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I am in the same boat as you (dropped out after 2 years, then started working full time). I prefer to leave it off my resume because I like to address it myself in conversation (also I know who cares based on who asks), but honestly either way works. So long as your resume is not barren I do not think it is that big of a problem to leave it off. As far as responding to their question, just be confident and direct. "I left university because of X, and I do not plan to complete my degree at the time/until I do Y/whatever". The reason you give will be a lot better than the possible reasons they might think up, so do not worry about it. There are many legit reasons for dropping out, including that it just was not for you, all they want to know is that you did not drop out because a personal flaw that may make you a bad employee. If you dodge the question, give a fishy response, or make too many excuses, it may seem like you have something to hide, and they will start speculating. One last thing, do not put too much weight on this question. While I personally do not want to work for a company that has a strong degree bias either way (I left my last company, which I otherwise loved, on a sad note because of this), I do not think that this is that a definitive indicator that a company looks down on people without degrees. I have found that sometimes either someone who is not that technical and who's opinion is not that important (HR person or recruiter) is asking because they do not know better and are just compiling information for a higher up who did not specifically ask about your education, or sometimes an interviewer will ask it because they want to know how you will respond (whether you will be silly and apologize, or be confident in your skills, what's your view on education, etc). It is one of those questions where you can just say "No, I did not graduate" and it is not a big deal and you move on, or you can start to sweat, give a long winded excuse, and make your interviewer worry. If they do have a degree bias and do not hire your for that reason, well, then you dodged a bullet. |