Obsession with University Degrees?

[Yvonne Harrison <yvonne -at- IHUG -dot- CO -dot- NZ>]

Hi all - -

This is going to seem like a strange posting but I'm making this comment
as someone looking in from outside American society.

Why are recruiters and employers so obsessed with someone possessing a
degree in English Lit, Journalism or Tech Writing before they consider
someone for a job?  Recruitment postings keep popping up in this group and
it's always a long list of requirements like: must have 5 years of writing
experience,a degree and know nine different software packages.  The writing
experience I can agree with, the software packages I can agree with but the
degree....?

Does that mean some brilliant tech writer or someone who has had novels
published or whatever is banned from the job simply because of a lack of
University qualifications?

I've interviewed a lot of people for technical writing jobs in my time and
I've never stipulated a degree.  I've hired some very talented writers who
never went to university, or left half way through, and they could all run
rings around someone with a degree.  My opinion is that employers are missing
out on a lot of incredibly gifted people because they think someone who has
spent four years learning to think like the rest of his/her class is
better... (I'm sorry - I'm a tad biased as some of my 'degree' people have
proved to be as about as creative as a bar of soap with thought processes to
match).

Ah well, just my humble opinion... :-)

Yvonne :-)