Employment

>>1500441
not worth it
t. someone who has that exact degree and can't get hired

>>1500441

How many ranks in Diplomacy do you have?

>>1500441
Are you running into a roadblock? Do you find yourself having to explain the fact you don't have a degree? If not, I wouldn't bother. If you find that you need a degree to progress your career, get it.

>>1500479
Not necessarily, as I am good at my job and I believe that counts for a lot with potential employers. Also when looking to the market in my field for senior jobs, it seems just having experience isn't cutting it, with many requiring MBAs or at least a masters in an area with a finance or maths background (I'd like to go on to do my MBA eventually after a degree).

I have found myself sometimes having to explain the reasoning behind not having a degree, and it's met with usually polar opposite responses. Some are impressed I've got to where I am without one, and others seem to think my knowledge and experience is worth more since I didn't get one.

I feel holding a degree and the experience I do have would make me a more rounded candidate that would sit toward the top of the pile, rather than being looked over because someone else has a degree.

>>1500460
What else do you have other than just the degree? The knowledge seems to be worth a lot to potential employers, but why else should they hire you? I feel like I can answer that with a good few years of professional results, which unfortunately grads can't since they were busy, you know, getting educated as fuck.

>>1500502
Honestly I think having a degree is overrated. But, for some jobs you will need it to get in there. For example how am I going to hire a senior candidate with no degree? If he fucks up, MY boss is going to tell me "Are you fucking dumb? Why did you even hire that guy, he didn't even go to college!" It's a big risk for me. To cover my ass I might hire someone with a degree just so I can say "How could I have known he would run rm -rf * on our server, he has a degree!"

It does take a little while to get one, so if you can see it being a hurdle for you 4-5 years down the road I would get started soon. If you want to keep working for someone and moving up in the corporate structure, you will probably need it.

>>1500547
I am similar, and I hadn't actually thought it from that perspective, as I do hire people but I usually don't give a shit if they have a degree or not, of course I understand the values that degrees demonstrate to employers, but I have never let it stop me hiring someone if they have seemed intelligent and proven themselves in a professional setting. That's a good way to look at it though.

I guess I have the money and the time, I could even do a part time degree so I can continue to work and build on my experience, and in the end there isn't really a negative to having that experience under my belt, or at least that's how I currently see it.

In your opinion/experience do you think it looks bad that I didn't do it first time round and now am looking to catch up with the pack as it were? I can explain from my perspective that I had a steady job when uni came around and I chose the career and money over debt and uni, but would that cut it?

>>1500507
just graduated, so nothing but education. can't even get to a fucking interview to demonstrate any knowledge or skills i might have acquired

>>1500559
>In your opinion/experience do you think it looks bad that I didn't do it first time round

No, not at all. If I had the opportunity of entering the job market or going to college, I would choose the job every time. I haven't been in IT for long but it seems like many many people are self-taught. The people who do have degrees have them from some unrelated field, so I don't really see why it matters most of the time. For example I have a degree in finance and my boss has an engineering degree. Meanwhile we are setting up servers and phones for our clients. lol, so go figure. I think IT moves much faster, so by the time you get a degree in the field the information is already becoming obsolete. Like I would be willing to be that some colleges still teach dreamweaver. So what would you prefer, someone who looks good on paper but has no skills, or someone who can do the job but can't "prove" it? I guess it depends on the job environment, hiring manager etc.

>>1500502
>Also when looking to the market in my field for senior jobs, it seems just having experience isn't cutting it, with many requiring MBAs or at least a masters in an area with a finance or maths background

that is a reasonable concern and doing a degree part time could certainly look good (it isn't an easy option though if you're holding down a full time demanding job too

I'm guessing the part time degree you're looking at is this one administered by the LSE:

http://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/lse/bsc-economics-finance

I'd be tempted to do something more mathematical these days, ideally choosing any stats modules you can too desu..

something like this instead:

http://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/lse/bsc-mathematics-economics

or, if you're in London then:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/ems/courses/bsc_programmes/bsc_stats_econ

or

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/ems/courses/bsc_programmes/bsc_maths_econ

Depends what you want to do honestly. If you want to stay corporate and be a SME then I'd say screw it.

