Amazon, Netflix, Facebook & Google To No Longer Prefer 4-Year Courses; Is A Change Forthcoming?

It's a common misconception that completing a four-year course is all it takes to land a job in a Fortune 500 company. However, top companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Netflix are continuously highlighting the importance of skills over degrees. A section of the industry is of the opinion that it is soon going to become the new norm.

For example, earlier in 2019, Apple CEO Tim Cook had claimed that half of the new hires in that year did not have college degrees.

Similarly, Barbara Humpton, the CEO of Siemens USA said, "All too often, job requisitions will say they require a four-year degree, when in fact there's nothing about the job that truly requires a four-year degree - it merely helped our hiring managers sort of weed through the crowd and get a smaller qualified candidate group."   

The quest for degrees results in an ever-increasing number of course applications and competitive exams where applicants are evaluated based on their academic skills and admitted to colleges.  

But as hiring practices in the industry change, we are starting to rethink many of the practices that were once considered the norm. And that brings us to the question, are four-year courses the only way to develop skills?  

The Real Importance Of A 4-Year Degree

If you are a college student, then a frequent phrase you might have heard, or even said would be “I don’t get the point of studying all this. What’s the point of this syllabus anyway?” Of course, it is a customary conversation topic before exams, especially for that one hard subject (If you haven’t said this even once, we refuse to believe you).  

Maybe, you are making a point there, and companies like Facebook and Amazon agree, much to the disapproval of our professors.   

Also read: This Teenager Got Into 27 Universities, Including Harvard & MIT, With Scholarships Worth USD 4 Million! 

Hiring trends amidst popular tech giants such as Google and Netflix have taken a sharp turn during the past couple of years. A fact that has become more evident during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking to a White House panel recently, Apple CEO Tim Cook again said, "Our company, as you know, was founded by a college drop-out. So we've never really thought that a college degree was the thing that you had to have to do well. We've always tried to expand our horizons."

The pandemic situation witnessed multitudes of individuals learning new skills and seeking opportunities in industries different from the ones they spent their college lives for.   

The Role Of Skills In Careers

Now, the bottom line is that the candidates must possess sufficient technical and communication skills. In fact, we may be at the beginning of an era where an impressive GitHub profile is worth more than straight A’s on your grade card.   

Also read: 5 Interesting Coding Projects That’ll Make Your Resume Stand Out!  

Based on the statistics provided by the US Department of Education, only 42% of high-school graduates pursue a college degree as a good proportion of the populace is unable to afford the tuition fees. What’s more interesting is that a significant portion of college graduates work jobs where a college degree is not even necessary!  

Now, are there ways to confront this? Definitely! The first step could be the inclusion of skill development and training programs in the normally theory-centered courses. Apprenticeship programs that inculcate school and work training could prove to be beneficial in raising a generation that will constitute a better workforce in the future.  

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