IT Job Without a Degree? 1123
adh0c writes "I have been lurking Slashdot for some time now without registering and I don't think this question has been answered yet. Is it possible to get a good IT job (assuming that there is such a thing), preferably a sysadmin position, without having a BS or other degree? From browsing the job postings on Monster and such, it would seem that everyone wants university papers. Is there hope for computer enthusiasts who didn't go to college?"
dead. end. job. (Score:3, Interesting)
Do you really want to be a computer janitor? It's a good part-time or summer job but should only be a whistle stop on your way to CS degree or other useful education.
Yes, very much so. (Score:5, Interesting)
I never finished my degree, yet I have been able to pursue a computing career without it being a roadblock.
My present role is as an engineer at Google.
My company explicitly does not care about degrees. (Score:5, Interesting)
We've had good results with simply giving out actual trial programming tasks and comparing the results of several programmers.
Degrees don't seem to be a strong predictor of usefulness.
Incidentally, we're hiring right now.
https://spideroak.com/blog/200810280100 [spideroak.com]
Re:dead. end. job. (Score:4, Interesting)
Experience means almost everything (Score:2, Interesting)
In my 3rd year of pursuing my Bachelors Degree in Telecommunications, I dropped out of College in 1996 for the allure of the Computer Industry. I started as an entry level IS Support Technician (Help Desk) and moved up several layers through the "Help Desk" chain. I realized after 2 years that getting out of Help Desk was going to be difficult. That's when I jumped ship for a startup company that offered me a Systems Administration job. I've been a Sys Admin since 1998 and feel the need at this time to go back and finish my Degree if I ever want to go into management of any kind.
To answer your questions:
"Can I get a Systems Admin position without a Degree?"
Yes you can, but you have to really work towards it by gaining a good amount of experience (3-5yrs technician work) and perhaps take some risks as many of us have in order to secure the rights to wear the Sys Admin hat.
"Is there hope for computer enthusiasts who didn't go to college?"
I recommend at least an AA Degree and a couple of paper certifications to get you started. Anything less is reducing your odds significantly.
Disregard all these flame-boys with their computer janitor comments and remember this:
Do what you love to do.
If you have any doubts about what it is you want, I recommend taking on a "Geek Squad" job or looking elsewhere. You only get one really good "free" chance to start a career, try to make sure it's one you'll enjoy looking forward to for 30+ years.
It's a little harder but you can find a job. (Score:5, Interesting)
There are typically two reasons someone will employ you without a degree.
1). They want to get the best skills without paying for them.
2). You have sufficient experience that no-one reads your resume far enough to notice you've never been to college and wouldn't care either way, or you present extremely well at interviews.
I'd say work on (2) because companies that focus on (1) tend to be bad employers, although not always. Sometimes it's just employers who realise the value of the skills you have, not the paper you paid for that claims it.
GrpA
Yes... maybe. (Score:5, Interesting)
It all depends on a lot of things, of course! Do you have any experience? What is your work background? If all of your experience is customer service at Best Buy, then you're probably not going to have much luck, going in cold.
You've got several options, none of which are easy.
You've got plenty of options... good luck!
--brian
Volunteer (Score:3, Interesting)
I do have a colleague whose first job was right out of highschool at a local AIDS charity, ended up in the regional office for a while, now he works at some hosting firm for pretty decent money
No degree worked for me (Score:2, Interesting)
I've dropped out of college six or so times (depends on how you count) and still don't have a degree. Nevertheless I'm holding a very technical and highly challenging and enjoyable programming position and absolutely no one I work with cares in the least about my interrupted education. What they do care about is my technical ability and I wouldn't have been hired if I hadn't been able to impress the engineers I interviewed with.
That said, the company I work for isn't too large, and I was referred by a friend, so I was able to clear the first hurdle of just getting noticed. It's unfortunate, but with larger companies especially, a decidedly non-technical person (or an equivalent SQL query) will be reviewing your resume and will only be looking for certain magic keywords. My advice is to make sure you're solid technically (which you should be anyways), then either try at smaller companies where you're more likely to be noticed, or impress someone and have them bring your resume in. There are, I'm sure, other ways to go about this, but that's my experience. Good luck.
Re:Do you live in a van down by the river? (Score:5, Interesting)
Papers Are Everything! (Score:2, Interesting)
Getting a job in IT without a degree is extremely challenging.
Without a degree you may be able to get a Hell Desk job at most. From there depending on the company and your performance, you might be able to climb the ladder.
