Last Post: 4:29:23am, 06/29/2017
Nope. Parents convinced me a degree was the only way to get anywhere in life. By the time I finished a computer science degree the local software jobs dried up and I'm not able to move elsewhere.
Spent a couple of years doing volunteer IT work and free software development for NFP orgs to get a foot in the door. Nothing came of it because non-commercial experience doesn't count towards breaking the "need experience to get experience" catch-22. Even offering to work for free/minimum wage until I've proven myself in a commercial environment I keep losing out to overseas applicants with 5+ years commercial experience who are willing to do the same.
Am now retraining to be an animal carer (which doesn't require a uni degree) to hopefully increase my chances at getting a job and repay my university debt. If not, at least I enjoy interacting with animals a lot more than software development.
For me university has amounted to nothing more than 5 wasted years and a sizeable student debt.