What is the benefit of having a degree if it is not related to your career field?

[cannoda]

The reason I ask this is because I see many people getting a degree in Liberal Studies. I know that the Liberal Studies degree would be much faster for me to obtain, but it does not correlate with my career field (Information Technology). I have since changed toward MIS (Management Information Systems) which is a Business Degree.

I was just wondering what the benefit of attaining a non-related degree would be. At first I thought that having a 4 year degree would fulfill position requirements just to get to the interview, but I see now that many IT based positions require degree in related field or equivalent experience, and the same with management positions.

The BIGGEST benefit I can see is for military purposes, enlisted vs officer.

Generally, the earning of a 4-year college degree implies that one is an educated person. It is not unlike a brand, with which a consumer (employer, grad school, etc.) can identify. A college degree tells something about you in three seconds that might take a half-hour discussion to otherwise get across.

Some time ago, I spent years working in IT without a degree. In my experience, "equivalent experience" in lieu of a degree is acceptable to employers for either of two reasons:

One - they want to pay less than market for the position.
Two - there is a shortage of IT types with the skill sets they seek.

Either way, you are vulnerable when the market for IT labor shifts.

An IT-related degree is more valuable than an unrelated degree for those new to the IT field or that have limited experience.

An experienced IT pro that earns a degree in basket weaving later in their career gets a bump because the hr types can check off the degree box.

A potential employer is going to be far more impressed with the fact that someone has been paying the candidate to perform similar work for x years that they would be by the new IT degree.