Had a phone screen scheduled, but an hour before it was supposed to happen, the recruiter canceled and told me the company requires a degree for this position. I moved on, but I’m left wondering: why? Many companies say a degree proves you can complete tasks at a certain level within a set timeframe. Yet 20 years in the Air Force and another 10 years in the corporate world demonstrate exactly that—and more. I have well over 2,000 hours of classroom time in areas like Instructional System Design, people management, training program management, and skill assessment, among others. Despite meeting every other listed requirement, I’m being ruled out simply because I can’t present a four‑year degree as proof that I’m intelligent and capable of doing the job. That doesn’t make sense to me.