For a long time now it has been the narrative that in order to succeed you need to have a college degree. If you want to be really successful then you need to have a master’s degree or a Ph.D. But there are plenty of successful people out there who never even went to college. I guess it goes without saying that depending on your definition of what success looks like a college degree may or may not be essential.
For example, if you want to be a doctor, there is no way around it, you have to graduate from med school and get your doctorate, but if you want to be a businessman, a teacher, or work in IT, that is not necessarily the case.
Of course, a college degree does not hurt your chances at future employment, but it takes a lot of time, motivation, effort, and money, so if you do not want to invest all of that into a university degree, then that is your choice to make and you can still be successful regardless.
Further Education Instead Of Higher Education
The most popular thing seems to be going into further education rather than higher education. It is a whole lot cheaper and you can still get well-paying jobs with a further education degree. Going to a trade school to learn a skill such as plumbing or electrical work can make you a pretty good living in the long run.
In addition, you could get a certification or a short-term degree. These tend to be a lot more affordable and can be completed in a couple of months rather than multiple years of education. There are certificates for jobs in many different industries and disciplines such as healthcare, administration, IT, social media management, SEO optimization, and copywriting. All of these skills are in high demand in our modern, internet-based age.
Plan Ahead
If you have decided not to take the college route, it is important that you have a plan. You should probably start by familiarizing yourself with careers that don’t require a degree, as those are the ones that you will be able to apply to. Doctors, psychologists, engineers, medical professionals, lawyers, accountants, and more are all professions that require at least an undergraduate degree, if not more.
On the flip side, entrepreneurs, start-up CEOs, sports coaches, stylists, air-traffic controllers, dental assistants, detectives, and even teachers don’t necessarily require college degrees. It is important to know that there are still plenty of options out there for you, in many ways to succeed without having an undergraduate degree.
Acquire Skills And Experience
Certain things are sometimes more important than having a college degree. Having unique skills, or a lot of experience are highly beneficial for most careers. If you are really great with computers, you can get really high paying jobs and become incredibly successful working in IT.
In addition, if you have loads of experience in areas such as business, marketing, or even social media, you can get hired based on how much success you have had in your previous experiences. One thing that you definitely do not need a college degree for but is incredibly valuable is learning languages.
If you are not going to college, you have four extra years freed up while everyone is at school. Why not use those years to pick up a few languages? If you speak three or four languages fluently, you would be surprised as to how far that could take you and how much people are willing to pay for a multilingual employee.
Start Your Own Business
Most of the billionaires and tech moguls of the world today don’t have college degrees. These people were incredibly innovative and created their own products and business, turning themselves into self-made billionaires. Even if you don’t reach the billionaire status, starting your own business can give you a lot of success.
As long as you are motivated, know what you are doing, have help from a mentor, and work incredibly hard you have the potential to be a highly successful businessman. With the help of the Internet, a lot of people are creating businesses online, becoming bloggers, travel advisors, or blowing up on social media.
Now more than ever, there are so many different ways to reach millions of people around the world and claw your way to success no matter what degrees you do or do not have. On the Internet, it rarely ever matters if you even completed high school (this is not an encouragement for you to drop out of high school, of course). As long as you are passionate about what you’re doing and have a good work ethic, success in your future.
