What qualifications do you have?

[ScottyB 2,086]

Sadly, a lot of people spend years studying at university to get a degree and then as soon as they get into that chosen field, they realise they hate it and go and find another job.. Usually not using any qualifications at all.

Now I firmly believe that everything you learn, whether you use those skills directly or not, shape who you are and make you become a better all round person. Those skills will help you be able to think outside the box whether you realise it or not, so no education ever really goes to waste.

With such a diverse group from all over the world, I would be very interested in hearing your qualifications and skills and why you decided to learn them.

I'll start with mine;

I am a carpenter and have completed the apprenticeship and got a certificate 3 in carpentry. That took 4 years on site with 3 years going to school one day a week to learn the theory. I then continued my studies and completed certificate 4 in building and construction which allows me to become a project manager and run the building sites organising all the trades and materials etc.. That was another 2 years of going to TAFE (school) 3 nights a week.

My next qualification is APSI (Australian profesional snowsports instructor) level 2 certificate. I was a snowboard instructor for only one season in Australia. Never ended up going to either Canada or America for a season which would have been amazing.

I also started learning to programme with the intention of being able to make games and a website but haven't gone too far in that. I did complete an Alison course on the diploma of c programming. I learnt a lot about the basics and logic of it but lost interest as it wasn't helping me achieve my goal of making games or building a website. I also like to be very god at whatever I do and realised that to become fairly proficient at programming, I would need to dedicate all my time to it. Even professionals who do it for a living didn't even seem to be very good at it so it kind of out it into perspective. Eventually I would like to learn a bit more but I think I'll stick to the gta creator for the time being

I have many more things that I want to learn and in good time definetly will as I actually enjoy learning new and challenging things and learning all I can about it.

[markt112 168]

I just have GCSE's and 3 A levels in Law, Geography and Business Studies. Did want to go to university but changed my mind last minute... still might go at some point. At the minute I work from home and the girlfriend owns two bars (I help out) shes a year older than me (25). Been talking a lot about moving recently, she wants to move to London but I hate the place :/ 

[DavidCore89 7,402]

Formal qualifications... absolutely none, I wasn't allowed to complete school due to me being a complete asshole and getting myself banned from attending all public schools in Wales.

 

That makes it really hard for me to land myself a boring, pen-pushing 9-5 office job, can you believe that?  .

 

Everything that I know from music production/engineering, security/door supervising, sales and also trades such as welding and plastering were taught by friends, family and workmates.

 

I like to think experience counts for just as much as qualifications written on a piece of paper, I know people with 10,11 or 12 GSCE's at grade A and above and university degree's, but yet they still work in a shitty run-down cafe and lack enough common sense to know the most obvious of things. 

Edited January 27, 2015 by DavidCore89

[Matty 745]

I was expelled from school for decking my PE teacher (after 11 suspensions, I guess it was the final straw ) so did not get many GCSE's....Like 1 in triple science, I got a B. 

I was always been more of a practical, hands on sort than academic anyway.

 

I have since gained qualifications at evening classes though.

I have a carpentry & joinery NVQ and a NVQIII in Business.

[Haste 190]

Very cool Scotty...

 

I am educated in business and trading, never used it though!

 

I am a self taught sound engineer and producer, and have worked with it for over 10 years. Right now i do some sound engineering and mixing for some people, so my producing has been at a bit of a pause lately!

 

I have been playing the piano and guitar for over 15 years.

 

Oh, and i played alot of games, if that will count :>

[Danielle 3,007]

I only have the ones I got at school, a few Maths, Art & Science (Biology & Chemistry) ones. I did do a couple of piano exams but I gave up on that because I never enjoyed the lessons and I've done a few nutrition courses for my own entertainment. It's something I really enjoy learning about and if I ever do go to uni it will be to become a nutritionist/dietitian. I have sat and filled out uni applications before but never went through with it, it wasn't something I was interested in at school. I was one point away from getting into Glasgow School of Art for photography which I was gutted about at the time but I'm very glad I didn't pursue that now. I am a grade A procrastinator

 

I plan on going travelling next year I feel like I need to get that out of my system first

[ScottyB 2,086]

Formal qualifications... absolutely none, I wasn't allowed to complete school due to me being a complete asshole and getting myself banned from attending all public schools in Wales.

 

That makes it really hard for me to land myself a boring, pen-pushing 9-5 office job, can you believe that?  .

 

Everything that I know from music production/engineering, security/door supervising, sales and also trades such as welding and plastering were taught by friends, family and workmates.

 

I like to think experience counts for just as much as qualifications written on a piece of paper, I know people with 10,11 or 12 GSCE's at grade A and above and university degree's, but yet they still work in a shitty run-down cafe and lack enough common sense to know the most obvious of things.

Haha you and Matty are badass

Exactly as you said though, I think experience counts for far more then qualifications.. "Hobbyists" are usually way better then most professionals at certain things. Now days especially with the Internet you can learn everything you want. It's such a shame that a piece of paper counts more than actual competence.

You see it all the time in trades. You will get some council certifier or project manager fresh out of uni thinking they're God trying to tell you what to do and they clearly have no idea and screw everything up..

I also got really into nutrition alongside working out (theory stuff) and learnt a fair bit about it. Very interesting stuff

Most of the successful and inspirational people never completed high school and don't have any formal qualifications.. Take Richard Branson, what a legend! Was told by his teachers he was useless and wouldn't amount to anything. Now look at him, sending people to space and shit haha

[Jaggy 2,811]

I have a degree in sarcasm.

