subaruturbo_18

Sorry, this may be an intrusive question. I am about to finish my first year of university, but I'm wondering if it's really for me. I have started another thread about traveling which you may have seen, and i have really been thinking about going, rather than doing my second year at uni. What I'm concerned about is, although i may come back and think yeah i really want to carry on with my course, I may also come back and wish to find a career.

What I'd like to know is how many of you lot have been successful in your career without having a degree?

Simon C

Define good money.

NotoriousREV

I earn good money without a degree but I worked hard to get here. Having said that, I don't think I'd have done any better with one, but I do regret not doing it.

Jamz3k

Out of all my school chums, I can't name you one of them that has a degree and a good job.

I came out of school with nothing, became a successful sales person then woke up one day and realised i was **** at sales and now i'm not so successful.

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

i left school with no quals whatsoever, not through lack of ability, but stupidity whilst there, did several dead end jobs, then decided to go to uni as a mature student, did 3 years of a psychology degree, and got to a point where i couldnt afford to be out of work any longer, dropped out, got a job, worked my way up to operations manager, now gone out on my own as of november last year, still going strong, and projected earnings somewhere in the region of £45 - 50k a year!!!! not bad for a bum at school, in my opinion anyway. i love what i do, and going out on my own was the best move i ever made. im an insurance assessor, not that makes much difference i suppose, but just incase you wondered.

a lot of life isnt what you know its who you know, although that isnt the case with how ive gone, but dont think that degrees are the be all and end all cos they aint, go away, enjoy yaself and worry about it later, just be aware that you will need to worry about it at some point in your life, just not at the moment!!!!

g7prs

iTrader: (5)

I served my time as an engineer in a glass works and it was a dump but the money was ok. I then gave up my trade and got a job in the petrochemicals industry as a process operator ( now learning the panel in the control room ) and the money is much better

I ment to say i have no degree or highers.

subaruturbo_18

I think the average is £27k? More than that

By good...To put it this way I know with my degree i could probably get a job at £45k plus, but don't know whether I'll enjoy it..

So there, £45K+ per year.

I know of a couple of people who have earned over £80k a year, but obviously this is not possible for everyone.

subaruturbo_18

This is the **** i like to hear!

Well done

Simon C

As a batch operator in a 24/7 data centre, I earnt 65k in 18 months inc overtime contracting. That was 2 days, 2 nights, 4 off on 12 hour shifts.

every1sgottablue1

Me! Started doing a degree in Psychology, but all my mates were earning so decided to go out in to the real world and stop sponging beer money off them.
Started at the bottom and worked my way to the top in Management for a very big company.
What wrxsti280 quoted "its not what you know its who you know", and also if your face fits is another asset to earning good money

GC8

Remember that if youve passed this year youll always have the points: as will wrxsti280, and you can always go back and get the remaining credits in order to graduate.

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

i always remember having a conversation as a kid with a freind of mine at the time who was extremely clever academically and saying that if i earnt somewhere in the region of 20K a year id be the luckiest person in the world, at the time i couldnt genuinely believe at that point i would ever earn such huge sums of money, (They were huge sums of money to someone who has a very base view of life, i.e me) and it was a fair few years ago, it's only the last few years that ive earned what i now consider a good wage, but there are so many more important things in life than money, ive experienced some very bad things in my life, including burying my brothers 4 day old baby, and i'd have given everything i have away for never having to go through that again. enjoy life while ya can!!!! cos something will come and bite you on the **** whe ya least expect it and ya may never get the opportunity again!!

Martin2005

I'm a Director at a management consultancy, and I left school with only very mediocre CSE's

I never bothered at school, so I had to start at the botton and work up (oh and blagg like crazy)

sti-04!!

