Please excuse the noob error I made with my orginal post. Feel free to flame if you must. I've donned on my abestos skivies.
I got hired with 6 months professional, but non- related, experience and no degree. It's a paradigm that has always existed and will continue to exist, but probably won't be the mainstream model. The key is in your abilities to market yourself. I was able to show that I had the current knowledge and capabilities needed at their organization and the capacity and interest to extend my abilities.
I started off as a technical support analyst which only required a highschool diploma and no work experience. I got promoted twice within that year, applying for higher positions as I became eligible. However, having no degree was a hindrance since the two other positions I got promoted to required degrees and experience, none of which I official and legally could state.
However, I did have projects that I worked on that showed that I did have the skills and work ethics needed. Furthermore, I weaseled my way onto projects the institution was originally planning to outsource. By doing so I was able to save them a good hunk of change since they were paying me ~$13.50/hr vs ~$40+/hr for a contractor. It also validated my summer work experiences, which the employers I've interviewed with don't count as *professional* work experience due to the non-continuous and temporary nature.
Hiring requirements can and will be waived if the company realizes your current and potentional viability for the organization. However, there are still plenty of companies that won't even consider a candidate that does not have a degree. If a company isn't flexible in it's hiring practices, I doubt it's going to be flexible in a changing economy. Even if I had a degree I wouldn't seek a job with such a company unless it was my only choice. And then, if such a company did hire me, I would look to jump ship as early as possible. You never know when the economy will turn sour, and at such organizations you're more likely to be layed off by middle managers trying to save there jobs rather than the company.
Before I continue, I want to stress that college is important and so is getting a degree. I'm envious of those that have obtained there diploma. However, using a degree as a measure of knowledge is a folly many people commit. I've forgotten most of my advanced math over with a period of 2 years simply due to lack of use. I can't even remember how due a simply integral which I learned in highschool and I completed linear algebra my freshman year in college.
Personally, I don't think my employer really cares if I still know how to calculate the Wronskian value of a matrix since it has nothing to due with developing enterprise applications using higher level programming languages. Nor would they care that I've never touched a single code fragment of assembly.
What my employers currently want and need is someone who can translate end user experience and implement business practices into a model that can be built with using currently available technologies. They need someone with skills in current technologies, and someone who will be able to learn and adapt as new technologies become available.
In conclusion, the *smart* employer will evaluate you on based your current skill set and your future viability. The most simplistic but crude method of such an evaluation is reviewing work experience and credentials via a resume. Work experience measures current knowledge while credentials measure past knowledge. Both measure potential learning capabilities. However, for the bulk of the resumes I've reviewed, ironically I was involved with interviewing prospective employees, the work experience rarely exhibits learning potential, though this is the most important place to emphasize your learning abilities. In such cases the degree does become important. It's a fail safe for those who aren't given opportunities to extend themselves at work. Even in a down economy, people without degrees will be hired. What changes is that employers will scrutinize prospective employees a lot harder since they won't be worried that the candidates will be snatched up leaving them with no candidates.
Ack! This was my first post to slashdot. I didn't realize that my hard breaks wouldn't be converted to the html equiv. Oh well. Is there anyway I can edit my post?
I got hired with 6 months professional, but non- related, experience and no degree. It's a paradigm that has always existed and will continue to exist, but probably won't be the mainstream model. The key is in your abilities to market yourself. I was able to show that I had the current knowledge and capabilities needed at their organization and the capacity and interest to extend my abilities.
I started off as a technical support analyst which only required a highschool diploma and no work experience. I got promoted twice within that year, applying for higher positions as I became eligible. However, having no degree was a hindrance since the two other positions I got promoted to required degrees and experience, none of which I official and legally could state.
However, I did have projects that I worked on that showed that I did have the skills and work ethics needed. Furthermore, I weaseled my way onto projects the institution was originally planning to outsource. By doing so I was able to save them a good hunk of change since they were paying me ~$13.50/hr vs ~$40+/hr for a contractor. It also validated my summer work experiences, which the employers I've interviewed with don't count as *professional* work experience due to the non-continuous and temporary nature.
