Anyone ever get a job with a College Certificate?

Maybe it's me, but this seems like a waste of time, $$$, and they lack credibility. Every job I wanted required a real degree. In the few fields that I have worked during my life professional certifications look better than any certificate from a university. Fact, industry certifications are cheaper and way more valued in the real World.

What am I missing besides $15,000 in debt?

 

I've always viewed a college/university certificate as something that's a supplement to an earned degree, not a stand-alone credential.

 

I have never heard anybody is successful landing the job with a certificate. Usually the requirement is a Bachelor degree, and sometimes Master degree level. Someone get a job with a certificate more likely a Bachelor degree requirement has met. I was looking at a certificate at Columbia University, but people on Reddit say it is a useless even Ivy League school.

 

I've seen folks in the trades get a job with just a certificate, but that's about it. I have a couple and they are 50-55 credit certificates.

 

Good point on the trades.

I have a less than 1-year undergrad college certificate and its cool (to me), but has little real meaning in the real World. That's why spending much $$$ for one seems to be a waste to me. It seems like there are 1,000's of near useless $$$$ "Grad Certificates" being marketed by colleges these days. Professional certifications seem to be the best benefit-cost ratio (BCR) education for anything less than a degree. I could be wrong.

 

I don't know what you mean by "get a job." You don't even need a high school diploma to "get a job." Plenty of people have great careers without degrees or certificates. If you want a good answer to your question then you need to go beyond generalities. What kind of certificate? What is your background experience? Etc.

 

I agree with Kizmet. It has to be specific in what field of the job. For example, a graduate certificate in Information Security is not valuable than a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), or Certificate in Telecommunications is not valuable at Cisco Certified Internet Expert (CCIE), or Certificate in Project Management is not valuable than a certified Project Management Profesional (PMP), and etc. Usually these professional certificates are more valuable and the costs much cheaper. However, a certificate from a prestigious school might be valuable if you are getting access to the same networking and connection.

 

That is a great point! It also eliminates 99% of most colleges.