If you want to go into management at a larger / publicly traded company then I'd say go to school part time and work towards your bachelors. Sometimes you can apply "Career Credits" and test out of a lot of things. If you're going to school now, you're doing it for the paper and the chance of improving your writing skills with some of your electives. Some employers will give you $4-10k a year towards a degree so you can start at a community college, do 2 years, then transfer to a 4 year program and keep your expenses low.

MBA would be something way down the line unless you think you can find a 5/6 year MBA program that builds your undergraduate studies into your grad studies.

>>1500585
What are you some kind of wizard? That is very much the degree I was looking at for part time study, if indeed I don't go the route of full time at a brick uni.

Any reason for choosing more maths based options? I hadn't thought about that. I chose economics because I actually enjoy the topic.

Thanks for your insight, I have some real thinking to do. Do you have any opinion on the UoL part time degree by chance?

>>1500602
you mentioned data analytics etc.. as part of your background, while studying some economics/finance is cool if you're interested in that adding in some maths/stats is going to be useful in general if you find yourself still in analytics related roles (which given how the world is progressing is quite likely)

good thing is that stats compliments economics quite well anyway

no opinion on the UoL distance learning program though it is a reasonable brand name to have on your CV + your program is overseen by the LSE. You should be fine for applying to masters level courses at top universities.

Only thing is I'm pretty sure it is very much a self study/distance learning option... as in you've got the materials and you study then have exams once a year... that is it, no ongoing coursework etc.. so very self reliant.

the OU is distance learning too but they provide you with tutors you can phone/e-mail and you can turn up for tutorials

Birkbeck goes a step further and is basically just regular university but in the evening - so you'll have lectures, tutorials, coursework etc..

if you're confident you can stick with it then the University of London international program is probably the cheapest way of getting a decent degree from a well known university as you're basically just teaching yourself and sitting exams.

Any of the options are fine for post grad admissions as UK universities are all accredited an a national level and appoint external examiners from other UK universities to check the standards in exams.

Econometrics.

>>1500601
>Some employers will give you $4-10k a year towards a degree so you can start at a community college, do 2 years, then transfer to a 4 year program and keep your expenses low.

he won't need to, the full BSc honours degree via University of London will cost him 4 grand in total

>>1500655
Yeah, I hadn't thought of myself as someone who's a hard mathematician, just someone who could code and understood enough to get by and could find the rest by reference materials, which is why I hadn't thought of incorporating any stats/maths outside of what is in the course material for your general econ/finance degree.

That is a good option though, and something I will consider when deciding what I'm going to do (it's likely to be next year now, as the deadlines for UK university are done for now - in case I want to go the full route).

I've read good things about OU, and rather than being a bit of a joke uni like it used to be seen I think in the UK it is held in fairly high regard these days. The only reason I was going for the LSE guided UoL option more than OU was because its got the LSE name on it, and thats a world renowned college.

You're also correct on the UoL method of pretty much teach yourself and hammer out exams, and it does worry me a little but I like to think I'm focussed enough and disciplined enough to keep at it.

>>1500601
didn't see/respond to this before. I'd like to stay corporate SME for now but I would like that option to go up later down the line, who knows... I'm not 30 yet, anything could happen.

>>1500678
if you've got a while to decide then maybe see how you get on with self studying this:

http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam033/2002018922.pdf

it is the sort of undergrad applied maths that you'll get initially in maths, physics, engineering etc.. and is required basic knowledge for stats, machine learning courses etc.. too (that is stats and machine learning where you're being taught properly not just treating everything as a black box)

>>1500713
actually that is just a sample, I was trying to find a pdf of the full book 'mathematical methods for physics and engineering'

>>1500718
nice, thanks for that. I'll hunt down the book also.