Correct Response For Questions Regarding Lack Of College Degree

Question

I've managed to land two programming jobs so far with a partial college degree. One was an internship/co-op type position that turned full-time, while the other is contract work I've received mainly via circumstance.

I have an interview forthcoming (my roommate works at the company) and they have already asked him why I have not completed my degree. The real reason is purely financial, but I was going to ask the SO community if there was any way I could spin this disadvantage to make it look more favorable.

So, Stack Overflow: How can I look less like a slacker given the circumstances?

Update
I got the job. :-)

Answer 1

If the reason is purely financial, where's the issue?

You haven't completed your degree because you needed to work. No need to spin it. Be honest and be yourself.

Show that you have still worked on improving yourself in the meantime (you have, right?). After all, College isn't the only way to learn... I think the desire and drive for self-improvement is have more important than any piece of paper.

Answer 2

Since you have experience - that means you were good enough to teach yourself what was needed - that is always a good thing.

Answer 3

I'm in the same situation: I was in my last year when I had a number of sequential, ill-fated, personal events resulting in a bombed semester - thus losing my qualification for financial aid and not being able to afford to finish. Since then I've been fortunate enough to get development positions anyway.

I was, in fact, asked whether or not I convocated in an interview. My advice is to do what I did; tell the truth. I said it like this: I went to school so that I could get the knowledge do what I love: developing software. I did that, and that's what I do now. Finishing my degree would be nice, but I'd be giving up on the dream job I already have in order to go back and get a piece of paper. A degree was on my bucket list, but stopping programming for a living to get it isn't worth it to me.

edit I got that job btw.

Answer 4

I've been working as a developer sans college degree for years, the real reason being that I've been working on the web professionally since I was hired freshman year of highschool on a workstudy position for my local school district.

Although I've considered getting a degree if I were to move to a more populated area (like silicon valley/NY), but I may even work without it if I moved as well. I've had success working in other large places (LA, Philadelphia) without a degree.

When a job asks me why I don't have a degree, I tell them the truth, which is that I spend my free time learning new technologies, (most of which are too new to be taught in college), and working on personal projects, which look good on my portfolio.

My advice to you would be to let them know you think that the web moves too quickly to justify spending a few years in college learning technologies that will more than likely be obsolete by the time you graduate.

The web moves quickly, and I truly believe you can learn more by creating personal projects that require mastery of a certain technology than you would learn by working on a curriculum that was created with a broad audience and created over the course of 6 months (in which many things change online) before any student was subjected to it.

Best of luck!

Answer 5

Tell them that some of the greatest minds ever either did not have a college degree, or dropped out in the middle.

Seriously, college degrees are overrated. If it's one of those companies that values degrees, resumes, and other paperwork over the actual skills you have and are able to demonstrate during the interview, then I'd say look for greener pastures.

And during the interview be honest and frank about your financial reasons for not completing the degree. Who knows, they might just hire you as tech lead or even for a managerial role.

Haven't we all seen Office Space? :P