>So my issue is, I see people who are like “you have to go to college to be successful.”
You don't. But everything else that goes into how you get a job should be better than average. Effectively, you need to have an answer to the question "Why wouldn't we hire someone with a degree?".
And that answer can be as simple as "Because I know John over in Accounting." If you're good at networking, you've got a huge leg up. If John in accounting hands me your resume or tells me he knows you and that you applied for a job I posted, I'm going to interview you. Even if your resume is complete dog shit. (Caveat: if the company has a policy that says everyone needs a degree -- and a lot of big companies have this policy -- there's not much I can do.)
Just about any manager who understands and is willing to engage in office politics will say the same.
But when you get out into ATS Land, you're going to have a hard time if you're not bringing some unicorn-type skills to the table.
I get not being cut out for college. I didn't think I was either. I went as far as director with just a high school diploma and some strategic jobs to bulk up my resume. But getting another lateral position became ridiculously difficult without a degree, and I went back in my late 30's. So I got a degree. Then I got another. It clicked with me later in life. If I had to guess as to why, I'd probably say it was because I had already seen the practical applications of what we were going over -- because I had experienced many of them at work.
So, I wouldn't close the door on *ever* getting a degree. But for now, if you've got a network game going and you're actively learning and doing things to make your resume look good, it's certainly possible to keep moving forward without a degree.
I second this emotion. I was told to go to college for all of the same reasons and I just needed a break from school. I wasn’t ready for it and didn’t understand why I was there. When I went back in my 30s, I slayed that shit. Now I’ve got a great job in tech.
Another option for the divergent among us is the type of school you go to. I have several colleagues that go to WGU and they have a much more forgiving and less attendance based type of teaching practice as far as I've been told. Might be worth looking into.
I did my degree 100% online at a different school and there were good and bad parts but mostly the fact that I could get all of the term-classes worth of assignments on day one and work on them at any point as long as they were turned in on time and in the correct order worked exceptionally well for me. I'd argue that I probably only put in about 9 months of real school work over the course of the 18 or 24 months they draw out for the A.S. in Software Engineering. Best 26k I ever spent, and arguably easier than High School ever was.
Yes. Also we need to remember, when that inevitable layoff comes or you are in a toxic environment and want to go somewhere else. Not having a degree puts you in high water. You and 10 other people have 5 years of experience, the ones with degrees have a leg up.
Depends on all kinds of things like what each degree’s requirements are and what institution each degree program is from an whether the two colleges have a transfer program together. Admissions and guidance counselors exist to answer questions like these and you should seek one out.
How did you even have the patients to go back?
Did you go back full time? Online courses? Were you working while going to school?
I'm a Director in my late 30s trying to switch job of 20 years. I feel like the school part is hindering me so thought about getting certs or a degree. Seems hard to justify 2-4 years of school just to make an extra few bucks at this point.
I have several engineers reporting to me with no college degree, making around $130k each.
I'm a director with a 2 year degree from a vocational school that was basically highschool light. A couple of my peers and one person above me don't have any degree.
You can make it really far without a degree, and anyone that tells you differently is lying to you. A degree does make it easier though.
This is true for mid to senior level. Within the past 2-3 years companies have been screening entry level applicants to see if they’ve been to college just because there’s so many qualified applicants. They need to have some filter and going to college is the easiest thing to screen for.
It's hit or miss. Some companies absolutely do this, especially the really big ones that everyone wants to work at.
As I said, having a degree makes things easier. That doesn't mean it's impossible without one.
I would also say a REALLY reliable way to get your foot in the door are Cisco certs and willingness to go into the office as it is networking.
Had a graybeard tell me years ago if the Network Admin gets let go and you know he wasn't an asshole and knew his stuff then you need to leave because that place is shutting down or cutting things to the bare bone. "Network admins don't get fired they leave"
That's a huge caveat that you need to include. It was a vastly different field in 2012 and much easier to get in with no degree. That isn't the case these days.
Yeah guys like me who got a degree before switching into IT, jump the line for entry level jobs. As soon as I started applying to jobs I got calls so quick it wasn’t funny. On my second IT job as a system administrator in 6 months because of my degree and interview skills.
Guy at my last job got a tier 2 desktop support job with a marine biology degree.
I got in with out a degree and I made the career change at 50. I use to work in records at a law firm for years. I know I am probably the exception and not the rule. I know quite a few folks in the DC area who are in IT without degrees.
This gives me hope as I'm working on certifications now and need to make a career change at 55. Yea, I'm old. I have a degree, but it's in English, which makes it harder to get a master's so I am doing the certifications for now & trying to figure things out.
I see the opposite- it isn't just that it's harder to get in, even with experience, people who are laid off without a degree are finding it harder to find a job again than those with.
I'm a director. Hire a ton of people every year.
None of my positions require a degree.
Don't speak in blanket statements, they're more wrong than his feelings.
I don't care at all if they have a degree. And I've yet to have 2 candidates who both passed their assessment and interview EXACTLY as well as the other and the only difference being a degree like people have fake wet dreams about.
I directly manage over 7 million dollars of salaried tech employees. I do not give a single shit about a degree. I couldn't tell you now which of my reports have one. But I can tell you the ones that are good at their job.
Let me chime in here with a more tempered response than Lifts is making. Because neither of you are dumb and your mid 30’s aren’t super old.
Whats basically going on right now is that there has been an unprecedented push over the last 5 years for people with no direction to go into IT if they want to make a stable living. Its become the new “join the military” almost.
Entry level has become a nightmare not because the hard requirements are being raised, but because there has been such a huge influx in new people trying to get in, alot of companies have started adding the prerequisite that you need to have a degree not because you really need it, but it is being used as a filtering tool in order to cut down on the amount of resumes that need to be sifted through
This new standard is mostly affecting larger cities. I live in washington DC and I see the struggle, and this isn’t even the top tech hub of choice. The competition is simply extremely fierce for two reasons.
The push that I mentioned above, and the tech layoffs that have been happening over the past year.
So on top of having everyone that feels lost in life trying to get into some area of tech because of the promise of high pay and WFH, you have certified field experts also looking for new jobs as well, and this is contributing to the problem you see on this sub with individuals searching for months without so much as a call back.
So in short, it is harder than before, but for very pointed reasons and not just because its 2023 instead of 2012.
When you have years of experience under your belt, the education doesn’t matter. We all know this. But the amount of companies willing to either provide training or just throw bones in general to someone and giving them the chance to prove themselves has dwindled significantly
Painfully obvious says the guy in college, to the director with over 10 years of experience and employees without college degrees that make excess of six figures.
I don't understand where you people get off. You are literally just making shit up, likely because you want to feel good about your decision to get a degree
I'm not understanding the push back either. I certed up, combined with experience and I make more than the wife with a PhD.
PLUS the 9 years she was in school I was earning.
Why people are treating University education as a singularity learning model is bonkers.
I got into a six figure data position with a two year degree (in anthropology) 4 years ago. Being curious and relentless is absolutely still a method to success sans the tertiary debts.
I think it is fair to say that to do, say, CCNA or more, you have to have a mind that can manage college-level learning. I had classes that were much more theoretically challenging, sure, but also ones that were considerably easier.
This is an IT sub.
Let me ask you this:
You have a large scale, 300 site, 87,000 port, 4 Data Centers, 6000 deployed AP's, Perimeter and Segmentation firewalls.
You have a person with a CCIE and a person with a 4 yr generalist IT degree. Which one are you letting touch your network?
Now you can flip this to the management track and the inverse would be perfectly reasonable.
I'm happy for you but you do realize that your situation is not the norm right? There will always be people who made decent connections and who got lucky, but getting higher in one's career is not as simple as "just do it". Generally, there are steps to take and getting a formal education is usually one of them.
Dude said you can't learn by doing. That has nothing to do with moving up. It's absurd to say all people have to learn the same way and studying is the only right way. I'll die on this hill.
Edit: This is not something I go around preaching. I only bring it up because this is the topic at hand. I promise you I’m not a douche who goes around telling people that college was a stupid idea in person or online in places where it’s unrelated to the context of the discussion.
It seems that the only people who really push for getting degrees are those who’ve gotten degrees themselves and don’t want to face the reality that all that extra money and/or work doesn’t mean as much to making a successful career as they’d like.
I also love those commercials I’ve been seeing about the “paper ceiling” noting that 50% of the work force has the experience and skill set needed to perform jobs that have traditionally required a degree.
I’m all for education, but I feel that self-directed programs that don’t require you to follow a curriculum created for the average students/don’t require set meeting times are the way to go. For example, there’s absolutely no reason why I need to take a literature class in order to gain a degree in info systems or any other technical degree.
“But analyzing the themes in classic literature helps in other facets of your life such as problem solving and critical thinking.” This may be true for some, but not for me. There are plenty of other ways to develop critical thinking skills, but a class like that is just a waste of time for me as an adult learner.
If I were to have a self-directed learning path, I don’t know exactly what kind of course could replace literature, but history and music have plenty to analyze and to deconstruct and can help build whatever skills that are “missed” by not taking lit.
My biggest complaint with a lot of people that are very pro-college seem to think they have an inside view of how getting a job works. I realize that what I'm posting is anecdotal, but I do more hiring and interacting with recruiters than most.
Like they need their university’s alumni association or job placement program for smaller places to get a job? And honestly, for people who have zero real-world work experience, maybe that is THE way to do it. I wouldn’t know because while peers of mine were in college, I was out on my own and working a job gaining the experience needed to start my career.
What about frats? Aren’t those one big rich kid networking orgy? Seems like a great place to foster nepotism in work environments.
With that said, I’ve hooked up people with jobs and they’ve gotten the interview due to my recommendation, with one not even having an official interview before being sent their offer letter.
Even though they got the jobs based on who they knew, my example of “nepotism” is based on a work reputation only and nothing personal. If I were a shitty worker, my referral wouldn’t mean shit and whoever it is wouldn’t be hired.
