Continuing an IT Career Without a Degree? 87
skaffen42 asks: "Recently there have been a lot of employment related "ask slashdot" posts. There have been questions about hot technologies, the international job market, certification, college and even landing a regular job! I find myself in a situation that have not been covered these posts. I dropped out of college after a year and went to work as a programmer. Now, ten years later, I am a senior systems engineer at a medium sized software company. I have challenging work, a decent salary and good prospects for advancement. But we all know that in this economy even a good job like this can disappear without warning. Unfortunately I don't have a degree. Which brings me to my question: a couple of years ago anybody could get a job if they could spell "C" and someone like me with nearly a decade of experience could usually pick and choose between job opportunities. Those days are (unfortunately) long gone. What I want to know is how much my lack of a degree will count against me in the present job market? And what can I do to make my lack of a degree less of a liability? What can I do so that I can also have these kind of problems?"
Your options (Score:3, Interesting)
2) Never leave your current job (also obvious, but not really under your control)
3) Network. A lot. Without a degree, in this job market, your only chances for landing another job are to a) already know the person, have an 'in', or b) impress the hell out of the interviewer. b) is possible in smaller companies, but if the interview's being conducted by HR, you can just forget it. So that leaves a); gets lots of people who know you, and are willing to hire you if you get canned.
Re:Your options (Score:2)
I disagree with this. Don't miss an interesting opportunity just because you don't have a degree. If you're hired for a better position your resume will look better and employers are less likely to care about your lack of degree.
Re:Your options (Score:1)
Re:Your options (Score:2, Insightful)
I realize the precarious position I am in and don't plan on leaving this company anytime soon. But recent layoff scares have me rethinking my situation. A degree (as meaningless as we all know it is) definitely equals job security. I plan on going to night school asap to get my little piece of paper to hang on the wall.
Re:Your options (Score:2, Interesting)
The fact that you realize a degree equals job security implies that it is not meanginless. In fact, the #1 reason for getting a degree is to improve your career prospects. Companies prefer degreed individuals for good reason. If you can make it through four years of college, it shows you have good work ethics.
Re:Your options (Score:1)
4) Be your own boss.
Re:Get practical certification (Score:2)
Re:Get practical certification (Score:2)
I think certifications can be a plus on your CV, what it is no substitute for a degree. A proven history of execution, on the other hand, is!
Just my $0.2
Re:Get practical certification (Score:2)
Duh.
MCS[D|E] is cookie cutter! (Score:1)
Same here. (Score:4, Insightful)
I've stated to get a degree in other areas (chemistry and mathematics) at night school,
[doing a degree after programming for such a long time seems so boring].
Here's my
1:/ Get to a decent position with very transferable skills, (I'm looking in the design consultancy area).
2:/ Get some level of 'fame' from an open-source project ( I'm currently writing an X-platform Access database driver for open office). This give's you a CV for life
3:/ Invest well while I can, pay off the mortgage quickly, get some savings, so that if the shit hits the fan you can absorbed the possible pay cut.
My main worry is that I can't even read my own handwriting!!!!.
Re:OT: Re:Same here. (Score:1)
If you're stupid enough to disqualify a programmer based on a hurried post on a discussion board on a website (not that googling isn't effective due diligence), you are the one I would not employ.
He clearly didn't make a basic attempt, because this is a chat board. If you know anything about psychology, one's environment has a dominant role in determining one's behaviour.
For example, all things being equal, people are more likely to hop turnstyles (sp?) in a graffiti-covered subway station than in a clean one. Since there is plenty of abuse of the english language here (for that matter, you can't even be sure if the parent posters' first language is English), other people who would otherwise post proper, correct grammer are more likely to do a rush job to get the post up.
Nobody dies or loses any money from his poor spelling in this scenario. What you should really care about is whether or not he can effectively gauge his context and meet the standards of that context. It makes me laugh to no end when people place uniform standards of behaviour across multiple situations. This demonstates a clear failure to understand a significant chunk of the human condition, and usually serves as a good inidicator of a poor (but not neccessarily unsuccessful, because plenty can be achieved through connections and pure dumb luck) leader.
Re:OT: Re:Same here. (Score:2)
With all of that experience, it should not matter. (Score:1)
-kevin
Re:With all of that experience, it should not matt (Score:2)
Getting a certification in a field you know something about can be extra challenging, as there's no law saying the certifiers have to be particularly competent in the field they are 'certifying'; I'd be particularly nervous about a 'project management' certification, as experience could be really detrimental to getting certified...
