Dropped out of college, question.

So I've worked in IT for the past two years now and before that I was doing an Associates degree program at a tech school. I ended up not finishing my degree. Do I even bother putting that on a cover letter and/or resume when I apply for a job? I didn't finish so I have nothing to show for it really.

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Essendon

Just say Attended XYZ School for <insert number of> semesters. Or say worked towards XYZ degree at XYZ School.

It's a good idea to mention it, at the very least it says you worked towards a degree. Should be enough to get you through the HR filters.

Devilsbane

Even if you are already in the field, not having a degree is going to keep coming back to haunt you. My advice would be to take a class here and there and try to finish it off.

As for whether your school should be on your resume, yes. I think I would list attended dates rather than semesters.

ipconfig.all

you should list the times.

L0gicB0mb508

Devilsbane wrote: »

Even if you are already in the field, not having a degree is going to keep coming back to haunt you. My advice would be to take a class here and there and try to finish it off.

As for whether your school should be on your resume, yes. I think I would list attended dates rather than semesters.

It is entirely possible to have a decent career in IT without a degree. I don't have one, and I'm doing pretty well. I do recommend that people finish their degree though.

I usually just list the dates I attended school and a short synopsis of classes I've taken.

Michael.J.Palmer

I'm in the same boat as you with the exception that my Associate degree wasn't even IT related. I asked a couple of career services providers their opinion on it and they all came up with the same answer.

List it, potential employers will want to know your educational history as a whole, if you didn't complete it, it's not a big deal. What I do to spice it up a bit is list my accomplishments while in school, for example I had a high GPA and even had a 4.0 GPA for the first year so I list "President's and Dean's List Honor Roll".

Of course, I don't have a good excuse on why I didn't complete it, fell only 15 credits shy (basically a semester) of completion.

tomahawkeer

I have an associates degree, in a completely unreleated field, and have worked as an admin for the past 9 years. Its definitely possible to achieve a good career in IT without a degree, however, I have found that it is hampering me, from obtaining a better / higher paying job. With that being said, I start back to school in July to pursue a BS in IT, and plan on finishing in 5 semesters or so.

Devilsbane

L0gicB0mb508 wrote: »

It is entirely possible to have a decent career in IT without a degree.

Decent, yes. But I know many people that have only an associates degree and that holds them back from being on a higher pay scale and can narrow down which jobs they can even apply to.

A good friend of mine is a teacher at a community college. He has a full time day job and does some teaching on the side. He is a great teacher (I actually had a few classes in the past which is how I met him.)

Because he only has an associates, he gets paid less, he gets pushed around from the school, and he is extremely limited at which schools he can teach at since most require at least a bachelors. He has been in the IT field for about 20 years and holds about a dozen certifications ranging from electronics, to Active Directory, to CWNA. Along with being a good teacher, he is also a very passionate one. He will spend 8 hours preparing for a 4 hour class, despite the fact that he has already taught the same class 10 times before.

I bring this up because it sickens me that just because he doesn't have a peice of paper that he gets pushed around by my former school and is unable to do much about it because other schools won't even bring him in for an interview. He loves teaching students and his wife is a stay at home mom with 3 kids, so the money is always needed too.

I've tried to talk him into going back to school to get the bachelors and stop putting up with the S*** politics that he has to work with. He is easily smart enough to do it, he just is concerned about the pay cut that would be involved by leaving his part time teaching job, and certainly couldn't do both timewise.

So it is best to get it now then get stuck in a situation like my friend.

tomahawkeer wrote: »

I have an associates degree, in a completely unreleated field, and have worked as an admin for the past 9 years. Its definitely possible to achieve a good career in IT without a degree, however, I have found that it is hampering me, from obtaining a better / higher paying job.

Sounds like tomahawkeer is in a similar situation.

luckybob

Like others, I have been very successful given I do not have a degree. I look at is a bad thing because it will be tough to tell my kids they need a degree to succeed in life, but I fully support having a degree. My life would have been so much easier had I finished college.

On that note, I make over $100k and just got hired on at a fortune 500 company. So anything is possible.

