No no it didn't hurt me at all. I had it coming. It's just that I wanted a satisfactory answer. Scylla had in the past post said that he/she isn't quite sure about why employers choose degree over diploma. Their decision is life changing for others and I wanted at least a strong reason for their preference. Now I've a great answer from Scylla and life's good again lol.napnusion said:
Is a college diploma really that bad?
- Thread starter sidhu_anwar
- Start date
Something someone mentioned earlier shouldn't be skipped, either. Nothing is purely 'useful' or 'not useful', but also has a social role as well. University is a signaling mechanism, which gives out a higher quality social 'signal' than a college diploma. It includes the following:
- the ability to study a variety of subjects successfully
- enough seriousness and dedication to put yourself through 4+ years of class
- a presumed higher level of literacy and math numeracy
- enough money and presumably 'family' organization
- higher grades
Not all of these are good, or at least it's not right that people are judged by them -- but these are all things that a university degree can signify. It's also the reason that some universities are more prestigious than others (most strongly in the States); a combination of difficulty and class exclusivity. For immigrants, who can have a tricky time penetrating Canada's middle class, a university education is likely, at least in some areas, to be of more utility than a college diploma.
I'm not endorsing these social prejudices, I favour degrees/universities for other reasons, but these definitely exist as well.
- the ability to study a variety of subjects successfully
- enough seriousness and dedication to put yourself through 4+ years of class
- a presumed higher level of literacy and math numeracy
- enough money and presumably 'family' organization
- higher grades
Not all of these are good, or at least it's not right that people are judged by them -- but these are all things that a university degree can signify. It's also the reason that some universities are more prestigious than others (most strongly in the States); a combination of difficulty and class exclusivity. For immigrants, who can have a tricky time penetrating Canada's middle class, a university education is likely, at least in some areas, to be of more utility than a college diploma.
I'm not endorsing these social prejudices, I favour degrees/universities for other reasons, but these definitely exist as well.
Not everywhere, Take UBC for example.
Tuition for the UBC Economics Masters is 4.3k$ for international students.
Pretty cheap considering everything.
Tuition for the UBC Economics Masters is 4.3k$ for international students.
Pretty cheap considering everything.
So dont do an MBA then. I'd prefer a Economics masters to an MBA anyway with that tuition difference.
I am an accountant at one of the big 4 firms and I wanted to share with you my "accounting specific" insights when it comes to the university vs. college debate.sidhu_anwar said:
First of all, you mentioned that you are interested in courses such as fraud examination. Fraud investigations and audits are work performed by specially trained accountants. Generally, most of the fraud examiners I meet have an undergraduate degree + masters degree and/or professional designations. The college courses you described will more likely than not consist of "high-level overview" of interesting topics and will not provide you with the sufficient knowledge, skills, or qualifications to allow you to perform such activities. Accountants in Canada generally have a designation such as CA, CGA, CMA, CPA. I am not sure about other designations or the merged CPA designation but to become a CA (which is the designation you need for audits, including fraud examination), you need an undergraduate degree and college diplomas do not qualify.
From my understanding, accounting technicians perform work that require considerably less training and skills than that of an accountant. Generally, you will be categorized as an accounting technician as a college graduate. I am not saying accountants are superior but I think it's similar to the difference between a doctor and a nurse, or an electrical engineer and an electrician. The differences between the two jobs being the # of schooling and personal decisions made, not of one's inherent abilities. I would also like to point out that you are not eligible to apply for permanent residency under the Canadian Experience Class category as an accounting technician. Unless you go back to school to get a degree and obtain an accounting designation afterwards (which takes around 3 years), there is virtually no mobility between the two either.
Here's an example of how a course in accounting computer systems would differ between a college course and an university course. In college, you will learn about programs such as simply accounting and learn how to input journal entries. In university, at least the one I attended, little focus is given to the actual off-the-shelf programs and the focus is on the design and audit (testing of control and CAATs) of the accounting information systems. To be honest with you, I've never had to work with simply accounting type of software (which are usually used by small businesses) as most of the clients I work with have customized programs.
I can't stress enough that I am NOT saying that becoming an accountant is better than becoming an accounting technician. Everybody's life is different and there are as many happy accounting technicians and unhappy technicians as there are happy and unhappy accountants. But, what I am trying to say is that a 95% employment rate as accounting technicians after a college diploma is not better than 80% employment rate as accountants following an university degree as the two are very different. If you search for some job listings, maybe you'll get a better understanding of the qualifications you'll generally need in the accounting field. Also, it might be worth while to check out the average salaries while you are at it. You are so young and I think you should keep an open mind to what all the others (who are likely much older with more life experiences) are trying to say to you.
@ janey05; Thanks a lot for the reply :] I got to know more about the courses I am interested in. I was aware of the limitations of a diploma but getting advice from an accountant is always appreciated because you definitely have more knowledge about things related to accountancy. The diploma, BUAD ( Accounting ), is a nice option for Me at the time because I can get my credits transferred for a BBA degree after completing diploma. I'll definitely look for work post graduation but if I don't, then I'll come back and do a Bachelor's in Commerce ( Honours with accounting ). In both cases, diploma won't be a waste. Because at least I'll have more knowledge about the degree contents because Canadian courses are more practical in nature whereas in India, they'll put a lot of information into a subject but accountancy is learned with some real practical work experience. Anyways, I hope at least some small business will be OK with hiring a diploma holder. Once again thank-you for taking the time out to reply.
Just one tip, make sure to start your job search few months prior to graduating and up to few weeks prior to the 90-day limit. You should only apply for the PGWP when you land a position and are certain you are not doing a BBA
It's really surprising how many people forget that you can only get the PGWP once in your lifetime.
It's really surprising how many people forget that you can only get the PGWP once in your lifetime.