Hiring requirements can and will be waived if the company realizes your current and potentional viability for the organization. However, there are still plenty of companies that won't even consider a candidate that does not have a degree. If a company isn't flexible in it's hiring practices, I doubt it's going to be flexible in a changing economy. Even if I had a degree I wouldn't seek a job with such a company unless it was my only choice. And then, if such a company did hire me, I would look to jump ship as early as possible. You never know when the economy will turn sour, and at such organizations you're more likely to be layed off by middle managers trying to save there jobs rather than the company.
Before I continue, I want to stress that college is important and so is getting a degree. I'm envious of those that have obtained there diploma. However, using a degree as a measure of knowledge is a folly many people commit. I've forgotten most of my advanced math over with a period of 2 years simply due to lack of use. I can't even remember how due a simply integral which I learned in highschool and I completed linear algebra my freshman year in college.
Personally, I don't think my employer really cares if I still know how to calculate the Wronskian value of a matrix since it has nothing to due with developing enterprise applications using higher level programming languages. Nor would they care that I've never touched a single code fragment of assembly.
What my employers currently want and need is someone who can translate end user experience and implement business practices into a model that can be built with using currently available technologies. They need someone with skills in current technologies, and someone who will be able to learn and adapt as new technologies become available.
In conclusion, the *smart* employer will evaluate you on based your current skill set and your future viability. The most simplistic but crude method of such an evaluation is reviewing work experience and credentials via a resume. Work experience measures current knowledge while credentials measure past knowledge. Both measure potential learning capabilities. However, for the bulk of the resumes I've reviewed, ironically I was involved with interviewing prospective employees, the work experience rarely exhibits learning potential, though this is the most important place to emphasize your learning abilities. In such cases the degree does become important. It's a fail safe for those who aren't given opportunities to extend themselves at work. Even in a down economy, people without degrees will be hired. What changes is that employers will scrutinize prospective employees a lot harder since they won't be worried that the candidates will be snatched up leaving them with no candidates.
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Please excuse the noob error I made with my orginal post. Feel free to flame if you must. I've donned on my abestos skivies.
I got hired with 6 months professional, but non- related, experience and no degree. It's a paradigm that has always existed and will continue to exist, but probably won't be the mainstream model. The key is in your abilities to market yourself. I was able to show that I had the current knowledge and capabilities needed at their organization and the capacity and interest to extend my abilities.
I started off as a technical support analyst which only required a highschool diploma and no work experience. I got promoted twice within that year, applying for higher positions as I became eligible. However, having no degree was a hindrance since the two other positions I got promoted to required degrees and experience, none of which I official and legally could state.
However, I did have projects that I worked on that showed that I did have the skills and work ethics needed. Furthermore, I weaseled my way onto projects the institution was originally planning to outsource. By doing so I was able to save them a good hunk of change since they were paying me ~$13.50/hr vs ~$40+/hr for a contractor. It also validated my summer work experiences, which the employers I've interviewed with don't count as *professional* work experience due to the non-continuous and temporary nature.
Hiring requirements can and will be waived if the company realizes your current and potentional viability for the organization. However, there are still plenty of companies that won't even consider a candidate that does not have a degree. If a company isn't flexible in it's hiring practices, I doubt it's going to be flexible in a changing economy. Even if I had a degree I wouldn't seek a job with such a company unless it was my only choice. And then, if such a company did hire me, I would look to jump ship as early as possible. You never know when the economy will turn sour, and at such organizations you're more likely to be layed off by middle managers trying to save there jobs rather than the company.
Before I continue, I want to stress that college is important and so is getting a degree. I'm envious of those that have obtained there diploma. However, using a degree as a measure of knowledge is a folly many people commit. I've forgotten most of my advanced math over with a period of 2 years simply due to lack of use. I can't even remember how due a simply integral which I learned in highschool and I completed linear algebra my freshman year in college.
Personally, I don't think my employer really cares if I still know how to calculate the Wronskian value of a matrix since it has nothing to due with developing enterprise applications using higher level programming languages. Nor would they care that I've never touched a single code fragment of assembly.
