Cannot progress without a degree... 😡

[Hmmmmminteresting]

I'm early 30s. I chose not to go to uni and to instead do 2 years at a business college (qualifications do not equal a degree, they were less). I then was promoted to an office manager at the age of 22 to 25, managing 17 people. Since moved on to a job I love and have been there 7 years. In this company you cannot progress without a degree. They are 100% adamant, 2:1 or more is minimum. They dont take any of your history into account. So many people getting promoted above me with no managerial experience but have a degree in random subjects not relevant. A few have since left as they just weren't suitable for that role.
I know I could do it and I have been told by so many others that it's frustrating I'm not qualified enough as I would be first choice.
AIBU to think this is a pretty old fashioned way of thinking?
I dont want to leave the company, I just wish they would change their rules.

Speak to management about it and tell them what you think the problem with the policy is.

If they won't listen and are not prepared to change, then look for a job elsewhere, but at least then you'll know.

Elara2, yes, age discrimination is rife, unfortunately.
but don't make it easier for them.
there is no need to mention O-Levels if you have A-levels.
just mention the latest/highest qualifications you have, or anything that is particularly relevant to the role.
there is advice online on how to approach this issue. nil desperandum.

If you’re not in a position to create the rules, you have to live by their rules. If you’re motivated, you’ll find the time and money to get your degree.

This ^^

You could do an OU degree part time. You might even be able to do what RamblinRosie's SIL did (MBA with no BA).

There has to be some advantage to having a degree as a qualification otherwise people would not go £50k+ in debt to acquire one.
Nothing is stopping you from getting a degree. You chose not to get one. These are the consequences of that choice.
So you either get a degree or move to a company that doesn’t reward people for finishing higher education qualifications.

OP I think it depends on the industry/sector where you work to be honest. You can go high in an admin/office manager role dealing with general duties. But if you work in a role which is regulated then your employers may not have a choice. Can you give a general indication of your business type?

AIBU to think this is a pretty old fashioned way of thinking?

Actually, the reverse is true. It's a very modern way of thinking. Years ago it was easy to go all the way to the top with no degree in many businesses and industries.

If you look at some of the top strata of earners around 45-65 years old, especially in banking, finance and insurance there are many, many people who do not have degrees. Those times have gone. No-one walks off the street at 16 or 18 on the day they leave school and into a back office job in a bank, or as office junior in an advertising company answering the phones and doing a bit of typing like they did in the eighties and gets to progress all the way to the top if they are good enough. These days even with degrees you are often expected to submit yourself to the slavery of an unpaid internship first. It's a disgrace.

My DH doesn't have a degree but he only recruits people who do. It's not his choice, it's company policy. He was lucky they made an exception for him, puely because he is so experienced in his industry and came from the era before degrees were essential to get a foot in the door. I think the issue now is that almost all reasonably bright and ambitious people do go to university so it is assumed (often wrongly) by employers that if you didn't go you either weren't intellectually capable or weren't sufficiently motivated or disciplined.

If he were much younger he would probably not have been considered without a degree but then he wouldn't have had 30 years + of highly relevant experience either.

In the end if employers need a very specifically experienced person in a niche area they may have a relatively small pool to pick from so they have to take a view on it. They might decide that the quality of the experience trumps the qualifications. In my DHs case he does have chartered professional body qualifications though, just no degree.

In your case OP, you are still very young so I doubt very much you have the sort of experience that is difficult to find elsewhere.

It is just the way it is. Could you not do it part time for example through Open University. In my industry you can't progress without a degree as you wouldn't have the necessary tools or knowledge.

Apologies OP I see you are in your 30's, not very young. I misread the post.

I agree with you that this policy is wrong and unfair, my initial advice would be to leave. But you might come across this issue again at another organisation.

Move company.

Many employes will be more interested in your experience rather than qualifications at this stage.

I’m in two minds with this one.
It’s a bit like an experienced operating theatre nurse. Theoretically, after watching so many they should be able to be ‘promoted’ and whip out an appendix themselves no problem. In fact they would probably be even better at it than a new trainee. Both would be supervised obviously so if something went wrong there would be someone to step in. However, be that as it may, the nurse doesn’t actually have the qualification so it’s not allowed to happen. The nurse can claim it’s very unfair as they have spent 20 years watching these and could do it blindfolded and would be the best person and should be next in line however the job goes to the trainee because they are the one with the correct degree. This is life.

Would the company help you get a degree at all? Maybe let you go part time for a bit? Maybe pay your fees (I've known companies do that)? It might at any rate be worth asking them. Or else you could start looking for similar companies with more flexibility in the promotion process?

This is an overly rigid approach, especially as degree inflation makes them less valuable.

How about exploring a Masters degree in business administration?

Google distance learning MBA UK.

Warwick comes straight up!

If you can't beat them, join them

I see this attitude changing. We have recently hired a person without a formal degree to a position that normally requires PhD level or thereabouts. They were fully self-educated and the best candidate (and not because others with PhDs were weaker!).

I think you’re employers are being short sighted.

I work for a very well known massive corporate, we recruit from school leavers into entry positions, we also have a varied higher apprenticeship scheme and a graduate scheme.

We also recruit externally people with significant experience and internally from within.

In other words we take the best from all walks of life.

I would look elsewhere, their loss. Unless this is a professional job that absolutely has to gave the degree in a relevant subject, which you said not, then they are foolish and narrow minded.

Do you want to work for them forever?

It’s a bit like an experienced operating theatre nurse.

Erm, well no, it's not really is it? What a rubbish example. Performing life or death surgery, is hardly on par with working in an office 😂

Degree inflation is not the problem the media would have you think it is.

Sorry if I missed it but a previous poster asked about whether you were running the office OP or managing people(or both obviously). I think it's keen to understand this if you're looking for advice.

I can see why you'd be frustrated but it's pretty common to have a degree, and increasingly so a postgraduate qualification, for certain roles.

*key even!

I have a first class degree, but what tools would that give me over someone with 20 years experience? Genuine question.

At our office (public sector) we seek degree or equivalent experience.

And our office does highly intellectual navel gazing legal work.

Ask your employer if they would offer the role to you, whilst you did a day release studying for your degree? Obviously you will probably lose a days money and might have to pay their sponsorship back if you leave the business within so many years. But it's worth asking.

In my role you cannot progress without a job specific degree

Or find another job

Yes, Bellinisurge I insist on that too.

OP I didn't have a degree either. I did a PGDip in HRM, which my employer paid for, and is L7 (in my own time) and topped it up to a Masters the following year.

Good luck - you are young, I was mid 40s.

Some people's responses on this thread are really odd - the rules are the rules thing /you're not special is just a silly way to think about this situation. A company's 'rules' on hiring are basically made up (ignoring those designed to prevent discrimination) and can be 'changed' by a senior person saying they want to hire you! If the CEO says they want someone HR aren't going to stop it by saying so and so doesn't have a degree!

I agree with PP that it's a ridiculous rule. Obviously you could do a degree but except for being able to get the promotion it's pretty pointless and will be expensive (you still have to pay back the loan) and time consuming. Is it possible for you to use your experience to go elsewhere? Or even get a job elsewhere and use that as leverage to get them to promote you where you are? Who is it who says they can't promote you as you don't have a degree? Is it a big company where HR are just computer says no? In places I've worked before the thing to do in those situations is to speak to senior people about it, until you find someone who'll support you in getting the promotion.