Hi there! I don’t normally like to answer Anonymous questions (I prefer giving back to my followers who have actual faces, heh), but I definitely want to address this question.

Yes! I’ve definitely thought about sitting in on college lectures without enrolling. Oh man — you have no idea. At the moment though, I just have no time for that. What little time I can spare for things is more focused on work, or catching up on reading when I get a free moment, or answering reader/fan/follower questions like I am now. My priority allocation doesn’t allow for sitting in during college lectures, but yes. I love that idea, and I would do it if I wasn’t so busy.

Also, I’m currently in technology, media, marketing, PR, advertising, social media, and creative strategy via marketing and networking for business development. I also work with young millennials (that is, anyone in the age bracket of 18 to 29) who are currently interested in what the modern job market is like, and I work to bridge the gap of communication between companies who are interested in hiring these fresh faces in the market. Everything I know about the current fields I’m in now — I’ve learned it all through work experience.

While writing the news, for example, I became accustomed to receiving several pitches a day from the CEOs and Founders of companies just starting to get off their feet, or who have been through several rounds of funding, or who are finally going public, or who are toying with the idea of a public launch, etc etc. I have also interviewed several people to understand their mindsets behind all of these ideas, as well as to grasp the basic concepts of why they believe their particular product or service will disrupt the current way we view the world and its technological conveniences.

Now, in doing this, part of my job was to make that information relatable and “enjoyable” for readers to digest, minus the technical jargon (much like Brian Greene does in his book, The Elegant Universe). Likewise, the repetitive motion of sorting through “good pitches” versus “bad pitches” from various PR Agencies or PR contacts helped me understand what I should be looking for and what I shouldn’t in terms of prioritizing contacts. Naturally, this means that, in the reverse situation, I also know exactly how to reach out to media from a PR standpoint, so putting me in a PR position is simply a “next step” that I can easily take.

Combine all of this with assessing analytics and measuring progress during this experience — everything piled on top of each other — it’s why I wouldn’t say you could learn these same things in school. Actual experience and knowing what works and what doesn’t in the actual field based on real activity versus basic “concepts” of that activity that you learned via textbook — there’s no comparison.

Now, this all ties in with marketing, PR, media, blah-blah-blah — and since my subject of focus was social media, well … You get it.

My job today — that is, creative social media strategy — is a combination of everything I’ve done in the field, in addition to my own curiosities and interests or passion for the actual subject matter. That is, I continue to get better at what I’m doing because I happily maintain interest in the subject out of a natural curiosity for it, and because I constantly devour information related to my field of work, including studying what current students in college are digesting based on the subject matter, and also in addition to my work experience applying these theories and tests to actual markets. Being able to create new social and digital marketing strategies based on what I know works and what doesn’t, and also based on what is actually going on in the current field — this is all very fun for me, and I get to do this at my job. It’s exciting.

Does this makes sense?

I’m sure someone going to school could study the basic concepts of what I do, which is fantastic! But again, putting into application and having a resume of results and being able to pull out references at the drop of a hat who can actively speak on my behalf for my ability to execute, etc etc — it’s all relevant to why I don’t feel the need to attend school at the moment.

Naturally, if I had a degree and this sort of back history, I’d be f*cking unstoppable. Lol. But y’know. It’s not something that concerns me at the moment, and is something that would actually be a distraction compared to full-time dedication of actual application. This is why I prefer to study marketing textbooks and sociology concepts on my downtime, rather than dedicate an entire four years of my life to getting a degree just to say, “Yes, I did this in school.” I don’t need the degree anymore. I have work-experience proof and great references to prove that even further.

In another case, I like to put myself in the position of a hiring manager.
If I were to be hiring someone to run the social media strategy of my company, I would not hire someone who simply has a college degree. I would consider this person to be a “noob”, regardless of whatever wealth of knowledge he or she may have obtained during the studying process. Instead, I would look to someone who has work experience and a genuine expressed passion for the field clearly portrayed through his or her portfolio of work. I want to know that the person I am hiring has already done the things that I’m paying him or her to do for me, and that the reason they are doing these things is not just because they want money, but because they have a genuine passion to do those things, and do them well. I would hire someone based on passion, work experience, and hey — if they happen to have a degree, that piece of paper is also awesome. But in terms of what I prioritize to grow my company, I’d rather take a risk on the person with a proven track record for success and several references to back him or her up, rather than someone fresh out of college who has no proof of application and execution.