How far should employers trust an educational qualification to reflect a potential employee's knowledge?

Here, from a site devoted to providing work for which freelance writers bid as in an auction, is a student's request for someone of superior knowledge than hermself to provide an assignment:

Project Name: American Government dynamic growth essay
Project Description:
I need a 4-6 page paper written on the dynamic growth of American Government from it's inception to the modern era. In developing this paper, it should consider not only the legal basis, but the factual background for change. In this discussion, you may want to consider developments in some areas of government: federalism, social and economic reform, voting rights, executive power and the gowth of bureaucracy. It should assess the cause and effect of dynamic factors driving changes in American government, with consideration of whether democratic ideals or principles were achieved or compromised along the way.There is no single or correct or incorrect conclusion.

For more details, follow the link below:
http://www.bizreef.co.uk/Projects/32123

I have certainly come to a conclusion!

Dear Polly,

Don't stress out.

Any employee will prove him/herself (or not), in the
job eventually. Their knowledge (or lack of) will
be the making or breaking of them. It's whether you
can actually do the job that matters. Many people
may have the necessary "knowledge" but they are
limited if they don't know what to do with it.

As the old adage asks:

"You know what BS is?"

Well an MS is "More of the same."

And, a PHD is - "Piled higher and deeper."

Having the knowledge isn't enough - it's
knowing how to use it that counts.

I too would not worry about it too much Polly. Did you see the winning bid? $2.74 for a 3000 word essay. How much effort would you be prepared to put in for $2.74? Not much, but you still have to deliver 3000 words, so ... you reuse a few of yours, or a few written by others.

The next step in the game is the educators know all about this little scam. So what do you think they do? If you said "upload all the essays to a central database shared by all schools and scan them for originality" you would be right. See: http://j.mp/8XlfLd

That database not only catches this sort of stuff, it also also catches copying off friends and from the internet. If schools use this, it becomes harder to plagiarise now than when I was a kid.

Good to read your reassuring posts, Foxy and rstuart. Let's hope the student learns a thing or two from the essay. I'm sceptical enough to think it could be a tutor or lecturer who wants it!

BTW, $2.74 was the cost of the bid, not the fee for the work. The budget is "up to $500". The customer has paid for six tenders and the bid fee to each bidder will increase until the tender time runs out. First bid is cheapest, but which tender the customer accepts will depend on herms perception of the bidders' fee and skills.
Great acronyms, Foxy. I wonder why people want to buy the degree cake when they can't stomach its ingredients.

A PhD is an focused study into a particular area.

As far as future employment, it is extremely useful in that particular field, but of little use elsewhere other than the cache.

A PhD in french philosophy will qualify you to teach or flip burgers.

Great article Polly,
I had heard these sites exist but I am so caught up with replying to the absolute BS written in this site that I don’t have time to look.
The link will be handy for a lot of those that already are over qualified i.e. PhD of BS.