Success without college

[Mad_Murdock]

Did Trump go to college?

Wharton School of Finance.

On topic. I cheated, I went into the army because I was to dumb and poor to get into College. Went in has a computer nerd, worked a lot of 12 hours days by choice, because the job was as much fun as playing video games, Got out of the Army, worked a lot at new companies, flew up the nerd ranks, now have a pretty easy mode life. Of course, it could all come crashing down tomorrow and I'll be sweeping McDonald's parking lots. But a great ride while it last.

[Rudkobing]

I pimp my ho's.

[TITAN308]

After many years I ended up at Automatic Data Processing as payroll software programmer with nothing more than a GED. Of course this was after many many many years doing monkey level tech support (starting in my teens) at various companies like Comcast for example. Ultimately I got the job because someone else with an education got hired there and vouched for me. So self taught I guess what it ended up being.

I actually left that job a few years ago, cashed out a bunch of investments and now I am attending college in my 30's to go into a new career field.

Sitting behind a computer desk for a living was not a legacy I wanted to leave behind. When you are young its all fun and stuff, but as I get older I hated my job. I wasn't contributing anything worthwhile to society (other than my taxes) and I was working to live, not living to work.

Whether or not a piece of paper really does qualify you for a job is irrelevant. Companies want it and if you want in the door you need to get it. I will not stress to my daughter enough how important a MEANINGFUL degree will be for her future. (aka that means no bullshit non-marketable degrees)

[Kuntantee]

There are many successful people without a degree, but a degree makes your life much easier, especially in technical fields.

[monkmastaeq]

I have a bachelors degree I also have my (red seal/journeymans certification) as a chef. Both of these were just so unrewarding emotionally and monetarily. In 2009 I got a job as a flooring installers helper.

I worked hard learned everything I could, I made myself indispensable to my boss, after 2 years i challenge my certification( red seal) and passed. I then went on to be a solo installer, the money wasn't great at first , it is contract work so if you're slow you don't make much. Honing my craft for a few years i started to hit that 100K (canadian) mark. I then branched out to general contracting , started my own business. I also own 2 income properties.

My point is college just wasn't for me I found out i liked working with my hands, so work hard invest your money in stuff that gives solid returns and always make yourself indispensable to your employer

[Tennis]

I have a bachelors degree I also have my (red seal/journeymans certification) as a chef. Both of these were just so unrewarding emotionally and monetarily. In 2009 I got a job as a flooring installers helper.

I worked hard learned everything I could, I made myself indispensable to my boss, after 2 years i challenge my certification( red seal) and passed. I then went on to be a solo installer, the money wasn't great at first , it is contract work so if you're slow you don't make much. Honing my craft for a few years i started to hit that 100K (canadian) mark. I then branched out to general contracting , started my own business. I also own 2 income properties.

My point is college just wasn't for me I found out i liked working with my hands, so work hard invest your money in stuff that gives solid returns and always make yourself indispensable to your employer

The fault lies with yourself and possibly the university you went to, lethbridge or wherever.

My University experience was amazing and it was so rewarding to benefit from being in such an atmosphere and learning from the best academics in the country. Change starts from within.

- - - Updated - - -

I personally know more successful people who didn't go to university than did

This is one of the most suspect things I've heard on here.

[monkmastaeq]

The fault lies with yourself and possibly the university you went to, lethbridge or wherever.

My University experience was amazing and it was so rewarding to benefit from being in such an atmosphere and learning from the best academics in the country. Change starts from within.

- - - Updated - - -

Well if I didn't like my degree of course the fault lies with me, no one forced me to go. I just fell into that mindset that you have to have a degree to be a success. They did their job and taught me somewhat well, I did have a bone to pick with a few of them who only bothered to show up for like 4/5's of the classes

[Tennis]

Well if I didn't like my degree of course the fault lies with me, no one forced me to go. I just fell into that mindset that you have to have a degree to be a success. They did their job and taught me somewhat well, I did have a bone to pick with a few of them who only bothered to show up for like 4/5's of the classes

That mindset isn't great. I actually got told I would be a failure if I didn't go to university.
Such is life. It's true that you can do an apprenticeship or learn a trade but university opens up many doors depending on the field you're in.
In my experience, it's easier to have conversations with university educated people than those who are not.

Not everyone has contacts to help them get started.

[Iamanerd]

After many years I ended up at Automatic Data Processing as payroll software programmer with nothing more than a GED. Of course this was after many many many years doing monkey level tech support (starting in my teens) at various companies like Comcast for example. Ultimately I got the job because someone else with an education got hired there and vouched for me. So self taught I guess what it ended up being.

I actually left that job a few years ago, cashed out a bunch of investments and now I am attending college in my 30's to go into a new career field.

