This is a great piece from SB and one I can totally relate to. Since I've started working for other people, I've never found myself in a serious ethical quandry with interviewers regarding my dropping out of school. Maybe because in most cases, I haven't been asked about it as there are lots of folks in my field (SEO & search marketing in general) who learned on the fly through their own sites, etc. But if asked, I tell them the path I've taken to get to where I am, although I try not to go into my life story.
It's usually more of a challenge when speaking socially with co-workers, especially when you're dealing with real "job people," who follow the school-career-40-years-of misery path to a tee. Frankly, I try to avoid talking about it as you're usually subject to one of two diametrically opposing viewpoints. Usually, they don't say anything that would make it outwardly identifiable but you can pick it up through body language etc. It's either:
A. "What are you, some kind of idiot?"
or
B. (what I've gotten more lately) "What do you think you are, some kind of genius?"
It's funny because I don't consider myself either of those things. But to keep the conversation away from that, I just avoid talking about it, although I will if asked. (One guy I used to work with it just stared at me blankly like I had just kicked his dog or something after I told him I had dropped out of undergrad and not a masters program, although he was the exception to the rule!)
I don't know how many companies I've applied to declined to speak further because of the lack of degree but I've only had one company ever flat out tell me in the interview process that they couldn't hire me: and that was an education lead-gen company.
Honesty & transparency really are your best weapons in situations like this.
Dealing with people who do not like those that do something else than (what the listener expects) the "default" thing happens in so many contexts. Not going to college is just one of many. Some simply have a difficult time with those who "live intentionally" - they seem dangerous, subversive, maybe even untrustworthy to said listener. Try explaining to certain people that you're over 30 and not married (and never will be), don't have children (and don't want them), live alone, don't own a house or a car (and take public transport) and watch as their faces change to shock, confusion, or abject terror. It's a particularly odd reaction as these things (like not getting married, living alone, etc.) become more common in places, but some groups/cultures/subcultures simply have not caught up with that reality.
It's perhaps a ubiquitous reaction to those perceived as "purposeful" outsiders.
It's usually more of a challenge when speaking socially with co-workers, especially when you're dealing with real "job people," who follow the school-career-40-years-of misery path to a tee. Frankly, I try to avoid talking about it as you're usually subject to one of two diametrically opposing viewpoints. Usually, they don't say anything that would make it outwardly identifiable but you can pick it up through body language etc. It's either:
A. "What are you, some kind of idiot?" or B. (what I've gotten more lately) "What do you think you are, some kind of genius?"
It's funny because I don't consider myself either of those things. But to keep the conversation away from that, I just avoid talking about it, although I will if asked. (One guy I used to work with it just stared at me blankly like I had just kicked his dog or something after I told him I had dropped out of undergrad and not a masters program, although he was the exception to the rule!)
I don't know how many companies I've applied to declined to speak further because of the lack of degree but I've only had one company ever flat out tell me in the interview process that they couldn't hire me: and that was an education lead-gen company.
Honesty & transparency really are your best weapons in situations like this.