To get yourself promoted, take on projects outside of your normal duties, making sure you can succeed at them. Nobody gets promoted simply by keeping clientele at bay on a daily basis.
In order to receive pay raises, you may need to switch companies. Companies rarely notice (salary wise) how much experience an employee has gained over the years.
In the end though, you may be out of luck. The company I work for did not give me a decent paycheck until three months before I got my BS. I had a two year degree already, which is probably what allowed me to get my foot in the door.
Consider getting at least a two year degree from a reputable community college. Avoid private technical colleges like the plague, nobody takes them seriously. Load up on credits that you can transfer to a four year public university, and get a BS degree in something.
A degree might take five years, but that five years will last a lifetime. However, five years of job experience may only last a decade.
Re:Of Course.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Depends on the country and how snobby the company is. There are plenty of smart companies hiring autodidact people, but they just have to prove their credentials through other means, and will be tested harder at interviews.
Personally I work as CDO without any degree, but that is because I've studied at the highest IT education in Denmark where it is common for students to quit before finishing the degree because they are offered 6 figured salaries (in dollars).
On the other hand, I turned down a job offer from Google, because their mentality there is such that you can't have a career there without a Ph.D.
So if you want to get hired as an autodidact, either work you way from the bottom, or get involved in open source and write some really awesome code that proves your proficiency.
Re:Yes, very much so. (Score:2, Interesting)
It is possible to become a real professional engineer from a trade background with a pile of time and experience but I don't think that is what he means. I think acccountants went through this years ago which is why there is the title "chartered accountant" to distinguish them from school dropouts with a spreadsheet.
Then again, I'm a real engineer that is now working with computers and would have been better off with some sort of CS degree. However the purpose of University is to teach you to find out how to do things yourself, and while it's technically not really necessary the number of "self-starters" that can become experts under their own steam is very low. You could learn just as much by reading books, trying things out and talking to people - but Universities conveniently have the people you can learn from close by. A very well run workplace can do the same thing - however most places want somebody else to train their staff.
Temp Jobs? (Score:5, Interesting)
Get temp jobs doing computer type jobs for small companies. Show that you shine and youll be the "Whizz Kid". Even if its data entry or something. Your first few jobs might be a bit boring but the cunning plan is how you write your CV/Resume. That data entry job suddenly becomes
"Worked in the IT Department assisting with data collection systems and acted as first point of call for members of staff requiring support".
That'll act as a stepping stone for your next career move and before you know it you will be away!
N.
Re:Of Course.... (Score:2, Interesting)
Haven't had luck finding a job with no degree (Score:3, Interesting)
I couldn't really afford an ivy league 4 year college, and I had to leave community college before my first year was done due to an illness in the family. A few years later I went to a local trade school, that was accredited, in the tech and IT field. I learned a good deal, even though I knew a certain amount already of what they were teaching.
They offered a Associates Degree program you could do, after you graduated, online. This was not covered in your initial tuition cost or factored into any student loans you got, so if you wanted the degree program it would come straight out of your pocket. Long story short, I couldn't afford this program, still can't.
As for certifications, I trained in what they called the C.E.T program (computer electronics technology). Not really IT (that was a different class path) but focused on hardware repair, PC repair, etc basically all the shit you need to be the local tech support in an office or "The Geek Squad". So I could get by with just the A+ and if I really wanted to look good on paper, the Net+. On the plus side, I aced the course that taught you about the A+ cert, so I got a voucher for one-free attempt at taking the test (it's like what, $150-200 normally?) Needless to say I still have the voucher. Why? Well the A+ textbook they gave us to study is a huge book, and as the professor explained not all the stuff we covered in class and other classes would be on the A+. For example we stuck with Windows 2000 mainly as the OS of learning. We never covered XP, Server, etc which were the big thing at the time (2003-2004). So I never took the test. If I failed, I'm out the one and only free voucher. If I fail and attempt it later, that's money out of my pocket. Money I don't have, at all.
So after I graduate I got six months to find a job before I gotta start paying student loans back. The school had a job placement option which was practically guaranteed. They never found me a job. I looked myself. Locally all places want a degree, or 3-5 years experience even on Entry Level jobs.
4 years later I'm still unemployed, and my student loans that were $3,500 I owed in summer of 2003, are now over $15,000 due to interest rate and non payment.