Sitting behind a computer desk for a living was not a legacy I wanted to leave behind. When you are young its all fun and stuff, but as I get older I hated my job. I wasn't contributing anything worthwhile to society (other than my taxes) and I was working to live, not living to work.

Whether or not a piece of paper really does qualify you for a job is irrelevant. Companies want it and if you want in the door you need to get it. I will not stress to my daughter enough how important a MEANINGFUL degree will be for her future. (aka that means no bullshit non-marketable degrees)

Not sure if you used the saying wrong, but isn't it a good thing to work to live rather than living to work?

For me I went to a trade school for high school, did electrical, got out went into college for nuclear engineering and got my degree in that and went into Computer Science after finishing that. I still don't think a degree is needed to be successful in life, I learned rather quick that experience and the ability to adapt and learn quickly is needed more than anything. Going to school for Computer Science while fun, was not needed as I had learned most of it on my own before hand and can learn just about anything I need to for that field on my own. Even in the Nuclear field I worked with a lot of people who where former tradesmen or out of the Navy etc that never went to college to do the work we did. I specialized in I&C (instrumentation and control) and I learned more in 3 months in the field that I did from my college experience.

Honestly it comes down to how driven you are paired with what your strengths are in life, if you can't learn things on your own then school is a good route. The benefit of school is networking, cause a lot of the time it comes down to who you know not what you know.

- - - Updated - - -

That mindset isn't great. I actually got told I would be a failure if I didn't go to university.
Such is life. It's true that you can do an apprenticeship or learn a trade but university opens up many doors depending on the field you're in.
In my experience, it's easier to have conversations with university educated people than those who are not.

Not everyone has contacts to help them get started.

There's nothing wrong with his mindset, he enjoyed doing a hands on skill based trade. It's not for everyone but if he enjoys it and is successful in life which by the sounds of it he is doing really well then he did what was right for him. Change starts from within and he did that, he stopped doing what was unfulfilling to him and went into something more meaningful in his life.

Also I fail to see how it's easier to have conversations with university educated people rather than those who did not attend? Is that a way of trying to say university educated people are superior in some way? If anything I've met and dealt with plenty of ignorant people from both camps.

[TITAN308]

Not sure if you used the saying wrong, but isn't it a good thing to work to live rather than living to work?

Sorry yes I got it backwards.

[Deleted]

This is one of the most suspect things I've heard on here.

Not really most people get useless qualifications in my experience. University doesn't determine your financial future completely

[Deleted]

http://www.itv.com/news/2017-01-20/s...o-headteacher/


My ex-boss was a joiner (no real qualifications) and now runs a trade school college group with a budget in around 50million +

[Tennis]

Honestly it comes down to how driven you are paired with what your strengths are in life, if you can't learn things on your own then school is a good route. The benefit of school is networking, cause a lot of the time it comes down to who you know not what you know.

- - - Updated - - -


There's nothing wrong with his mindset, he enjoyed doing a hands on skill based trade. It's not for everyone but if he enjoys it and is successful in life which by the sounds of it he is doing really well then he did what was right for him. Change starts from within and he did that, he stopped doing what was unfulfilling to him and went into something more meaningful in his life.

Also I fail to see how it's easier to have conversations with university educated people rather than those who did not attend? Is that a way of trying to say university educated people are superior in some way? If anything I've met and dealt with plenty of ignorant people from both camps.

It's my experience. Is it not your's as well?
In university you have to do 4 years of university level courses. That usually counts for something. Not always, obviously. Sometimes there's people who somehow end up with a degree yet are still incredibly ignorant.

[Iamanerd]

It's my experience. Is it not your's as well?
In university you have to do 4 years of university level courses. That usually counts for something. Not always, obviously. Sometimes there's people who somehow end up with a degree yet are still incredibly ignorant.

I went through college/Uni for two degrees, I've met incredibly intelligent people who didn't go to University and some of the best software devs I know never went to school. I've also met some of the worst devs that went through University, honestly I think it comes down to a person by person basis and what there passions are in life. The ones chasing money seem to be the one's who are not great at what they do and the who's who do what they enjoy seem to excel more.

[Unhinged]

Work. Work hard. Do well.

I'm just a shipping guy, but I'm quite content with my place of employment. My immediate coworkers are douche bags, but the job itself is cool. (Homebrew store, so I'm surrounded by beer stuff!)

My wife started as a receptionist at her job, she worked her way to salesperson, and is now currently the purchaser for the entire company.

OP, employers want smart, hard workers. College people have this chip on their shoulder with the thought of "well i have this degree, i deserve more." 25 years ago i would have agreed, but the potential employee market is saturated by these kind of people. The ones like my wife and me who aren't afraid to get in the shit and handle things are becoming more and more scarce.

