So your cousin worked a low-paying tech job at a big company, gained 3 years of experience and a recognizable company name to put on his resume, spent four years in the Air Force and can put a military background on his resume, and then took a low level job at a small company and worked his way up.
So a guy with 3 years of experience at a specialized job (programming) with a large company, with an additional 4 years of military experience, ends up taking a low paying entry-level job but ends up being successful.
Yeah, that sounds just like "see what you want to do, ask your friend for the job".
You obviously didn't pay close attention to what I said.
First, I said national company, not large. Second, he worked tech support, not programming. His experience with programming was ONLY on his own at this point.\
He was then in a mechanical field in the military. Absolutely no help to his resume for what he wanted to do as a career.
How does any of this equate to "see what you want to do, ask your friend for the job"? He had no help getting these positions. No one offered to help him. No friend gave him a job.
The point was that he changed jobs multiple times before getting his chance to do what he wanted. He could have stuck with the first job. He did ok for the area, and really didn't need to change jobs.
He could have stayed in the military. They pay decent and it's pretty secure.
Instead, he kept trying. He saw an opportunity to prove himself and get some experience in what he wanted to do at the 3rd job. He went in and did his assigned job, and also pushed to program on top of it. It seems to have paid off.
But thats a terrible "plan". You had no experience or education. Your advice is to "walk in to a building, tell someone you'll work really hard, and they'll give you a job!" Because "walking in to a building without even bothering to set up an appointment" is a good indication of a "hard-worker"...not busting your ass through 19 years of schooling! One guy has a map, the other guy has a Masters Degree. Which do you hire?
I didn't say it was a plan. Other things happened along the way. I took what I was given and made it work.
Having a Master's degree does not make you good at a particular skill. It makes you good at going to school and passing tests. It gives you the knowledge needed to be good at a skill. School is only one part of the process. If I have a person who I feel can be successful, it makes no difference whether they have a degree or not. There are plenty of CEO's of major companies who have no degree.
And I gave no advice. I simply shared my story about how I was able to get a pay level you claimed was impossible without a degree.
Thankfully, most people here understand that those of us offering stories and what not were not advocating to not go to college, simply that there are plenty of instances where more education does not necessarily mean a barrier to getting what you are looking for.
Now on topic: IBBB if you are interested in the field of programming, and would like another person to talk to who actually has done it, let me know. I'm sure my cousin would be more than happy to talk to you and give you advice. He has done hiring for his company, and can tell you what he looked for when hiring, and what others that were in charge of the section looked for. Then you can make an educated decision about which direction to go. I'm sure he'd be happy to help out a fellow Bear fan.