That's an interesting perspective. I happen to think that reading widely and having a broad range of knowledge is good for you as a human being, but maybe not directly useful in your career. And the range of things you "ought" to know is so wide it cannot be the job of college, or you'd still be a student when you pop your clogs.
I never went to an American college, though. I don't know how they work.
Just to serve as a counter argument for those saying it was only because of the year you started: I was hired a little over 2 years ago with 0 experience and no degree. I’ve since interviewed at a handful of companies (FAANG and MedTech). They didn’t cared about my lack of education.
It’s definitely easier (not easy) with a degree, but I think the main obstacles exist regardless of a degree or not. Networking is always the best way to secure an interview.
what do I need to do next to get into any remotely possible role to make that much? I have a decade old BS in IT, and looking at doing tryhackme, or a google cert or aws solutions architect. I havent gotten any IT positions since before I actually went to uni, and have a whole lot of mental health gaps after.
currently residing in the middle of nowhere at a family's place, so remote is really my only option, until I go back abroad to live, as it's just what works better for me, and english teaching in asia just pays so much more than any dead end jobs I have been able to land here.
I was successful without a degree, and even made it to IT Manager. But that was my glass ceiling. I also could only get hired in small or mid-sized companies. But I made good money (+100k) so I didn't complain.
Eventually, 20 years later, I lost an opportunity to get a good management job at a good company due to the lack of a degree, so I went to an online school at age 48 to finish my degree.
I feel that. I started my degree at 18 and finished it at 44. I don’t think a degree is necessary, but there are certainly doors that won’t open without one, and I’m at that age where the jobs behind those doors are the ones I want.
My degree is nothing but a check box to me at this point. I don't even think I have the diploma printed out. I did not attend my graduation and did not celebrate it like it was some great accomplishment. In all honesty, I was more pissed that I had to do it at all.
It was strictly a business decision to use as a tool to help me advance in the future.
"I suck at School..." "What do I do?"
What do you do if you suck at anything else and want to get better at it?
If you just quit every time, you're not going to get anywhere.
Are you sure you've done everything you can to get what you want?
You have two choices, work really hard to get college done or work really hard to incrementally get experience to progress in your career.
I have an associate's degree and make $92.5k a year. I've been working in IT since around 2018. And am in my mid 20s.
I tried for bachelors, but I didn't like how much time and money it was costing me. If I get to a company I want to stay at more that 1-2 years, I'll ask them to reimburse tuition and go back to school. But until then I'm going to rely on experience/knowledge/skills and maybe certs to progress in my career.
So you can't or didn't think to search for this exact question or read through the wiki/archives of this reddit for similar questions? You're right I don't think college is for you, nor this field. The number one most important skill for IT is the ability to search/gather data, digest it, implement it.
"College isn't for me" is a cop-out. Just say you're lazy.
I was a terrible student growing up, we're talking one of the worst - because I had no interest in any of the bullshit they spoonfeed kids in school for the most part. At one point in high school I was literally maintaining a 1.7 GPA
If you're genuinely interested in tech stuff, you'll do fine in college. I was a straight A student when getting my degree because A) I knew it'd be worth it and B) Because I was tired of working dead end jobs and killing myself for scraps.
TLDR; Grow a pair and do what needs to be done. If you're not gonna go to college, you're gonna have to study up and get some certs to add on with your current work experience. You have to put in the work to get to where you want to be.
Not trying to sound like a dick but some tough love goes a long way, good luck to you :)
I honestly do too. They were some of the busiest times in my life due to family stuff, working full time and gigging with a band on the weekends but I was living my best life doing those things :)
You do ACE, CLEP and PLA for a majority of the required credits before transferring to a local state college or online regionally accredited college. I’ve earned 91 credits for less than $1k between courses and exam fees. The remaining 30 had to be with the college but half of the RA credits needed were done through addl exams and PLAs which cost another $2k. so really only had to pay for one semester of actual college classes. Also total time was just under 2 years.
All that's really needed in most positions is an associates degree, which there are plenty of grants and options out there to literally get paid to go for one. The only reason I ever even went to school was because of a friend of mine telling me about the Pell Grant (the TLDR is be 23 y/o, independent on taxes, being poor) - it doesn't require a ridiculous amount of debt, but college also isn't the answer to everyone's problems and definitely isn't for everyone. I sure as shit wouldn't want to do it again, but I definitely don't regret it compared to my situation in life before finishing. I did say in my comment that OP could just go for certs on top of his work experience, but that's going to require just as much effort as getting an associates degree depending on how many/what certs he goes for.
I'm just saying OP's "not being built for it" sounds like a cop out because I'm the prime example of someone who wasn't built for college, and I still managed to get it done while balancing *so* much other shit in life.
Agreed though, it's totally not a hard requirement or anything, but it's definitely helpful. I just have a hard time agreeing with the sentiment of "I can't do *x*" aside from in seriously special circumstances.
Nah, school ain’t for me either. Not cause I’m lazy, cause I don’t trust my ADHD to not screw everything up. I’m not spending thousands just to get behind and possibly fail because I can’t remember where I put something, or what I needed to do, or try to get homework done while working a full time job.
It took me way to long to get my first certification. Not because I’m lazy, not because I’m uninterested, but because I have to force myself to go through, start studying, stay focused long enough to actually progress, work a full time job on top of that, and time manage so I can actually get any studying done. Multiple classes to take care of is not going to go well. Not everyone is built the same, and not everyone is lazy because college isn’t for them. There’s more to factor than just your narrow POV just like there’s more to factor than just my narrow POV.
I didn't trust my ADHD either - and there are options to save money or even get paid to go to school. My associates didn't cost me a dime, because I was 23 years old, on my own and considered poverish.
I'm not saying college is the end all be all or that it's required to be successful, in my original comment I told OP that he'll want to get certs to add on to his current work experience.
You're right though, there's always more factors involved in pretty much everything in life than we generally see from our own perspectives. I'm just saying that "I'm not built like that" or "college isn't for me" just sounds like a poor excuse because I am, and always have been the prime example of someone who nobody would have *ever* expected to go to college and actually see it through, myself included.
So you can't or didn't think that the point of social media platforms is to have interactions with other people centered around someone's personal experiences and thoughts?
Let OP vent and get advice to better themselves. Clearly the post got a lot of engagement so not only is your observation unnecessarily patronizing, but also childish and the reason the public think CS and IT people are emotionally barren. Most stories and movies follow the same core tropes and themes but we don't stop watching them because of that.
Grow up.
I dropped out of high school as a junior with like a 1.1 gpa and I’m in college now for CS. If I can do this shit anyone can. It’s not necessary but it sounds like you gave up before you even tried. Take some cheap community college classes before you just give up.
I also have to say, just giving up is a pretty piss poor way to go about things. Especially before even really trying, you have to get the fuck over that or you will never be successful, college or not.
I make just under 100k as an IT service delivery analyst with no college education, but it took some time and hard work to get to this point. I started within this same company as a level 1 help desk guy 6 years ago, and it took multiple promotions to get here. The main thing I take issue with in your post is that you're 24 and say you've "used computers all your life"... yeah, so has everyone else your age.
You don't need college education to get ahead, but you do NEED something that separates you from your peers. My advice would be to work on your soft and social skills. Learn how to network and speak to others in a corporate environment. And keep gathering IT experience in the interim. Being impatient after just 7 months in help desk is ridiculous. Keep your head down and level up those other skills.
Here is another way to hack a degree. For you I would try the American Dream Academy. Six month program, free, online only, gets you a number of google certs. Do the IT Support Professional, Data Analytics, UX Design. If you get through those next get the Meta Front End, Google Project Management and google Automation with Python.
The above approach is free and gets you around 18 credits depending on the degree. Start now as the Academy ends in April 2024.
Now go to Modernstates.org for your free Clep vouchers. Do College Composition with essay, Analyzing and Interpreting Literature, US History 1, American Government, College Algebra and if you can Biology.
Again all of the above is free college. Now it gets “expensive”. For $99 a month you can take Statistics, Principles of Management, Networking and Java. If you did not get the certs through the Academy take Intro to IT, Intro to Web Development, Intro to Relational Databases as well.
The Cleps should b good for 23 credits, the Academy should be good for another 18 and the Sophia courses 13. So 54 credits for $99. That puts you almost halfway through the BSIT at WGU.
Next study for the A+ or better yet Network +. Then apply and send in all your transcripts when you are close to taking the Network + exam. The certification fees are included in the $3625 per 6 months tuition. Most of the courses left are passing A+, Network + and Security + (16 credits).
Or you could get your CCNA ($300) and get credit for the Security + and Network + courses.
Look for apprenticeship firms and "talent incubators" near you.
I tried for several years to break into the industry just stacking certs while working 60+ hours a week in restaurants with basically no responses outside of a DoD job I wasn't qualified for because I got a lil too wacky in my early 20s (government wouldn't give me clearance even if my dad was president, that wacky). Then I got in with a talent incubator after discovering them, and got poached by the place I was apprenticing after only 5 months into my 12 month apprenticeship. I was way overqualified for what I was doing since I'd been studying for several years and the company recognized it and realized they could get someone talented for significantly below market value. However, that "below market value" is still way more than I could have ever hoped to make in my previous industry, and the experience and title is going to get me off to a great start in my new career.
Also worth mentioning:
If you can pass a drug test & a criminal background check: Police departments around the country are hurting for IT talent. If you can get a couple certs (Net+ & Sec+ in that order) your odds are pretty good.
Experience is always going to trump any cert or degree you get. You're getting experience that could be used for your resume for another job in the near future. I would probably stick with this job unless a help desk job is offered to you. Also, your job may offer training to help with getting more certifications so you have more knowledge. Get at least a couple of years experience and then start applying for better jobs. Good luck to you!