Yea if it were bad enough a normal person would break down and take a shit job at Walmart or your local McDonalds. Sadly I am not able to stand on my feet for more than an hour or so without getting extreme pain in my lower back, ankles and feet. Not just pain that makes you think "damn this is sore, but I gotta tough it out for 8 hours then go home". It's pain that is like "holy fuck, if I don't sit down in a minute I feel like my bones in my feet are going to shatter". (Let's not get into seeing a doctor, that's something for a whole other discussion).
So while I could easily work say, an office IT/tech job where I'm not on my feet for 8 hours minus a lunch break, I can't fill store shelves at Walmart, even part time, without the absolute need to sit down and rest every hour or so.
Luckily I have family to fall back on, other wise I'd be homeless, starving and not posting on
I knew going in, degrees matter. Sure they don't really mean squat in the "real world" but when it comes to a job, the more good stuff you have about you on paper, matters. Sadly, I just could not afford to get a degree. Couldn't pay for it out of my pocket and couldn't get any more student loans at the time (long before my dues went from 3k to 15k).
Get a degree if you can. It's a hassle, it's just a piece of paper, but that piece of paper can make the difference between you saying "So, your cd rom drive is acting up?" and "Would you like fries with that?"
Re:start small (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:start small (Score:3, Interesting)
Well partly true, but the question was about a sysadmin job, not a software development job. Sysadmins probably would need to write small shell scripts or whatnot, but they probably aren't going to be designing and building major new pieces of software. Rather, they will be configuring, deploy, and administering software that has already been built. It's a different skill set. And even in the real of software development, 99% of the developers out there will not need to ever design a new language or a new OS.
With that being said, I've found that with a few notable exceptions, most of the good software developers I've worked with have degrees (although one of the best I've worked with doesn't). I will also say that almost all of the poor software developers I've worked with DID have degrees -- and some from supposedly top-tier schools. It matters a great deal where you get your degree from, not in terms of the name on the diploma but in terms of what is emphasized in the curriculum. Some colleges get this attitude about anything applied. People who come out of those colleges may have an advanced understanding of the theory of computation but tend to have a lousy understanding of object-oriented design, system architecture, usability evaluation, low-level systems design, etc. -- the things that matter in the "real world".
That's not to say that it isn't good to learn some theory too -- just that the VAST majority of students are better off understanding how to design and build real, useful software systems and keeping the pure theory to a reasonable minimum. Unless you're planning on doing graduate research in theoretical computer science, my suggestion is to get a degree, but to try to get a degree with a more applied (although not exclusively so) focus. For sys admins, a tech degree might be sufficient if you don't already have enough years of experience. For a software engineering role, you'll probably want to get at least a four year degree, or a master's if you want to do more advanced stuff.
With no degree of any kind, you can probably start in desktop support or a help desk, if you're okay with that.
Re:I wouldn't worry... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Experiance (Score:3, Interesting)
Best route is, as a previous poster suggests, is to learn by yourself (networking is the thing!) join a small company and sysadmin for them. As long as you know more than the owner, can manage the boss, and know how to find out answers you don't know quickly you'll do well. Beware though it will be high pressure: it's a small business. I turned down a share in the company and a board position because I thought I'd be dead of a heart attack before I could cash in the shares. Seriously.
Re:Not in this economy. (Score:5, Interesting)
Since, there are lots of people who have the degree, I think that you will be in bad shape to compete against them.
My problem is the inverse one. I have a BSc and an MSc in Computer Science from a respectable scientific institute (app. 10% of our MSc graduates are recruited by Google each year), but I can't find a Software Developer position. Alas, nobody wants to take in someone without experience in this economy - nobody wants to invest in the shaky future. I've seen many job listings with "Bachelor's degree a plus", but the experience dominates.
Re:Experiance (Score:5, Interesting)
I actually prefer non-university grads when I am hiring. I Got burned too many times with grads that tooks computers because of there is money in IT but they are not actually interested in computers (and therefore not interested in learning more )
Re:start small (Score:1, Interesting)
I disagree with your disagreement...err.
I am a programmer that doesn't have a degree. I spent my own spare time reading and learning about programming because I was (and am) driven to learn. In my opinion THAT shows the ability to learn. A degree shows that you can memorize or learn something long enough to pass a test. I know more than one person with an IT degree from a good college that hasn't done a very good job of 'keeping up' technically.
Re:Not in this economy. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Not in this economy. (Score:5, Interesting)
It's all about who you know.
They call it "networking" but I dislike this term as it has a well defined technical meaning.
I got my first job because I knew a guy who recommended it to me and mentioned me to those who later interviewed me.
