connections.

True Story.

Lolz

You traveling all the way from naija to Germany and Canada is a lot of experience, don't you think?

Low level/ entry level jobs requires a degree, but to move into better paying positions, you need experience

In the UK experience fetches job faster than degree, with exception of medical courses.

I prefer experience, cos u can fake a degree to get d job, but can't fake an experience to achieve a perfect result..aimoye results everywhere, plenty olodo pple wey get b.sc yakpa....ise-owo is d best...

Companies in Nigeria belive more in certifications..

The comparism shld b btw degrees & skills.
Good grades wl get u a job invite...& wil giv d exp. If shell & chevron say 2-1, na wetin concern experienced 3rdie?

Neither, CONNECTION aka NETWORKING.

experience

Degree gets you thru their doorstep , experience keeps you there.

A degree will get you a job and experience will guarantee you keep the job.

I like the way your brain works especially with the analogy.

chinae:
Degree is ur first moment of truth nd experience is the second moment of truth.

Just lik when u see a girl, her beauty will attract u to chicke her (1st moment of truth) then her character will conclude ur intention to marry, dump or flirt. (2nd moment of truth)

MyZoto:
Do you agree? Degrees vs. experience, which matters more?

You cant even get that experience without your degree. U will only be permitted to have an experience when u have the degree except the Job is just a common Raw Jobs like, Driver, cook, and rough factory workers.

None in Nigeria

Any understanding that doesn't have Limits/conditions/restriction can go A-wall and most degrees tell you when to stop but experience alone without degree is raw instinct. It can go all the way and crash like a test run... They are always together Degrees and experiences. In studying for a degree you have experience in that field.
Perhaps you should rephrase the question into something like. Which is most important in one's career?
Obtaining a theory based Certification in a field without practical skills versus gaining working experience in the same field without certification..

in 2011, I got an invitation for a Post of an IT executive. when I got there, I discovered that I was the only one called for the interview. The manager said do u noticed that are the only one for this job, it is not because of qualification but your practical experience I can see in your CV, I was given the Job. I mean I head the department and anybody that was employed after then were all under me. Similar incident played out when I was employed at Dana Group 2010 as an IT Administrator. To be sincere with, am not a graduate just SSCE and A+ Certification with 15years experience on the job. I have trained graduates.

In Nigeria, we so much believed in paper certificate. No doubt there are jobs that require university certificate but Nigeria, we should know that there jobs that will also require hands on or A year of Intensive training to practice as we have it in Europe and US.

it is not everybody that must go to higher institution. if you meet me for road, u know fit know say I know be graduate.

I ask myself dis same question evrytime. Is it abt qualification, good CV/cover or relevant work experience?

I have some professional training & certificate + HND- Coop. Econs + 6+ years pre-NYSC customer service experience + 9 months post-NYSC customer service/call center experience but i find it difficult 2 secure job invites despite having my CV's written by both national & international CV writers and was review by top recruiters to be excellent, and i wonder what might be d problem.

Degree prequalifies you, experience gives you the edge over other candidates who possess degrees