The 'I didn't go to university' thread

[madamv]

Is there an option for "I went and wish I hadn't?" I went at 17 and made a complete hash of it. With hindsight I should have waited until I was mature enough to get my head down and work, rather than spend 3 years dicking about drinking cheap lager

I know someone else round these ere parts who would say the same thing

 

[FiFi]

I'm a skilled manual worker and proud of it. Although you will get some who claim it's a profession.

I gained my "professional" qualification 16yrs ago, and have done various diploma level courses in the intervening years.

I've recently completed 2 modules from the 3rd year of a degree pathway, but as my employers are unlikely to fund me to undertake the other modules I doubt I'll be able to finish it.

As most new entrants to my field are degree educated, and the professional body is discussing making it a degree-only profession, I'm starting to get a little concerned about my lack of education.

Especially as I'm a little too young to retire yet.

 

[Kanda]

Not even an O-Level here, I'm doing ok

 

[xes]

Just did my GCSEs,medium grades. Went to collage for a couple of months but got bored and got a job. More or less been employed ever since.

 

[pinkfairy]

Got my standard grades and a couple of highers at school been employed ever since. thinking of going back to college though to learn something new so I can hopefully get a better paid job. I wish I had gone to uni but i never knew what to study I still don't.

 

[hiccup]

Graduate women more likely to orgasm: official

 

[Yetman]

Did A levels for a year, then decided I just couldnt hack students and left to get a job.

In my last job I managed a team of four people, all of which had degrees

 

[behemoth]

You don't need lots of money to get a degree later in life, just a single minded determination to get the bloody thing. Most universities will let you study part time and flexibly.

 

[Numbers]

Didn't even make the Irish equiv' of O levels here, Irish schooling system thought it would be better off without me.

So I was packed off to sea to learn to become a man.

 

[Donna Ferentes]

Did you come back with a wooden leg and a parrot?

 

[dirtysanta]

did GCSEs and then went and got a job. A good job actually working in sales for toyota dealership in Miami.

was fucking sweet.

 

[Numbers]

Did you come back with a wooden leg and a parrot?

No, alcoholic poisoning and several broken bones.

 

[EastEnder]

Didn't even make the Irish equiv' of O levels here, Irish schooling system thought it would be better off without me.

So I was packed off to sea to learn to become a man.

Did it work?

 

[tbaldwin]

I left school at 16 with literally no qualifications, it hasn't stopped me though, and now when I employ people, especially older people, I tend to go for the ones without the degrees as long as they fit the criteria

just beacuse you fucked it up when you were a teenager doesn't mean you should be givena second chance

Me too a lot of graduates r super dim....Not much use to anyone.....Spoon fed twats.....

 

[_angel_]

Hands up who's uneducated like wot I am....I feel as if I'm surrounded by undergraduates and graduates at the moment (it happens every year at this time).

You are not exactly uneducated though are you?

 

[dylanredefined]

know a couple of graduates who are seriously considering the army as a career infantry pte type which seems a bit of a waste of an education imho.
trained as a nurse back in the 80s when it was more like a apprenticship than a
degree it is now .hope to do an ou degree in science .But at 18 lacked motivation to study or any social skills so uni would have been wasted on me .

 

[lizzieloo]

I didn't, left school at 16. Could have done A levels but as it wasn't the law to attend I knew I wouldn't have gone.

Had lots of fun instead

 

[Pingu]

i didnt

I got 12 O levels and an A/O level (mathematics)

was studying at A Level

pure maths with applied mechanics
Further Maths
physics
ecconomics
psychology

then life kicked in and i was "asked to leave" 3 months before exams (got 4As and a B in mocks)

this was a bit of a pisser in hindsight. Hasnt stopped me from doing too much though although it took longer than it would have done if I had gone to Uni I guess

 

[EastEnder]

University made me the man I am today.......

 

[The Groke]

I think this thread just goes to show how much of ones career (or lack thereof) is down equal parts hard work, dumb luck and being in the right place at the right time; regardless of what education you may have had.

Like I mentioned earlier in this thread, I only have a handful of GCSE certificates in my academic record and nothing else.

After nearly 10 years of working for the same company in various capacities (and being underpaid and undervalued in all of them) I have suddenly found myself emigrating in order to become a line-manager for a team of five people, in a well paid, high responsibility role and doing quite-well-thank-you-very-much in what was - almost - an over-night change.

Make of that what you will.

 

[Numbers]

University made me the man I am today.......

Did it work

 

[lyra_k]

It does seem like things have changed a lot since I started work...my company offered both A level entrant schemes and graduate entrant schemes, and it was almost universal that the A level entrants did better, relatively speaking, than the graduates...by the time the graduates came along the A level entrants had 3 or 4 years of experience in the industry. The drop-out rate for graduates was quite high, because they were expected to learn a lot in a short time (fair enough, to justify their higher salary), and many just couldn't hack it. They were also almost universally despised, because they were put in supervisory positions when they had almost no experience, and we all know how massively annoying it is having a clueless boss.

At the last company I worked for almost all positions required a degree at entry level, but that was only for candidates who were coming in completely cold....if you had a personal recommendation it would certainly get you an interview (which is how I got in), and they were far more interested in skills and experience than whether you had a 2:1 in English or Art History.

Personally I would never be deterred from applying for a job for which I had the relevant skills by them requiring a degree. I'd just format my CV to highlight my skills and experience first, and hope that they'd at least give me an interview on that basis.

 

[Dhimmi]

I only ever went to universities or colleges to see bands, much more fun than all that studying stuff...

 

[EastEnder]

Did it work

Sadly yes......

University - just say 'no' kids....

 

[undercover]

I left school with a couple of CSE's and managed to bypass any form of college or Uni.

I have now got five (fake) Grade B & C O'Levels on my CV though, and I am thinking about adding a (fake) degree soon as well, as it is really pissing me off the amount of jobs I could do standing on my head, but won't even get looked at for without a degree.

If I could do the whole childhood thing again though, knowing what I know now I would definitely go down the uni route. Not for the degree bit, it's the drinking and girls bits that sound like fun.....

 

[zog]

Never made it as a youth. I fell into a job that paid well for little work and stayed there for well over a decade. I was hoping to get made redundant and use the redundancy money to get me through college.

When the company finally went through the hoop, they fucked me (and my 1500 workmates) over for my redundancy and our pensions (they owe me close to £30k) so I couldn't afford to go to college.

Fortunatly I got work in a different industry where I'm quite content and within a couple of years I've worked my way up higher than I thought I was capable of.

My only concern is that everyone at my level seems to have degrees or masters. When I'm in meetings and people go round the table introducing themselves, their qualifications and experience I do start to feel a bit thick when all I can say for myself is 15 years of shovelling shit in a steel mill and a good working knowlege of my current industry.

I can't see myself getting educated now, far to much hassle, time and money. I just wish I'd got a grip when I was young.