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I have a degree in geology which I've never used in anger.
I've spent the last 30 years working in the Events Industry doing lighting and rigging for which I have no qualifications whatsoever. Big electrical systems and hanging many tonnes of gear over people's heads - largely based on "I didn't * it up yesterday, so I'm probably not going to * it up today". There's been a few gigs I've done where if I had ****ed it up, it would have been front page news on pretty much every paper worldwide, which definitely focuses the mind!
So when you colour in the designs for your new frames your three year degree means you don’t go over the lines?
this reminds me of a mate at unit doing geography. Each year we used to buy him a new pack of felt tips for his birthday for the coming years’ map colouring in.
Masters in chemical and a process engineering. Did design for 10 years and whilst paid well and I was good at it, realised that ultimately I didn’t really enjoyed it. Moved into business management and now run a function that looks after Nuclear Decom across the globe. Keeping the lights on and the wolf from the door!
The company i work for are pretty archaic in their approach to things, and after recent discussions about getting me some proper training (along with other folks) the general consensus is that there isnt a budget for training, but more so, the company fear that if they train people, they will leave for another job….. nothing like investing in your workforce.
Would you rather work somewhere that values bits of paper over proven experience? Where people milk the company for every ounce of training then leave? There's a happy medium but I'll be surprised if there's not a project management course on udemy or similar that you could use to learn a few tricks of the trade and perhaps make yourself even more valued internally, less stressed, more confident etc; Yes your employer probably should pay for that, but given your company seems to promote internally that seems like a small investment in your own career for future progression inside the business or as a great way to have the right words at a future interview!
Degree in microbiology, 20 years experience as a bacteriology lab technician, currently seconded into IT despite me being very open and vocal about the fact "I know nothing about computers!"
There’s a guy I know who doesn’t he’s had various jobs, currently he looks after budgets with no qualifications in them. His boss is just as bad though.
worthy of recognition @Drac 😂 (well, if I've understood the inference anyway; if not move along...)
I'm a photographer, sport mostly, while I do have a BTEC in it photographic qualifications aren't something you need, you're either good at it or you're not. Many of my colleagues are either self taught or trained up via local papers, agencies etc, many are qualified in other fields but photography is an enjoyable way to earn a living so have moved across, some did degrees in photojournalism but they're definitely in the minority.
It's harder to earn a decent living from these days but still fun, I've had nearly thirty years getting away with it so mustn't grumble.
And you somehow still have the time to post on this forum!
This makes laugh a bit as in my organisation there is a certain kudos if you are Dr or Prof in the company directory.
I sometimes ask the question "what did you study" for the Doctorate and amazingly more than half have nothing to do with the job the person is employed to do. So Dr Fred who is head of Cybersecurity or whatever has a PHD in Marine Biology - I guess they have still 'earnt' the right to use the title, but it gives a false impression they might know what they are talking about. I think people just assume the study was in a relevant field.
(db - no qualifications beyond an A level or 2)
I am not only unqualified for my job, but was actively rejected when trying to study for it because I was an 18 year old oik who had no idea how to talk to the middle class people selecting for it (or anybody else to be fair). So I carried on with my self taught obsession and am still a working photographer 35 years later. I’m willing to bet 99% of the people who were accepted onto that degree are not.
This makes laugh a bit as in my organisation there is a certain kudos if you are Dr or Prof in the company directory.
The first chemistry lab I worked in - bear in mind of course that PhDs were 10 a penny in a place like that, it was really only us Junior Chemists that were a mix of BSc, MSc and PhD.
We bought out another local chemical place and all the staff there got brought up to our labs. One of these guys was ever so proud of his PhD, in fact his conversations revolved around it.
"When I was doing my PhD...."
"Just after I completed my PhD...."
"What was your dissertation on in your PhD...?"
Anyway, he got allocated a reaction which he proceeded to screw up so they brought me in to fix it - I'd done it several times before and somehow seemed to be regarded as the in-house go-to for that particular reaction. It wasn't uncommon for staff there to have "favourite" reactions or ones they'd done so many times that they were the acknowledged fixer so off I go to help, we're getting along fine, chatting away as I help him out.
Next thing:
"What was your PhD in...?"
Oh I don't have a PhD, I came straight here after my BSc but I did a year in industry during my degree as well.
That was it. He was outraged that a non-PhD should be telling him how to do stuff. A mere minion like me should be doing nothing more than washing the glassware. He was genuinely mortified that he'd taken instruction from someone of lesser rank.
Then he got fired when he screwed up the next reaction. I've seen a few PhDs like that. Good theoretical knowledge, no ability to transfer it into a real-life lab though.