I got my next job because a co-worker from my first job told me about a position, handed over my resume and gave me a nice talking-up to the people doing the hiring.
He got his job there because someone he knew in school recommended him.
Do you see a pattern here? In an uncertain world it's hard to know what to believe. I've seen people with great resumes, claiming experience AND education, who couldn't do the jobs they were hired to do. I've seen people with no degrees and no experience excel. How do you tell the difference between the two when you're doing the hiring? You rely on the advice and recommendations of people you trust, i.e. people you've already worked with. In this down economy the tendency to go with the safe bet will be even higher.
Knowing people helps you get a job. It's not absolutely essential but it really, really helps.
Re:Not in this economy. (Score:1, Interesting)
I have an AaS in Computer Science/Programming with 9 years of *relevant* experience and it was difficult for me to find a job. Every interview returned the one of 2 results: 'We need someone with higher education', or 'We need someone with more experience'. Now I am the Network Administrator/Programmer for a 1500+ student school district with 4 different schools that I am responsible for.
Life is GREAT!
Hang in there and you will find something that will fit your education/experience level.
no degree or a 'bad' degree score aint too bad (Score:2, Interesting)
a few years later i get paid more than any of my graduate friends in the same field, am further up the ladder and can jump between jobs. when i was recently looking for work not one recruitment agent asked about my degree, it was all about experience.
if you are good at what you do and you like doing it then your likely better than the majority that are treating it as 'just a job'.
(web dev in london)
How about the wrong degree for the job??? (Score:2, Interesting)
The degree is just an entrance ticket... (Score:3, Interesting)
For people with zero experience. Degree, Certs are the tickets to pass the screening and interviews.
Say two people, one with degree and one without. Both have zero experience, and I only have time to interview one...you do the math.
But if you get some experiences, like self employ, or volunteer, or some recommendations and connections that can bring you to the Interview room, degree is not a must. As long as you get the ticket...
The interview would play an important role. Make sure you are prepared. Don't try to play smart and think the interviewer is stupid, that just says that you can't work in teamwork and can't communicate. Try your best to demostrate that your are passionate in the field, and is a quick learner.
Knowledge does play a role but not a top factor. People are most likely looking for those who can communicate well, and quick learners that can upgrade oneself from time to time, especially in IT field where speed of technology changes are blazing fast.
After you get the job. The degree and cert is a past. No one cares about your past history.
Some people learn a lot in the degree (say they might have participated in extra-curriculum activates, or simply means they learned how to interact with people and do teamwork), some people learn nothing and wasted 4-years just on WoW. The HR and interviewers all know this fact, but if it's still better than nothing.
Degree or no degree that is the question (Score:2, Interesting)
Well, I don't have a degree, but I spent about 6 years in college, studying applied mathematics, physics and computer science.
I never finished mainly due to a liberal arts requirement, lack of money and a lucrative job years ago in visual effects. But I never
stopped educating or training myself. Everything from Veritas cluster, LInux/Solaris internals classes to management classes.
I've been working as a senior Unix engineer/administrator for over 15 years and currently I am vice president of Unix engineering at an investment bank.
So far this has never been a problem, so far, knock on wood. The last two jobs I've had required a degree, my current required a MS or MBA. But my supervisors were happy with my interview, my references and my experience and would deal with HR to get me on board.
But I would NEVER, EVER recommend the path I've taken for anyone. If you are relatively young, go (back?) to school and at least get your
Associates and take some related classes and do what you can to get some experience.
That being said, I never usually look at someone's education, unless they have little or no experience and even then, I look
for people who are willing to learn, have a genuine interest and curiosity in the work and a good personality.
It is true you can't learn system administration in school, but you can learn the foundations for a lot of the things you do as
you advance in your career. I've used the basics I've learned in my OS courses and have applied concepts from algorithm classes
as I have done more at some of my employers than just bread and butter SA work, including systems programming.
But I've been looking at finishing my degree for sometime now, just need to find a few cycles. Considering a
degree in management, finishing my applied math degree or a comp sci degree.
Good luck to you.
I did (Score:3, Interesting)
I actually got a job as a sysadmin and was making 6 figures without ever making a degree in any related field... however, it all depends on what you know and (pardon me for saying it) how good you are. I was able to pull it off because I grew up in a household where my father worked in the computer industry (as a Salesman) and literally brought minicomputers home for me to play with. I spent my whole childhood programming, fiddling, and hacking, and developed an incredible intuitive grasp for computers and what makes them tick. I followed that up by going to college and flunking out of everything by spending all my time in the computer lab learning everything I could about UNIX and Networking back in the early nineties, just before the Internet hit big.