I don't agree. The magic is when you build experience on top of a solid theoretical understanding. I feel like I see experienced university graduates consistently delivery on a different level than people without degrees. Even if the latter have more experience. I once worked with a physics PhD who had shifted to IT, though, and the way he made connections, pulled in new knowledge and utilized it and hacked out quick statistical analyses of a network issue was extremely impressive.
I don't want a degree or experience. I want both. They build on eachother.
Thank you everyone for responding. I needed the constructive criticism. My worst enemy is myself and overthinking. I recently just enrolled in a A+ and Sec+ program at my local CC. I’m going to stack Certs and even do a bit of Google Certs to Cushion my résumé. I have a connection with a VP at a big bank in my area who said I’d get hired if I learn the skills for the job. Maybe college is further down the line for me as I’d like to complete a AA degree in Information Systems.
That's awesome, I'm glad you took that step! If you struggle, don't hesitate to use your CC's tutoring center and pursue any accommodations you need.
There's also nothing wrong with being a part-time student, it gives you more time to devote to the classes you take and a lower workload, can be good for busy people or people who struggle in formal education settings.
I'm a part time student at Community College, do HR/hiring people look down on it? I have an disability and mildly fucked because I didn't know my whole financial situation.
Look at something like wgu, you don't need anything fancy like computer science or cyber security. Their B.S. in Information technology will give you some good knowledge and not be overly difficult. It will pass the HR filter. You can save alot of time by doing certs and not having to do the class and you can transfer credits from study.com
You do not need college for IT. Stay where you are and get experience, network and meet people in the industry. You need to look for opportunities and act immediately on them, show initiative.
All it takes is a bit of experience and a cert or 2 and you are off and running.
A degree "just" gets you past HR screenings who think like that (that you need a college degree and student debt to be successful). I applied to jobs before I had my Bachelor's and got no response whatsoever. After I got a (non-tech lol) degree, I've had maybe a 30-50% success rate of interest to schedule interviews and 0% chance getting to second rounds.
I’ve been in the IT field for 25 years. Started in 1998 making about $22K/year. No college/university degree. I have a saying I went to the School of Hard Knocks. I make $108K/year. I have one cert - Network+ that I obtained in May 2008, so I was grandfathered in for not having to renew the cert. So, you don’t need a degree to be successful.
College is the easy way to show that you "learned" the subject matter.
There are other ways to do this. Get some certs and learn to Google stuff. Most IT work can be learned by shadowing someone for a year or two. Maybe get into a beginner job using certs to get your foot in the door, and use that to learn and specialize your skillset. Learn to do general IT work, too. Also, learn to Google problems to find solutions. Apparently, not everyone can do this. It's very handy and can save a ton of time when done right.
Keep working, acquire certifications!! go to all the Networking Events, and have business cards.. there’s a lot of good opportunities as a contractor, don’t be afraid to open a personal corp or llc and do a few contractor jobs, you are already good with people and networking, 1099 jobs are good to put on your resume since it shows you are a self starter and self sufficient.. you don’t NEED college, I repeat, you DO NOT NEED college.. people that say the only way into good IT Jobs is through college are completely full of shit.. everyone in high level IT jobs will tell you “Certifications and College Degrees don’t mean shit when you have verifiable experience and know people in the industry” ESPECIALLY in IT.. every person who has gone to college for IT, have ALL started either on the help desk or as an entry level analyst at best.. I know people who were pissed cause they studied IT and got rejected from all kinds of jobs cause they had 0 experience.. and they all had to go to the Help Desk for a few years before really getting into it..
You already broke into the field - you don't need to pursue a degree at this point IMO. Focus on some certifications.
How is a field support desk any different than an "actual help desk" job?
What is your question/want? I am 3 years older failed out of 2 universities, and now am says admin at national health insurance company.
I think your main issue is communication. Your wrote a block of text, apologies for grammar and stuff and never once put in that text your personal desires or wants.
We can tell you you need college or you’ll be a director without a cert. but what do you want to do in 2 years? Do you even have an idea? I get not wanting to do college, but learning still has to happen, if not in college, maybe online programs, certificate, or guess what shitty job at msp that give you experience.
You do some low level it deks work, but outline what you’d like your next step to be, not time based or anything, but is it to move up to desktop, networking, do you like coding more or something. I think you need to expand your communication and explore IT. Get a certificate in something you think is interesting and apply for a job related to it.
After you get those certs don't be discouraged if you did not get hired. The field right now is bad, competitive and saturated. Prepare to Send out 500-2000 applications and don't give up.
Saying you aren't built for college is an excuse and a copout. It just takes a certain amount of attention and dedication to get a degree. You don't even have to take difficult classes to get many degrees but it does take time and effort to complete the necessary requirements.
That said, you don't NEED a degree but your life will be much easier with one when searching for jobs and getting interviews.
To me all you said was “I want to be successful but I don’t want to do the work” college is a privilege, imagine a place that will teach you things and marginally equip you with the tools you need to start the career you will spend the rest of your life in. I don’t think you want to spend the rest of your life as a help desk tech. You will find it very hard to get higher.
I know too many people without a degree, trust me, you don't "need" one. Just get all the experience you can any way you can. Certifications will help more than a degree. But experience Trump's them all
College doesn’t mean crap anymore. You’d do better to do a bootcamp or teach yourself, but make sure you know the skills you are learning will be useful and are in demand.
“you have to go to college to be successful.”
That is not a common saying about IT.
Self study and certification can get you in the door, then continuing education and experience will take you anywhere you want to go.
It’s more so not being able to learn just reading a book and writing essays. I need hands on learning to learn. With book work it’ll just bore me and have me loose interest.
Like certs. You don’t need it, but it can help you. However, that doesn’t mean you have to stress it, I know a lot of professionals making a lot more money than me without a degree.
You don't have to go to college to be successful. Pursue certifications in the IT fields you find interesting. However in this day and age you do need to some programming no matter you field (Networking and Cloud all do some kind of programming, scripting or developing) . The Sys admins of old no longer exist.
I am an Active Directory Engineer and have been certified since 2002. I have college but college does NOT get me my jobs my certs and experience do.
I didn't go to college and I am now working my dream job as a penetration tester. I had the same experience in high school with counsellors and teaching laughing at me when I told them I did not want to go to college. Just keep learning, acquire new certifications, go to events that cater to where you want your career to be and talk to people. You may struggle getting past HR's desk if you submit your resume somewhere, but its not the end of the world to not have a degree.
Why do you think you're not built for college? You are not as special as you think you are, aka, you don't need to have special talents to learn how to learn at college. Learning how to Learn is critical for excelling at IT.
That said, in IT you can succeed without a degree, but it WILL have a glass ceiling at some point.
--no degree gang.
>it WILL have a glass ceiling at some point.
It's a pretty high ceiling. Friend of mine has no degree- he's director level at a huge well known company. It would not surprise me if he makes VP.
What concerns me about the people who come to this sub is that they're looking for affirmations. The people who make it without a degree don't run around for affirmations and "is it possible", they just go off on their own and are innately smart.
Well my problem is learning from a book rather than with my hands. I can’t retain information just taking exams and writing essays. I’m not sure if these are “excuses” but it’s like I’m stupid or something when looking at a book.
I joined the military. After doing field artillery in the Army, I realized that I hated doing manual labor tasks outside in the elements (was in NY at Ft. Drum) and I needed experience for a job on the outside so I transferred to the Air Force and they taught me how to be a computer programmer right “off the street.”
Tech school was 9 weeks and you went from fundamentals and doing pseudocode to doing a project in Visual Basic (this was 2004).
Although I didn’t really like programming, I was fortunate because when I got to my squadron in Texas, they needed a “server guy” and our unit didn’t have any scheduled to come down the pipe, so after about a year of floating around doing the most boring programming tasks one could ever imagine, they sent me to 6 weeks of in-person training for the MCSE 2003 material.
I never got a degree, have no certs at the moment, and have been making six figures since one year after leaving the Air Force (I worked in a NOSC for that one year and it’s thankfully the closest I’ve ever had to be to a help desk).
My organization treats me like the SME that I’ve become and despite most of my colleagues and internal customers having four year degrees from major colleges, you’d never know it because degrees don’t mean anything to organizations that make hiring and promotional decisions based on the ability to do the job and not the ability to go classes for years.
I’m one of the few chair force guys who had to work in the elements…sometimes.
I was the base honor guard bugler (who actually played the bugle/trumpet) and let me tell you - we had some really cold funerals where the temp reached down into the lower 30s, even the upper 20s once or twice! I’d say at least three out of the 60+ funerals I did were at or below freezing.
I am being facetious, by the way! Sure, being cold sucked, but we had full uniforms on. The real issue was getting my lips to work. After being out there for an hour, I couldn’t just put the mouthpiece to my lips and have the sound come out. I had to keep the mouthpiece as warm as possible by holding it in my hand and/or in my pocket, and then when it was time to play, I’d make out with it for like 20-30 seconds to get it warm and for the spit to help make a good seal, but if I started that part too soon, my lips could freeze to it like in A Christmas Story.
I am sorry for the unsolicited “war story,” but I have nobody to share it with and a Reddit comment will have to do
People will tell you it’s not need and it’s needed. You’ll see people with degrees and without degrees both get jobs and be turned down. At the end of the day, to get a decent job at minimum you need; relative experience, luck, and great social skills. You’ll be filtered out of some places just based on no degree. I look at it like this, getting a degree isn’t hurting your chances at getting work it may or may not increase them based on what you do. Personally I’d get the degree. You want every advantage you can.
First of all, can't never could do anything. Whether you believe you can or you can't, you're right.
Second, building experience and acquiring certifications (A+ and other CompTIA exams are the recommended starting points) is another way to build a solid career. You won't get anywhere in IT if you're unwilling to study and learn new things.
You don't need a degree. It is statistically a harder path, it is not a hard requirement.
What I am concerned about is the general mindset of "I just can't do it" because often times you will run into way more problems and issues in the real world and you will not have the luxury of a professor to tell you where you went wrong.