What my employers currently want and need is someone who can translate end user experience and implement business practices into a model that can be built with using currently available technologies. They need someone with skills in current technologies, and someone who will be able to learn and adapt as new technologies become available.
In conclusion, the *smart* employer will evaluate you on based your current skill set and your future viability. The most simplistic but crude method of such an evaluation is reviewing work experience and credentials via a resume. Work experience measures current knowledge while credentials measure past knowledge. Both measure potential learning capabilities. However, for the bulk of the resumes I've reviewed, ironically I was involved with interviewing prospective employees, the work experience rarely exhibits learning potential, though this is the most important place to emphasize your learning abilities. In such cases the degree does become important. It's a fail safe for those who aren't given opportunities to extend themselves at work. Even in a down economy, people without degrees will be hired. What changes is that employers will scrutinize prospective employees a lot harder since they won't be worried that the candidates will be snatched up leaving them with no candidates.
Ack! This was my first post to slashdot. I didn't realize that my hard breaks wouldn't be converted to the html equiv. Oh well. Is there anyway I can edit my post?
I got hired with 6 months professional, but non- related, experience and no degree. It's a paradigm that has always existed and will continue to exist, but probably won't be the mainstream model. The key is in your abilities to market yourself. I was able to show that I had the current knowledge and capabilities needed at their organization and the capacity and interest to extend my abilities. I started off as a technical support analyst which only required a highschool diploma and no work experience. I got promoted twice within that year, applying for higher positions as I became eligible. However, having no degree was a hindrance since the two other positions I got promoted to required degrees and experience, none of which I official and legally could state. However, I did have projects that I worked on that showed that I did have the skills and work ethics needed. Furthermore, I weaseled my way onto projects the institution was originally planning to outsource. By doing so I was able to save them a good hunk of change since they were paying me ~$13.50/hr vs ~$40+/hr for a contractor. It also validated my summer work experiences, which the employers I've interviewed with don't count as *professional* work experience due to the non-continuous and temporary nature. Hiring requirements can and will be waived if the company realizes your current and potentional viability for the organization. However, there are still plenty of companies that won't even consider a candidate that does not have a degree. If a company isn't flexible in it's hiring practices, I doubt it's going to be flexible in a changing economy. Even if I had a degree I wouldn't seek a job with such a company unless it was my only choice. And then, if such a company did hire me, I would look to jump ship as early as possible. You never know when the economy will turn sour, and at such organizations you're more likely to be layed off by middle managers trying to save there jobs rather than the company. Before I continue, I want to stress that college is important and so is getting a degree. I'm envious of those that have obtained there diploma. However, using a degree as a measure of knowledge is a folly many people commit. I've forgotten most of my advanced math over with a period of 2 years simply due to lack of use. I can't even remember how due a simply integral which I learned in highschool and I completed linear algebra my freshman year in college. Personally, I don't think my employer really cares if I still know how to calculate the Wronskian value of a matrix since it has nothing to due with developing enterprise applications using higher level programming languages. Nor would they care that I've never touched a single code fragment of assembly. What my employers currently want and need is someone who can translate end user experience and implement business practices into a model that can be built with using currently available technologies. They need someone with skills in current technologies, and someone who will be able to learn and adapt as new technologies become available. In conclusion, the *smart* employer will evaluate you on based your current skill set and your future viability. The most simplistic but crude method of such an evaluation is reviewing work experience and credentials via a resume. Work experience measures current knowledge while credentials measure past knowledge. Both measure potential learning capabilities. However, for the bulk of the resumes I've reviewed, ironically I was involved with interviewing prospective employees, the work experience rarely exhibits learning potential, though this is the most important place to emphasize your learning abilities. In such cases the degree does become important. It's a fail safe for those who aren't given opportunities to extend themselves at work. Even in a down economy, people without degrees will be hired. What changes is that employers will scrutinize prospective employees a lot harder since they won't be worried that the candidates will be snatched up leaving them with no candidates.