How did you get to where you are today?

[Kain]

I was wondering what you all do for a living and how did you get there? Do you have a college degree? Do you feel a college degree is important to be successful?

[colterphoto1]

I posted about 12,000 times on this Forum, the company felt sorry for me because I had no life []so the HIRED ME! [] [Y]

EDIT, to further answer your question on a more serious note:

Yes I have a college degree- IU School of Business majoring in Accounting minor in Computer Technology. I only worked in the Accounting field, but feel the level of general knowledge and the various business disciplines served me well in running my very successful Photography enterprise for 10 years. I hope that Klipsch will be able to reap the benefits of my higher education as well. I hope to return for my MBA someday.

Michael

[Gilbert]

I was wondering what you all do for a living and how did you get there? Do you have a college degree? Do you feel a college degree is important to be successful?

I started out at Mercy Hospital, in Laredo Texas. Ah yes, it was Feb. 21, 1962. I remember it, like it was just yesterday. That first cold spank of the morning was painful. I cryed like a baby for a while, but then my lungs filled with air and the doctor gave me beer.

Don't know how the hell I got this far with all my fingers and toes still being where God intended them, but life has been good. Degree'd professional, yes. Degree necessary, no way. Will my children go to college, they better.

IMHO, a degree is definitely NOT necessary to be successful, but it can offer a boost. Personal drive is the most important thing, followed by doing or chasing after what you love.

[oldbuckster]

Bad Luck that's how I got Retired for Medical reasons, would much rather be working, but that's not the hand I have been dealt..............So, to answer your question about a College Degree, and if you need one to be sucessful......................YES YOU NEED A DEGREE............no matter what they say, you can't get enough education..................I worked with my BACK most of my life, and Factories, but trust me, those days are over in this country anyway.................I stayed right on my two kids, and got them through College, what they do with the opportunity I provided is up to them........

[dtel]

How did you get to where you are today, Easy a hard head, didn't listen and stay in school !

Partly true, but we love what we do and that makes it fun to go to work. My wife and I do Landscaping, trees , Irrigation systems, beds, water features ( ponds, waterfalls ), in the garden, and sometimes flagstone walks and patios. Anything for the yard as long as it's creative.

DTEL = Down To Earth Landscapes...................The name of our company, had many other jobs but none I loved, before this.

[BEC]

Everyone should have a degree, I guess.  But wait a minute, if everyone had a degree, there would still be the same number of people working at McDonalds and Wal-Mart.  Might get to be difficult to find an empty space on the wall to hang your shingle.

Bob

[dtel]

I posted about 12,000 times on this Forum, the company felt sorry for me because I had no life []so the HIRED ME! [] [Y]

wooohoooo

Tell the truth Mr Photo , although that may be somewhat true.

The truth is Michael is VERY GOOD with a camera and YOUNG LADIES. []

[ZAKO]

By greed, back stabbing tretchery & double crossing skullduggery...Then I married rich.

[oscarsear]

Work ethic, education, risk taking, diversity, more education, dumb luck, persistence, a good amount of skepticism, happenstance, more education, work, work, work, kismet, work, work t'il key parts of the body are worn out.....  No free rides from whence I started.  In America you can achieve what you want to achieve as long as you know what you want and are willing to work damn hard for it.  Yes, education is crucial but it is no guarantee.  Been working since I was 13, post grad college, 2 full careers, service stint and physically broken and disabled by 54 years of age....what a ride and I ain't dead yet!

[Fish]

Most of us get where we are(wherever that is)by climbing over the wall,then breaking through the next one,then maybe under the next but just keep chippin' away at the stone.I build for a living,feast or famine kinda thing.As has been mentioned,get an education is the best advise,it puts another tool in your box..

[WMcD]

I have several degrees and for a year taught in an MBA program.

= = = = =

As the question is phrased: Yes, a college degree IS important to be successful. Of course many people are quite happy and successful without a college degree.

One general observation is that people will use about 30% of what they learn in school. But which 30% is unpredictable. And which 30% changes as you go through life. You may wind up using 100% over time. So anyone should not be too dismissive of subjects studied, often as electives. Fortunately, these are sometimes basket-weaving types compared to math or science.