😂
I'd say that being a GP is almost all learning on the job.
Yep. But as someone has no doubt mentioned already, I don't have any qualifications to speak of anyway!
I write software, currently architecting a new product. Did Electronics as a degree, not a single SW qualification. I basically just make it up as I go along, googling stuff. No one seems to notice.
I've got a subscription to Udemy and CloudAcadmey which are both really decent, learned shed loads from their courses.
Left school with okay GCSE's, did an apprenticeship but dropped out of the college part of it. Years later still in same industry but now have a COMAH site with many tons of highly toxic materials under my engineering control. Have traveled the world on someone else's money, am well paid, and haven't accidentally killed anyone.
It worked out okay.
I have little in the way of a formal education yet somehow I’m Head of Sustainability where I work. Impostor syndrome looms large in my daily life. I often shock myself when a grown up asks a question and I answer it with confidence!
and haven’t accidentally killed anyone.
How many have you killed on purpose?
How many have you killed on purpose?
That's commercially sensitive information.
I came in here to say parent but @bigginge beat me to it. Still of all the jobs I've had, that one still had the most WTF? Is there a manual for this things in it 🙂
I’d say that being a GP is almost all learning on the job.
Only me that's slightly worried about that? Practicing medicine indeed 🙂
I sometimes ask the question “what did you study” for the Doctorate and amazingly more than half have nothing to do with the job the person is employed to do. So Dr Fred who is head of Cybersecurity or whatever has a PHD in Marine Biology – I guess they have still ‘earnt’ the right to use the title, but it gives a false impression they might know what they are talking about. I think people just assume the study was in a relevant field.
It's a weird thing, those who go on to be PhD students from courses we do, so moving from masters tend to do it more for the uni lifestyle and work environment, it's a lowish failure rate for them, and a part of that is those who just want to move on.
As for me, yes, in my job we are assessed and trained all the time, i did a 4 year apprenticeship and 20 years work experience before doing a masters, and during that process i was annoyed several times by the absolute lack of reality in several assignments against actual real-life scenarios i'd worked with, flip side is i learnt a lot about the subject matter that helps.
Qualifications are nice, but reality is you're in a job where you've been interviewed and met the criteria, a lot of folk have imposter syndrome, and qualifications just adds to that sometimes unfortunately, as 'he's got a PhD and i've got 3 GCSEs', that doesn't provide the basis for one being better than the other in several instances.
Sadly I've got professional qualifications in finance and a masters in IT Systems in which I work.
But long ago I got a city and guilds in brickwork which I'm still proud off.
Sales Engineer for a software company. No sales or software qualifications but I did work in the industry we sell into for 14 years.
Nothing beyond a-level because I spent most of my student loans at uni on herbal cigarettes and cans of Carlsberg Export.
EDIT - removed as appears to have been done!
For my first proper job there aren't any relevant qualifications, which is mind blowing when you look at some of the tasks people are asked to carry out and responsibility they have to hold.
My second career; they're a bit of a joke and overseen by a governing body that sees the world and people through a binary filter.
Seeing that so many don't work anywhere near their area of qualification is interesting. Uni was never an option for me, but I'm kinda glad after reading all this.
I'm a software engineer (mainly web, mobile and some backend) - no qualifications. Completely self taught. When I started there was no such thing as bootcamp courses or Udemy so I spent hours pouring through others source code.
I originally went to art school - final year project was to design a website. But I wanted to get something working for my end of year show, so spent the rest of the year teaching myself ActionScript and built the whole thing in Flash. My tutor submitted my work to some BA student awards run by Mando and it won 2nd place. After that I knew what I wanted to do.
Lots of the younger devs come through now with CS degrees, but they seem to be more theory based rather than practical hands-on problem solving and coding. Although I'm sure more of them could do a binary tree inversion than I could 😀
I have a degree in music technology (a first thankyouverymuch) but am currently a director and financial controller of a SaaS company with turnover in the £4-7 million range. I'm currently working on a bookkeeping qualification to help me keep track of what all the debits and credits are doing, but nothing else directly relevant.
Although my university degree is not directly relevant, my time there did help me learn how to motivate myself in a self-led environment and an approach to problem solving that has been useful over time. I also met my wife there, so all things considered I think it was still worthwhile.
@poly Would you rather work somewhere that values bits of paper over proven experience? Where people milk the company for every ounce of training then leave?
No, i would rather the company invest in me so i can be more efficient and do a better job. I understand the risk of people leaving, but if you make the work place good, people wont want to leave.
