Re:Young and Educated in Europe, but Desperate for Jobs
by lsc on Saturday November 16, 2013 @06:27AM
(#6744440)
Yeah. Speaking as someone who doesn't have a degree, I'm not sure that I'd get much any of a raise as a SysAdmin/systems person if I got a degree; probably not any more of a raise than I'd get for that much more experience, anyhow. But a degree would help a lot if I decided to change jobs, or even get a professional licence of some sort. For example, getting a real-estate licence, something I've considered in the course of researching my own investments, is possible without a degree, but more difficult.
A degree would also help me move into management in another person's company, the traditional upwards path for aging computer operators.
A degree would also come in handy if I want to emigrate to a first-world country before I become rich. Again, it's not required, but the process is rather longer and more nasty without a degree.
I'm not saying a degree has zero value. It doesn't have infinite value, though, and the cost of a degree is not zero.
To bring the conversation back to me, I got out of high school in '97. I immediately got a really good programming/sysadmin job because, well, it was 1997. They were hiring any idiot with a pulse. I was able to turn that opportunity into a solid reputation with solid experience that I was able to use to remain employed through the crash. If I had gone to college, and got out in 2001? I bet I would have been unemployed for another five years after graduating. The job market for people with my skillset was brutal.
I think that if you have a good chance to start your career? you should take it, even if that means delaying school. Of course, if you have a chance to go to school for free, and that chance will go away if you don't take it right away? you should take that, too... but I think the former is more common than the latter. Usually, if you can go to school now, you can go to school four years from now, but it's dramatically easier to start your career when there is a lot of demand in your field.
Now, I'm mostly speaking of finances. there is a psychological aspect to school, too. There is value to learning how to fit in, but again, that value is not infinite, and the cost is not zero.
A degree would also help me move into management in another person's company, the traditional upwards path for aging computer operators.
A degree would also come in handy if I want to emigrate to a first-world country before I become rich. Again, it's not required, but the process is rather longer and more nasty without a degree.
I'm not saying a degree has zero value. It doesn't have infinite value, though, and the cost of a degree is not zero.
To bring the conversation back to me, I got out of high school in '97. I immediately got a really good programming/sysadmin job because, well, it was 1997. They were hiring any idiot with a pulse. I was able to turn that opportunity into a solid reputation with solid experience that I was able to use to remain employed through the crash. If I had gone to college, and got out in 2001? I bet I would have been unemployed for another five years after graduating. The job market for people with my skillset was brutal.
I think that if you have a good chance to start your career? you should take it, even if that means delaying school. Of course, if you have a chance to go to school for free, and that chance will go away if you don't take it right away? you should take that, too... but I think the former is more common than the latter. Usually, if you can go to school now, you can go to school four years from now, but it's dramatically easier to start your career when there is a lot of demand in your field.
Now, I'm mostly speaking of finances. there is a psychological aspect to school, too. There is value to learning how to fit in, but again, that value is not infinite, and the cost is not zero.