Slay the Beast of Elitism: How to Start Working toward Your Dream without a Credential
With the increased visibility from social media, it seems like everyone has magically become an expert at something. This person has this certification, and that person has this many years of experience. This entrepreneur has this bundle to sell you and that one has a “masterclass” for you to register. It can make you feel like you don’t quite measure up to all the competition that is out there.
But, it’s not that serious.
Because, EVERYONE has to start somewhere! They say it takes 10 years to be an overnight success. What you see out there on the media and the internet is a culmination of hard work, discipline, and sacrifice that don’t quite make the pretty IG posts or TikTok videos. So, how do you start? How do you get the courage to put yourself out there?
One of the first things that people think about when they want to venture to a new career goal or start a business is they’re going to need to go back to school. They feel a degree or certification is going to give them the information they need to give themselves the credibility for what they want to do or sell.
Not so fast.
Getting another degree is a huge commitment! It takes money, time, and energy. That’s a lot to sign up for if you’re simply exploring a career change or testing an idea for a business. But, I know many of us feel like it’s the only option.
The pressure to get credentials is an increasing phenomenon since The Great Recession. Employers that lost the funds to train entry level workers started to require more advanced levels of education to obtain the set of skills they were looking for in their hires. This makes the job market more competitive, and job seekers without those qualifications feel like they don’t quite measure up.
Don’t get me wrong – some of these credentials for certain occupations are legitimate or even necessary, in fields such as law or healthcare for example. These are traditional fields that not only have qualified degrees, but certifications or licenses as well, and with good reason! I don’t want just anybody off the street prescribing me medication or giving me legal advice…
Yet some fields, such as business, government, or non-profit sectors, are completely misleading about the amount of education or experience you need to get started in the industry.
Professionals seeking more independence take a leap from their 9-to-5 into entrepreneurship, bringing their knowledge, skills, and accumulated resources to their enterprise. It can make aspiring entrepreneurs starting from square one feel like they have to become “experts” before they can get into the market. The dirty truth is, “professional experience” does not give you a head start in entrepreneurship in relation to your peers. The only head start is: STARTING.
This misalignment fosters an atmosphere of elitism. Elitism is the theology that there’s a set of career gatekeepers and outliers. Only a certain set of people that have a certain set of experiences, degrees, and/or credentials will be able to succeed. Elitism can also look like the expectation to not only have a degree, but a certain degree from a certain school – or worse, only certain professions are worthy of respect. You know the deal – only doctors, Fortune 500 CEOs, lawyers, and engineers are the “real” jobs. Everyone else is considered “less than”. Those that don’t meet these criteria are either frowned upon or ignored. Or even laughed at – OUCH!
Like most “isms”, Elitism is a form of oppression. If you buy into the ideology, it can keep you stuck or it will compel you to take unnecessary steps to achieve your goals. You may be internalizing the pressure to pursue a specific field, degree, or institution when it’s really something wrong with the system.
I fell for the trap myself. Graduating with my master’s freed up a good chunk of my time and energy. I found myself getting back in touch with the things I really loved and enjoyed, such as reading and writing. I could finally think about what it could look like to write that book I wanted to have publilshed. Although, I always got feedback from professors about how well I wrote for my classes, I wasn’t sure about my ability to produce creative writing or a nonfiction book. I didn’t want to start from scratch as a writer or reporter for an organization. Besides, I still wanted to do counseling. Since I felt like no one would take me seriously if I didn’t have an industry background or a degree in writing, I strongly considered going back to school for a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing part time while I worked as a counselor.
Luckily, I’m not afraid to talk about my ambitions with my network! I was chatting with a colleague about my revived interests, and he told me that I didn’t have to go back to school to be a writer. I just needed to write. I could teach myself independently through books, or other resources out in the community, the skills gaps that I wanted to develop. I didn’t have to invest the time, money, and energy into a whole other master’s degree.
Turns out he was right! The more I read and researched the careers of the writers that I admired, the more I learned that many of them didn’t have formal degrees. It was a liberating “Aha” moment for me!
Are you feeling the strain of elitism holding you back from putting yourself out there? Sure, if you’ve finally committed to your dream of becoming a surgeon, then I suggest you dust off your backpack, and look into applying to medical school. But, chances are your goal doesn’t require you to actually get a degree or certification, at least not right away.
