Originally posted here by tonybradley
I am sure there are exceptions in both directions.

I have one friend who dropped out of high school and went to work programming at age 16. He is now 22 and making almost $80k as the lead developer for a company.

On the other hand, I have another friend who went to college on the 6 year plan majoring in English. He now works in some anonymous administrative position making somewhere in the $35k to $40k neighborhood after being there for 5 years. He has been out of college 10 years and just got done paying off student loans.



This is very true- especially once you hit a plateau. You mentioned that you have 5 years experience which is about where I am as well. I have found that I am about maxed in terms of what I can do without a degree which is why I am now getting one. The question is, do you think you would be better off or farther along in your career if you would have taken 4 years to get the degree? I think you might open a door or two now, but you would still be 4 years farther behind in the experience department which would close a lot of doors as well.

I got my entry-level job with no "real" experience, no degree and no certifications and went from $30k to $65k in 3 years by job-hopping (pre-bust). Honestly, I think there is a great deal of luck / fate involved (being in the right place at the right time) and a LOT of plain interviewing skills. If you talk a good game and sound confident I think you get offers that others who may be technically superior but not as good at communicating miss out on.

Just my $.02 (or was that $.03?)
I think the prebust has a lot to do with it. I had no problem finindg jobs pre 2001 post 2001 I heard a lot of well you don't have a degree.