Re:This is going to sound harsh... (Score:1)
Sounds to me like you're one of the folks who isn't all that bright, but got a degree based on hard work in order to get a job. Well, good for you. Everyone should make their own path. Still, wishing someone else mal chance in the job market is a petty thing.
Re:This is going to sound harsh... (Score:1)
I take it you majored in English or some kind of communication skills? Just in case you don't have your degree close by to wave in my face, "I" before "E" except after "C".
Re:This is going to sound harsh... (Score:1)
Re:This is going to sound harsh... (Score:1, Insightful)
Do I think that it has *anything* to do with what you *know* about the subject? Oh sweet jesus no. Do I think that it's a good indicator of maturity and discipline? Personally, yeah, I do. Of course I've known college grads that are morons, just like I've known non-college grads that are brilliant. But when the job market is tough and I have 100 applicants for the one job, who am I going to go for? The less risky one, most likely. That's just sound judgement.
Re:This is going to sound harsh... (Score:1)
This post (I assume the same author) makes more actual points. I know that personally, I'd never have gotten anywhere if I hadn't spent at least 2 years at school. Second, I will concede that a degree is a bit more than an introduction letter. A degree also shows drive and the ability to follow thru.
If I have two identical candidates for a job, of course I'd take the one with the degree. In the real world however, there's no such thing as an identical candidate.
I look for qualifications for the position in past job experience first. Vibe and attitude are also very important. Does this person *seem* sharp? Am I looking for an architect, a hacker, or a line soldier? The education background only matters to me if they're fresh out of school. I suppose I may be biased without a degree myself.
It does sound harsh to me... (Score:2, Interesting)
Frankly, your point doesn't seem very well thought out. Here's how I look at it: somebody with the determination to learn how the stuff works without sitting in class, i.e. doing it on their own, is showing a lot of motivation that many students can't muster without sitting in a class having a professor help them along. I'm not saying that those folks are lame, that is the way the vast majority of very smart computer geeks (and geeks of other varieties ;) get their education. But it does speak to someone's capacity for initiative and working independently.
Point two is this: I've worked with many people in the field who had degrees in CS who seemed to know as much as I did or less(!) about some things, just as a result of experience. The experience that I gained working in the job put me at essentially the same level as those folks when it came to real-world situations. They don't hand you a lot of ugly legacy code in school and expect you to sort through it, it seems. They don't ask you to figure out how to migrate a web site set up for Apache to Netscape Enterprise (don't ask). Granted, I've read a lot. But the books I read were for the most part books I saw on other people's desks being read too, whether they had a degree or not. Maybe the point is that they can't possibly teach you everything in school, so you aren't _necessarily_ going to have an immediate advantage over someone because of that degree.
Point three? Less debt. Yay. Right now I'm contemplating going back to school, but part of me is thinking "why bother, why get in debt like that?" I mean, maybe I will, because doing research level work in school to get a masters or greater I think is a different thing than undergrad CS. But I've had three different jobs in the three years I've been a computer geek and I've never had to explain that I don't have a CS degree.
Again, I want to stress the point that I don't think that _by_default_ you are going to be in the same boat as someone with a degree, but it's not such a bad thing not to have one and can work in your favor in some ways.
Re:This is going to sound harsh... (Score:1, Interesting)
If you want to pursue research for private or public institutions, or your interests are in the purely academic, then by all means get that degree. If you want to work, get your ass out into the workforce as soon as you can.
When I was in college (Purdue, started in '90), I didn't feel like I was getting much from the classes. I learned more from my dorm-mates about computers (and that fancy "internet" thing) than any class. I was treated more like an asset than someone who was trying to learn -- far worse than any huge Katzian corporation ever could. I was miserable. My parents were paying ~$15k/yr for professors and TAs who couldn't speak a clear English sentence.
Of course, I'm biased. I didn't doo well in school. I was #2 in my HS graduating class, yet I got my ass kicked in my engineering-track math and science classes. I bounced from CEE to ME to philosphy, then, when I finally figured out that I loved the application of computers, rather than the theory, I moved to Computer Technology (CPT).
Unfortunately, the instructors still spewed the party line -- no creativity at all. (Susan Lisack and James Goldman, you can kiss my ass!) It didn't help that the students in the CPT school were not much more than a bunch of Indiana farmboys who heard about "computers" and that they were a fat paycheck.