Another tip is the old cliche of find something you love to do and then make money doing it. Even if that something is being a short order cook, if you enjoy cooking and the rush of different dishes at a quick pace then you will excel at it and you will do well. AND you might fuck around and have fun doing it!

It's funny that you have the exact dame chip on your shoulder.

[Mad_Murdock]

I went through college/Uni for two degrees, I've met incredibly intelligent people who didn't go to University and some of the best software devs I know never went to school. I've also met some of the worst devs that went through University, honestly I think it comes down to a person by person basis and what there passions are in life. The ones chasing money seem to be the one's who are not great at what they do and the who's who do what they enjoy seem to excel more.

I'll echo this. From the Army up, I've come across a diverse group of people, College education or not seemed to have little bearing on level of ignorance. Maybe it's splitting hairs, but there are lots of "smart" people who are not formally educated and there are plenty of educated people who don't seem to be very smart.

Being in certain subsection of the computer industry, college degrees mean jack. My previous group was full of people with degrees in Sociology, Chemical engineering, Basket weaving, Business Admin and a bunch of mutts like me with nothing but OJT and self taught. How well they could perform their job boiled down to personal traits and whether they enjoyed the job or if it was just a paycheck.

[Vorkreist]

I dropped 2 times out of college due to having to work 2 jobs at once to make ends meet so eventually just gave up on it. I went to a fuckton of interviews and applied to almost anything, even jobs with higher requirements that I knew I had no chance. Worked in various fields for 1-2 years each and got to be some jack of all trades master of none type.
The most important things that I got over all that was the experience of going to thousands of interviews and almost constantly learning new things in new fields. It builds like a muscle almost until you can feel confident to adapt and learn almost anything that might be required of you in a very short time and thats a very valued thing when 90% of people that apply to a job are fresh meat from college with no life experience, street smarts and practical intelligence / problem solving developed from direct experience.
A big advice would be to try and learn and as much as possible in any job you start in, even if its something that you think its a short term stepping stone. You can learn a lot from anywhere and anyone if you pay attention and that will make all the difference later on. Also do not jump from job to job every 2-3 months. Your resume will tell a pretty bad story to the future dream employer when he looks at it and sees you couldn't really handle any job before. They would rather pick a guy who worked in 3 places for at least 2 years in each instead of picking someone who has 15 prior jobs, each of 3-6 months.
I'm now running a sizable logistics company after starting 2 years ago with 0 experience in the field and no college degree.

[Fadeslol]

Not really most people get useless qualifications in my experience. University doesn't determine your financial future completely

+1, Don't go to college to learn how to run a business

[Vorkreist]

+1, Don't go to college to learn how to run a business

But an MBA does help in many ways. You don't need it sure, but if you can afford it its still great because of the value networking that you get. Its the same with film school for those that want to be directors/writers. You can learn most of that stuff on your own but you will need to know people in order to make something. Having relations and contacts from your own field is very valuable. You will end up partnering with those people or getting help when you need it.

[Mormolyce]

I would agree that it definitely isn't a ticket to ride. If you don't work hard it doesn't matter what degree you have, but I personally do think it is worth it based on my experience. And lots of employers do care about your degree. The fact is many job offers want a minimum of a degree + x amount of years of experience. Most that I've seen are around AA with 8 Bachelors with 4, Masters with 2, etc. Along those lines... if they have a section saying that experience can make up for a degree it usually suggest 10+ years of experience and that's if. You can apply to jobs with less experience or to jobs asking for a degree without one, but I've had the misfortune of being told I can't be hired without a degree several times.

Mormolyce is right. After you get your first job the degree really does become meaningless, they want to know its there, but they don't really care. However, with that degree (using government as an example) maybe you start at a GS6 instead of a GS2, that's if you can get the job at all.

Lastly...so I don't appear as a champion for college. IF you have some real expertise in a field it will out-compete a degree any day of the week. The difficult part is getting an employer to take a chance on you so that you can display those expertise.

Although I should caveat what I said by saying that things may be different in certain other industries. You probably won't get far as a surgeon without a degree for example :P

Nobody gives a shit? I think that greatly depends on your field no? Finance and Science types definitely give a shit. You're not going to find auditors at a big public firm without a degree.

I was in finance, that's exactly the field I was talking about. It was a bitch getting my first job and if anything they kind of held my degree against me :P

In science you're working for a university so you're essentially an academic, that's definitely an exception for obvious reasons. Or you could work for a private research company of some sort, that's a field I can't really comment on. Like I said, some industries may well be different. And some degrees.

In fact, choice of degree is extremely important. The terrible thing is, you really don't know what field you want to be in until you work in it but somehow you have to decide what degree to pursue years in advance of actually working in that field, in most cases.