Director of a few companies . Left school with 8 gsce's (sce's), qualified as an HGV mechanic, went to college in my spare time & got a BA in business management.
I would say that i earn decent money
Horses for course, my BA was a nightmare, it took me most of my late 20's to complete but being 30 now i have achieved what i wanted to at my age.

chrisUK300

iTrader: (10)

Never went to uni, left school and did a couple of years as an apprentice mechanic at Fiat, left there and joined the railways as a Signalling and Telecomms engineer. Earnt 37k last year. Im 26 none of my friends that went to uni are earning anywhere near at the minute.

c_maguire

I quit school at 16 because I was long bored with it and breaking the law on motorcycles was more entertaining.
Several years and numerous crap jobs later the realisation dawned that it is much easier to get what you want (which usually requires money) if you have some skills that people want or need. So I went back as a mature (more mature at any rate) student to study electronics and communications.
Now I find working fairly tedious (nothing new there) but these days I work less hours and make a comfortable living (quality of life and all that). Without doubt that education was well worth the time for the security it gives you.

So in summary I would recommend anyone to take the opportunity to get a useful qualification when they can as you will always have something to fall back on when needs be. You can do the travelling once that qualification is in the bank.
Just make sure that qualification is of some use. So if you are doing Psychology, Media Studies or some other entirely pointless subject then either change to something more useful or go travelling after all.

Kevin

Trout

iTrader: (1)

When I finished my first year at University I was convinced that I was going to quit. Family pretty much pushed me to reconsider.

I ended up with the worst degree you can get (General degree) which is a kind of attendance certificate. I also now work in a field totally unrelated to my degree subjects.

HOWEVER...

I did have a blast in my three years at University AND

a supplementary course in my final year (Computing and Statistics) created an interest for me to get into IT. From being a trainee COBOL programmer at the Civil Service I went on to become a Director at one of the largest Financial Services companies in the UK.

I now own a Consultancy, am a director of an IT company and am about to become a director of a International Trading company (clue if anyone wants to make really serious cash get into international commodity trading once you pull a deal off (which may take months or years) the money is very big).

So the degree itself was worthless - but I had a good time and it gave me a lead to where I ended up.

dunx

iTrader: (3)

Trout you need a chauffeur ?

LOL

dunx

P.S. I agree that earnings make things easier, but I enjoyed a years unemployment after "poly" and just cycled everyday on my MTB ( 1990 ). Then went self employed and worked 100 hours a week....

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

It's a difficult question really as the story will be very different for every person. So by all means gauge the opinions of others, but only you know what is best for you.

For me, I left school with quite good qualifications and went on to get a degree. However, I am still in a really crap job.

Cards on the table and being totally honest, that is really all my own fault. Because I am very under confident and settle because it's easier (not in the long run), I am now years down the line earning very little and it's not like I can even say I enjoy the job, and now as things have turned out, the people I work with. I have always struggled with knowing what I want to do, and I think that coupled with the above has held me back. I think I have some issues.

Personally, money is not the bee all and end all, yes be comfortable, but you want to be happy too. Maybe taking time out will be good to work out what you really want from life. You can always go back.

There are plenty of people who started with nothing (academically) and went on to be successful, and vice versa.

GC8

I thought that you were going to get a better job?

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

As above, I am an idiot.

Truthfully, health issues of late haven't helped matters, but that is just an excuse when it comes down to it.

Job security always discourages me, as I'm (we're) trying to sort out our lives and I think when you know you are safe it puts you off taking the plunge.

Then there is the pathetic person I am. I stick where I am unhappy, because I somehow find that better than trying something new. If I knew I wanted to do something, I'd be more determined as deep down I know I'd probably manage it, but becasue I don't, I stick with what I know and am bloody good at (although you wouldn't think it would be hard). I could probably wipe the floor with managers at my place, especially mine, but there is no real chance of progression.

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Didn't finish my degree as got so bored I couldn't do itanymore.

Had a couple of dead end jobs and then trained in computer programming (COBOL - LOL), got a job with a lrage manufacturing company and worked my way up to IT manager with the company car and £50K pa etc.

Got tired of the corporate lifestyle and went out on my own..... don't regret it one bit even though it sometimes pays worse than the old job.

However I do wish I had stuck at my degree (just one year to go) as it opens other doors more easily.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

subaruturbo 18: Be VERY careful here. All these people who left school with not much and "worked their way to the top", did so in the days of milk and honey, now passed.
Doing the same again from the bottom of a recession will be ultra difficult.