Paul Boz

Most people in IT don't even have degrees remotely related to what they do in their day to day lives so the value of a degree in IT isn't as much as in a more traditional field. That being said, it's still important to have one. I never completed my degree because I had to work to keep my lights on but its not something I've given up on.

To answer your question, some experience is better than no experience. I've been asked about not completing my degree in an interview before and simply explained my situation and that was more than enough. Many people understand that not everyone can afford to go to school when they're young.

skyline

I have no degree and dobut I will ever get one for that matter. School just isnt for me. I did a yr of college in CS and never went back. I have it listed on my resume for the time that I went there.

As other have said when asked about my schooling I give a valid reason for not finishing and that always seems to satisfactory answer for them

zerglings

Devilsbane wrote: »

Decent, yes. But I know many people that have only an associates degree and that holds them back from being on a higher pay scale and can narrow down which jobs they can even apply to.

I'd say YMMV. AFAIK, my previous manager does not have any type of degree. Don't even think he attended college at all. I had another manager who only had AS degree and had a chance to be a regional manager but didn't take it because of his family. The position needed to move to another state.

L0gicB0mb508

zerglings wrote: »

I'd say YMMV. AFAIK, my previous manager does not have any type of degree. Don't even think he attended college at all. I had another manager who only had AS degree and had a chance to be a regional manager but didn't take it because of his family. The position needed to move to another state.

I'll agree with this. Not having a degree, does not railroad you out of a high level job. It depends on who you work for, and what you do. Your skills outweigh your degree 9 times out of 10. Do companies sometimes require a degree? Sure they do. I do think you should get your degree, and if you are in school I would recommend you stay there.

Warsh1p

Go back to College

novovictus

I have been in IT for 7 years, and I must say that I am glad that I did not waste four years partying in college. It is also really nice to not be swimming in debt...

That being said, I am now finding the lack of a degree to be hindering my progress. I am currently looking at doing an online college on the side (WGU Anyone?). If I had to do it over the only thing I may have done differently was maybe to have picked up night school from the start.

I also did not have the oportunity to go to college due to lack of $$ and I started with kids right after high school. My advice would be to finish now, and it won't haunt you later like Devilsbane said...

Devilsbane

novovictus wrote: »

I also did not have the oportunity to go to college due to lack of $$ and I started with kids right after high school. My advice would be to finish now, and it won't haunt you later like Devilsbane said...

I'm glad that someone finds value in what I said. Somebody else decided to give negative reputation with the comment "bull". I was just speaking about my own experience with my friend. Someone else's situation may be different, but the story was certainly not made up.

Good luck with getting back in school. I know some people that are working full time and are only able to take 6 credits or so a semester. It will take them awhile to graduate, but it is certainly possible to do.

veritas_libertas

Devilsbane wrote: »

I'm glad that someone finds value in what I said. Somebody else decided to give negative reputation with the comment "bull". I was just speaking about my own experience with my friend. Someone else's situation may be different, but the story was certainly not made up.

I happen to agree with you as well. It's just the relativity of where we are headed. Where I live most every decent job in server administration is looking for a BS, and any of the government jobs "prefer" a Master degree.

zerglings

Degree is important. Period. However, just because you have a degree does not mean you are qualified for whatever job that is open. I believe we all know that but felt I had to say it. In workplace, it is everybody's game. Ultimately, it will all depend on your technical skills, soft skills, work ethics, attitude, and/or the ability to be in the good side of the key people. There are some people that will just hate you without any reason. You know, they just have a bad vibe towards you and they can't really explain why. For that reason, it will limit your growth in an organization. If I didn't think degree is important then I would've not finished my BS degree and be contended with my AAS degree and certs under my belt. A lot of people discouraged from going to for profit organization to finish my BS but I made that choice because I thought it was smarter from time and money point of view. Money in a sense that I could bring more credits in compared to going to a Tier 1, 2, or 3 University that offers the program that I want.

Devilsbane

zerglings wrote: »

Degree is important. Period. However, just because you have a degree means that you are qualified for whatever job that is open.

I take it this is supposed to read does not mean.

zerglings

Devilsbane wrote: »

I take it this is supposed to read does not mean.

Fixed. Thanks for pointing it out.

LOL. Someone just send a negative rep. Didn't know my post wasn't written in English. Pardon my English as it is not my native tongue.