- - - - -

Most of my extended family (young and old, and passed away) are in the technical professions. Like it or not, a specialized degree is the ticket required in many areas. These are generally the higher paid jobs. The investment in time and money pays off.

That investment is probably true of most college degrees. Even Art History or Theater degrees. Smile.

Parents are very attune to this. It is why they push their kids when the kids argue against the value of a college degree. The investment in a degree is more of sure thing than the money invested in the stock market.

- - - - -

In my observation, the hiring department in many organizations look at thousands of resumes which generally look the same, except for that degree in whatever. So the hiring department person can and does draw a circle around the listed degree on the resume and put that in the pile of people to be considered. It is probably more prevalent in the hiring of young people.

In any case, if there is ever a question about who is to be hired, it is easy for the powers-that-be to explain: This person has a degree in the area. Hard to argue.

- - - - -

Adult college eductation is often the ticket out of a mediocre job. A friend of my mom had a very vanilla college degree and was teaching grade school. "Aunt Kathy" mentioned that she was thinking about some adult ed courses at a local high school (this may have been out of bordom). My mom said she should consider a masters in eduction. Eventually Aunt Kathy got the masters and moved up to assistant principal. Aunt Kathy always talked about that as the best advice she ever received.

= = =

Best,

Gil

[oldtimer]

I was wondering what you all do for a living and how did you get there? Do you have a college degree? Do you feel a college degree is important to be successful?

Yes I have a college degree. Two degrees. Does one need it to be successful? Define success. Maybe yes maybe no depending upon the field. My point is that education is important in its own right, for its own sake. It helps define who you are as a person, and enriches your experience as a human being. To me who you are as an individual (as opposed to who you were born to) is more important than what you do for a living.

[colterphoto1]

I posted about 12,000 times on this Forum, the company felt sorry for me because I had no life []so the HIRED ME! [] [Y]

wooohoooo

Tell the truth Mr Photo , although that may be somewhat true.

The truth is Michael is VERY GOOD with a camera and YOUNG LADIES. []

That last part is patently UNTRUE. seriously []

Michael

[Travis In Austin]

I was wondering what you all do for a living and how did you get there? Do you have a college degree? Do you feel a college degree is important to be successful?

It depends on how you define sucsessful. My profession requires a degree, and I love my profession, and so in order for me to even enter into it I had to have degrees. If you are not planning on going into a profession, then I would say that a degree is not required. No matter what, hard work is required, and a little luck. The good news is, the harder your work, the luckier you get.

Travis

[M.A.N.D.I.]

Yes, I have a degree in Math, and I am teaching Math. I would have not been hired without the degree. There are things I would like to do and watching folks do those things, I think I could do the job just as good. But, without the degree I would never be looked at for those jobs. I did not start out teaching but always thought I might enjoy teaching (which I love). Having the degree opened that door for me and I am grateful. At one time I sold TiO2 (figure that out), was hired because I have a minor in general engineering. Did I use that knowledge? I guess you could say yes, because I called on several plants that had different manufacturing processes and I was able to easily pick up on those processes. I am sure someone without a degree could have done just as good or better, but again they would not have been looked at because the company specifically looked for engineering backgrounds. That was a great job if you liked being out of town on the road four days out of the week. As one previously mentioned, I think higher education keeps more doors available to you, but as I get older the idea of changing professions again would scare me to death. I hope to be doing this for another 25 years. I have thought about going back to school to get an administration degree, but I do not kow if I really want to deal with those politics. I think we are unrealistic to expect EVERYONE to complete one class above Alg 2 in highschool. I bet if you were to give congress a geometry or algebra end of course test SEVERAL would not pass. But, if they had those classes a fast refresher would get them throught.

[sheltie dave]

I have a degree and work as in garbage collecting. Speakers, stereo stuff, radioactive wastes. The degree allows me to look at people with masters and PhDs and roll my eyes, but only at work![]

[theplummer]

I was wondering what you all do for a living and how did you get there? Do you have a college degree? Do you feel a college degree is important to be successful?