How do you know whether or not your career interests or business idea will require a credential? You can start by researching the occupations on the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) . The “How to Become One” tap on OOH will tell you whether practitioners in a field are required to have a credential, or whether it’s just “common” or not needed at all. It will also tell you where the credential can be acquired. There’s a chance your field won’t require one, which could be a huge relief for those that were feeling stuck. But, even if your field of interest requires one, it doesn’t mean you have to wait to obtain it to get involved or start building. Here’s how you can beat the pressures of elitism and start working on your dream without a credential:
Commit to Your Hobby
Your career move might be related to something you enjoy doing in your free time. You think that because you don’t get paid for it, then nobody is going to take it seriously. The lack of credibility doesn’t come from doing it in your free time – this is the era of the side hustle! Instead, it might be your own lack of confidence, the small amounts you produce, or the lack of skill, because you haven’t devoted enough time to grow consistently.
Entrepreneurship is about reliable skillset. Employers hire for skills as well, and although they might prefer a certain degree, they may consider others, if you are strong in the desired skills they are looking for. Sharp skills don’t come from something you “only dabble into here and there”. Commit to developing the skillset on a consistent basis, and the results will speak for themselves. Pick a schedule to work on your hobby and produce it on a larger scale, or if it’s an employable skill, then consider volunteering to do it in your current role or for a community or professional organization.
Read a book
This is the Information Age – people pay for knowledge. So, people are also interested in learning for free what you know, if it interests them. They don’t always care how you learned it. You can read a book about a topic your target audience needs to hear and share that knowledge with them or how it applies to your life. You can share the information on a podcast, blog, social media page, or YouTube channel.
There are also a number of books that teach you crafts and skills, so teach yourself a skill through reading, especially an art form or technology language, like coding or web design. Teaching yourself to cook or bake can also be done through reading. Of course, you will still need to manually practice the skills, but reading about it will inform you on what to work on as a starting point.
Take Free Classes
Starting a business boils down to researching and developing your product or service, and then building your enterprise with the skills of marketing and sales. You can sell a product or a service, which don’t have to be something that you’ve been trained to do through formal education. Taking a class in a skill can get you started in producing what it is you want to sell.
There are free platforms out there to learn valuable business and leadership skills, such as Udemy or Coursera. Commercial stores or community programs offer free classes as well, such as your local public library or community center. Of course, you may eventually have to pay for a course to acquire a more advanced skill set, but getting started with a free class while you develop and test your product will be enough to get the ball rolling as well as help you learn your niche area or expertise.
Seek a Mentor
You might be able to learn skills from someone who is already doing what you want to do. A mentor can also give you insight to the big picture of your area of interest, and thus be able to guide you on the faster route to what you are trying to achieve. Sometimes, the fastest route, isn’t the best route and there’s value in taking the traditional path.
A mentor will be able to explain that to you as well as inform you of opportunities to have on your radar that you hadn’t considered. They might be able to introduce you to some of their contacts that will help grow your project or provide helpful resources that they used to hone their own skills. Working professionals and entrepreneurs alike have found value in mentorship, so be on the look out for professionals succeeding in your area of interest and have the courage to develop a relationship.
Partner or Request Guest Speakers
You don’t have to be the expert to disseminate the information or even provide the service. You can partner with someone that possesses the skills or knowledge you want to distribute. You can also invite the person to participate as a guest speaker or featured guest on a podcast, blog, social media page, or YouTube channel or at a live event that you organize.
For example, you may want to sell ties, but you’re not that great at styling. You can partner with your friend who is a stylist, or you can reach out to someone on Instagram to see if they will wear your ties in their posts. Tapping into your network for the skills or resources you need will fill in the gaps you have as an entrepreneur. This strategy can work for working professionals as well by reaching out to colleagues who possess your skills gaps. You can offer to collaborate on projects or invite them as guests for your programs.
Yes, it's true. You might have to play the game. It’s possible that in certain fields you can only go so far without having a degree or certification. You may not be satisfied with always having to rely on someone to put out what you want on your behalf. The relationship or event could fall through. You may want more control or power to deliver your message. Despite your best efforts, you still might feel you need to know more to go deeper. If any of these are the case, then yes, it’s probably a good idea that you go ahead and play the game of getting some type of degree or other credential.
But don’t let a piece of paper stop you from getting started! Try your hand at reaching your desired audience or employer with any of these strategies, and then decide if you need more for a better result. I’ve heard that the grocery store is proof that there’s always a market for a similar product – just go down any aisle and you’ll see multiple brands selling the same thing! Furthermore, there’s always more than one way to achieve the same end. Your fears of market competition and/or social expectations are just internal forces holding you back. So, put yourself out there! You have what it takes, and there’s a place for you in this market! It’s about time the world sees what you’re made of, including yourself.