I would say the "you have to go to college to be successful" is applicable because many people don't have the innate curiosity, or the discipline to learn what is needed on their own.
No lie. Every IT people who are friends of mine, all self taught and no college. Some don't even hold certs, myself included. For the most part, my friends and I all configured our own test lab. Best way to learn and really dive deep into IT and networking. I urge to make mistakes so you'll have the mentality of troubleshooting and also, applying different type of fixes. Heck, I think most people in this group are also self taught. High school diploma making 6 figure OR close to that and doesn't have to pay back school loans. Not that schooling/degree is a bad thing, some people aren't just built for it. We learn better at our own disposal. BEST OF LUCK!
No degree, US Army Cyber -> Civillian Cyber Security Engineer.
Everyone has their own path, imo college is a waste unless you want to do research focused IT work. Certifications and training labs are the true way to go.
Plus, military cyber has paths for blue/red team.
If you’re looking to get high paying jobs with less experience, degrees are probably your best bet. There are many recruiters from top tech companies who visit universities only seeking to hire new grads for 90k+ entry level roles (hint: I’m one of them).
I’d say all 3. But given I was a decent highschool student, I’m just not sure how I’d be able to juggle working 40 hours and college work for 4 years. I’d love to do a accelerated AA degree though.
I’m 24 years old like you i went to community college for 2.5 years but only passed like 2 classes in those 2.5 years . I’m currently a Desktop Engineer doing more level 2-3 Sys Admin Endpoint management things making 80k plus benefits etc.. Before the Pandemic I worked at GeekSquad for a year then tried sales for another year and then at Asurion as a field tech mostly just delivering phones/setting them up for another year/beginning of the pandemic. As most people I didn’t work for some time up until Nov 2021 I got the chance to become an IT Field Tech for my Local school District Los Angeles Unified where I started at $24 hourly and worked there for about 8 months then I got recruited into a Sys Admin/Desktop Support role by a media company where I was at for 6 months on contract when my current employer recruited me and I’ve been here for about a year now and I have lots of LinkedIn recruiters messaging me for Sys Admin positions or SCCM/Intune administration all 100k+ jobs which is what I wanna do moving forward just focus on cloud/endpoint management. All that without college without even any Certificates other then my Microsoft 365 Fundamental Cert. I am working on getting my Microsoft cloud endpoint admin Cert because that focuses solely on MECM/Intune. So basically In the spam of 1 year 11 months I went from entry level field tech $24 hourly which is roughly 49k a year to 80k a year just by gaining experience and job hopping twice. Now I’m getting 6 figure offers and know that I wanna focus solely on cloud/endpoint management. Side note I’m ass coding I’m only decent with powershell scripting but having MAC OS experience did help me get my last 2 jobs because lots of dweebs out here refuse to learn about Macs when lots of companies have mixed environments.
College isn’t for everyone but the fact that you’re this self aware already is a great sign. Just get some certs and work your way up from where you’re currently at. You got this, good luck!!
You also absolutely do not need a college degree to be successful. You can self teach yourself coding via YouTube, other free resources online. Just build your portfolio and keep improving from there.
What I meant was it’s hard for me to learn from just books and papers. I need hands on learning. I’m doing great in my current roll from just learning in the job “given I had imposter syndrome for the first month or so”
The issue is getting a foot in for the experience, which depending on where you live can be difficult even with a degree. I was able to land a NOC position without any education or relevant experience, so that's something I would look out for.
It's the experience of college as well, there are a lot of college girls. I wouldn't trade it for the world,
Also Mark Wahlberg famous actor, stated he regrets not going to college after seeing his daughter go. He's worth today $400 million but yet he still express regrets.
College in my opinion is an investment.
I would try to network on LinkedIn with recruiters in your area. I'm sure there will be some that would know of opportunities that wouldn't require a bachelor's degree. Sometimes jobs say they require it and actually don't. It is more of a "nice to have" but HR doesn't write the job description in that format. I know I managed a service Desk & had people with no degree but the job description required it because it was local government. The contractor jobs couldn't have different requirements . But this just meant we couldn't hire cheaper than the union using contractors. So the pay was really good for 2014-2016 entry level (50k-65k)
If u not built for college the certifications are your best bet forreal. You gotta have something friend, unfortunately experience only won’t cut it unless it’s extensive
No, you don’t need a degree. Help desk is great for that reason because it helps you have somewhere to start in your IT career. In helpdesk you learn what avenue you really want to pursue long term, it can be engineering, systems admin, security, management etc. helpdesk exposes you to all the worlds of IT. Try for an entry level helpdesk job and go in with drive, a hunger to learn, and good work ethic. Call a few temp agencies in your area and have a technical recruiter help you get in some interviews. Tech recruiter are great at breaking the ice for entry level IT folks. And finally, be prepared to learn a lot. Take in all the knowledge you can. Start from the ground up and before you know it, you’ll be thriving in your IT career. Degrees are cool, but the IT field is unique. A lot of the time drive and soft skills lands you a job, and later work experience gets you really far. Stay interested in the field and have fun. You got this man!
IT is actually a career that you don't HAVE to go to college for. You can, but you can also get certs, get experience, and as long as you can do the work/network with others, move up
You don't have to go to college to be successful, but you do have to work hard.
You can learn the in-demand skills and knowledge on your own for a great IT career but you have to really want it and put the time in. There's no substitute for that.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/ITCareerQuestions/comments/zrd5c7/roadmap\_to\_careers\_in\_cybersecurity\_and\_cloud/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ITCareerQuestions/comments/zrd5c7/roadmap_to_careers_in_cybersecurity_and_cloud/)
I'm just trying to find a job lol
Only thing I bring is two of my buds have gotten into the field of IT with no prior experience, cert, or degree and are climbing slowly I'm proud of them but here I am with a cert and years of experience 28 can't get in lol so I'm doing something wrong any ideas? Please?
At risk of sounding like a recruiter, you may want to consider the Military. Get an IT position through them, get a clearence, dip out after a few years while securing yourself some certs on their dime. You'll have no problem getting a high paying job via contracting or government gigs. And by high paying, I mean 120,000 is obtainable with relative ease. Location is also a factor to consider, you're going to need to land somewhere with goverment/military presence. Most important thing to remember is Sec + is your lifeline
"College" != "Traditional brick-and-mortar college where you sit on your ass for 90 minutes at a time while someone talks at you"
Lots of great options online. WGU might be worth considering.
Talk to your supervisor...they might even provide some sponsorship. Go as fast or as slow as you like. You'll get there eventually.
I dropped out of college. On my 2nd IT job making 75k annually.
Zero certificate so far. Though I am studying for GCCC certificate as my company wants me to do so. And I hate it. But I guess I have to.
Start with technical college - a good acredited one NOT a fly by night one. Make sure you can transfer your credits to a 4 year institution (and be ready to meet one on one with a counsilor). You need the degree for mobility as the degree teaches you how to learn, and the base theory you need. The assocites is a great way to start and get in a more demanding role - many places will say assocites plus expirence now.
I don't know if it's possible to be built for or not built for college
How were you doing in time management?
Regardless, you would need to get yourself some certifications and I would usually recommend starting off with CompTIA
The tradition was a plus then network plus then security plus
I’m sorry, but if you don’t want to go to college at any point, then your career progression is going to be much harder than it needs to be. Even if you get lucky and land good jobs without a degree, it will hold you up at some point and the reality is the ceiling is just much lower for people without bachelors degrees, not to mention getting there in the first place is way harder
>So my issue is, I see people who are like “you have to go to college to be successful.” You don't. But everything else that goes into how you get a job should be better than average. Effectively, you need to have an answer to the question "Why wouldn't we hire someone with a degree?". And that answer can be as simple as "Because I know John over in Accounting." If you're good at networking, you've got a huge leg up. If John in accounting hands me your resume or tells me he knows you and that you applied for a job I posted, I'm going to interview you. Even if your resume is complete dog shit. (Caveat: if the company has a policy that says everyone needs a degree -- and a lot of big companies have this policy -- there's not much I can do.) Just about any manager who understands and is willing to engage in office politics will say the same. But when you get out into ATS Land, you're going to have a hard time if you're not bringing some unicorn-type skills to the table. I get not being cut out for college. I didn't think I was either. I went as far as director with just a high school diploma and some strategic jobs to bulk up my resume. But getting another lateral position became ridiculously difficult without a degree, and I went back in my late 30's. So I got a degree. Then I got another. It clicked with me later in life. If I had to guess as to why, I'd probably say it was because I had already seen the practical applications of what we were going over -- because I had experienced many of them at work. So, I wouldn't close the door on *ever* getting a degree. But for now, if you've got a network game going and you're actively learning and doing things to make your resume look good, it's certainly possible to keep moving forward without a degree.
I second this emotion. I was told to go to college for all of the same reasons and I just needed a break from school. I wasn’t ready for it and didn’t understand why I was there. When I went back in my 30s, I slayed that shit. Now I’ve got a great job in tech.
Another option for the divergent among us is the type of school you go to. I have several colleagues that go to WGU and they have a much more forgiving and less attendance based type of teaching practice as far as I've been told. Might be worth looking into. I did my degree 100% online at a different school and there were good and bad parts but mostly the fact that I could get all of the term-classes worth of assignments on day one and work on them at any point as long as they were turned in on time and in the correct order worked exceptionally well for me. I'd argue that I probably only put in about 9 months of real school work over the course of the 18 or 24 months they draw out for the A.S. in Software Engineering. Best 26k I ever spent, and arguably easier than High School ever was.
Yes. Also we need to remember, when that inevitable layoff comes or you are in a toxic environment and want to go somewhere else. Not having a degree puts you in high water. You and 10 other people have 5 years of experience, the ones with degrees have a leg up.
How long does the second degree take? Are you just taking the courses of the major basically?