Only me that’s slightly worried about that? Practicing medicine indeed
We do have qualifications to make sure that we're safe(ish) to be let loose on the general public. The profession wants to make the training longer, the government resists.
It's one of the beauties of the job, there's so much to learn (and it changes all the time) that there's little room to stagnate.
I was quite experienced as a doctor when I came to GP training, I do wonder how my colleagues who do it straight after their registration manage to cope, because there is so much responsibility so early on.
Not worrying for me. The truly dangerous General Practioner thinks that they know everything and won’t seek help/advice until it’s too late.
I have a fair few qualifications. But among the many things I'm not qualified to do, for the next few months I'll be collating advice from specialists for GPs to use to help them make decisions about referring patients.
Not worrying for me. The truly dangerous General Practioner thinks that they know everything and won’t seek help/advice until it’s too late.
“A man’s gotta know his limitations”.
Very true. And surprisingly hard to keep on top of.
I have a dual honours degree in PE and Geography, but didn't go into teaching, then spent next 4 years in the army before injury..
Coaching qualifications in rugby and lots of outward bounds sports (as it used to randomly be called...)
I now head an insurance fraud team, looking mostly at motor/ RTA claim fraud, whereas i am the only one who is not an ex-copper or similar.. and just sorta fell into it, mostly by being inquisitive and nosey!
Very true. And surprisingly hard to keep on top of.
<gallows humour> You can always bury your mistakes </gallows humour>
I have two job titles, depending on which of the two org charts for our joint NHS-Local Authority structure you're looking at. I am both IT Manager and Principal Engineer, I have qualifications for neither.
As IT Manager, I have no background in IT and don't actually manage anyone
As Principal Engineer, I have no background in Engineering, and don't have many principles either.
I have a degree in Environmental Energy Science, and a career that's ranged from Environmental Management and conservation, through kitchen work and bar work, to managing a bar, to Data Analytics, to Forestry, back to Data Analytics and then sideways into Project Management and IT. Oh, and I do a lot of event work and water/hill safety stuff on the side (which I do actually have some qualifications for...)
I've got a HND and BSc in Applied Maths and a MSc Mathematical Modelling
But for work, this is my business card... I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom I can tell you I don't have money, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you.
I got demoted from a job once due to a reorganisation (last in, first out). So went from Senior Eng and SME/coach/trainer to just Engineer, they expected me to keep up the SME parts too (i didn't get a paycut, so that was ok) until a couple of years with no payrise (as i was over the top of the band for the new role) and no sign of being bumped up again.
Stopped doing all the extras. And told them why.
After a bit of digging , it turns out i hadn't ever even been qualified to be the SME in this particular field, as i hadn't completed the training.
Funnily enough, i'd written a lot of the training, and delivered it, and acted as interface between the company and the various governing bodies to ensure we were aligned. And written a few chapters in various books, that were required reading...
I was also technical point of contact for a couple of major EU road safety commissions and NHTSA, in the same field.
They had no one else to take on the role either, due to *other* qualifications that only i had. And my useless manager did nothing about it. (They got reassigned eventually, for being useless, and then sacked).
Then i went on parental leave for 10 months.
I was miraculously able to return as a Senior engineer and SME with a new manager. But had already taken another role (that i also wasn't qualified for).
The most official qualifications I have are A-Levels & I’m the Northern Europe Sales & Marketing Director for a multi billion euro German manufacturing business.
Coming up to 7 years, and promoted from just the UK, so they haven’t found out yet 😎
I'm a "consultant", so part of that gig is having the qualifications, letters after your name and important-sounding projects to make people believe you are worth paying for! So yeah, academically / professionally qualified in my field, but it is highly incentivised.
Mostly noted the number of people on this thread who did ecology/biology/biological sciences in training, who abandoned it. Please come back, the salaries aren't as godawful as they were 20 years ago 😀
Infosec but political science degree, which makes a lot of sense as it's really about reading droll documents no one else wants to read, and then implement. It's basically bureaucracy.
Weirdly started enjoying using Powerautomate to automate away some of the drollness (and create better controls). Powerautomate and planner is awesome in tying together all the different archaic/new/poor governance and risk control systems to create tasks for app managers etc. I should probably have studied computer science but....yeah.
Yes, logistic planning in the far east once. I didn't have a clue what it was when they gave me the job.
All I did was "time and motion" study but I managed to map out every inch of the route in all scenarios.
Oh ya, project management (logistic related). What's that?
I work in recruitment, no qualifications needed or expected. In fact, for certain firms, a lack of intelligence and associated lack of qualifications is seen as a good thing...
Judging by the low calibre staff we've got recently I think our company has used your services
😜😜