What is the highest level of education you've completed before starting your career?
#education
13 answers
Emily’s Answer
I obtained my undergraduate degree in my major of Finance before starting my career. This took me the typical 4 years to obtain.
Kelvin’s Answer
Kelly’s Answer
Hi there :) I’m an occupational therapist. I completed high school, college, and then completed the two year masters program In occupational therapy. However, it really varies depending on the type of field you would like to pursue. For example, nurses (BSN-RN) get their bachelors in nursing.
Simeon’s Answer
Alejandra’s Answer
University
Phoebe’s Answer
Ben’s Answer
I finished high school and started working on anything and everything computer related chasing any opportunity. I have found that my real world experience taught me what I needed to know faster and more effectively that what I think I would have learned at university. I am now a senior and respected member of my industry community alongside many people who spent a lot of time studying and get a kick out of teaching them stuff I learned away from the classroom.
Ben recommends the following next steps:
Rich’s Answer
I started my career after I got my BS (4 year) degree however; I started a new profession/career after getting a different AAS (2 year) degree later in life. This is dependent upon the profession you have interest in. Don't let a degree deter you from pursuing what you want to achieve in a career and what drives you!
Desiree’s Answer
You should be open to education and career changes as life evolves. You never know what's ahead!
Andy’s Answer
Hi Lakereyia,
I worked part time while in high school and while starting college. I then started working full time and finished college at "night school". I continued to progress my career after finishing my 4 year college bachelors degree. There are a lot of different options about intermixing work with education: from the "traditional" path of high school then college then get a job; to doing some of both at same time like I did.
Andy
Lisa’s Answer
Throughout my whole education, I was working part time as well -not only to fund my university life, but to also get experience in the working world. Whilst doing my masters was important for me and I learnt a lot and had great experiences living abroad, it is not related to what I do today - my skills today are a mix of education, experience and exposure.
There are many routes into careers - some may require a certain level of education; many companies have entry level positions or programs to support people such as internships or graduate programs.
I have seen different approaches be successful as a route into employment. My brother went straight into an apprenticeship from school and was full time working at 16 and by 20 he was a qualified carpenter/joiner with a successful job. He then changed career so did education later on and is now a firefighter and had to gain certain qualifications to join the fire service. My other brother went to University, got his first job - decided he wanted to do something different so pursued this and went back to university to get the needed qualifications to become a chartered surveyor.
I think what is important for you to think about is what is it that you think you would like to do - and research the requirements and different ways that you can enter into that profession. Are there specific requirements for that profession? Is it more transferable or soft skills? If you know what you are interested in, look for online communities and forums to support your research.
Gloria’s Answer
It depends on what kind of work that you want to do. I actually started out in my current career - learning and development without any advanced education. I was just good at my job and teaching out people how to do that job. I went on to other training jobs, where I taught people how to do whatever job they were doing. During a slow job market, I loss my career because I did not have a Bachelor's degree. I love what I do for a living. To make sure that I do not have future problems with my job, I went on to complete my Master's Degree in Instructional Design.
You should consider what education level you need to achieve to be able to stay or succeed in whatever career you choose. I know many people who are successful with no university diploma. They do, however, keep up with their skills and knowledge to make sure that they are up-to-speed on what they do. They continue to learn all throughout their career.
Gloria