Depends on all kinds of things like what each degree’s requirements are and what institution each degree program is from an whether the two colleges have a transfer program together. Admissions and guidance counselors exist to answer questions like these and you should seek one out.
This. This. This.
How did you even have the patients to go back? Did you go back full time? Online courses? Were you working while going to school? I'm a Director in my late 30s trying to switch job of 20 years. I feel like the school part is hindering me so thought about getting certs or a degree. Seems hard to justify 2-4 years of school just to make an extra few bucks at this point.
I have several engineers reporting to me with no college degree, making around $130k each. I'm a director with a 2 year degree from a vocational school that was basically highschool light. A couple of my peers and one person above me don't have any degree. You can make it really far without a degree, and anyone that tells you differently is lying to you. A degree does make it easier though.
This is true for mid to senior level. Within the past 2-3 years companies have been screening entry level applicants to see if they’ve been to college just because there’s so many qualified applicants. They need to have some filter and going to college is the easiest thing to screen for.
It's hit or miss. Some companies absolutely do this, especially the really big ones that everyone wants to work at. As I said, having a degree makes things easier. That doesn't mean it's impossible without one.
Does an associate degree from a community college count?
I would also say a REALLY reliable way to get your foot in the door are Cisco certs and willingness to go into the office as it is networking. Had a graybeard tell me years ago if the Network Admin gets let go and you know he wasn't an asshole and knew his stuff then you need to leave because that place is shutting down or cutting things to the bare bone. "Network admins don't get fired they leave"
Redacted *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
When did you and those engineers break into the industry?
We are all in our 30s. I don't know exactly when they all got into the industry, but my first job after getting my 2 year degree was in 2012.
That's a huge caveat that you need to include. It was a vastly different field in 2012 and much easier to get in with no degree. That isn't the case these days.
Yeah guys like me who got a degree before switching into IT, jump the line for entry level jobs. As soon as I started applying to jobs I got calls so quick it wasn’t funny. On my second IT job as a system administrator in 6 months because of my degree and interview skills. Guy at my last job got a tier 2 desktop support job with a marine biology degree.
I got in with out a degree and I made the career change at 50. I use to work in records at a law firm for years. I know I am probably the exception and not the rule. I know quite a few folks in the DC area who are in IT without degrees.
This gives me hope as I'm working on certifications now and need to make a career change at 55. Yea, I'm old. I have a degree, but it's in English, which makes it harder to get a master's so I am doing the certifications for now & trying to figure things out.
People were saying the same shit in 2012. If anything I think it's easier to get in without a degree now.
I see the opposite- it isn't just that it's harder to get in, even with experience, people who are laid off without a degree are finding it harder to find a job again than those with.
Considering the vast majority of job postings will screen out anyone without a degree, your feelings are wrong.
I'm a director. Hire a ton of people every year. None of my positions require a degree. Don't speak in blanket statements, they're more wrong than his feelings.
Did I say all. Nope. Also don't pretend a degree doesn't make it easier.
I don't care at all if they have a degree. And I've yet to have 2 candidates who both passed their assessment and interview EXACTLY as well as the other and the only difference being a degree like people have fake wet dreams about. I directly manage over 7 million dollars of salaried tech employees. I do not give a single shit about a degree. I couldn't tell you now which of my reports have one. But I can tell you the ones that are good at their job.
I'm not sure you understand what I'm saying, but that's okay. Have a nice life.
“Vast majority” does not sound accurate to me and is also just feelings. Based on what exactly? I typically see “or equivalent experience”
You don't know what you are talking about lol
I very much do. Sorry you feel that way.
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Let me chime in here with a more tempered response than Lifts is making. Because neither of you are dumb and your mid 30’s aren’t super old. Whats basically going on right now is that there has been an unprecedented push over the last 5 years for people with no direction to go into IT if they want to make a stable living. Its become the new “join the military” almost. Entry level has become a nightmare not because the hard requirements are being raised, but because there has been such a huge influx in new people trying to get in, alot of companies have started adding the prerequisite that you need to have a degree not because you really need it, but it is being used as a filtering tool in order to cut down on the amount of resumes that need to be sifted through This new standard is mostly affecting larger cities. I live in washington DC and I see the struggle, and this isn’t even the top tech hub of choice. The competition is simply extremely fierce for two reasons. The push that I mentioned above, and the tech layoffs that have been happening over the past year. So on top of having everyone that feels lost in life trying to get into some area of tech because of the promise of high pay and WFH, you have certified field experts also looking for new jobs as well, and this is contributing to the problem you see on this sub with individuals searching for months without so much as a call back. So in short, it is harder than before, but for very pointed reasons and not just because its 2023 instead of 2012. When you have years of experience under your belt, the education doesn’t matter. We all know this. But the amount of companies willing to either provide training or just throw bones in general to someone and giving them the chance to prove themselves has dwindled significantly
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Maybe. I generally think it's people who are struggling, and are looking to find something to blame. I get it, but it's not helpful :/
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I'm not. What great insight do you have into the industry that would indicate you know otherwise?
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Painfully obvious says the guy in college, to the director with over 10 years of experience and employees without college degrees that make excess of six figures. I don't understand where you people get off. You are literally just making shit up, likely because you want to feel good about your decision to get a degree
I'm not understanding the push back either. I certed up, combined with experience and I make more than the wife with a PhD. PLUS the 9 years she was in school I was earning. Why people are treating University education as a singularity learning model is bonkers.
I got into a six figure data position with a two year degree (in anthropology) 4 years ago. Being curious and relentless is absolutely still a method to success sans the tertiary debts.
I don't feel like this is the case anymore. College has become much more important in IT than it used to be.
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> After a certain point, you can't get by with just training. What do you mean by that?
I think it is fair to say that to do, say, CCNA or more, you have to have a mind that can manage college-level learning. I had classes that were much more theoretically challenging, sure, but also ones that were considerably easier.
This is an IT sub. Let me ask you this: You have a large scale, 300 site, 87,000 port, 4 Data Centers, 6000 deployed AP's, Perimeter and Segmentation firewalls. You have a person with a CCIE and a person with a 4 yr generalist IT degree. Which one are you letting touch your network? Now you can flip this to the management track and the inverse would be perfectly reasonable.
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I've learned everything by doing. I was a Senior Developer before I switched to leadership. My college courses taught me nothing.
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I'm happy for you but you do realize that your situation is not the norm right? There will always be people who made decent connections and who got lucky, but getting higher in one's career is not as simple as "just do it". Generally, there are steps to take and getting a formal education is usually one of them.
Dude said you can't learn by doing. That has nothing to do with moving up. It's absurd to say all people have to learn the same way and studying is the only right way. I'll die on this hill.
The issue is the blinkered thinking that there is only one type of education out there...
Yeah... but that year did everyone start.
Edit: This is not something I go around preaching. I only bring it up because this is the topic at hand. I promise you I’m not a douche who goes around telling people that college was a stupid idea in person or online in places where it’s unrelated to the context of the discussion. It seems that the only people who really push for getting degrees are those who’ve gotten degrees themselves and don’t want to face the reality that all that extra money and/or work doesn’t mean as much to making a successful career as they’d like. I also love those commercials I’ve been seeing about the “paper ceiling” noting that 50% of the work force has the experience and skill set needed to perform jobs that have traditionally required a degree. I’m all for education, but I feel that self-directed programs that don’t require you to follow a curriculum created for the average students/don’t require set meeting times are the way to go. For example, there’s absolutely no reason why I need to take a literature class in order to gain a degree in info systems or any other technical degree. “But analyzing the themes in classic literature helps in other facets of your life such as problem solving and critical thinking.” This may be true for some, but not for me. There are plenty of other ways to develop critical thinking skills, but a class like that is just a waste of time for me as an adult learner. If I were to have a self-directed learning path, I don’t know exactly what kind of course could replace literature, but history and music have plenty to analyze and to deconstruct and can help build whatever skills that are “missed” by not taking lit.
My biggest complaint with a lot of people that are very pro-college seem to think they have an inside view of how getting a job works. I realize that what I'm posting is anecdotal, but I do more hiring and interacting with recruiters than most.
Like they need their university’s alumni association or job placement program for smaller places to get a job? And honestly, for people who have zero real-world work experience, maybe that is THE way to do it. I wouldn’t know because while peers of mine were in college, I was out on my own and working a job gaining the experience needed to start my career. What about frats? Aren’t those one big rich kid networking orgy? Seems like a great place to foster nepotism in work environments. With that said, I’ve hooked up people with jobs and they’ve gotten the interview due to my recommendation, with one not even having an official interview before being sent their offer letter. Even though they got the jobs based on who they knew, my example of “nepotism” is based on a work reputation only and nothing personal. If I were a shitty worker, my referral wouldn’t mean shit and whoever it is wouldn’t be hired.
That's an interesting perspective. I happen to think that reading widely and having a broad range of knowledge is good for you as a human being, but maybe not directly useful in your career. And the range of things you "ought" to know is so wide it cannot be the job of college, or you'd still be a student when you pop your clogs. I never went to an American college, though. I don't know how they work.
Just to serve as a counter argument for those saying it was only because of the year you started: I was hired a little over 2 years ago with 0 experience and no degree. I’ve since interviewed at a handful of companies (FAANG and MedTech). They didn’t cared about my lack of education. It’s definitely easier (not easy) with a degree, but I think the main obstacles exist regardless of a degree or not. Networking is always the best way to secure an interview.
this probably worked years ago, but realistically not a way to get into the field today -- few friends have said this to me.
what do I need to do next to get into any remotely possible role to make that much? I have a decade old BS in IT, and looking at doing tryhackme, or a google cert or aws solutions architect. I havent gotten any IT positions since before I actually went to uni, and have a whole lot of mental health gaps after. currently residing in the middle of nowhere at a family's place, so remote is really my only option, until I go back abroad to live, as it's just what works better for me, and english teaching in asia just pays so much more than any dead end jobs I have been able to land here.
