How many of you have an education, was it worth it? Are you working in your "field"

We're lucky in Australia, we have a great system for student loans (HECS) basically the government pays for all of it and you pay it back interest free once you are earning a certain amount (over $50,000 AUD a year) even then they only take a small percentage.

Basically if you never gain a decent job, you'll never have to pay it back.

I don't believe there's any hard or fast answer to this.

Sometimes life takes you on a journey, and the best thing you can do is roll with the punches.

If you have nothing else in terms of practical work experience and/or connections, then an education is all you'll have. In terms of my own professional development I've found a lot of value in hearing other peoples stories. I find this to be the single most interesting thing about people, and I'm not just talking about work experience, I'm talking about their background, where they're from, how they got to where they are, what kind of people they met along the way, etc. etc. So if you don't mind me being a little long-winded, I'll share my personal story in the hopes that you might find something of value.

I personally didn't pursue post-secondary education until I was 24, because I was a bit lost, and partying too much, but I finally decided I wanted to study music production and engineering. The problem with that is that all the pioneer's in this city never went to a school like that because they didn't exist. They started as interns and worked their way up, so those schools created a really unrealistic demand on the workforce....Spitting out hundreds of graduates a year, and not having nearly as many available jobs for all the graduates that wanted them.

About mid-way through this program, I was offered the chance to work in the mailroom of what was one of Canada's biggest broadcasting/motion picture production and distribution companies at the time. Surprisingly the registrar at my school told me I should drop out to take that job. He cited "people come to this school primarily to make connections, to meet the people they're going to be working with in the future, and you've already done that, so you'd be a fool to not take this opportunity". The music industry in my city seemed dismal at best, so the decision was easy, and I spent 6 years in that company working my way out of the mail room and into corporate marketing...But here's the kicker, If I got let go after 1 year in the mail room for whatever reason (downsizing possibly?), where would I have been? I would have had 1 year of experience (which barely qualifies as work experience) in an entry-level position, and I would have had no diploma...Although it's worth mentioning that even having a diploma in music production from that private post-secondary institute would have been useless too. So it's a toss up.

The funny thing is that I'm at a point in my life where I've decided to walk away from the corporate office life to give small-business ownership a try. I've pretty much had enough with the office politics, but it's interesting how my life has already taken so many turns by the age of 34. I've worked in a few different industries now (always in Marketing), and now doing something totally different. It's interesting because when you go to school you spend minimum 3-4 years working towards a Diploma or a Degree, and yet you're more than likely not going to spend the rest of your life doing that very thing...So investing 3-4 years and 10's of thousands of dollars seems ridiculous.

Not having an education hasn't been a huge deal for me, but I often wonder how many interviews I would have been called in for if I had a degree.

The world is becoming a competitive place and it seems like everyone has a degree these days, so I believe it's important to examine the local climate.

So to answer some of your questions, do I have an education? Not really. I have an incomplete diploma in music production and engineering, and I completed a publicity and public relations certificate to supplement my work experience, but I've been told that the certificate looks like I couldn't make the commitment to get a whole degree. I haven't even picked up my certificate and it has been a year.

Do I believe not having a diploma or degree is the preferred route? Not really. I didn't even go through high school technically, I got my GED when I was 21...But if I had to do it all over again, I would have tried to finish high school the right way, AND get a degree.

Do I regret it? Not really. But I consider myself very lucky and very fortunate to have had the opportunities that I had and to have worked for some of the biggest and most reputable companies in the country...But it was a much different climate when I started in the work force 10 years ago. I also know that things could have happened MUCH differently for me, and I could have found myself in the same position, except not only without a formal education, but also without any significant work experience. Some of my old high school friends went down the same path as me, except without the opportunity and/or connections, and they're just bouncing around between grocery store jobs.

I'm not knocking grocery store jobs, because I can tell you honestly that corporate marketing isn't all it's cracked up to be either. I've worked corporate marketing jobs where I got paid less than some jobs that were considered menial. The trade off is that sometimes when you work for a "sought-after" company, like my position in the movie industry, they end up paying really low because they have hundreds of people beating down their door for the same job and are willing to do it for much less.

