in this day and age....is it possible to get a job w/out a degree?

[Cdubneeddeal]

No college degree here...making $40k a year or so. But that's with an average of forty hours of OT per pay period

Money is good..having a life isn't

 

[Ornery]

You work 80 hours per week for $40K? Screw that! If I work 10 hours OT per week I feel like hell. In no mood to lift a finger around the house. Any more than that and I'd turn into Jack Torrance!

 

[Colt45]

McDonalds++

 

[everman]

Many times I've heard people say things like... "and then I got my masters...", and "I couldn't go any higher without an mba"....and "Having going to law school sure helped a lot in business"....

My point: 4 year degree doesn't matter much anymore, a graduate degree does. You can go to a 4 year university, major in something interesting (hopefully figure out what you'd like to do), and then get a graduate degree. Just this saturday I talked to a guy (through a good connection) who is a self made millionaire in the industrial sector, being an attorney was invaluable (his words).

Education == good

 

[sonambulo]

yes, it's possible. you're going to have to work a lot harder but you can do it.

 

[tm37]

No degree here and I make about 560K w/ overtime.

I really took a pay cut for this job. I will be let go in june if I don't find work but I am currently fielding offers so I think I will be OK.

Now IF i had a degree the offers might be better but I am doing OK. If you find the right niche you can become quite sucessfull but it is a lot harder.

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: tm37
No degree here and I make about 560K w/ overtime.

I really took a pay cut for this job. I will be let go in june if I don't find work but I am currently fielding offers so I think I will be OK.

Now IF i had a degree the offers might be better but I am doing OK. If you find the right niche you can become quite sucessfull but it is a lot harder.

560k? Shens.

 

[DragonMasterAlex]

Originally posted by: Semidevil
specifically, if I am experienced in photoshop, frontpage, dreamweaver, and a buttload of programming languages, is it possible to get a job with a decent salary, even if I dont have the degree or certifications?

My degree doesnt have to do with computers, but if my resume say that I am experienced in this and that....what does my future look like, in getting a computer related job, whether it be, into software, webpage design, or anything computer related...........

just kind of wanted to be open minded about my future job, that's all.

any wise words?

Yes, it is. Often I *intentionally* have hired people without degrees because they have been more *skilled* than those WITH degrees

Jason

 

[StageLeft]

The informed consensus is that you can still make a living without a degree, but having one makes making that living easier. The years spent in school, and the debt incurred, almost always are more than made up for in ultimate pay over one's life. This is quite indisputable, and doesn't account for any other benefits of a degree, such as the actual education itself, FWIW.

Anybody can find somebody with a degree working counters of high school making a million/year. But, the person who has the degree probably took a stats course and understands the difference between a single case and a sample pool My point being in general the degree is the right thing to have.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: Ornery

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Ornery
Start your own business. Lots of people do it!

And the majority of them fail!

How many people with degrees truly "succeed"? That is, get a career more fullfilling, or lucrative than if they'd simply gotten any old job without school? My wife was in HR at a bank, and was turning away one applicant after another for freakin teller positions. MANY with degrees! One sad SOB got turned down because he owed so much in student loans!

I bet your wife didn't get her job without a degree? That the economy is not stellar and people are looking for work to get by on is no indication of the value of education.

Like I said, any stats you look at show people with bachelors and up make more, and usually hae cushier jobs.

 

[Darthvoy]

I guess they base it more on experience than anything else...because i had worked for a finance company and a law firm before my current job, i was easily promoted to portfolio manager. I have no degree, and I am second year college student.

 

[mAdMaLuDaWg]

Originally posted by: tallest1
Short Answer: Yes

Long Answer: No

Lol.. couldn't have said it better myself. All my managers agree, that statistically, people with degrees do a much better job (that is they are more disciplined, willing to learn and adjust etc) than people without degrees. Of course there are exceptions, but when your resume is in a pile with a 100+ candidates, they don't have time to look for the exception... its sad but true. Every little thing that you could put in your resume helps.

 

[Ornery]

I bet your wife didn't get her job without a degree? That the economy is not stellar and people are looking for work to get by on is no indication of the value of education.

50% of small businesses fail within the first four years. Therefore, there's no use even starting a business, right?

My wife does NOT have a degree... not even close. However, she does not want to start a business either. It's hard work, even if it is successful.

Anyway, the point is you have as much chance making a business pay off, as a degree. Just because one business fails, doesn't mean you can't try again. Nothing says that your first business going under, means you were broke the whole time either.

 

[spidey07]

yes you can get a job.

But you will hit a ceiling where you cannot progress your career without a degree.

 

[Lenine]

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: tm37
No degree here and I make about 560K w/ overtime.

I really took a pay cut for this job. I will be let go in june if I don't find work but I am currently fielding offers so I think I will be OK.

Now IF i had a degree the offers might be better but I am doing OK. If you find the right niche you can become quite sucessfull but it is a lot harder.

560k? Shens.

 

Originally posted by: Rollo

Originally posted by: SampSon
Degrees are a farce.

Degrees are not a farce.

1. Many employers use level of education to sort resume's for professional positions.
2. Statistics show that people with degrees earn more on average
3. Degrees from four year colleges give you a breadth of education that prepares you to communicate your ideas more effectively, and problem solve in a variety of ways.
4. There are many jobs you can't do without a degree, period, and none too coincidentally they usually have better pay/working conditions. (Dr., Atty., CPA, Engineer, etc.)

You can learn a technical skill, or a job well enough to earn good money, but the person with the experience plus the education will always beat you for the job, or get their foot in the door at entry level. Just the way it is. Sorry to burst your "farce" balloon.

P.S. We all know the guy with his Master's or PHd that's a putz, but you can't judge a group by the traits of an individual or two?