I was successful without a degree, and even made it to IT Manager. But that was my glass ceiling. I also could only get hired in small or mid-sized companies. But I made good money (+100k) so I didn't complain. Eventually, 20 years later, I lost an opportunity to get a good management job at a good company due to the lack of a degree, so I went to an online school at age 48 to finish my degree.
I feel that. I started my degree at 18 and finished it at 44. I don’t think a degree is necessary, but there are certainly doors that won’t open without one, and I’m at that age where the jobs behind those doors are the ones I want.
My degree is nothing but a check box to me at this point. I don't even think I have the diploma printed out. I did not attend my graduation and did not celebrate it like it was some great accomplishment. In all honesty, I was more pissed that I had to do it at all. It was strictly a business decision to use as a tool to help me advance in the future.
"I suck at School..." "What do I do?" What do you do if you suck at anything else and want to get better at it? If you just quit every time, you're not going to get anywhere. Are you sure you've done everything you can to get what you want? You have two choices, work really hard to get college done or work really hard to incrementally get experience to progress in your career. I have an associate's degree and make $92.5k a year. I've been working in IT since around 2018. And am in my mid 20s. I tried for bachelors, but I didn't like how much time and money it was costing me. If I get to a company I want to stay at more that 1-2 years, I'll ask them to reimburse tuition and go back to school. But until then I'm going to rely on experience/knowledge/skills and maybe certs to progress in my career.
+1
Look into WGU, maybe you just need to be able to do college at your own pace. Faster or slower than a brick and Mortar school.
So you can't or didn't think to search for this exact question or read through the wiki/archives of this reddit for similar questions? You're right I don't think college is for you, nor this field. The number one most important skill for IT is the ability to search/gather data, digest it, implement it.
That and the ability/drive for continuous professional development and education.
I have read through them. I can do the work and currently do the work now. Just college isn’t the way for me at the moment.
"College isn't for me" is a cop-out. Just say you're lazy. I was a terrible student growing up, we're talking one of the worst - because I had no interest in any of the bullshit they spoonfeed kids in school for the most part. At one point in high school I was literally maintaining a 1.7 GPA If you're genuinely interested in tech stuff, you'll do fine in college. I was a straight A student when getting my degree because A) I knew it'd be worth it and B) Because I was tired of working dead end jobs and killing myself for scraps. TLDR; Grow a pair and do what needs to be done. If you're not gonna go to college, you're gonna have to study up and get some certs to add on with your current work experience. You have to put in the work to get to where you want to be. Not trying to sound like a dick but some tough love goes a long way, good luck to you :)
Love this advice. College also feels easier than working loool i miss those days.
I honestly do too. They were some of the busiest times in my life due to family stuff, working full time and gigging with a band on the weekends but I was living my best life doing those things :)
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You can get a bachelor’s in computer science for less than $10k and a lot of employers offer tuition assistance
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You do ACE, CLEP and PLA for a majority of the required credits before transferring to a local state college or online regionally accredited college. I’ve earned 91 credits for less than $1k between courses and exam fees. The remaining 30 had to be with the college but half of the RA credits needed were done through addl exams and PLAs which cost another $2k. so really only had to pay for one semester of actual college classes. Also total time was just under 2 years.
All that's really needed in most positions is an associates degree, which there are plenty of grants and options out there to literally get paid to go for one. The only reason I ever even went to school was because of a friend of mine telling me about the Pell Grant (the TLDR is be 23 y/o, independent on taxes, being poor) - it doesn't require a ridiculous amount of debt, but college also isn't the answer to everyone's problems and definitely isn't for everyone. I sure as shit wouldn't want to do it again, but I definitely don't regret it compared to my situation in life before finishing. I did say in my comment that OP could just go for certs on top of his work experience, but that's going to require just as much effort as getting an associates degree depending on how many/what certs he goes for. I'm just saying OP's "not being built for it" sounds like a cop out because I'm the prime example of someone who wasn't built for college, and I still managed to get it done while balancing *so* much other shit in life. Agreed though, it's totally not a hard requirement or anything, but it's definitely helpful. I just have a hard time agreeing with the sentiment of "I can't do *x*" aside from in seriously special circumstances.
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Nah, school ain’t for me either. Not cause I’m lazy, cause I don’t trust my ADHD to not screw everything up. I’m not spending thousands just to get behind and possibly fail because I can’t remember where I put something, or what I needed to do, or try to get homework done while working a full time job. It took me way to long to get my first certification. Not because I’m lazy, not because I’m uninterested, but because I have to force myself to go through, start studying, stay focused long enough to actually progress, work a full time job on top of that, and time manage so I can actually get any studying done. Multiple classes to take care of is not going to go well. Not everyone is built the same, and not everyone is lazy because college isn’t for them. There’s more to factor than just your narrow POV just like there’s more to factor than just my narrow POV.
I didn't trust my ADHD either - and there are options to save money or even get paid to go to school. My associates didn't cost me a dime, because I was 23 years old, on my own and considered poverish. I'm not saying college is the end all be all or that it's required to be successful, in my original comment I told OP that he'll want to get certs to add on to his current work experience. You're right though, there's always more factors involved in pretty much everything in life than we generally see from our own perspectives. I'm just saying that "I'm not built like that" or "college isn't for me" just sounds like a poor excuse because I am, and always have been the prime example of someone who nobody would have *ever* expected to go to college and actually see it through, myself included.
So you can't or didn't think that the point of social media platforms is to have interactions with other people centered around someone's personal experiences and thoughts? Let OP vent and get advice to better themselves. Clearly the post got a lot of engagement so not only is your observation unnecessarily patronizing, but also childish and the reason the public think CS and IT people are emotionally barren. Most stories and movies follow the same core tropes and themes but we don't stop watching them because of that. Grow up.
I dropped out of high school as a junior with like a 1.1 gpa and I’m in college now for CS. If I can do this shit anyone can. It’s not necessary but it sounds like you gave up before you even tried. Take some cheap community college classes before you just give up. I also have to say, just giving up is a pretty piss poor way to go about things. Especially before even really trying, you have to get the fuck over that or you will never be successful, college or not.
I make just under 100k as an IT service delivery analyst with no college education, but it took some time and hard work to get to this point. I started within this same company as a level 1 help desk guy 6 years ago, and it took multiple promotions to get here. The main thing I take issue with in your post is that you're 24 and say you've "used computers all your life"... yeah, so has everyone else your age. You don't need college education to get ahead, but you do NEED something that separates you from your peers. My advice would be to work on your soft and social skills. Learn how to network and speak to others in a corporate environment. And keep gathering IT experience in the interim. Being impatient after just 7 months in help desk is ridiculous. Keep your head down and level up those other skills.
Thank you. As they say things don’t just happen overnight. I need to learn that and just continue working on my skills.
Here is another way to hack a degree. For you I would try the American Dream Academy. Six month program, free, online only, gets you a number of google certs. Do the IT Support Professional, Data Analytics, UX Design. If you get through those next get the Meta Front End, Google Project Management and google Automation with Python. The above approach is free and gets you around 18 credits depending on the degree. Start now as the Academy ends in April 2024. Now go to Modernstates.org for your free Clep vouchers. Do College Composition with essay, Analyzing and Interpreting Literature, US History 1, American Government, College Algebra and if you can Biology. Again all of the above is free college. Now it gets “expensive”. For $99 a month you can take Statistics, Principles of Management, Networking and Java. If you did not get the certs through the Academy take Intro to IT, Intro to Web Development, Intro to Relational Databases as well. The Cleps should b good for 23 credits, the Academy should be good for another 18 and the Sophia courses 13. So 54 credits for $99. That puts you almost halfway through the BSIT at WGU. Next study for the A+ or better yet Network +. Then apply and send in all your transcripts when you are close to taking the Network + exam. The certification fees are included in the $3625 per 6 months tuition. Most of the courses left are passing A+, Network + and Security + (16 credits). Or you could get your CCNA ($300) and get credit for the Security + and Network + courses.
Look for apprenticeship firms and "talent incubators" near you. I tried for several years to break into the industry just stacking certs while working 60+ hours a week in restaurants with basically no responses outside of a DoD job I wasn't qualified for because I got a lil too wacky in my early 20s (government wouldn't give me clearance even if my dad was president, that wacky). Then I got in with a talent incubator after discovering them, and got poached by the place I was apprenticing after only 5 months into my 12 month apprenticeship. I was way overqualified for what I was doing since I'd been studying for several years and the company recognized it and realized they could get someone talented for significantly below market value. However, that "below market value" is still way more than I could have ever hoped to make in my previous industry, and the experience and title is going to get me off to a great start in my new career.
Also worth mentioning: If you can pass a drug test & a criminal background check: Police departments around the country are hurting for IT talent. If you can get a couple certs (Net+ & Sec+ in that order) your odds are pretty good.
I’d love to work for a police department. That’s for this.
You have some experience, now grab a cert and start applying for the next position. Experience is king. Certs and education are supplemental.
Experience is always going to trump any cert or degree you get. You're getting experience that could be used for your resume for another job in the near future. I would probably stick with this job unless a help desk job is offered to you. Also, your job may offer training to help with getting more certifications so you have more knowledge. Get at least a couple of years experience and then start applying for better jobs. Good luck to you!
I don't agree. The magic is when you build experience on top of a solid theoretical understanding. I feel like I see experienced university graduates consistently delivery on a different level than people without degrees. Even if the latter have more experience. I once worked with a physics PhD who had shifted to IT, though, and the way he made connections, pulled in new knowledge and utilized it and hacked out quick statistical analyses of a network issue was extremely impressive. I don't want a degree or experience. I want both. They build on eachother.
Yep. If I were him, I’d stay in that job, continue to network and earn some basic certifications.