Think hard and long before doing anything rash.

hodgy0_2

you will always earn more money with a degree -- statistics don't lie regarding this!!!

just as some smoker's will live to 80 or 90, does not alter the fact that smoker's die earlier

you will always regret not getting a degree imo

in a lot of white collar jobs it is just assumed you have one

Leslie

I decided on the RAF and did not go for a degree course. Never regretted it and the time I would have spent on the degree was used to get the experience I needed in the RAF. The degree would not have been of any practical use in my career.

Les

MMT WRX

Absolutely.
I worked my way up, got head hunted to work in London with a good salary, jacked about 10 years ago, set up my own business and earn similar now for a third of the hours.

Today is a different ball game. Alan Sugar answered this question on the radio last week. He said what Alcazar just said, he reckoned you will not be able to get through the doors in the first instance without a degree.

Unless someone knows better than him.

I don't have a degree but my daughter does and is halfway through an MBA, her boyfriend has two and is a doctor aiming to be a surgeon. It's a no brainer in today's climate.

FINISH UNI...

MICAWRX

Earned over £40k at 20 yr old contract electrician on rigs in the north sea. (obviously 4 years training)

Did my degree at 25, took me ten years after that to get to similar money!!

3 years at university were the most fun days of my life..... highly recommended

Geezer

The end result is pretty irrelevant, if you feel you want to go then do.

There will be endless stories of people who made it large without any decent education, or people working in McDonalds with a PHD in particle physics!

You don't need a degree to do well, but certain careers or jobs will require a degree to get into, so you need to consider that.

One of the main problems I see with now is that degrees have been so utterly de-valued that unless you have a very specific one you are no longer an attractive proposition to an employer.

When I came out of school, most people with degrees were the top 15% of people, you knew that they were usually going to be intelligent people, were prepared to work to a decent degree (no pun intended).

However, now every Tom, Dick & Harry can go to the plethora of Universities that have appeared, doing a vast array of subjects, plenty of which have little application in the modern world. We get applicants now and you just cannot make that call anymore, a degree on a CV is literally not worth the paper it is written on.

I would always choose someone with experience over a degree for the types of roles we would be looking to employ, so in that sense, a degree is worthless.

Also consider that you will come out of Uni with a huge financial burden, so you will need a pretty good job to pay it back.

If you are confident that your career warrants a degree and that you will be able to get a much better job at the end of it, it's a not brainer. Otherwise, you'd be better off getting a job and start earning money now rather than spending what you don't have. You can still get pissed and **** alot when not at Uni you know

For the record, I don't have a degree and earn in the region of £55-60k a year, so a lack of degree didn't do me any harm. I was going to go to Uni to do a Geology degree, and I definitely would not have ended up getting paid as much as I do now! That said, at least I may have enjoyed it more

Geezer

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

+1 at what Jeff (Alcazar) says. Thats not to suggest those who made it from the bottom up didn't work hard, it's just a very different way of doing things now IMO.

I left School with 11 GCSE's, 8 were C+ so walked into College. Did the Art & Design thing as I had visions on going to Uni to study Transport Design (not grammar ). Had the grades from College, had a choice of 5 Universities to pick but personal family circumstances at the time mean't I couldn't go.

After a crappy time over the last 2 years which nearly saw me bankrupt I'm earning a pittance as a first year apprentice but having the time of my life at work. Learning new things which interest me from people who actually want to see you do well - I've noticed a lot of the younger lads seem to think the world owes them a favour and expect things on a plate nowadays.

I doubt I'll get a degree (maybe a foundation but possibly nothing higher), but would have a useful in demand trade, enjoy work and earn a respectable wage over the national average (which is much higher than the regional average around here).

I wouldn't say you HAVE to have a degree but more so now than days gone by for many an occupation it is almost a given that one may be required. That or you stumble upon making the summer house anthem and make it as a producer

bigsinky

trust me, do it young. it may be a drag now, but try and do a part time degree with job, wife, rugrats, bills etc. it is a major, and i mean major PITA. stick at it chum and get it behind you now.