Hello,
I have trouble trying to get my point across so please bear with me, but I am trying to seek advice about techniques of trying to get through work and the educational system.
I have been at my place of work now coming up to close to 5 years now, I have worked my way up from the very bottom and I feel like I am at a place where I want to be. I have learned a large percentage of what I need to know and experience (probably 95%), and I have gone full autism mode on everything I have tried to do, (basically, there isn't a technical paper on the internet that I haven't read or there isn't a pre-internet piece of literature that I have not hunted down in antique book shops, etc. pre-1980's that I haven't memorised cover to cover and isn't currently residing in my library).
The problem I have now is that I am getting bored, I am no longer challenged so my days are becoming dull, they drag on and on monotonously! And I want something different, I love my industry with a passion and I love the way it gives me the freedom to think but I want to move on to another company to broaden my horizons and become profficient at another specialised "take on it", as each company tends to specialise is alternate production methods and materials with their own quirks.
I know where my disadvantages lie, and this is why I am seeking advice, the big elephant in the room for me is that I do not have a degree... It is expected as a prerequisite for the role to have a degree when applying for a position. the other prerequisite is 5 years experience in the role required (which I nearly have). I am not trying to be big headed or anything but I am of degree level of intelligence, I also know more than the "green" graduates applying for the positions. I would also say that I know more than 75% of the proffesionals in the industry.
But I don't have a Degree, and I have tried so many times to get a degree it is becoming infuriating. I struggled through high school because there were 12 different subjects and I couldn't manage them. I stuggled through College because there were 4 subjects and couldn't manage them. I had a sponsorship from an old employer for an open university degree and that fell flat. and with my current employer they also sponsered me through a degree for the past 4 years and I have struggled immensly with that also.
I can only explain my troubles like this: I wake up go to work - brain is at 120% for 8 hours, I drive home for 25 mins and my brain goes from 120% to about 50%. the second I open my house door and step through it goes to 10% neutral until I go to bed. I lose all effort and enthusiasm to learn and I just want to relax and on the rare occasion that I do feel the urge to do some uni work then i get so overwhelmed with the sheer amount of work i need to do then i just shut down, like full on shut down and feel terrible for days. My course has finished now and I have only managed to do about 2 years worth of work in 4 years and I can not understate how much of a struggle it has been for me. and the single most difficult thing was to put words into the word document. I knew everything there was to know about the subject i was writing about but i just couldn't type it onto the paper because the sentences weren't perfectly structured and it wasn't perfect. It would litterily take me hours to write 1-2 paragraphs because they weren't perfectly structured.
sometimes I feel that my brain is a blessing and a curse, I am so glad that I can concentrate and be so one track minded in my ambition to learn but it all does come at a cost...
anyway, I digress. does anyone have any advice on how i could apply for such jobs or get my *** into gear and get a degree without shutting down? or do i continue in my job for another 5 years to just get a job based on experience alone?
now am no longer doing my degree i feel a million times better in myself and i feel like a sufficating weight has been lifted but I won't be able to move on without one...
has anyone else had similar troubles or am i alone in this one?