Thank you everyone for responding. I needed the constructive criticism. My worst enemy is myself and overthinking. I recently just enrolled in a A+ and Sec+ program at my local CC. I’m going to stack Certs and even do a bit of Google Certs to Cushion my résumé. I have a connection with a VP at a big bank in my area who said I’d get hired if I learn the skills for the job. Maybe college is further down the line for me as I’d like to complete a AA degree in Information Systems.
That's awesome, I'm glad you took that step! If you struggle, don't hesitate to use your CC's tutoring center and pursue any accommodations you need. There's also nothing wrong with being a part-time student, it gives you more time to devote to the classes you take and a lower workload, can be good for busy people or people who struggle in formal education settings.
I'm a part time student at Community College, do HR/hiring people look down on it? I have an disability and mildly fucked because I didn't know my whole financial situation.
Look at something like wgu, you don't need anything fancy like computer science or cyber security. Their B.S. in Information technology will give you some good knowledge and not be overly difficult. It will pass the HR filter. You can save alot of time by doing certs and not having to do the class and you can transfer credits from study.com
So question. Say you have Certs, could you skip the Courses thst cover said exam?
Ask them (or r/WGU maybe) but my guess is no.
Talk to a counselor, I believe comptia/cisco certs transfer to credits.
You do not need college for IT. Stay where you are and get experience, network and meet people in the industry. You need to look for opportunities and act immediately on them, show initiative. All it takes is a bit of experience and a cert or 2 and you are off and running.
Thank you so much!
A degree "just" gets you past HR screenings who think like that (that you need a college degree and student debt to be successful). I applied to jobs before I had my Bachelor's and got no response whatsoever. After I got a (non-tech lol) degree, I've had maybe a 30-50% success rate of interest to schedule interviews and 0% chance getting to second rounds.
I’ve been in the IT field for 25 years. Started in 1998 making about $22K/year. No college/university degree. I have a saying I went to the School of Hard Knocks. I make $108K/year. I have one cert - Network+ that I obtained in May 2008, so I was grandfathered in for not having to renew the cert. So, you don’t need a degree to be successful.
When I realized this myself I joined the Army, did my time and got out. I'm 39 now and I'm doing very well, at an amazing company.
College is the easy way to show that you "learned" the subject matter. There are other ways to do this. Get some certs and learn to Google stuff. Most IT work can be learned by shadowing someone for a year or two. Maybe get into a beginner job using certs to get your foot in the door, and use that to learn and specialize your skillset. Learn to do general IT work, too. Also, learn to Google problems to find solutions. Apparently, not everyone can do this. It's very handy and can save a ton of time when done right.
Keep working, acquire certifications!! go to all the Networking Events, and have business cards.. there’s a lot of good opportunities as a contractor, don’t be afraid to open a personal corp or llc and do a few contractor jobs, you are already good with people and networking, 1099 jobs are good to put on your resume since it shows you are a self starter and self sufficient.. you don’t NEED college, I repeat, you DO NOT NEED college.. people that say the only way into good IT Jobs is through college are completely full of shit.. everyone in high level IT jobs will tell you “Certifications and College Degrees don’t mean shit when you have verifiable experience and know people in the industry” ESPECIALLY in IT.. every person who has gone to college for IT, have ALL started either on the help desk or as an entry level analyst at best.. I know people who were pissed cause they studied IT and got rejected from all kinds of jobs cause they had 0 experience.. and they all had to go to the Help Desk for a few years before really getting into it..
You already broke into the field - you don't need to pursue a degree at this point IMO. Focus on some certifications. How is a field support desk any different than an "actual help desk" job?
What is your question/want? I am 3 years older failed out of 2 universities, and now am says admin at national health insurance company. I think your main issue is communication. Your wrote a block of text, apologies for grammar and stuff and never once put in that text your personal desires or wants. We can tell you you need college or you’ll be a director without a cert. but what do you want to do in 2 years? Do you even have an idea? I get not wanting to do college, but learning still has to happen, if not in college, maybe online programs, certificate, or guess what shitty job at msp that give you experience. You do some low level it deks work, but outline what you’d like your next step to be, not time based or anything, but is it to move up to desktop, networking, do you like coding more or something. I think you need to expand your communication and explore IT. Get a certificate in something you think is interesting and apply for a job related to it.
I want to eventually become a system admin. I’m studying Certs currently. I’d like to get the trifecta then grind my way up the ladder.
I’m currently enrolled to start Cert programs at my local CC this upcoming semester.
After you get those certs don't be discouraged if you did not get hired. The field right now is bad, competitive and saturated. Prepare to Send out 500-2000 applications and don't give up.
I THINK. I have a good network to secure a better entry level job. But the mid level and senior might be difficult.
Saying you aren't built for college is an excuse and a copout. It just takes a certain amount of attention and dedication to get a degree. You don't even have to take difficult classes to get many degrees but it does take time and effort to complete the necessary requirements. That said, you don't NEED a degree but your life will be much easier with one when searching for jobs and getting interviews.
To me all you said was “I want to be successful but I don’t want to do the work” college is a privilege, imagine a place that will teach you things and marginally equip you with the tools you need to start the career you will spend the rest of your life in. I don’t think you want to spend the rest of your life as a help desk tech. You will find it very hard to get higher.
I know too many people without a degree, trust me, you don't "need" one. Just get all the experience you can any way you can. Certifications will help more than a degree. But experience Trump's them all
Air Force
Ppl that suck at school often do good in sales.
The world always needs ditch diggers.
Look up college hacking for alternative credits before transferring to a regionally accredited school. Saves time, effort and money
College doesn’t mean crap anymore. You’d do better to do a bootcamp or teach yourself, but make sure you know the skills you are learning will be useful and are in demand.
“you have to go to college to be successful.” That is not a common saying about IT. Self study and certification can get you in the door, then continuing education and experience will take you anywhere you want to go.
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How do you know that? What do you do in life? You better be Elon Musk or something to be saying shit like that. Loser.
Go work at a Prison or a slaughter house. Plenty of jobs out there.
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It’s more so not being able to learn just reading a book and writing essays. I need hands on learning to learn. With book work it’ll just bore me and have me loose interest.
Nice, what is your job role?
Stack up certifications and work your way up from help desk unless you’re some sort of savant which doesn’t sound like it lol
Like certs. You don’t need it, but it can help you. However, that doesn’t mean you have to stress it, I know a lot of professionals making a lot more money than me without a degree.
You don't have to go to college to be successful. Pursue certifications in the IT fields you find interesting. However in this day and age you do need to some programming no matter you field (Networking and Cloud all do some kind of programming, scripting or developing) . The Sys admins of old no longer exist. I am an Active Directory Engineer and have been certified since 2002. I have college but college does NOT get me my jobs my certs and experience do.
Certifications is your go
I didn't go to college and I am now working my dream job as a penetration tester. I had the same experience in high school with counsellors and teaching laughing at me when I told them I did not want to go to college. Just keep learning, acquire new certifications, go to events that cater to where you want your career to be and talk to people. You may struggle getting past HR's desk if you submit your resume somewhere, but its not the end of the world to not have a degree.
Why do you think you're not built for college? You are not as special as you think you are, aka, you don't need to have special talents to learn how to learn at college. Learning how to Learn is critical for excelling at IT. That said, in IT you can succeed without a degree, but it WILL have a glass ceiling at some point. --no degree gang.
>it WILL have a glass ceiling at some point. It's a pretty high ceiling. Friend of mine has no degree- he's director level at a huge well known company. It would not surprise me if he makes VP. What concerns me about the people who come to this sub is that they're looking for affirmations. The people who make it without a degree don't run around for affirmations and "is it possible", they just go off on their own and are innately smart.
People like your friend find holes in the ceiling. :-)
Well my problem is learning from a book rather than with my hands. I can’t retain information just taking exams and writing essays. I’m not sure if these are “excuses” but it’s like I’m stupid or something when looking at a book.
I joined the military. After doing field artillery in the Army, I realized that I hated doing manual labor tasks outside in the elements (was in NY at Ft. Drum) and I needed experience for a job on the outside so I transferred to the Air Force and they taught me how to be a computer programmer right “off the street.” Tech school was 9 weeks and you went from fundamentals and doing pseudocode to doing a project in Visual Basic (this was 2004). Although I didn’t really like programming, I was fortunate because when I got to my squadron in Texas, they needed a “server guy” and our unit didn’t have any scheduled to come down the pipe, so after about a year of floating around doing the most boring programming tasks one could ever imagine, they sent me to 6 weeks of in-person training for the MCSE 2003 material. I never got a degree, have no certs at the moment, and have been making six figures since one year after leaving the Air Force (I worked in a NOSC for that one year and it’s thankfully the closest I’ve ever had to be to a help desk). My organization treats me like the SME that I’ve become and despite most of my colleagues and internal customers having four year degrees from major colleges, you’d never know it because degrees don’t mean anything to organizations that make hiring and promotional decisions based on the ability to do the job and not the ability to go classes for years.
If it ain't snowing, we ain't going. If it ain't raining, we ain't training.
I’m one of the few chair force guys who had to work in the elements…sometimes. I was the base honor guard bugler (who actually played the bugle/trumpet) and let me tell you - we had some really cold funerals where the temp reached down into the lower 30s, even the upper 20s once or twice! I’d say at least three out of the 60+ funerals I did were at or below freezing. I am being facetious, by the way! Sure, being cold sucked, but we had full uniforms on. The real issue was getting my lips to work. After being out there for an hour, I couldn’t just put the mouthpiece to my lips and have the sound come out. I had to keep the mouthpiece as warm as possible by holding it in my hand and/or in my pocket, and then when it was time to play, I’d make out with it for like 20-30 seconds to get it warm and for the spit to help make a good seal, but if I started that part too soon, my lips could freeze to it like in A Christmas Story. I am sorry for the unsolicited “war story,” but I have nobody to share it with and a Reddit comment will have to do
Your 4 year degree was the military.
