At one time I was attending a conference where Jonathan Ciano was the guest speaker and he was saying that sometimes they do not pick an employee for the papers they possess but for the passion and enthusiasm that they display at the interview.
His misgivings were that they sometimes fail to get the right candidates at the shortlisting stage. He has sometimes taken CPA graduates at the expense of masters and degree holders for failure to show any ummph in as much as the holder is required to possess such papers..... these are the guys I think @essyk is alluding to.
Accept no one's definition of your life; define your life.