After my first year, I got an internship with a hugh aerospace company as an helpdesk jockey. From there a got a lead on a job as a sysadmin for a small company, took it (i.e., dropped out of school) and I've never looked back. I now have a reasonably comfortable job at a state university as a senior admin.
Perhaps university wasn't for me. Maybe Purdue wasn't for me. Or maybe I just had a bad attitude.
My only regret was wasting my folks' money, as I feel I let them down by not getting the degree. That, and wasting 5 years of my life.
Sometimes in discussion, over luch with some co-worker who also didn't finish college, I find that I have a mild urge to get that degree, as do they. But when we analyze that gut-nagging feeling, we conclude that it comes down to simple pride, rather than a lack of job security or opportunity in our fields.
I waited tables at Chi-Chi's for a year. My manager had a degree in chemistry. My sister works the bar at Applebee's -- she has a degree in German. I have a cousin who got a biology degree, with more schooling in physical therapy, and she's a branch manager at a bank.
All of those people seemed content with their career choices. I ask you, does one need a 4-year degree for any of those things?
Nope.
I know of several other family members with no degree (some without any college at all -- some dropping out of high school). who have done very well for themsevles. One retired from being the controller of a software firm, and now does odd accounting work on the side to fund her pottery habbit. Another is head of sales for some Xerox branch. Another is head chef for an up-scale restaurant.
Just because these aren't fields in hard science or technology doesn't make my point any less valid. A friend of mine, who doesn't have a degree, started off as a tape duplicator, joined me at the small software firm I worked for as an admin, went on to work as head admin for a large regional gasoline manufacturor, and now runs his own wireless internet startup.
Can you write code for NASA or Lockheed Martin without a degree? Not likely. Can you find and keep a fun, well-paying job as a programmer without a degree. Most certainly!
If you have the ability to sock away some money -- do it! Even if you can't -- do it! Savings will save your ass if times get rough. But don't stress about the money too much -- it isn't worth the ulcers. When I met my wife, she was on state assistance. Trust me -- the world will not end for you or your family (if you can swallow your pride) lose the shirt off your backs. You probably don't realize just how spoiled you (and most of us tech workers) really are.
Re:This is going to sound harsh... (Score:1)
I started at Purdue four years later but your story doesn't sonud much different from mine. I fucking wilted at Purdue. Couldn't stand the place. Or the CS or CPT programs. My personal favorite was a professor who told me he'd never let me pass his class after I told him I found his religious references in class slightly offensive.
I also had a Calc prof who would lecture for up to five minutes in English before lapsing into Spanish... and wouldn't write anything on the chalkboard.
The feeling I got from Purdue is that they should just fire everyone they have teaching and start over.
I *still* can't stand that place.
Credentialism (Score:5, Insightful)
This cycle was turned on its head during the past 100 years. Through unions, blue collar wages have gone up, and through scholarships, more people enter the white collar job market. Now, during the past few decades, the Internet has allowed people to self-educate. People who are self-educated are generally more motivated, more confident, and less ignorant. Although this change is slow, and with the economic backlash, many companies have reverted to the old way, credentialism will slowly die. High school kids cannot read their own deplomas, community college students beat Harvard students on game shows.
You're just bitter because you're dupped into the old wrong ways of thinking. Well, what do you call a college drop out in ten years? Boss.
Re:This is going to sound harsh... (Score:1)
For some, college is great. Its an excellent framework for learning, if you choose it use it so. Most, however, don't go to university to learn, they go to university to get a degree.
There's a difference...
Re:This is going to sound harsh... (Score:1)
And do me a favor. When the young'uns come up to you and ask your opinion on whether they need to get a degree, SAY YES.
Elitist bullshit. I've done jobs that weren't even thought of when I left high-school. I've also spent thousands of dollars of money and time (not all paid for by me) on various courses that are now irrelevant to me.
better advice is to go read something like "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance", then attend the church of learning when and where it calls you.
Even better advice is to find something that you enjoy doing, and then do it. be aware of what its costing you, but also be aware of what its giving you. An example is where I live 15 minutes from work, near a beach on the south coast of NSW Australia. I could get an extra 50K per annum by working in Sydney - A 4 hour daily commute, or move back to Sydney. My house cost me (and the bank) less than 300K. I'd pay $1M plus for something similar in size location and proximity to work in Sydney.
