3 Ways to Set Yourself up for Success Without Going to University

Somewhere throughout the course of the 20th Century, the idea caught on that absolutely everyone has to go to University, and that a University degree is essential for enjoying success in life, regardless of the particular job avenue you might be pursuing.
Whereas degrees were once focused on a fairly narrow range of fields, and each degree carried a certain amount of clout, the sheer over-abundance of degrees today is cheapening their worth in a pretty major way. What’s more, student debt has been rising prodigiously, to the point where going to University just because you “kind of feel like you should” may do a lot more harm than good in the long run.
Of course, if you want to pursue a career as a doctor, engineer, or physicist, you will need to get your degree. For many other career paths, however, you can forge a fruitful and prosperous life for yourself without the trouble.
Here are a few ways to set yourself up for success without going to University.
Pursue an apprenticeship
Many people seem to have forgotten this fact, but apprenticeships are an excellent way to get into all sorts of lines of work, mostly vocational, but also including career paths that you might not have expected.
The concept of an apprenticeship is robust — it’s been in active use since at least the early Middle Ages, meaning that it’s been time-tested for something like a millennium.
When you do an apprenticeship, you learn skills that are directly and immediately relevant to the job you’re working towards, and then following the apprenticeship, you are essentially streamlined straight into the world of work. What’s more, apprenticeships are paid, at least in countries such as the UK.
Start developing on-the-job experience ASAP
This is a less reliable and secure option than doing an apprenticeship, but if you’re the type who doesn’t like to sit around and fixate on theory or qualifications but wants to get involved, head-on, in the world of work, there may be certain benefits from just going straight from school to full-time work.
If you’re willing to put in the hours and be diligent in your work, you can often progress in a relatively short period of time to some fairly significant positions in various companies and lines of work.
You won’t have higher qualifications, which can certainly impede your ability to progress in your career, but you will have that sacred “experience” — and a good deal more of it that University graduates, due to your several-year head start.
Dive into the world of entrepreneurship
History is chock-full of tales of great entrepreneurs who dropped out of school and did things their own way, according to their own rules, and ultimately became wealthy and immensely successful as a result.
If you’re entrepreneurially-minded, have a good idea or two, and are disciplined and focused, starting your own business venture at the earliest possible point can set you down an enviable, but difficult, course in life.
You are bound to be faced with some failures along the way. You will probably have to work, at least part-time, to feed yourself at the beginning. But all that time invested, and all that trial and error, can pay off dramatically a few years down the line.