I dont think the employers (even new ones) who would value a degree are completely on board with hiring some non-degree'd individual who shows promise, yet.
Many years ago one of my daily habits was to read the help wanted ads. There were many requiring a college degree, usually 2 years, to apply.
Employers often were not concerned about which degree for many positions. They wanted someone who would take the time to improve their mind or abilities.
In my youth, many jobs were easy to find. There were also many that offered training. This was a period when there were still some apprenticeships in some trades. One of my early apprenticeships, at about 15 or 16, was as a stage hand.
My mechanical abilities from childhood paid off with jobs in bicycle shops.
My first excursion into community college was to learn art and silkscreen printing. That kept me employed for a number of years.
My second excursion was to get a degree in microprocessor technology. Credits from my semesters of an art student helped toward a degree. The degree helped me to find employment in the manufacturing of drafting machines and repairing engineering copiers and blueprint machines.
This was followed by more work in building and testing electrical power distribution control equipment. The communications protocol for power control systems was called SCADA, Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition.
A funny thing happened after that job. My next employer was a public transit system. One of my positions there involved working on the fare collection equipment. During one of our many meetings it was mentioned the new equipment would have an underlying SCADA communications system besides the network communications. It seemed no one but me knew what SCADA meant. By opening my mouth it was on me to be the "expert" for the SCADA communications. Lucky it was all easy to learn fairly quick.
Some trades can keep a person employed and earning. Others can be a dead end. A good trades person can find lots of work if they can be more than a one trick pony.
One part of my story is that it wasn't about the money so much. My outlook eventually turned around to making sure there would be enough to live well, though not extravagantly.
jtk
Last edited by Jim Koepke; 10-03-2019 at 6:50 PM.
Reason: corrected spelling and wording
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)