Cross roads

So I'm at a point where the only thing i know about my life is I don't want to go back to being a messenger, and I would like at some point to make money (as in enough to save, not just eat).

I don't have any amazing qualifications (American high school diploma), so do I go for crappy jobs, try to get into Uni, and then graduate and start a real job four years late, or do I keep up my search for something interesting that I can be trained to do, with out more schooling?

How did you lot end up where you are? any one take a route that was not school, uni, job?

cheers, and sorry for the shit thread.

I didn't go to art college but still wound up as a graphic designer... Started doing my band's posters/fliers then did our record sleeves, then got asked to do some sleeves by other bands then got strong-armed into designing a fanzine for a coupla years... Next thing I knew art directors were paying me loadsamoney to work on their shit trade magazines...
Nothing beats experience...

I didn't go to art college but still wound up as a graphic designer... Started doing my band's posters/fliers then did our record sleeves, then got asked to do some sleeves by other bands then got strong-armed into designing a fanzine for a coupla years... Next thing I knew art directors were paying me loadsamoney to work on their shit trade magazines...
Nothing beats experience...

+1
The cost of higher education outweighs the benefit.

How did you end up as a broker with out going to uni?

Most of the people who flunked out of my school went straight into being teaboys in the city. Two years later they'd come back to school driving a convertible sports car, whilst I was still riding a pug.

I started with a modern apprenticeship in printing. Worked at a local printers for a few years doing pre-press and a bit of design. Got to know a few people in the "industry" then got headhunted and I am now working a proper graphic designer for a multi national publishing company!

No university, no formal qualification aside from the apprenticeship but loads of experience. There is a lot to be said for the more vocational route. It certainly worked for me!

I trained as an architect, now work in telecoms, which I had no training for at all- just taught myself/read a lot.

Are apprenticeships in britain similar to unpaid internship or do you actually get paid while you learn? I am in a similar situation where I want to get into something but I don't know exactly what. I have gone to uni in Sweden for programming and whatnot, don't know much now and don't want to work with it.
Though I think I'd like to work with something where I learn by doing sort of thing. Apprenticeship. But it's a no-no if it's unpaid work.
I'm well tired of working in retail.

Most jobs will require some type of training. whether it is a formal form of training or you sitting at home at working stuff out for yourself and experimenting on your own time is a different matter. Chances are if you show some initiative of starting to learn about whatever field you wish to enter getting a job in it will be easier.

i was born gifted
i just had to go to art college to work out how amazingly talented i was.

start buying lottery tickets. sure fire way to get rich.
i won £10 last year.

My apprenticeship was paid but it wasn't a very large amount from what I remember.

become a professional sperm donor ;)

^^^ normal

become a professional sperm donor ;)

that'll be the only way your be able to empty those sacks dingobollox :p

How did you end up as a broker with out going to uni?

I went to a Music College but life kicked my arse for a while and i left without qualifications. Got a job in the post room at an Investment Bank. Did a few exams and bullshitted a bit.

It seems that all you need once you get in the door is to show how keen you are without pissing anyone off and learn how to deflect blame and attract praise.

@ Chris:

I think it really depends on what industry you want to work in, and what kind of role. Reading the previous responses, it sounds like media & art employers value experience over degrees. But there are other industries that'll toss your CV in the trash without even looking at it if you don't have a uni degree.

I'm not saying that a uni degree necessarily means anything. I know plenty of morons with Ivy League or Oxbridge degrees. And there are some degrees out there that aren't worth the money they're printed on. But you should bear in mind that some employers are so overwhelmed by the sheer number of applicants for any job, that they have no choice but to enforce a minimum entry requirement just to help them whittle down the number of candidates.

Mail-room-to-front-office-desk stories like Broker's are not the norm. It happens, but you need to happen to be in the right place at the right time.

I started mining at 6 years old, father was a miner, fathers father was a miner and his father before that.
Never looked back, or sideways.. infact never really look up come to think about it. but whats the point of looking anywhere as you are in a hole in the dark.. happy days

Forgot to ask... if you did decide to go to uni, what would you study, and where would you do it?

If you choose to study here, you'll have to pay overseas-student tuition, and it'll cost you an arm, both legs, and all your bikes as well. For the cheapest uni tuition, you'd probably have to go back to your home state (Colorado, right?).

So if you're determined to stay in London... then uni probably isn't an option for you.

[Edit] Just to give you an idea of my background, so you can decide for yourself if I'm biased, and what my biases are: I did the school -> uni/grad school -> Wall Street and City job route.

How did you lot end up where you are? any one take a route that was not school, uni, job?

School, Uni, Job, Uni + Job, Job Job Job Death

dude, just keep plugging away. you know my story already, mechanical engineer - archaeologist - well(whoever knows, knows). You may have lived more than most, but you're still young.

Appreniceships ae definitely a viable option, degrees are two a penny but experience can stand you in very good stead, providing you can get in the door to prove that experience.

What about the job you were talking about the other night?

From my experience, vocational qualifications are worth more and are a quicker route to money.

If you want to be an accountant, say, get a really low job and train. You'll be doing the same qualifications as graduates after two years, rather than spending 3 or 4 years at Uni and not being guaranteed a job.

Obviously, this doesn't work for some things though (Doctorin', for example).

i have a phd in molecular biology. i hate science now. it's badly paid. it could be seen as the biggest waste of my life ever. i was in school from 18-27. i'm broke. i've got some skillz in blasting dna at worm gonads. hardly transferable. i wish i'd stopped and started something else at 21.

get vocational qualifications, if you're good people that'll show. unless of course you want to be a brain surgeon. then you should go to school.

Most IT positions require degrees. It's a quick way of filtering applicants. No degree, bin.
Of course, IT jobs are fucking wank scum shit toss anyway so you don't want one.

+1 for the fact that degrees are a lazy filter device.

most jobs DON'T need someone to have a degree, but still ask for one. i hate that.

i handed my notice in on friday. science publishing ain't that fun.