I have gone the no degree route and have been very fortunate. You need to realize though that those with degrees put in time at school and earned some equity from just doing it. You need to make your own personal equity. Networking with others in the field and outside the field (opportunities come from the most unlikely sources). Volunteer at a local non profit, they can always use some help and people take notice of this. In my location there has been a resurgance of user groups. Interestingly enough they are unabashedly less technical and more oriented towards making contacts, as well as vertical or horizontal movement.
Flexibility is important too! You may want a sys admin job but a stint on a helpdesk will get you in the door. Once in offer suggestions and improvements to the admins but know your place. I caught some flack on this one in an earlier post but I still believe in it. A person that works well in a team (doesn't bully his ideas) is more appealing for a promotiion. Hang out for after hours maintenance and help is allowed to.
These things will build the personal equity you need to overcome the lack of paper...trust me it works.
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I have gone the no degree route and have been very fortunate. You need to realize though that those with degrees put in time at school and earned some equity from just doing it. You need to make your own personal equity. Networking with others in the field and outside the field (opportunities come from the most unlikely sources). Volunteer at a local non profit, they can always use some help and people take notice of this. In my location there has been a resurgance of user groups. Interestingly enough they are unabashedly less technical and more oriented towards making contacts, as well as vertical or horizontal movement. Flexibility is important too! You may want a sys admin job but a stint on a helpdesk will get you in the door. Once in offer suggestions and improvements to the admins but know your place. I caught some flack on this one in an earlier post but I still believe in it. A person that works well in a team (doesn't bully his ideas) is more appealing for a promotiion. Hang out for after hours maintenance and help is allowed to. These things will build the personal equity you need to overcome the lack of paper...trust me it works.