If you had the chance to become a professional in your field without attaining higher education, would you do it? If you knew you could get the basic skills and learn on the fly, would that help make your decision? This is a question I see people struggle with from professionals of all ages and career levels. This also came up recently when I was flipping through the channels and came across an interesting show.
As I sat down the other night, I turned the television on and came across a show on ESPN called 'All-Access Kentucky.' The show spotlighted the phenomenon, known to some, as players going 'one-and-done.' Per NBA rules, a high school player can't go straight to the NBA right out of high school. Kids can go to one year of college or play one year in an overseas league and then enter the draft. Kentucky has made going to one year of college and then strait to the NBA draft famous by sending 15 players in a time period of just 3 years.
I don't want to get into a debate about if that is right or wrong, but it got me thinking about careers outside of professional sports. As a recruiter, I see resumes that highlight higher education over experience and vice versa. I am sometimes asked, what is more important, and the easy and correct answer I think is both.
The real answer is that it can comes down to a lot of things like, what position is it, or what industry are you in, or what does the company value. If you want to get even more specific, what does the person sitting across from the candidate in the interview think? There is not right or wrong answer, and sometimes it just comes down to what makes the candidate themselves most successful.
Not everyone is the same, and not everyone is going to take the same path. I have seen people take the same path as the Kentucky Wildcat players that have done well for themselves, and I have seen people that have an abundance of educational achievements do just as well.
The question is still; would you go straight to the pros? The answer is your own and the path you take will always have pros and cons. My advice as a recruiter would be to make the most out of any path you take, and you can be very successful.