Comment: It could depend on where one is in the country and what businesses are in the region.  In the east, education credentials rule.  Employers will look for excuses to suppress the bargaining wage even if you have 10+ years of experience when one doesn't have supporting paper credentials.

An irony of all of this is with regards to gaining these credentials.  Many colleges in the east will not look at previous employment as a qualification for advanced start, ie. start on second year of a program instead of the first.  The colleges will only give advanced start to those with previous post-secondary even if they have zero relevant work experience.  

Or if one wishes to challenge various testing the exams themselves, such as apprenticeship levels, they can cost almost half of what the course charges to enrol in because the college has to make money off of them.