And I'd still have to put with big city bullshit....
I'm in the same position... (Score:1)
I live in Ireland, so I am doing a Bachelor of Science in Information Texhnology by Distance Education through Oscail [oscail.ie] (it's Irish for Open). 8 saturdays per year per module for tutorials. Seems pretty good, the degree comes from Dublin City University. Work load is quite heavy at times, and the organisation sometimes sucks (missed my first tutorials cause they lost my application this year) but all in all worthwhile.
Maybe yes, maybe no (Score:2)
The two most important things that college teaches is problem solving and that you'll be able to complete a project.
Stick with small companies (Score:4, Insightful)
As somebody who has the same problem, my advice is to focus your job-search efforts on smaller companies. Big ones (hospitals, banks, etc) tend to have strict human resource policies that require all salaried staff to hold a college degree. Even when I looked briefly during the dot-com craze, I was offered a couple of part-time positions at big companies (was looking to augment my full-time job) - right up until they tried to run my paperwork through their HR department.
Small companies tend to focus more on what you've produced, and don't mind your lack of degree as much. They use it as a form of rationalization for why you should be paid less, but at least you still get a job.
Get active in your local users' groups, too. If your peers in the same programming field see you as a helpful authority, then they'll be more inclined to recommend you to their bosses.
Consulting and/or temp services (Score:2)
It has its own set of problems, but it works for some.
Experience, and self initiative is the answer, take the manuals home and read them, learn as much as you can along the way.
Small teams (Score:3, Interesting)
In a small team, the company needs self-starters. The skills are special, and indeed a small team cannot afford to filter by something as generic as a degree: they're looking for specific skills.
Also, people in small teams work harder, but generally have more fullfilling tasks. Would you rather spend 10 hard-core hours writing a variety of tasks or spend 4 hours a day doing the same thing every day?
Whether you have a degree or not, I'd go for the small team. And a good team leader is not dumb enough to look at a degree. A department manager is too busy to care about specific skills. As a final note, in a small company, you'll have a good list of accomplishments to show another small team. A big company will respect that you worked for other big companies. Choose now, because it's hard to change cultures. I suggest you go for a small company. You have a better chance of landing a job, and the jobs are better.
Re:Stick with small companies (Score:1)
What you say about small companies seems to make a lot of sense. BUT:
A good friend of mine is an HR recruiter for a big company. He reads hundreds of resumes per day. All he looks at before tossing a resume is where the candidate worked. Not what they did, or what their education was, but where they worked. If they pass that, then he might look at the rest of the resume. This is because he receives so many resumes that he can afford to use other well known HR departments as his initial filter. E.g. - if they worked 5 years at IBM they can't be that bad. But if they worked 5 years Struggling.com he doesn't need to bother taking a chance on them.
Of course this is just one example, YMMV. Though this does show that working for big well known companies can have the same benefits as graduating from a big well known school.
Re:Stick with small companies (Score:2)
Okay, so if you can't get a job with a big company until you get a degree, but you don't have a degree, how are you supposed to make it past this guy? It's like a chicken-and-egg question.
Re:Stick with small companies (Score:1)
But the idea carries through.. he worked at a "medium sized" software company.. so he should follow your sage advice and also apply to companies just like his current company, similar size / similar products, solely because they'll be interested in his spectacularly appropriate experience while giving him "credit" for being hired there in the first place - this because they are already very familiar with his current company and know that they don't hire morons. When he applies to 'small software company with a totally different product/customer base' chances are they'll know very little about his current employer and thus not extend him the benefit of the doubt so to speak.
Potential pitfalls are great. (Score:4, Interesting)
Here's one: Major insurance company seeks mid-level programmer. Requires Master's degree in Computer Science or related field and minimum 10 years experience developing in C/C++ and Java. $65,000US + Benefits.
MCSE's beware!!!!
Re:Potential pitfalls are great. (Score:2)
Honestly, I think the current position descriptions attract, not those best able to do the job, but the best able to lie sincerely and convincingly.
There was a Dilbert cartoon like that... (Score:1)
I suspect that recruitment adverts like the one mentioned are written by the HR department and/or the agency, with minimal involvement from the department where the employee would be working. This may be a clue that you should avoid applying for the position - unless of course you've found that you enjoy lying to clueless PHBs, and that you can earn more money that way than by writing code ;-)
Re:Potential pitfalls are great. (Score:2)
It's true that more clueless HR managers are putting more random stuff in their requirements docs. What you really need is to just know someone in a company, who can bypass the HR.