 

There's just no time or interest from me to want to go to college.  I'm easily distracted and a procrastinator.  It would honestly be a huge waste of money.  Any hobbies/interest I have, I just read about it on the internet and teach myself.  If/when I ever go back to work, I'll go back to a 9-5 type of job with a mortgage company again.  That's what I was doing before I went on maternity leave and I enjoyed it.  Even though it was kind of boring.  The pay was so-so, but it paid our bills, put food on the table, and kept me happy most days when office drama was happening.

 

I am currently working on opening my own website, like a lifestyle type blog.  So I'm going back and teaching myself all about coding/html stuff.  It's amazing how much I have forgotten from years ago when I used to have a personal blog on a subdomain.  That is my hobby right now, outside of GTA and wine "tasting".  

[JustHatched 12,103]

I grew up the son of a carpenter who owned his own business, done that shit from 12 to 30 years old, but ours was different, we built new houses and remodeled houses but we hired no outside help. We done all the masonry, electrical, plumbing, roofing and everything in between.

I also learned from Dad how to mess with cars, rebuild engines, trannys, brakes, everything on a car (older stuff, not this new computer driven crap).

At 30 I went to work in a machine shop and learned every aspect of CNC machining with Lathes, Mills, Grinder and learned manual machining as well.

Those were the main things

Some side shit was working with a carnival for a couple seasons traveling, setting up rides, running rides, etc...

Website development and programming (still working on that)

Parrot breeding

[wraignbow 719]

 

Edited June 3, 2015 by wraign

[DefaultBling 171]

I got pretty good grades in Botanic and First Aid back in Pharmacy school, then I dropped =P  I also don't know how can I use that.

I also built my home with my father and brother, you can say I mix the concrete pretty good.

Besides that, I have many many hours in GTA and videogames overall.

 

Edit: I'm a twitter manager for a important world wide web group and have experience in breeding dogs, mostly pintchers.

Edited January 28, 2015 by DefaultBling

[JALJ 541]

Ive got no qualifications!

 

....besides working retail for like 5 years and working as welder apprentice for 2. Ive had all kinds of odd jobs. I do hope to have a few "professional" qualifications coming up soon.

 

Going to school currently for a Bachelors of Science in Audio Engineering. Hoping to work in live sound (concerts, live recordings sessions, sport broadcasting) and post production (films, movies tv ,etc).

 

Went to a state college and ended up dropping out because even though i was in school i didn't know what i wanted to do. Went to community college taking a few classes until one day someone mentioned to me about "sound design" work and that i would be perfect for it. Looked up a school and found one that would take my credits from the other schools and allow me to graduate in half the time.

 

Outside of that, Im a wannabe beat maker lol

 

Been rapping and making beats since i was 14. I eat and breathe music. I guess i ended up picking a career in audio engineering because i would still have the chance to live out my dreams of being a musician/artist.

 

I picked up the guitar when i was 19. I had always wanted to learn to play guitar but never had the chance until i visited mexico and took lessons from a classically trained musician. I still play and keep sharp on my guitar and hope to one day continue taking guitar lessons to pick up where i left off. I Joined a band last year, left the band and now hope to release a 8 track demo this summer in preparation of my graduation.

 

feel free to check my soundcloud. its mostly filled with beats and old school projects.

 

https://soundcloud.com/jalj

 

EDIT

 

Oh and i almost forgot! i got 3 beats featured on this rap demo. Dope duo from Chile putting it down in spanish and english!

Edited January 28, 2015 by JALJKING

[furdog 525]

I've got a 4-year degree in Computer Science and have used that to do my only real full-time job for the last 14 years doing business application development in the printing industry. I've been trying to do some web development for the same company as well but my skills in anything having to do with the javascript portion of the web makes my head hurt. Been looking at going back to school part time just to get some formal education for web development as I'm not good at self-learning.

 

I don't have any other qualifications outside of the degree. None are really needed to do basic programming. I don't do any networking or hardware where other certifications are needed.

[grjkie 727]

Well I never got a degree either, when I finished high school I started living alone so never pursued a degree had to grow up fast, in my home country I was in the military for about 6 years, I learned a lot there and after that I emigrated to another country, where I currently work as a kitchen-aid. Also I am kind of a computer geek, always liked it, have built a couple, understand some programming, in my free time I repair pcs, phones, anything tech related I like it , translated a few apps, rebuilt a few websites but that side of my life has now slowed down a bit since we've gotten the baby, don't have that much time to work on those things with a baby roaming around the house and pulling every cable, pressing every button he sees lol

Babies are a lot of work and a lot of fun

[truelife98 1,143]

i was a high school dropout who took and passed my ged class. so i guess you can say i graduated since ged is equivalent to a high school diploma. after that i took night classes to be a certified electrician which i worked on the industrial side for 2 or years wiring up stores and condominiums. i still do electrical work on the side for friends and family but now work in a chemical plant making polypropylene threw this job now i am also a certified first responder and am trained in industrial fire fighting confined space rescue and high angle rescue as i am captain of our shift emergency response team. 

i was not a very good student in high school my main problems were i just didn't care and never applied myself i think i missed more days then i actually attended was fined 2 time for truancy which is why i dropped out and got my ged i knew i wouldn't be going to college. 

[DavidCore89 7,402]

 

https://soundcloud.com/jalj

Gave you a follow on the Cloud.

 

However, I don't use it anywhere near as much as I used to, my last upload was 1 year ago.

 

My audience is much different to yours, so sharing your work on my feed won't lead to much, keep it up though  .

[SeymorScagneti 1,274]

HS grad, some college, and a plethora of useless military skills.

I'm fairly proficient in the following areas through jobs and on the job training....credit card fraud, financial crimes, Six Sigma bullshit, Sarbanes Oxley, auditing, and fixing Excel macros.

Hopefully I get my shit together and go back to school some day.