# Careers/Jobs requiring only a bachelor's degree in any field **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 20, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/careers-jobs-requiring-only-a-bachelors-degree-in-any-field/625750 "2012-06-20T14:29:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/careers-jobs-requiring-only-a-bachelors-degree-in-any-field/625750/21 "2012-06-21T06:16:01Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > But will they actually take a person with a Bachelor’s Degree and no specific experience on as a consultant, and assign them to consult on whatever they happen to know, or train them in Kwijibos and then make them a Kwijibo Consultant? The usual training technique is “on the run”. The company may pay to certify _bollicaos_\*, but the first time you go to a client it may be already as a “senior” - actually, as the only person working on your part of the project, and you better be able to find manuals online. Those companies which hire _bollicaos_ do not, normally, hire experienced consultants; any experienced consultant in one of their teams will be a freelancer. And actually, in many consulting fields you don’t even need the bachelor’s strictly speaking; 99.something% of people will have one, ads ask for one, but I know people who got hired to temp doing data entry for a project, started asking questions and never went back to college. Once you have experience and know how to talk the talk, the agencies and companies assume you can walk the walk, degrees and certificates be damned. - named after an industrial pastry that’s extremely bland except for the nutella-like core. A fresh graduate with good looks and good grades, but not necessarily the ability to think by him/herself; highly likely to be unable to ask questions (in Spain and specially in certian majors the highest grades go to those able to regurgitate best what the teacher said); highly likely to be full of something which looks a lot like but is not nutella. If you’re overweight, or balding, or short, or manage to look like you just got out of your own casket whenever someone stuffs you into a suit, you’re not a _bollicao_. If you ask pointed questions, you’re not a _bollicao_. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/careers-jobs-requiring-only-a-bachelors-degree-in-any-field/625750/22 "2012-06-21T12:38:20Z")
When I worked for a large national retailer, most of the people at HQ who were not accountants had “whatever” degrees. The Merchandising and Marketing staff was Home of the Randomly Educated. My BA is in anthropology. My boss dropped out of Bryn Mawr, I think she was majoring in classics at the time. Her boss had a journalism degree (a Masters from Columbia, actually). His boss (the Director of Marketing) studied poli sci or something. This company, now defunct through no fault of their low level hiring practice, did not “recruit from the top schools” so to speak. For the most part, staff at the HQ came up through the stores (I came in through online customer service). My boss had previously been a store manager in several locations. Oddly, my particular marketing group had 3 different people who had worked at the Anchorage, Alaska store. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/careers-jobs-requiring-only-a-bachelors-degree-in-any-field/625750/23 "2012-06-21T12:47:07Z")
I’ve done it project management, systems administration, systems engineering, process improvement and it consulting with a general B.A., as well as marketing, bookkeeping, and paralegal work. Later I got an accounting degree and now I work within it finance and compliance. My husband has done copywriting, systems design, database design and it architecture with his. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/careers-jobs-requiring-only-a-bachelors-degree-in-any-field/625750/24 "2012-06-21T12:49:59Z")
The purpose of having the Bachelors degree requirement is that it shows that you can finish what you start. Much like having an honorable discharge from the armed services. It’s an indicator that you are a somewhat stable, intelligent person and helps employers weed out people that know how to start things but not finish them. That’s it; the rest is up to the individual and how much drive they have to succeed. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/careers-jobs-requiring-only-a-bachelors-degree-in-any-field/625750/25 "2012-06-21T14:04:19Z")
A college degree, for most people, is a hunting license. It gives you the ability to hunt for jobs. This is why your first ‘real’ job after graduation is so important as it can lock you in for the rest of your life much more than your choice of major ever did. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/careers-jobs-requiring-only-a-bachelors-degree-in-any-field/625750/26 "2012-06-23T03:00:44Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Would my BA in math be good enough (my university doesn’t offer a BS in math)? How about a BS in English from MIT? The math degree would be fine. The intent is a “hard” degree like science, engineering and math. Not my opinion. I’d take someone who put in the work in most any field. The BS in English would take some 'splaing to qualify. I’ve got a BS in Management from eons ago but that was good back in the 70s. Currently not hiring now with the drawdown from Iraq and the pending end to chemical weapons in the US inventory. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2012, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/careers-jobs-requiring-only-a-bachelors-degree-in-any-field/625750/27 "2012-06-23T03:15:49Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Nursing > > Radiologic Technician and other imaging sub fields no, as to nursing. A/ BS in English ( or anything other than nursing, to the best of my knowledge) will not enable you to take the national licensing exam (NCLEX) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/careers-jobs-requiring-only-a-bachelors-degree-in-any-field/625750/28 "2012-06-23T03:32:43Z")
> [@Farmer\_Jane](#): > > Teaching. > > In most states, if you’re highly qualified (have the credits and passed the tes), you’re kosher. Actually, I think all states. > > \<— B.A., Political Science Not quite true. You need post-grad credits as well. They may not be required to _get_ the job, but they are required to _keep_ the job. ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2012, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/careers-jobs-requiring-only-a-bachelors-degree-in-any-field/625750/29 "2012-06-23T05:35:46Z")
Teaching English as a second language in China. If you have a degree you can teach [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/careers-jobs-requiring-only-a-bachelors-degree-in-any-field/625750.md?page=1)