Posts published on July 15, 2016

4 Areas You Can Succeed In Without Finishing Your Degree

BY SYLVIA KOHL

Imagine that you are through  three years in college, and you realize that the area of expertise you major in isn’t really what you want to do with your life. Or you get disappointed in your chosen career. Or simply suddenly find another area of interest. Is it a reason enough to drop your current studies and go study for another degree entirely?

Not necessarily. There are many industries where you don’t exactly need a college degree to achieve success – and even major success. It doesn’t mean that a degree won’t help – but it may be advisable to graduate with the degree you currently study for while acquiring the skills necessary for your new chosen career on the side.

1.    Programming/Coding

Of course, high-level programming requires a good deal of mathematical knowledge, and a corresponding degree will surely come in handy. But whether or not programming itself is worth studying at a college is a huge question. The thing is, programming courses even in the best universities often lag behind the actual development of the industry, it moving forward with breakneck speeds. As a result, after spending several years studying coding at a college you may find yourself landed with a three years’ worth of outdated knowledge. Your best bet would be to be open and use complete web resources and similar tools to keep learning.

2.    2D/3D Graphics and Animation

If you think that everybody working for graphic design and animation studios has some kind of formal education, you are very much mistaken. A considerable percentage of currently quite successful illustrators, animators, graphic designers and artists have little to no formal training. Nowadays you have access to a truly staggering amount of courses, programs and software packs aimed at teaching one the tools of the trade – and you can do it on your own.

3.    Interpreting/Translating

Linguistic knowledge one learns at college is, at best, rather removed from the actual requirements of a translator’s or interpreter’s job. At worst, it doesn’t have anything to do with them. Frankly speaking, college education is more of an add-on to one’s knowledge of a foreign language, and certainly not a prerequisite for being an interpreter or translator. College won’t teach you a foreign language and how to translate from one language into another – it is speaking, reading, listening to the language in question that does.

4.    Creative Writing

It is one area that is probably the least dependent on formal education. Ironically, people with educational background in creative writing very rarely achieve any notable success in literary work – actual life experience and talent seem to be of much greater use. Perhaps that is why there is such a great percentage of well-known writers originating from medical practice – simply because they have to encounter people and their lives on a daily basis.

In our quick-changing world, education gradually ceases to be a necessary prerequisite for building a career in a particular sphere. Actual skills and experience are of much greater use. So, if you are studying for a degree, you needn’t change your course – the knowledge you acquire on the way can still come in handy – but you should take care of moving in the chosen direction on your own.

Sylvia Kohl is IT teacher with more than 7 years of professional experience. Her main spheres of interest are e-education and beta-testing. This writer chose news about the increasing role of IT usage in colleges and schools as the most common topic for her articles.