My parents (who are immigrants) raised me with the perception that office work is something glamorous that everyone should aspire to have...I believe I kind of see their logic, because you don't have to break your back like you would in a trade or construction, but there's really stressful factors, like the work politics or the fact that people often try to throw you under the bus...

You should stick to what fits for you, whether it be school, no school, office work or other...And I wouldn't stress about it. No matter who you are, you should get used to wearing a lot of different hats, because we're still living in an unstable economy, and I've been let go and had expired contracts, and if it's taught me one thing, it's to just roll with the punches. I even found myself working in a mail room again because my wife and I were getting desperate after I couldn't find a job for a while.

Edit: I should also add that I believe sometimes it boils down to your inherent characteristics or it can seem like the luck of the draw. I've met people that had degrees that didn't seem to get as high profile jobs as me, perhaps because their networking skills or people skills were lacking. Even some of the most successful people right now made the connections they need to while in school and dropped out to work on ideas they were fostering (Mark Zuckerberg?).

Interesting this thread popped back up, I've been trying to figure out what to go back to school for and finish my degree in. Florida makes it insanely difficult to qualify for in state tuition so I've been working full time while I establish residency but should be eligible in january.

To go back and finish my degree in what I started studying would be a waste of time and money, looking at school from the perspective I'm at now is very different from at 17-18 when I first started college. If I go back now it's not to rack up six figures of debt in private school for a degree that doesn't have a great chance at landing me a job or a job that doesn't pay any more than I make now.

I would love to go back and finish an architecture or other design degree, but the amount of time and money it would cost is just not worth for the small number of jobs out there that don't even pay if you somehow manage to get one (and I have one already that wouldn't pay much more if I had a degree).

Really debating if I want to go though engineering school. Also debating if it is worth it to study computer science and if I would like it enough- but there seem to be a lot of jobs and I would probably be good at it. I'm going to teach myself some programming in the meantime and see if I like it.

Well worth the read. It seems like the big take away here is being adaptable. Another question i'd like to raise, is it better to commit to one path or sort of commit and have the famous back up plan (you know the one where you decide you want to do something risky i.e. DJ, play in a band, or act, then people insist you have a back up plan in case things don't work out). I believe both paths are valid. If you decide to commit to your passion you can really put in the time and work to be great. Obviously though this is a pretty big risk. You have to treat it like a full time job if you want to be great. Also this gives you a huge advantage over people in school. School is pretty much a full time job for 4 years. That's a 4 year advantage that you have over others.

Now for having a back up plan I believe thats great and very smart but I also wonder if it isn't a crutch. You can sort of slack off your dream and be just good instead of great. But I also believe having a variety of experiences can you teach more then if you just specialized in one area. For example a producer may have the greatest music but if they don't know how to connect, network, and how "the business" works then they're at a disadvantage compared to someone who has a wider variety of experience.

Hope what i'm saying made sense, ironically i'm supposed to be studying right now.

I don't believe there's any hard or fast answer to this.

Sometimes life takes you on a journey, and the best thing you can do is roll with the punches.

If you have nothing else in terms of practical work experience and/or connections, then an education is all you'll have. In terms of my own professional development I've found a lot of value in hearing other peoples stories. I find this to be the single most interesting thing about people, and I'm not just talking about work experience, I'm talking about their background, where they're from, how they got to where they are, what kind of people they met along the way, etc. etc. So if you don't mind me being a little long-winded, I'll share my personal story in the hopes that you might find something of value.

I personally didn't pursue post-secondary education until I was 24, because I was a bit lost, and partying too much, but I finally decided I wanted to study music production and engineering. The problem with that is that all the pioneer's in this city never went to a school like that because they didn't exist. They started as interns and worked their way up, so those schools created a really unrealistic demand on the workforce....Spitting out hundreds of graduates a year, and not having nearly as many available jobs for all the graduates that wanted them.

