

On College and the IT Field - makaimc
http://mmakai.com/post/6173211365/on-college-and-the-it-field

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jrsmith1279
As someone who dropped out of school in 8th grade, got a GED at age 20, and
started a career in IT at 28, I have to say that I still wish I would've
stayed in school and had gone to college.

Getting in to the IT field without a degree was a struggle for me. I ended up
wasting 8 years of my life working for Wal-Mart for $10 an hour because I
couldn't break in to the IT industry no matter what certifications I was able
to achieve. It took a lucky break being hired at a small startup IT company to
get my foot in the door. I wasn't even hired for my IT skills, rather my
ability to learn PHP quickly to become a freelance developer when I had
finally had enough and quit my job at Wal-Mart.

I'm 3 years in to my IT career and have been successful enough to be earning
close to $100k per-year. I can't help but think what sort of salary I'd be
making right now if I had spent 4 years going to school and this was my 7th or
8th year of my IT career. Information Technology is my passion and I love
every day of my job. I think that passion made me too arrogant to think that
school was necessary and I ended up wasting 8 years hating my job & my life
because of it.