Kain, I'll tell you the same thing I have told countless young adults during my time as a police officer (Degree not required, but recommended/specialized school is required).

Seems like every "ride along" youngster was chompin at the bit to grow up and be a cop, just like I did. Hell, I was wearin a badge at nineteen, couldn't wear a sidearm until I was twenty one. (What kind of STUPID was I).

After many years of rookieitus, I finally grew up and figured out what was really important in life. Family, Future, and Fun. In that very specific order. First there is no one more important in life than your parents (Honor them forever). Once you find that special mate, Honor that person for life also and love your children with every fiber of your being.

Future, This is what I think your question really focuses on here. First off, LEARN a TRADE!!! You can never lose when you can actually create something with your hands. Every one Needs a Plumber no matter how much education they have, unless that educated person has taken the time to learn how to be competent with their hands. And if the unforseen tragedy would ever happen (I.E. police officer gets into a bad shoot situation, untintenionally and loses his state certification, or a Doctor, has an unforseen complication and loses a difficult malpractice lawsuit and can no longer afford insurance. there's a million things that can happen to any professional that could ruin his ability to continue to perform in his chosen profession.) There's still earning potential in the old arsenal, creating a product, again you can still feed your Family, wow, back to the first F.

Next, obtain a Business degree, yes I said business. This is absolutely the best degree with the most crossover that there is. Just think, and attorney can make a tremendous amount of money, but he still may have to file bankruptcy because he never learned the basic business principals to keep his small business afloat. Even doctors are small businesses. Even if you want to be a police officer, get a business degree. A criminal justice degree is worthless once your promoted to management. You can learn that in the academy or OJT. Most large municipalities won't hire chief's of police that don't have a business degree.

Last, what happens when you finally decide to drop out of that "Rat" Race of working in a severly mentally stressfull career. Again, you have a trade that you can slow down and enjoy the creative juices that your american heritage has bred you to become. This is very statisfying.

Finally, find a career that you can "stand" to do. Not one that you "enjoy, or love". Believe me eventually you will no longer Love it. That's why its called Work. If it was all fun, it'd be called "Fishing" or something like that. And, realize this happiness is a state of mind, not something that is given to you . You must have a positive mental attitude throuout your life to be successful.

Good luck in your endeavor's and hopefully most everyone on this thread will agree and expand on these things in life that I have found to be true.

[PhilMays]

Let's see, I am a Hotel Executive, Degree not required but almost certainly helps. As for the degree, I have a little over 80 credit hours whit no degree. I succeeded by doing early on in my career what others with like experience would not do, and that was sacrafice and do what ever it took to succeed.

I feel a CAN DO attitude will take a person a long way, particulaly in the service industry. I do well, are happy, and satisfied. I am better than 3/4 of the way to a six figure salary.

However...

AS others have mentioned, if you want a profession then education is a MUST. My wife give's Anesthesia as a Nurse Anesthetist and has a Masters degree. She works hard, and would not have had that oppertunity had she not worked her tail off in school. Of course she earns 3 times what I do.

I have had a lot of luck, both dumb and unusual. In my case it was the ability to recognize oppertunity and jump on it.

Will our kids go to college....damn right they will! What they choose to do in life is up to them...we just want to give them every head start we can!

[tommyboy]

A degree? Not everyone is college material. I tried community college out of high school for about a year, just to realize that college was not at all for me. When I was 21, I told myself that I had to do something though. So, I joined the Air Force. But like everyone on here has said, hard work is a must. I've passed up everyone I came in with in rank in the 4 years that I've been in. But now if I wanted to get out of the military, I would want a degree. I've never seen anyone go real far when they get out without a degree in something. So I'll just stay here!

[xdetroitx]

Well, my life has been quite the roller coaster with most of my time on the low end. I made some very poor choices that entitled me to be a ride along with the plummer. At 30 I finally pulled my head out of my *** and went to trade school(electrician), but I was tired of working on homes that I could never afford. I was laid off and now I am in college for the first time at age 35. Quite the accomplishment considering I never made it through the 9th grade. I have made the presidents list every semester to top it all off. I tell kids to go to school and hang with the winners.