However, even then it took a lucky break--I was working in the college computer center as an assistant to the chief systems engineer on campus when he got fired. Since I was the only hand on deck who could do his job, I got to do the job (for peanuts) while this state institution tried to hire someone. After three search committees failed to find someone qualified willing to work for what the university was willing to pay, they gave me the job officially.
For what it's worth, I did eventually get a degree... a B.A. in Philosophy concentrating in Religious Studies, followed up with a Masters in Theological Studies. But that was for me, and hasn't had any impact on my job prospects.
So... I guess the short answer is, it's possible, but you'll need a lucky break at some point. And I wouldn't recommend trying it unless you've got the skills to make everybody ignore your lack of degree.
It's absolutely possible... (Score:2, Interesting)
If you've got the attitude and aptitude to do the job, as well as a desire to learn from your mistakes (or others'), then yes, you have a chance.
I've met too many technical people with degrees that weren't worth the paper it was printed on, not to say that there haven't been very bright and talented people with degrees as well. I guess I'd say that I mean that it's the person, not the degree or lack thereof that makes a good technical person, whether you choose to become a systems admin / engineer (definitions of these terms differ from region to region), network admin / engineer or some other facet of IT.
I started as a UNIX admin in high school, and never looked back. 24 years later, I'm pretty much where I want to be, designing new systems and solutions for a fortune 500, with no desire to *move up* into management.
Always read it as "Degree or Experience" (Score:3, Interesting)
The degree requirement is there for a couple of reasons. It weeds out the people who are truly and completely unqualified and it demonstrates a minimum requirement for someone with little or no experience in the actual work force.
Every job I've had for the past decade "required" a degree that I don't have. If you bring the experience to the table, the degree requirement isn't even discussed.
Now, having said that, I do wish I had a degree and I encourage anyone who has the time and wherewithal to get one -- not necessarily in CS or engineering -- even history or literature. Because I do feel like I have missed out by not having gone through that experience. Every now and then I'll hear somebody mention something and I have to go wiki it and get a quick primer and then, if it sounds interesting enough, I can learn more about it on my own. A solid university education gives you a nice broad exposure to a lot of things that you don't have time to get to in the work force.
I did the military instead and I swear I don't know how anybody grows up without either college or the military.
Yes (Score:1, Interesting)
Some companies simply will not hire you without a degree, however that is not always the case. I have a decent Network Admin position and I only have two years of college. I have over 10 years of real world IT experience however which I (and my company) find more valuable.
Re:Do you live in a van down by the river? (Score:3, Interesting)
According to USA Today, 20.4% of farmers have a 4 year degree and 90% of farmers are self-employed and the middle half of farmers earn from $766 to $1382 a week in 2006. College degrees and income are in line with the rest of America and self-employment is much higher than the rest of the population.
Why is it that a college educated person running a business, with millions of dollars of equipment is considered uneducated?
Re:Not in this economy. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Do you live in a van down by the river? (Score:1, Interesting)
Well said. As a "senior infrastructure engineer" at a $20billion company, with no degrees or certs, I have to agree with everything you said.
Programmers definitely need formal education, but I've found that admins without a degree are often better at the job (there are always exceptions of course).
Does school matter? (Score:2, Interesting)
I know for programmers there are a lot of "theoretical" topics you learn in university that you never think you'll need, but when you do, you'll be thankful you have it. For example, algorithm performance, compiler construction, or database theory are actually quite applicable in most jobs, just not everyday. When you do utilize it, you (and hopefully your team) really appreciate the knowledge.
http://basementcoders.com/ [basementcoders.com]
Re:Don't think so! (Score:2, Interesting)
I too have had several great high paying IT jobs with only 1 year of college and 5 years of crypto in the Army. College helps mostly when you are just starting out, it gets you in the door. Once you've had a good job with good references in IT, especially 5-10 years worth, it makes less of a difference. The military will really help you out. Many hiring managers will be ex-military and recognize your worth. Also, many managers that I've had regard the military higher because for many careers, it shows that you can do more than what college requires. Regardless, you'll have to have something compelling to offer. Every job I've had listed a college degree as a requirement, but obviously it wasn't. If you have experience, great. If not, then you'll have to convince the hiring manager that you're smart, motivated and will work for less, or maybe on contract until you prove yourself. I learned a lot on my first job with EDS. It didn't pay great at first, but after several years it did and it really helped propel me in my next and next jobs.
