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 Getting ahead without a degree

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RR Phantom

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PostSubject: Getting ahead without a degree   Getting ahead without a degree Icon_minitimeTue May 06, 2008 9:35 pm

Jake Tyson may not have a university degree but he has plenty of street smarts.

At 21, Tyson was involved in a horrific motorcycle accident that badly damaged one of his legs and left him facing a long stay in hospital. Rather than feeling sorry for himself, the carpenter decided to use the time to develop a business idea he had been quietly working on for a few years - to build and market a better hammer.

Using $50,000 of his accident compensation money he developed the goose-necked Maxistrike hammer - which he hoped would give tradesmen better access on awkward jobs. The idea caught on and today Tyson, 34, fronts a multimillion-dollar tool company and makes appearances on US television as "the handsome handyman".

"[Not having a degree] has 100 per cent not held me back," he says. "I have sat with vice-presidents of Fortune 500 companies and I can hold my own. It all started with one hammer."

Tyson's success in building a stellar career without a university degree may seem unusual, but research shows it is not uncommon. Today, prospects for those without degrees are strong.

Paul Ritchie from the NSW Business Chamber says a recent study showed a significant number of people on BRW's Rich 200 list had never studied at a university.

"For the most part they had a good idea and started a business then grew it," he says. "The thing that came through was ... a great deal of ambition, attitude and passion going for them."

The study of 250 of Australia's wealthiest individuals found that 49 per cent of respondents immediately undertook an apprenticeship, traineeship or on-the-job training when they left high school.

"We've consistently said that people should identify what they're good at and what they're interested in," Ritchie says. "Just because you get a TER of 99 doesn't mean you have to be a doctor."

Ritchie says that 10 to 15 years ago, when youth unemployment was sky-high, it was thought that any degree was better than none. Today it's far more acceptable to learn on the job and develop skills in ways other than through formal education.
Katie Roberts, a career consultant in Sydney, says there is a risk people without degrees can be seen as not academic or less intelligent than their learned peers. "Most professional jobs require a degree: sometimes they don't even mind what degree, they just want to know you're a graduate," she says.

Roberts says one of the main options for people without degrees is to gain an entry-level job where they can get some experience and then move their way up within an organisation. "Cadetships or apprenticeships are a good way to learn on the job," she says. "Entrepreneurial types could start their own business but I tend to suggest people get industry experience first so they understand how business works."

Roberts says career success is ultimately a question of ambition and discipline. "It's true careers can be limited without formal education but then again there are plenty of entrepreneurs who finished school in year 10 and went on to enormous success."

Sean Ashby is one of those success stories. As the founder and director of AussieBum, he has created a multimillion-dollar swimwear and underwear company from nothing.

Leaving school after year 10, he worked a variety of jobs including barman and video store manager, with his natural affinity for "talking the talk" eventually landing him a gig as a national marketing manager. However, Ashby says, he reached a career dead end.

"I couldn't get the jobs I wanted without a degree and I didn't want to be a barman again," he says.

He started designing swimwear and had the savvy to take the product overseas. "In places like Brazil and France they're mad for Australia and see it as this exotic place of fabulous beaches," he says.

Now 40, Ashby says he is proud of his achievements.

"In today's global business world, your entrepreneurial merits are based on who you are and what you've done, not the degrees hanging on the wall," he says. "You do have to have a lot of faith in yourself if you want to go your own way."

Retired at 27
Some high flyers return to get a degree once they are already established in their chosen field.

Real estate entrepreneur Kirsty Dunphey has started studying part-time for an MBA to gain a sense of personal achievement and intellectual stimulation.

"I've always been entrepreneurial, so it was better for me to go straight out to work," she says. "If I had wanted to follow a more set career path it would have been an advantage to stay at uni."

As a gifted high school student, Dunphey went straight from school to a double degree in computing and accounting at Monash University. But feeling restless, she dropped out after one year.

"I went back to my home in Tassie and decided to work," she says. "I had been an after-school filing slave at a real estate agency, so I went back to working in real estate."

In 2001, at the age of 21, she opened her first real estate agency. "By the time I sold the company in 2006 there were six branches."

Dunphey found herself in the enviable position of retiring at the age of 27, financially secure enough to never work again.

"Because I started my own business it was never an obstacle not to have a degree," she says. "In fact, it was an advantage because I was able to start earning money straight away while my peers were all studying."

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CovOps

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Getting ahead without a degree Vide
PostSubject: Re: Getting ahead without a degree   Getting ahead without a degree Icon_minitimeTue May 06, 2008 10:07 pm

Long live entrepreneurs!
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