How to satisfy educational requirements without a 4 years college degree

How To Learn SQL or Databases
How To Learn SQL or Databases


My toughest career challenge right now is I feel I’m not at the right industry or level that I know I can be. I want to be software engineer.

I have started learning oracle SQL and I believe with time and effort I can be very good.

My only mental block is every time I look at job requirement for sql developer position I’m

I don’t have a degree and I can’t see myself sitting four ways to get this degree then start working.
Also I need help with structuring my study.

So how can I satisfy the education requirement without spending 4 years in school.


One Response to "How to satisfy educational requirements without a 4 years college degree"

  1. Learning SQL   September 5, 2017 at 3:35 PM

    Hi there,

    Thank you for submitting your question to our career coaching series in “What Is the Toughest Challenge Facing your Career“.

    While it is true that some jobs postings / employers require four year college degrees, it is also true that there are job postings / employers that do not require a college degree!

    So, the answer to your question is: change your focus to finding employers who are willing to hire smart or talented professionals who don’t have a 2 / 4 year college degree. When you find them, focus on satisfying their skill requirements because they will be ok with your lack of a college degree.

    Some Employers Will Hire You Without a 4 Year College Degree

    There are employers out there that are much more concerned about your skills and/or experience than they are about your educational qualifications or lack of a college degree.

    Employers that create enterprise software systems or software / apps that are used by millions of people (think Apple, Google, Microsoft, Sun, Oracle) are more likely to require a formal computer science four year degree and in some cases even a masters / doctoral degree because the types and/or scale of the problems that they are trying to solve is large, complex and difficult.

    A lot of smaller companies or companies who are not in the business of selling software services don’t face computing problems with the scale and magnitude of companies like Google, so, they are open to any talented / skilled software engineers applying to their positions!

    There Are Job Opportunities That Do Not Require A College Degree

    :There are jobs postings that do not require a two / four year college degree.
    This is also more true for contract, hourly-rate type job postings as opposed to full-time, salaried employee job postings.

    The educational requirements for contact / hourly-rate type jobs with some employers are sometimes different from those of salaried, full-time permanent positions.

    Why? Because contact-type job postings are temporary in nature and are designed to help the employer fill short-term hiring needs and so, the interview process is more focused on the skill needs of the employer and less focused on the long-term requirements needed for growth and success at the company.

    So, there really are jobs out there that pay well and do not require a four year college degree. Shift your mental focus to finding jobs like these and make sure that you are very skilled or good at what you do before you apply for them.

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