Make your CV stand out (Score:2)
This was not made up, this was what that Co. called my job.
It was the word 'Hacker' that got my foot through the interviewers door.
Of cause I don't know how many interviews I lost.
PS I don't have a Degree either.
Re:Make your CV stand out (Score:2, Insightful)
now, if the company you are employing has their hr monkeys reading resumes.. you're probably going to get the complete opposite result.
Re:Make your CV stand out (Score:1)
I know Perl and Apache, XML and SQL.
What i think... (Score:3, Interesting)
At least an associates degree.
I have a long way to go. at least 3 years worth of work. The luck i encountered in getting this job was quite amazing. I could have been looking for ages more and never found a job. Sysadmins are a dime a dozen, and, unfortunately, there are a lot of talentless hacks out there taking the jobs from the more qualified and skilled, based only on the fact that they'll work for $15,000 less.
What hurt me the most in the job search is some of these talentless hacks (I knew some of them, so im not just making this up) had degrees.. but absolutely no skill. IMHO, you need all the qualifications to be [easily] successful in todays job market - Certifications, Formal Education, and Experience. Not to say you can't get far just by trying reaaaaly hard...
Keep in mind all you unemployed people.. once you find a job, its back to 12 hour days, weekend work, and after-hours studying!
(Whats up with that anyway? Why is it in the computer industry people expect the standard work day to be 10-12 hours?)
Re:What i think... (Score:1)
Because they pay us more than Walmart associates and we don't own nice enough suits to warrent bankers' hours.
Re:What i think... (Score:2)
Well, they decided to interview me anyways. Why? Despite the fact I had no directly relevent experience, I would do it a whole lot cheaper than those that did. So they figured, a hack and slash job would be sufficient as long as they could sell me on the "price". Mind you, this was not the actual company that was interviewing me, this was one of those contracting firms. And they told me flat out they had no in house unix experience.
Now, I'm confident I would have been able to install those systems, get them up and running to the satisfaction of all involved. Why did I still decline? There's a LOT more to properly configuring a system beyond the simple "get it working" stage. While I can work my way around a shell prompt on any *nix, the lack of experience on a specific OS will hurt me, and therefore them. Are there special utilities I don't know about? Are there known vulnerabilities I need to patch? Is there a generic expectation that everyone who uses this specific OS has that wouldn't be obvious to an outsider? Heck, I spent two hours once trying to figure out how to permanantly change the IP address on redhat, and I live and breath linux (just not that distro). I'm not about to say I'm qualified under those conditions even on an OS I've familiar with. To say I can manage it on an OS I've never touched would be, quite frakely, suicidal.
Yet this firm, with this knowledge in hand, was willing to risk several thousands of dollars of a customer's assest, along with a lot of future goodwill, because they figured they could sell me on the "price". I wonder sometimes if they weren't just planning to sell me at the same price as anyone else and just keep a larger share. I wouldn't have cared if I felt comfortable about the job. But there are times, you get what you pay for. And system administration is definitely one of them.
-Restil
Re:What i think... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What i think... (Score:1)
Which brings up a good question
In my many years in the industry, I have encountered numerous different policies
Personally, any company that has a degree requirement (of any kind), I don't want to work for. They are automatically excluding (IMHO) the most talented resources available. A degree means you can take a test and pass (or write a paper). It doesn't mean you actually know anything. Experience is what really counts.
I'll match my 20+ years of experience against a new masters degree graduate anytime
But, that's just my opinion
mm
Steps to career fufillment- (Score:1)
Step 2:.....
Step 3: Big Profits!!!
Seriously, I never understood why a degree mattered, except for the first job or two you have, as a stand in for experience.
We've seen the change as well (Score:1)
Specifically, we had quite a time with a new and highly-qualified candidate for an admin position. He does not have a degree, but did have the inside track of being picked by our Systems Manager (long-time relationship). He was hired, though our CIO made a point of saying "you know, without a degree, you really limit your horizons."
So, those of us considering moving up through the ranks are considering degrees (at least, those of us that don't have them). We do have a goodly number of people who do have degrees, so we're even more in the minority.
And, I can attest to having a really hard time landing a job during the last search. I do think a big part of it was my lack of a degree.
As always, your mileage may vary.
