Certifications are a great way to show you are worth your salt even if you are in your early 20s. You can prove your knowledge through experience by taking certifications, like the PMP (Project Management Professional) or other business/IT certifications.
Un-college, The Fellowship, and The Real World
This is called the “Un-college” movement. Drifting from the Un-college program to mingling with the Thiel Fellowship and ultimately working in business and science without a college degree, there are definitely some ways to signify to an investor, business partner, or hiring team that you are competitive even without a formal college education.
There are many fields in which a degree are highly beneficial if not mandatory (professional engineers, lawyers, doctors, etc), however, this is not the case for a lot of entrepreneurs or startup employees that value more in portfolios and experience than in formal education.
The big question then becomes, “How do we prove our knowledge and experience without college degrees?" There are three major ways that can be overlooked; certifications, portfolios and CVs, and mentorships.
Certifications: The missing link
Sometimes it takes several years working with like minded individuals that all espouse that traditional education may not be the only path to success. This is not posing the notion that only getting certifications is always a legitimate alternative. However, the subject does not come up much if you are your own boss, because you don’t need to justify your own experience.
Project Management Certification
There are many such programs to take advantage of learning. The Project Management Institute’s certifications is one of these. The most common certification this company offers is the PMP (Project Management Professional) certification.
Freelancing
If you are freelancing, trying to get funding, applying for accelerator programs, or just battling against stakeholders within your own company to be able to have say in the operation of the company, then having your project management certification can help gain that extra edge to show that you aren’t just flying by the seat of your pants.
Working At A Startup
Now, if your goal is to work in a startup to help guide it to success, a certification may be even more relevant. IT certifications is the leading reason why people can actually land the jobs they are looking for. The PMP, leads as the highest paid IT certification in 2008. This particular certification can help prepare individuals with a baseline of knowledge that can be applied to a wide range of development styles, such as agile project management.
What Are The Drawbacks?
There are of course drawbacks that need to be taken into consideration when considering certifications. The PMP costs about $500, and requires 5 years of experience in project management without a college degree. You study for (and pass) the 4 hour examination, and then keep up the certification by maintaining work every 3 years.
It is up to each person to determine if certifications are right for them, and that must be taken into consideration when they are looking at what type of work they are drawn to within the Startup World.
Certifications Build Toward Success
A CEO, CTO, UI/UX designer, and CFO all have different responsibilities to make the machine move. One last note about certifications, like college degrees, they are nearly universally recognized and translate exceptionally well between the Startup World and the rest of the corporate world.
Portfolios and CVs
After certifications, having a solid portfolio or CV is absolutely necessary. Ideally, having a digital one (read: make a personal website) as well as one well thought out paper (a traditional CV or resume). Your experience, skills, and creativity are your biggest asset when it comes to portfolios of your work.
If you are a coder, get a GitHub and build your website from scratch. Trying your hand out on some apps? Be sure to keep track of your progress. Showing that you have actually put in the time and effort to demonstrate your skills can help signal that you are more than just all talk.
How Can I Make Sure My Résumé Is Okay?
It may seem basic to maintain a CVs or résumé, but without them it would be one of the fastest ways to be thrown out of the running for just about any job. It is important to have these documents done improperly, as well.
- Check your spelling and grammar.
- Make sure your experience is ordered in a way that makes sense.
- Be clear and concise in your descriptions.
- Tailor your experience to showcase relevant skills.
Yes, these are pretty basic concepts that everyone has come across at some point in their lives but they bear repeating. It is startling how often these core concepts are ignored.
Applications for the Thiel Fellowship, YC, TechStars, and a dozen other programs all require similar displays of experience and competency. Don't sell yourself short by haphazardly doing something as simple as a proper portfolio.
Mentorships
The last piece of advice is the most useful of all. Find yourself a mentor. Networking is only ever as useful as you make it. It is entirely possible to get your foot into an industry or business in which you never though possible simply because you chose to reach out to someone for mentorship.
Each mentor has become specialized in their own fields of interest. Each mentor sill help you to and I had develop insight into their respective realms of work.
Find someone that will speak bluntly with you but still has a vested interest in seeing you succeed. Mentors provide guidance, feedback, a sounding board, a warm introduction to important contacts, and countless other resources.
Mentorships are much like apprenticeships. Pick a field you are interested in working in. Attend local networking events in your area. Do whatever you have to to identify the top candidates for your mentors. Once you have found about a dozen potential mentors, start reaching out to each and every one of them.
Cold calling and cold emails are tough. You have to learn to accept the rejections. Learn to be able to give an elevator pitch in two or three sentences when you see them in person. Ask to buy them a cup of coffee and pick their brain. However you go about it, make certain you show them that you are not wasting their time.
Once you have been in touch with a mentor, offer to start providing work for them for free. Ask to be their apprentice. It is entirely possible to build these networks up and even flourish by first providing your own time and resources.
Once you have a mentor (or two or three) continue building your network, gaining experience, and using their support as a springboard for your own development.
The Un-college Entrepreneur
Being an entrepreneur without a college degree isn't impossible. In many ways, the innovation driven community is more open to alternate paths of accreditation than the "corporate world" is. However, it is still important to know that the innovation community too is comprised of businesses, and proving your salt is necessary no matter what path you take.
As long as you have a way to show concrete skills and abilities, and have a network to leverage, you can take those with you to any realm of business and succeed.