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So teamliquid has so far been a pretty good place to ask general life questions. So I figured I'd ask here if i'm completely off base on what I'm thinking about.
I just graduated high school last year, and I decided to take a gap year to kind of figure out what I want to do with my life before going to college.
The thing is, I don't really know if university would be for me. I never enjoyed high school, and I never had a motivation to succeed or do well so I kind of just got by with decent enough grades to get into a few universities, but nothing special.
I really feel like I'm more of an independently motivated person. I spend a lot of time researching things and learning things just for the fun of it, but in a school environment i feel like I have no motivation to do that at all.
So here's the question, Would it be possible for someone to enter the IT/Admin/Comp Tech fields without a college degree? I mean, I don't plan to show up and be like "hi, i dont have any proof of my knowledge but you should hire me because i say im good". I understand that at the very least I would need to get the necessary certifications, CompTIA, Cisco, apple, etc. I know that I would have to be able to prove that I'm worth hiring over someone with a college degree through independent projects and portfolio/experience building.
I think the whole inspiration behind this line of thought would be my father. He only ever graduated high school with a GED, but he worked to get his certifications and got tons of work experience working for low level computer jobs. He wound up working as director of technology for a fortune 500 printing company and now is a partner in a very successful IT consulting firm.
Now, I understand that back in the 70s-80s the computer world was way different. Even though lots of the industry leaders today learned what they know by teaching themselves, I know that the industry is a lot more regulated and much more set in stone.
So does TL think that I'm insane and should just give up, or would it be possible for me to make this happen?
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Of course you can get a good job without college. If you are as independently motivated as you say you are, study on your own for certifications, and learn as much as possible so you can demonstrate practical knowledge to a employer. They will have to assess you by finding out what you know directly, rather than judging you based off your school and grades. This is either great news or terrible news, but it really depends what you make of it.
Just so you know though... you'll probly have to do it like your dad did and work your way up from ground level. 
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You can definitely get lower level jobs with the certifications but If you want to advance, I think you will have to end up getting a degree somewhere along the line.
It's not like there aren't people who are working on their degrees while getting certifications along the way.
I think it's better to go to college and do self-study while getting some experience in the field. I think not going to college is something you'd regret later in life.
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Very possible. My college degree was in poly sci, but I ended up in the tech field. I started out doing phone tech support for DSL/ISDN lines, but because I was well motivated and picked up new tech quite easy, I was quickly promoted to where I was programming switches/DSLAMs, etc...I could have moved into managed network services from there but chose the managerial route instead...burned out on corporate BS and switched careers. But, yes, you can do it without the college degree. You'll just have to start in more of a scrub position and prove yourself worthy along the way, so the end goal may just take longer to reach than it would if you had the degree. Good Luck!
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Either way you go will have to result in you doing some hard work. The difference is one way is a pretty standard and throught out procedure. The other is totally spontaneous and the outcome is ONLY resulted in how much work you put forth.
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The job scene at least in the U.K right now is very competitive and having a degree isn't necessarily gonna guarantee you'll get a good job or even a job at all right now. the thing that seems to really matter more than anything else is past experience which for someone starting out is very hard to come by. Obviously getting as qualified as you possibly can will help you in a search for a job so having a degree is obviously better than not having one but what seems the most important is to pick up job of some description and work you're way up.
What I would say is its easy to become unmotivated and lazy at university. I think having a rubbish job in your spare time whilst you're at university is the best way for a lazy person to see that actually I don't want to have to work in a job like this for the rest of my life and motivate you're self to study more and try harder.
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honestly dude,
i was the same as you, not giving a shit about high school grades or anything. i went to university and it gave me a new perspective on school and myself.
it's completely different, and if you have the cash for it you should at least give it a try imo.
you say you're independently motivated, and i feel as if that's precisely the kind of person who excels in a university enviroment.
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On July 28 2011 11:14 ~_~ wrote:
honestly dude,
i was the same as you, not giving a shit about high school grades or anything. i went to university and it gave me a new perspective on school and myself.
it's completely different, and if you have the cash for it you should at least give it a try imo.
you say you're independently motivated, and i feel as if that's precisely the kind of person who excels in a university enviroment.
Was about to write this same thing.
Besides right now the job market sucks and you'll have a hard time standing out with no education and no experience. I do a fair amount of short-term technical hiring in my job and most people applying are way over qualified for the job posts.
It would be different if you had an in somewhere and had an offer, in that case I'd tell you to take that over college for sure. Can your dad hook you up with something? Barring that, if you can afford college I recommend it.
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I personally have/want to go to school. I just feel like if I don't have the degree I won't get the job I want.
My best friends dad works at Wash U in STL,MO. A top notch school. So my friend has a job there with only 1 year of schooling, (he's 19) and after a year of working there gets a free education. He had connections.
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With the economy the way it is now, and how long graduates WITH a degree are waiting and working to get a job in the tech industry, I wouldn't count on it at all lol. It's possible but it'll be hell
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slightly possible but you have to prove that you have the skills, you certainly have to do many independent projects, etc. things you can do: code open source projects, do sysadmin work involving databases and web applications etc.
but even with the job you probably wont get high on the ladder without luck and pulling strings
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EPT