HTH
Re:Don't think so! (Score:4, Interesting)
The majority of the worst programmers/developers I've worked with had degrees, the absolute worst had doctorates or masters degrees in computer science or math. Most of the best developers and architects I've worked with were self taught and had no college degree. In fact, there was one person that we interviewed a while back that I really liked. But three of the interviewers felt like you did, no degree, no job. We discussed many times whether we should hire him over some other people that had Masters degrees but lacked experience. In the end, we hired the person without the college degree and that individual was the best thing that ever happened to the company. He met every deadline, had motivation and imagination like no one else I've met, could solve nearly every problem creatively and very cleanly. Had an incredible ability to interpret what you really want in a spec as opposed to how you describe it. Looking at support tickets, most of what he put into production had very few problems except where a business requirement was misunderstood but otherwise, you could trust that if he implemented the functionality, it was ready to go production when he said it was. That individual understood more about technology trends, design patterns, algorithms and data structures than some of my own college professors. In short, he was one of the best hiring decisions we made for that company and one of the best programmers I ever met. The company later also hired the individual (who had two master in computer science and mathematics) that it wanted to over the same candidate. The company had to let him go about a year later for lack of ability to complete assigned tasks and those he completed often were not reliable.
If anything, while I really don't care whether people have a degree or not (for business type software development positions or most types of heavy-duty server application development); I will pick the one with more experience regardless, depending on whether they can demonstrate the requisite skills and personality. I usually end up interviewing people for positions where they must be technically sound (much higher than average technical abilities) and be able to work very well with people because they will need to jump through hoops (as you put it). Otherwise I have no real bias. If the candidate can demonstrate his/her ability to perform and survive in the work environment, then I'll hire the candidate.
Me, I don't have a degree either. After 12 years I have worked up to be a software architect for one of the credit bureaus. Interviewing for the position was very difficult. Our technical ability must be top-notch to succeed in this company as well as our people skills. I'm accustomed to start ups. This is actually the first large corporation I've worked for and I can say, jumping through hoops is an understatement. But I do fine.
I have been attending college part time. All my schedule could afford is one or two classes per semester and it has taken me 7 years to get finally get an associates degree. I stopped there. I work long enough hours at work than to leave and attend school for 3 hours two or three times per week plus homework. It was beginning to affect my marriage and my ability to keep my skills sharp at work. I don't learn on the job, I learn at home. So I stopped attended school.
You likely wouldn't hire me for that. A lot of others that only look for paper also wouldn't. But can pull my own weight and have outperformed many of my peers wherever I've worked. I also have produced or played very large role in launching many products into the market place that have succeeded very well. But I likely wouldn't be happy working for a place that is so superficial that if you don't have a degree, you don't get a job (for the type of work that I do).
Having a degree does not translate into knowing how to perform your job well. Of course, not having a degree does not mean you can't do can't job well, either. I suppose all things being equal between
Re:Don't think so! (Score:3, Interesting)
In my last job, I was the only employee out of a group of probably 150 that didn't have a degree. It wasn't a computer programming field, though; I've always wanted to work in that area, but I don't have a degree, so I'm dismissed out of hand.
Re:Don't think so! (Score:2, Interesting)
I think you and I are in the same camp. I dropped out after my first year of college in 1994 and started working in the tech bench at a big box retailer. Eventually, I moved through a few different positions, computer operator at a bank, then the data processing center at another company, until I got hired on to do phone support for our data products.
Eventually I moved into tech support, which led to a sysadmin career and then technical training. During that time, I pursued both the MCSE and CCNA certifications. Some of my certs were sponsored by my employer, others were not. After doing sysadmin work for a number of years, I moved into a more soft-skills focused role.
I've been more of a process management / performance management / business intelligence specialist the last couple of years. I just finished the first draft of my second book, and I will probably gross six figures this year. Not bad for an English major who dropped out after Freshman Year.
The bottom line is this. Whether or not you have a degree, expect to start at the bottom, and work your way up. If you advance too soon, you may be in over your head. If your career stagnates, it's because you haven't put enough initiative in moving forward.
Never be afraid of a challenge. My specialty is in Microsoft SysAdmin, but I can configure Cisco routers and switches with the best of them. I've installed a few Linux testbeds, and while it's not my OS of choice, I can manage my way through it.
I will say this; if you're not going to get a degree, at least pursue a basic cert like A+ or Network+ to start.