Too cool for school

Those of you who know me will know that I haven't got a university degree. I'm one of these college dropouts, but without the millions that others have in the bank. I'm still searching for those illusive footsteps to follow in. It's neither a skeleton in my closet, nor do I boast about it.

Those of you who know any Germans would know that they are very cerebral people. This doesn't necessarily mean they are smarter than other nationalities (my theory being that any group of people on Earth has the same percentage spead of differing intelligence), but just spend more time learning and thinking. They spend one more year at secondary school than those back at home, and for those who do end up going to university (not [i]fachhochschulen[i]/polytechs) are there for four years rather than three for their equivalent of the undergraduate degree.

So I took it upon myself to have a discussion on why it's ok for someone like me not to need to have gone to university at this stage in my life. It started when someone told me that going to university is important since you can go farther in your career than someone without a degree. The pot stir started by me countering with the fact that this isn't always correct. In my field I'm usually an equal peer with those who have degrees and often these folk are far more wise than me, but it's largely due the wiseness of experience rather than what university teaches. This is also exacerbated due to the fact I have always been the youngest person in my department / group, so it's to be expected. So far, I haven't found a comparative disadvantage for not having a degree in.... well.....what could one get a degree in.... "telco IP engineering".

My university evalangelist clarified their position by saying that it's not always where you get to, but often the money you make. Now, I have found this to be true, and it is often reflected in the fact that I don't have a suitable tertiary certificate. As time progresses, either in one job, or subseqent jobs down the track, this becomes less and less of an issue as I come in to closer parity to what my older peers make.

What made this hard to put forth were two things. The person I was arguing against was a student and really believed that what they had either dreamt up or heard from others was more valid than my experience. The second was that any time I try and play the "experience" card, it always feels like I'm patronising the person:

"Well, when you get out in to the working world, you'll see what I mean".

Of course I don't put it like that, and try my best to convey my position in the least condescending way I can, but it still sounds as though I'm talking down to them, and thus the argument felt unwinnable.

During the discussion I also mentioned a couple of issues that isolates this argument to some specific cases. Firstly I don't think that I would be able to repeat my experience in Germany since it's intrinsic with the population that you need an education before you can get a flash job that lets you order business cards.

Secondly I think this is particular to the I.T. sector. Any chump can get their foot in the door at the lower end of the spectrum and work their way up if they show potential, since the barrier to entry is lower than however low you think you can limbo.

To try and cover my arse and not appear an anti learn-stuff bigot, I'd like to say that I'm looking forward to going back to University at some stage (probably in my 20s) to complete some degree. Perhaps in languages or aeronautical engineering, but now just isn't the time for me, and I'm happy in my career at the moment (both profession and job). If I wanted to change jobs, the student fan club would have you believe that I would only either be moving sideways or downwards on the career matrix, but I think otherwise.

Those of you now in I.T. who have degrees, or not in I.T. but with a degree can hopefully see that I'm not dissing your efforts (even though that's what it seems 100% to be), but I am instead just putting my view forward that it's not mandatory to have one in order to get in to the work force and advance your career.