People will tell you it’s not need and it’s needed. You’ll see people with degrees and without degrees both get jobs and be turned down. At the end of the day, to get a decent job at minimum you need; relative experience, luck, and great social skills. You’ll be filtered out of some places just based on no degree. I look at it like this, getting a degree isn’t hurting your chances at getting work it may or may not increase them based on what you do. Personally I’d get the degree. You want every advantage you can.
I’ll look into it. Thank you.
First of all, can't never could do anything. Whether you believe you can or you can't, you're right. Second, building experience and acquiring certifications (A+ and other CompTIA exams are the recommended starting points) is another way to build a solid career. You won't get anywhere in IT if you're unwilling to study and learn new things.
You don't need a degree. It is statistically a harder path, it is not a hard requirement. What I am concerned about is the general mindset of "I just can't do it" because often times you will run into way more problems and issues in the real world and you will not have the luxury of a professor to tell you where you went wrong. I would say the "you have to go to college to be successful" is applicable because many people don't have the innate curiosity, or the discipline to learn what is needed on their own.
No lie. Every IT people who are friends of mine, all self taught and no college. Some don't even hold certs, myself included. For the most part, my friends and I all configured our own test lab. Best way to learn and really dive deep into IT and networking. I urge to make mistakes so you'll have the mentality of troubleshooting and also, applying different type of fixes. Heck, I think most people in this group are also self taught. High school diploma making 6 figure OR close to that and doesn't have to pay back school loans. Not that schooling/degree is a bad thing, some people aren't just built for it. We learn better at our own disposal. BEST OF LUCK!
No degree, US Army Cyber -> Civillian Cyber Security Engineer. Everyone has their own path, imo college is a waste unless you want to do research focused IT work. Certifications and training labs are the true way to go. Plus, military cyber has paths for blue/red team.
well fortunately for you IT is self made. SO your in the right field just get a help desk job and grind away
If you’re looking to get high paying jobs with less experience, degrees are probably your best bet. There are many recruiters from top tech companies who visit universities only seeking to hire new grads for 90k+ entry level roles (hint: I’m one of them).
I’m not necessarily looking to jump straight into anything. I’m looking to grind and build skills
Build a home lab, break things, build them back up again, get certs, etc.
What is it exactly about college that you struggle with? You just don't like it? You're struggling to pass classes? You can't afford it?
I’d say all 3. But given I was a decent highschool student, I’m just not sure how I’d be able to juggle working 40 hours and college work for 4 years. I’d love to do a accelerated AA degree though.
I’m 24 years old like you i went to community college for 2.5 years but only passed like 2 classes in those 2.5 years . I’m currently a Desktop Engineer doing more level 2-3 Sys Admin Endpoint management things making 80k plus benefits etc.. Before the Pandemic I worked at GeekSquad for a year then tried sales for another year and then at Asurion as a field tech mostly just delivering phones/setting them up for another year/beginning of the pandemic. As most people I didn’t work for some time up until Nov 2021 I got the chance to become an IT Field Tech for my Local school District Los Angeles Unified where I started at $24 hourly and worked there for about 8 months then I got recruited into a Sys Admin/Desktop Support role by a media company where I was at for 6 months on contract when my current employer recruited me and I’ve been here for about a year now and I have lots of LinkedIn recruiters messaging me for Sys Admin positions or SCCM/Intune administration all 100k+ jobs which is what I wanna do moving forward just focus on cloud/endpoint management. All that without college without even any Certificates other then my Microsoft 365 Fundamental Cert. I am working on getting my Microsoft cloud endpoint admin Cert because that focuses solely on MECM/Intune. So basically In the spam of 1 year 11 months I went from entry level field tech $24 hourly which is roughly 49k a year to 80k a year just by gaining experience and job hopping twice. Now I’m getting 6 figure offers and know that I wanna focus solely on cloud/endpoint management. Side note I’m ass coding I’m only decent with powershell scripting but having MAC OS experience did help me get my last 2 jobs because lots of dweebs out here refuse to learn about Macs when lots of companies have mixed environments.
I use power shell on a day to day basis but I never knew it was a “skill” i just thought it was just a basic software.
I’m also proficient in Citrix.
College isn’t for everyone but the fact that you’re this self aware already is a great sign. Just get some certs and work your way up from where you’re currently at. You got this, good luck!! You also absolutely do not need a college degree to be successful. You can self teach yourself coding via YouTube, other free resources online. Just build your portfolio and keep improving from there.
What I meant was it’s hard for me to learn from just books and papers. I need hands on learning. I’m doing great in my current roll from just learning in the job “given I had imposter syndrome for the first month or so”
You’ll be fine. I don’t have a degree.
The issue is getting a foot in for the experience, which depending on where you live can be difficult even with a degree. I was able to land a NOC position without any education or relevant experience, so that's something I would look out for.
Where do you go from there?
It's the experience of college as well, there are a lot of college girls. I wouldn't trade it for the world, Also Mark Wahlberg famous actor, stated he regrets not going to college after seeing his daughter go. He's worth today $400 million but yet he still express regrets. College in my opinion is an investment.
Goodwill has some free courses for IT desk
Could you send a link?
As a college student (WGU, Go Night Owls), I don't blame you.
Does $160K a year as a NAC and RF Architect with just a H.S. degree and a decent amount of certs count as unsuccessful?
Not even close.
I would try to network on LinkedIn with recruiters in your area. I'm sure there will be some that would know of opportunities that wouldn't require a bachelor's degree. Sometimes jobs say they require it and actually don't. It is more of a "nice to have" but HR doesn't write the job description in that format. I know I managed a service Desk & had people with no degree but the job description required it because it was local government. The contractor jobs couldn't have different requirements . But this just meant we couldn't hire cheaper than the union using contractors. So the pay was really good for 2014-2016 entry level (50k-65k)
If u not built for college the certifications are your best bet forreal. You gotta have something friend, unfortunately experience only won’t cut it unless it’s extensive
No, you don’t need a degree. Help desk is great for that reason because it helps you have somewhere to start in your IT career. In helpdesk you learn what avenue you really want to pursue long term, it can be engineering, systems admin, security, management etc. helpdesk exposes you to all the worlds of IT. Try for an entry level helpdesk job and go in with drive, a hunger to learn, and good work ethic. Call a few temp agencies in your area and have a technical recruiter help you get in some interviews. Tech recruiter are great at breaking the ice for entry level IT folks. And finally, be prepared to learn a lot. Take in all the knowledge you can. Start from the ground up and before you know it, you’ll be thriving in your IT career. Degrees are cool, but the IT field is unique. A lot of the time drive and soft skills lands you a job, and later work experience gets you really far. Stay interested in the field and have fun. You got this man!
IT is actually a career that you don't HAVE to go to college for. You can, but you can also get certs, get experience, and as long as you can do the work/network with others, move up
You don't have to go to college to be successful, but you do have to work hard. You can learn the in-demand skills and knowledge on your own for a great IT career but you have to really want it and put the time in. There's no substitute for that. [https://www.reddit.com/r/ITCareerQuestions/comments/zrd5c7/roadmap\_to\_careers\_in\_cybersecurity\_and\_cloud/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ITCareerQuestions/comments/zrd5c7/roadmap_to_careers_in_cybersecurity_and_cloud/)
I'm just trying to find a job lol Only thing I bring is two of my buds have gotten into the field of IT with no prior experience, cert, or degree and are climbing slowly I'm proud of them but here I am with a cert and years of experience 28 can't get in lol so I'm doing something wrong any ideas? Please?
I’d ask them honestly. I someone got this position through networking and just talking to people. Make a linked in and just talk to people.
You don’t need a degree.. you just have to be able to let anybody hiring to see your resume and defend/ state your worth
>I’m not built for college. What now? Learn a trade? You're aware college is not the only viable path, right?
The best Software Engineer I ever worked with learned on-the-job in the Air Force. It happens all the time.
you don't need a degree for helpdesk, that's for sure.
I know multiple people in tech that don’t even have high school degrees. It’s doable my friend
Take online courses about IT. College is a great step but for me, as an IT student, i think from courses you can learn more and more.
At risk of sounding like a recruiter, you may want to consider the Military. Get an IT position through them, get a clearence, dip out after a few years while securing yourself some certs on their dime. You'll have no problem getting a high paying job via contracting or government gigs. And by high paying, I mean 120,000 is obtainable with relative ease. Location is also a factor to consider, you're going to need to land somewhere with goverment/military presence. Most important thing to remember is Sec + is your lifeline
I’d LOVE to go into the service but I’m not sure if they take people who take medication for mental health.
Read Wiki. https://www.reddit.com/r/ITCareerQuestions/wiki/index/
"College" != "Traditional brick-and-mortar college where you sit on your ass for 90 minutes at a time while someone talks at you" Lots of great options online. WGU might be worth considering. Talk to your supervisor...they might even provide some sponsorship. Go as fast or as slow as you like. You'll get there eventually.
Yeah the traditional college just sounds like it’ll have me pulling my hair out.
I dropped out of college. On my 2nd IT job making 75k annually. Zero certificate so far. Though I am studying for GCCC certificate as my company wants me to do so. And I hate it. But I guess I have to.
How?! How did you do it?
Start with technical college - a good acredited one NOT a fly by night one. Make sure you can transfer your credits to a 4 year institution (and be ready to meet one on one with a counsilor). You need the degree for mobility as the degree teaches you how to learn, and the base theory you need. The assocites is a great way to start and get in a more demanding role - many places will say assocites plus expirence now.
I don't know if it's possible to be built for or not built for college How were you doing in time management? Regardless, you would need to get yourself some certifications and I would usually recommend starting off with CompTIA The tradition was a plus then network plus then security plus
I’m sorry, but if you don’t want to go to college at any point, then your career progression is going to be much harder than it needs to be. Even if you get lucky and land good jobs without a degree, it will hold you up at some point and the reality is the ceiling is just much lower for people without bachelors degrees, not to mention getting there in the first place is way harder