Just to add to the above. Some companies won't even look past your CV if they don't see you have a decent degree.
That is untrue. More and more companies don't even care about a degree in the design industry.
I don't think anyone has any stats on what companies are looking for in terms of degrees - I could be wrong.
But to say "some companies" is completely true.
Take web design for instance, imagine the web 4 years ago compared to now. How can someone teaching a four years course possibly keep up to date? What you learnt in your first year would be out of date by the time you graduate. I've been in the business 18 years now and have run design teams for businesses that turnover £220m a year and I do not care if one of the CV's say they have a degree. I want industry experience, not classroom experience. Those who can't do teach and all that.
A 4 year web course, I hope that it expands as technology changes. However, having a basis in web language allows the employer to see that this person has got a "nack" for the language, rather than learning it on their own.
In my experience, whether it's html, css, java, php, Spanish, English, Italian, InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator etc. people who are self-taught have a lot of bad habits, and these are hard to knock out of an employee who has self-taught.
At least a college background has standards and guidelines and exams that are graded to a certain standard, ensuring your employee is at some academic standard.
It's perfectly acceptable to want "industry experience" - and to be honest if I'm hiring an intern, I wan them to have a solid background in college on the subject that they want to pursue as a career.
If I'm hiring a mid-level employee I would like to see they have industry experience as well as a college background. Not having a college background would bother me, especially if the portfolio is extremely weak, or if it's a very good portfolio. But an employee going for a job as a mid-level, no college background but a superb portfolio, it would be tough to call if the other candidate had a very good portfolio, not so much if it was extremely week.
Senior level positions - I couldn't care less where they went to school, what they're education background is, I just want to see a steady level of service past 7 years with at least 2 companies - and they better have an amazing portfolio!
It's all about what the employer wants - some want a degree background - some don't care.
But for an intern/junior level I would like to see some attempt at an education in the field.
My first ever portfolio for an apprentice position it was split up into 4 sections.
Art - sketching/painting/drawing
Adobe Illustrator - logos, flyers, Packaging (corn flake keyline working sample), etc.
Adobe Photoshop - cloning, colour correcting, use of selection tools, etc.
Quark - brochures, book, tri-folds, etc.
I bet my application for that apprenticeship was far better than any other person who went for that job - how do I know? I got the job.