About mid-way through this program, I was offered the chance to work in the mailroom of what was one of Canada's biggest broadcasting/motion picture production and distribution companies at the time. Surprisingly the registrar at my school told me I should drop out to take that job. He cited "people come to this school primarily to make connections, to meet the people they're going to be working with in the future, and you've already done that, so you'd be a fool to not take this opportunity". The music industry in my city seemed dismal at best, so the decision was easy, and I spent 6 years in that company working my way out of the mail room and into corporate marketing...But here's the kicker, If I got let go after 1 year in the mail room for whatever reason (downsizing possibly?), where would I have been? I would have had 1 year of experience (which barely qualifies as work experience) in an entry-level position, and I would have had no diploma...Although it's worth mentioning that even having a diploma in music production from that private post-secondary institute would have been useless too. So it's a toss up.

The funny thing is that I'm at a point in my life where I've decided to walk away from the corporate office life to give small-business ownership a try. I've pretty much had enough with the office politics, but it's interesting how my life has already taken so many turns by the age of 34. I've worked in a few different industries now (always in Marketing), and now doing something totally different. It's interesting because when you go to school you spend minimum 3-4 years working towards a Diploma or a Degree, and yet you're more than likely not going to spend the rest of your life doing that very thing...So investing 3-4 years and 10's of thousands of dollars seems ridiculous.

Not having an education hasn't been a huge deal for me, but I often wonder how many interviews I would have been called in for if I had a degree.

The world is becoming a competitive place and it seems like everyone has a degree these days, so I believe it's important to examine the local climate.

So to answer some of your questions, do I have an education? Not really. I have an incomplete diploma in music production and engineering, and I completed a publicity and public relations certificate to supplement my work experience, but I've been told that the certificate looks like I couldn't make the commitment to get a whole degree. I haven't even picked up my certificate and it has been a year.

Do I believe not having a diploma or degree is the preferred route? Not really. I didn't even go through high school technically, I got my GED when I was 21...But if I had to do it all over again, I would have tried to finish high school the right way, AND get a degree.

Do I regret it? Not really. But I consider myself very lucky and very fortunate to have had the opportunities that I had and to have worked for some of the biggest and most reputable companies in the country...But it was a much different climate when I started in the work force 10 years ago. I also know that things could have happened MUCH differently for me, and I could have found myself in the same position, except not only without a formal education, but also without any significant work experience. Some of my old high school friends went down the same path as me, except without the opportunity and/or connections, and they're just bouncing around between grocery store jobs.

I'm not knocking grocery store jobs, because I can tell you honestly that corporate marketing isn't all it's cracked up to be either. I've worked corporate marketing jobs where I got paid less than some jobs that were considered menial. The trade off is that sometimes when you work for a "sought-after" company, like my position in the movie industry, they end up paying really low because they have hundreds of people beating down their door for the same job and are willing to do it for much less.

My parents (who are immigrants) raised me with the perception that office work is something glamorous that everyone should aspire to have...I believe I kind of see their logic, because you don't have to break your back like you would in a trade or construction, but there's really stressful factors, like the work politics or the fact that people often try to throw you under the bus...

You should stick to what fits for you, whether it be school, no school, office work or other...And I wouldn't stress about it. No matter who you are, you should get used to wearing a lot of different hats, because we're still living in an unstable economy, and I've been let go and had expired contracts, and if it's taught me one thing, it's to just roll with the punches. I even found myself working in a mail room again because my wife and I were getting desperate after I couldn't find a job for a while.

Edit: I should also add that I believe sometimes it boils down to your inherent characteristics or it can seem like the luck of the draw. I've met people that had degrees that didn't seem to get as high profile jobs as me, perhaps because their networking skills or people skills were lacking. Even some of the most successful people right now made the connections they need to while in school and dropped out to work on ideas they were fostering (Mark Zuckerberg?).

yes i have a ba(hons) interactive art.

Graduated in 1996.

My personal tutor for a while was brian eno.

So i would say yes it was worth it...

i talked to someone with a b.a the other day; i said " yes, i will have fries with that"