Continuing an IT Career Without a Degree?

skaffen42 asks: "Recently there have been a lot of employment related "ask slashdot" posts. There have been questions about hot technologies, the international job market, certification, college and even landing a regular job! I find myself in a situation that have not been covered these posts. I dropped out of college after a year and went to work as a programmer. Now, ten years later, I am a senior systems engineer at a medium sized software company. I have challenging work, a decent salary and good prospects for advancement. But we all know that in this economy even a good job like this can disappear without warning. Unfortunately I don't have a degree. Which brings me to my question: a couple of years ago anybody could get a job if they could spell "C" and someone like me with nearly a decade of experience could usually pick and choose between job opportunities. Those days are (unfortunately) long gone. What I want to know is how much my lack of a degree will count against me in the present job market? And what can I do to make my lack of a degree less of a liability? What can I do so that I can also have these kind of problems?"

Comments

Same here.

[oliverthered]

I didn't even finish collage in the UK (one level before degree).

I've stated to get a degree in other areas (chemistry and mathematics) at night school,
[doing a degree after programming for such a long time seems so boring].

Here's my .contingancy.plan.

1:/ Get to a decent position with very transferable skills, (I'm looking in the design consultancy area).

2:/ Get some level of 'fame' from an open-source project ( I'm currently writing an X-platform Access database driver for open office). This give's you a CV for life

3:/ Invest well while I can, pay off the mortgage quickly, get some savings, so that if the shit hits the fan you can absorbed the possible pay cut.

My main worry is that I can't even read my own handwriting!!!!.

Stick with small companies

[Brento]

What I want to know is how much my lack of a degree will count against me in the present job market?

As somebody who has the same problem, my advice is to focus your job-search efforts on smaller companies. Big ones (hospitals, banks, etc) tend to have strict human resource policies that require all salaried staff to hold a college degree. Even when I looked briefly during the dot-com craze, I was offered a couple of part-time positions at big companies (was looking to augment my full-time job) - right up until they tried to run my paperwork through their HR department.

Small companies tend to focus more on what you've produced, and don't mind your lack of degree as much. They use it as a form of rationalization for why you should be paid less, but at least you still get a job.

Get active in your local users' groups, too. If your peers in the same programming field see you as a helpful authority, then they'll be more inclined to recommend you to their bosses.

Potential pitfalls are great.

[FreeLinux]

In the present market, and definitely in my region, your situation is a very dangerous one. Presently, the few companies that are hiring in the region are taking full advantage of the market downturn and its resulting glut of skilled professionals. These few and far between companies are demanding degrees, usually advanced degrees and offering pathetic salaries in return.

Here's one: Major insurance company seeks mid-level programmer. Requires Master's degree in Computer Science or related field and minimum 10 years experience developing in C/C++ and Java. $65,000US + Benefits.

MCSE's beware!!!!

Credentialism

[Bouncings]

This post smacks of something called credentialism. It's been around for a very long time, and it's sort of a modern feudalism: adults who are white collar with college degrees can send their kids to good colleges. Adults without a degree can't send their kids to either good schools or good colleges. And so the cycle repeats itself.

This cycle was turned on its head during the past 100 years. Through unions, blue collar wages have gone up, and through scholarships, more people enter the white collar job market. Now, during the past few decades, the Internet has allowed people to self-educate. People who are self-educated are generally more motivated, more confident, and less ignorant. Although this change is slow, and with the economic backlash, many companies have reverted to the old way, credentialism will slowly die. High school kids cannot read their own deplomas, community college students beat Harvard students on game shows.

You're just bitter because you're dupped into the old wrong ways of thinking. Well, what do you call a college drop out in ten years? Boss.