1. Many employers also don't give a damn about their employees and have a person without a degree doing the hiring. Most companies hire morons. Most companies are started by people with out degrees.
2. Statistics can be manipulated to prove any dataset as true.
3. hahahaahahahahah ahhaah thats rich.
4. Thoes are very specific jobs, and I bet you can't name many more than thoes.

I have a degree, I know it's a farce, sorry to burst your bubble.

 

[jimikim]

If you go to college, you will realize that the higher the degree one has, the more of a moron he is.

 

[Lenine]

Originally posted by: jimikim
If you go to college, you will realize that the higher the degree one has, the more of a moron he is.

I must have missed stupid generalizations 101.

 

[jadinolf]

Originally posted by: Yzzim
Talk to Russ, NCNE

He is presently in the mountains of Afghanistan lookin for Bin Laden.

 

[Steve]

I don't have my degree yet, I might try to finish it next fall, but I've been in a good job situation with a temp agency since August.

 

[KK]

How many people are working in the field that their degree is in. To those working in their field with a degree in that field, how many actual classes pertained to the field you are working in?

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: SampSon

Originally posted by: Rollo

Originally posted by: SampSon
Degrees are a farce.

Degrees are not a farce.

1. Many employers use level of education to sort resume's for professional positions.
2. Statistics show that people with degrees earn more on average
3. Degrees from four year colleges give you a breadth of education that prepares you to communicate your ideas more effectively, and problem solve in a variety of ways.
4. There are many jobs you can't do without a degree, period, and none too coincidentally they usually have better pay/working conditions. (Dr., Atty., CPA, Engineer, etc.)

You can learn a technical skill, or a job well enough to earn good money, but the person with the experience plus the education will always beat you for the job, or get their foot in the door at entry level. Just the way it is. Sorry to burst your "farce" balloon.

P.S. We all know the guy with his Master's or PHd that's a putz, but you can't judge a group by the traits of an individual or two?

1. Many employers also don't give a damn about their employees and have a person without a degree doing the hiring. Most companies hire morons. Most companies are started by people with out degrees.
2. Statistics can be manipulated to prove any dataset as true.
3. hahahaahahahahah ahhaah thats rich.
4. Thoes are very specific jobs, and I bet you can't name many more than thoes.

I have a degree, I know it's a farce, sorry to burst your bubble.

I have two bachelors myself, earning a degree doesn't make you any more or less qualified to say it's a farce. It may have proved to be a farce for you, but you shouldn't generalize?

I can name a million professions that require a degree, I'm starting to wonder what yours is in as you seem to be living on another planet?

Walk into a hospital friend. All of the health care professionals have degrees. Drs/nurses/radiologists/anesthesiologists/etc etc etc.

Walk into a large insurance company. 90% of the professionals there will have a degree in something.

Walk into a large accounting firm. Everyone who's not support staff of some sort will have a BS.

Walk into any law firm. Same thing.

Walk into any pharmaceutical company. Try to even get an interview at one w/o a BA.

Walk into any bio-tech firm- yep, you guessed it.

Walk into an architectural firm- know any architects w/o the sheepskin?

Walk into any kind of engineering firm- all degreed.

Any sort of research facility.

Every school you've ever seen.

Jesus, I could go on at this forever if I didn't have better things to do. The point is degreed people by and large have cushier jobs and higher income. Nobody is trying to trick anyone into "wasting" their time in college.

9/10 small businesses fail, and you need a lot of capital to start ANY kind of company. If nothing else, you have to live while you're getting started.

I have a friend who's a software developer for himself, started his own company and making a good living. The proverbial "start your own company" guy. (although he does have a comp sci degree)
He works pretty ungodly hours sometimes, because not only does he get to do his developing, he is his own secretary/accountant/collector/advertising/admin/etc..

I wonder what all these "start your own company" guys are supposed to live on till they get clients? How they're supposed to have health insurance? What if they have a wife/kids that need them to make money every week?

This thread shows how unrealistic some people's view of society has become. Maybe you can all be famous rappers or athletes! :roll:

 

[pulse8]

I have a degree, but it didn't help me at all.

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

Originally posted by: Ornery
You work 80 hours per week for $40K? Screw that! If I work 10 hours OT per week I feel like hell. In no mood to lift a finger around the house. Any more than that and I'd turn into Jack Torrance!

Forty hours of OT per PAY PERIOD..not per week Pay period = two weeks.

 

[StageLeft]

I wonder what all these "start your own company" guys are supposed to live on till they get clients? How they're supposed to have health insurance? What if they have a wife/kids that need them to make money every week?

Well, beyond that practical difficulty of starting one's business, most of us here, degree or not, don't have a business. Many of us would like one. But, they're hard. You can't just "start a business". Me, for instance, wtf can I do for a business? I don't know sh*t. The only thing that separates me from somebody cleaning toilets is that I fell into a cushy field doing cushy work.

And, company or not, it seems that those here pushing the degree=farce idea are saying that without one you're screwed, unless you start a company. So, it would then seem that if you don't have a degree you are screwed, unless you can start a company, which most of us cannot.

Then there is the obvious fact that just because you're the one who owns the company, it's not the case that a degree won't help you. If I want to start a landscaping company, I highly doubt that anybody cares about my degree. But, if I want to start a company doing...uh, say law, then yes, I need one. Even trying to create business contacts, it may come up "where did you go to school?", answered with "I didn't. Degrees are a stupid farce. I learned it on the street!". Meanwhile the guy with the money you want has his college ring on and is looking forward to his next meeting.

Whether four years actually teaches anybody much is up for argument, but no matter how much a non-degree proponent fluffs it up, the facts are clear: Degrees more than pay for themselves in one's life time.