|
|
|
|
|
|
by mindcrime
3169 days ago
|
|
|
Take the money. Programming is one career where, for many firms, experience still trumps academic credentials. Get a programming job, succeed at it, stay there a couple of years, and barring some major change in the macro-economic environment, you won't have much trouble finding other jobs even without a H.S. diploma or college degree. That said, it wouldn't hurt to complement your experience with some academic credentials, even if only an associate degree from the local community college. As somebody else said, consider night classes if you can. You can also look at taking Coursera, EdX, Udacity, etc. courses to help fill out your resume. They might not count "as much" as a regular degree to some employers, but as somebody who is very involved in reviewing resumes, interviewing, and influencing hiring decisions, I can tell you that they are considered at some companies, including at least one very large computer company you've definitely heard of. |
|
|
Counseling a young kid _not_ to get a GED is indefensible. Life is a lottery. Just because you can see a path forward today doesn't mean that path will remain viable tomorrow. And despite the increasingly rapid pace of changes in our modern economy, a high school diploma or equivalent has remained extremely valuable. Among other things, it will be difficult to pursue post-secondary education at accredited institutions without a GED.
Kid, there's no reason you can't take the job _and_ get your GED. And remember: formal education isn't for learning stuff you could learn on your own, it's for learning stuff you couldn't or wouldn't bother learning on your own. That's why it's simultaneously so difficult (in the sense of willing yourself to do the work), yet so important. It's a cruel world out there[1] and you want to acquire all the tools you can, especially easy ones like a high school diploma or GED.
Also, always remember success is more visible than failure. Similarly, people who succeed without credentials are much more visible than those who didn't succeed or who suffer significantly diminished earnings power. I can assure you, as somebody who has worked in IT _without_ a STEM degree for almost 20 years, and who makes much more than the median compensation in Silicon Valley, that engineers with a STEM degree enjoy a significant advantage, notwithstanding people like mindcrime and myself.
[1] It's cruel in the sense of being unforgiving. Many people, perhaps even most people, will enjoy a comfortable existence with nominal effort. But it only takes one illness, one accident, one crime, or one some-other-event to drag you to the bottom. Climbing out of a hole is immensely more difficult than falling in, and it's at times like those when decisions like you're facing now will matter most.