Get the degree before your job goes offshore (Score:2, Interesting)
I've been working full time since 1996, starting as a web programmer, all the way up to my current position as a distributed systems architect. Even still, I've never felt safe without my degree, so I've kept plodding on. I'll finish it this fall after 7.5 years, and it will be worth all the time and effort. Finally, I will have a good answer for that favorite interview question "so have you gotten your degree yet?" Put in the effort and finish the degree, whatever it takes. Thousands (or perhaps millions) of foreign programmers already have done so.
Circumstances (Score:2)
I suggest this will depend on the culture/people of the prospectve employer. As a CS Graduate who is involved with recruitment I usually expect an IT related degree for technical staff, particularly for more senior positions. In my experience graduates have more breadth, and on average better skills, however I've come across a few extremely talented indivuals without [CS|IT|IS] ]degrees that seriously impress.
If they hold degrees themselves or consider themselves Software Engineers it may well be a problem. If a strong hacker|hero culture exists, they can be exactly the opposite. A degree can be a liability, indeed in one Interview I had, an apparent none graduate said, and I paraphrase, 'a CS degree was useless, programming is not about thinging it's about doing' and managed to keep a strait face.
my advice (Score:2)
But, it seems from the fact that you're even asking that getting the degree may not be an option. In this case, the strategies for staying competitive are mostly the same as the one that the degreed folk of the world use. You just start out with more to make up for.
Certifications are probably a good idea, although I find them distasteful. When screening resumes, an employer likes to see some quantifiable metrics of knowledge, in addition to experience and signs of good character.
It might be good for you to focus your qualifications on sectors of the field where degrees have been traditionally optional. Networking has always seemed this way to me. Cisco certification might be a very decent safety net. If you want real security in this market, I hear Oracle certification is sort of a magic bullet.
As for staying in software with no degree, I know of no fool proof strategies. Just stay current, be lucky, and nail every interrview you get.
A good resume (CV) may be more important (Score:1)
The people who we called were the ones with clear resumes that explained what they personally did. (Most of them explained in great detail what their projects were all about, which we didn't care about at all.)
So if your resume hilights your experience well and minimizes your lack of education, you might be okay, at least with companies that don't have strict degree requirements.
Doing good so far, it seems. (Score:1, Informative)
Medium sized companies are probably your best bet though. If they are too small, you need to have a great personality, because they are probably not knowledgable enough to appreciate the effect of your experience. On the other hand, if they are too large, they will be more interested in a degree than actually examining the depth and breadth of your knowledge.
But where you are, going back for a serious degree is something you should only do if you want to learn something, not just to prove yourself.
To degree or not to degree (Score:1, Informative)
I last worked about 12 months ago, it's tough at the moment, there is work going, but you have to be flexible. I guess i'm not as I want to work in Europe and there's little going with lots of major competition.
A degree really depends upon what location or country your in. The USA is more anal over a degree, Asia is too.
What a degree does do, is make it easier when applying blind for a job to the clowns, sorry I mean Human Resources, they can use this as an indication of your technical skill.
Again this is crap as everyone knows that after a couple of years in the frantic workplace, you've more than got the equivalent.
There are also baselines of knowledge that a degree requires you to know, and if IT is your hobby as well as your career, then you'll probably be clued up on this.
A degree may not the answer. (Score:1)
It sounds as though you feel your skills are above average and in a field which is transferable. So, with that assumed, you might be having some concerns about not being able to sale yourself in the current market. This is what, if anything, you should focus on. My suggestion is to network. Look for opportunities to practice communication, etc. Open as many doors as you can.
My 2 cents.
The bell curve (Score:2)
Start your own business. (Score:3, Interesting)
--
Q.) What do you call a college dropout in 5 years?
A.) Boss
Re:Start your own business. (Score:2)
As an employer... (Score:2)
1: The process of getting a 4-year degree gives an employer some level of comfort, since it is likely that the candidate had substantial writing, communication, and intellectual experience. I don't give a rip if the degree is in philosophy or physics (or even CS).
2: A candidate w/out a college degree might be OK, but might not. The experience quoted is viewed with biased eyes -- "what kind of work would a company give someone without a college degree?".
If I were you I would immediately start working on getting a bachelors degree - BA, BS, whatever, in _anything_. Experience is great, but unless your're some kind of celebrity (e.g.: well-known linux programmer), or have _great_ networking, you're just going to miss out on a _lot_ of potential interviews, not to mention jobs. Pay differential once you change jobs will be substantial as well.