How to get a job you didn't get a degree in?

I have no degree – I dropped out after the first term of Uni.

I've found that employers in the tech industry see self taught as being a virtue. You're self directed, passionate and driven.

Portfolio and preparing a piece for the job you're going in to be interviewed about really helps. CVs/Resumés aren't needed after you get on the ladder – or so I've experienced.

You've kinda got the best of both worlds. Since you have a degree you could get your foot in the door at a company where you may want to apply your programming skills. This is great if you work for a company that allows you take projects outside of your direct position. You can pull a salary while improving your programming skills on real projects and eventually transfer over.

The key here is to be driven and passionate. Many modern employers are more than happy to get you into a position that you love because they know results will follow. Self-taught and online education isn't the future, it's the now. Perhaps Treehouse could start offering certifications to improve the reputation of what it teaches. Many software companies do this, like Solidworks or MATLAB, why not have it for HTML and CSS through Treehouse?

I've never held a job specifically addressed by my degree. I have an Associate's degree for Multimedia Technology (your guess is as good as mine on exactly what that encompasses; school was mostly Flash animation). I've been creative director for a newspaper publisher, web developer for an ad firm, software engineer for an e-commerce startup, self-employed as a freelance developer for lots of different clients, and now I'm a teacher for Treehouse. I'm 100% self-taught in all of the skills that have made me money over the years (other than the newspaper job; some of my schooling dealt with page layout and graphic design).

Experience and enthusiasm are way more important than degrees or certifications. Most employers care more about what you can actually do and how fast you can get up to speed than whether or not you got a particular degree. As other commenters have said, learn as much as you can, make a great portfolio, do some small, real-world client work, and you'll go places.

Portfolio would be a decent shout and possibly your best bet, the other option would be industry experience usually trumps degree level qualification. You could research courses in your area that offer qualifications that may be recognised by employers in your area. You could apply for a job in a company with the aim of lateral movement in the short term, once you're in it is usually easier to transfer between areas.

Another option might be to focus on jobs not aimed at graduates, or roles that offer training. Bear in mind that when companies list an advert successful applicants by law must meet the requirements of that advert, if it states degree level or equivalent then you need a degree or relevant experience. Most of the hiring managers may not even see your application they will just be presented with a shortlist of candidates who meet the requirements they set out in the advert.

Wouldn't worry too much about a formal education. Its far more important in this industry to have the knowledge, loads of developers are self taught.

Get through Treehouse, get a good portfolio going and do some projects for friends and family, just make them up if needs be to show case what you can do. That should see you in a good position IMO, certainly would if I was looking to employ someone.

Many Universities get criticised for not keeping up to date with the latest trends in development anyway.

Whether you are self taught or taught by an institution, if you know how to do something, you can put it on a resume. In the IT industry one of the best things to have is a solid portfolio. Being able to show what you have done can land you a great start in the industry in a heart beat. I suggest getting on LinkedIn and other social media sites, have a solid website which demonstrates your own personal code (not something you downloaded) and just wait for the many calls/contact requests for potential positions.

I have a friend who is a high payed IBM main-frame database programmer for over twenty five years who has a Political Science degree.