My mate hasn't got a degree, yet he's just got a job earning £18,000 p/a....WTF!!?

I'm at Uni, but I'm a below average student (I get C's in practically everything right now. Going into Third year so I'll change my tactics later this year.) I doubt I'l end up getting a job in my preferred sector (Botanical Conservation) without getting some hands on experience.

Luckily, my dad is second in command of a Country Estate and has said he'll see what he can do towards getting me a semester's placement.

But even with the placement, without a degree, I doubt I'd get a job as easily as I will with it. There's so much I need to know that doesn't just involve landscaping or filling out logging quotas. I need to know what soils are best, their chemical makeup so I can say whythey're the best for their plants.

What I'm trying to say is it's better to have a mix of both. Maybe you have a friend who is going into the kind of work that you want to go into, maybe he's further on than you and knows some people.

I take home over £18k (after tax) and none of the jobs I do require a degree, or even a GCSE for that matter.

If you just want money, look around, there's plenty of good jobs.

Yet elsewhere you tell us you are on benefits and not working.

The cost of living in London is much more you mean.

And that is what makes London so fabulous. The rest of the country seems to be more than happy to settle for mediocrity and benefits, especially where I live in the North East.

I meant if I was living in London I wouldn't necessarily think 18,000 was a lot

You seem ambitious, good luck to you!

The difference in living costs between the North-South is massively over exaggerated. I've worked a lot in both regions and food/drink isn't that much different. Property may be expensive in high end regions of London - but there are also a ton of utter ****holes you could stay in for a fraction of the price.

Same up North - there are cheap areas and expensive areas of every city.

I go up to Scotland quite a bit and even though it is noticeably cheaper for a lot of things, you're not saving that much money on the basics.

People just have problems managing money.

It makes me feel like what's the point of considering University, especially when he's earning that as a starting salary in the job. As far as I know, it's an Admin type assistant job, which his sister referred him to at her law firm in London. Maybe it is "who you know" and not "what you know" because he's seem to have done okay out of it. He used to work in a Factory doing different duties, from office work to helping in the main factory lifting/carrying/manufacturing etc.

I know he's a single case, but is it even worth getting into debt and going Uni these days? Especially when people can earn £18,000 starting salary in a job like that.
To be fair though, he is 24 years old working in an admin assistant job, but at the end of the day he's earning a decent salary, which could increase. He hasn't even got a degree, he was just working at the same place for a few years before his sister referred him to his new job.

I feel like c**p, because I'm 23 and considering going back into education for 4 more years, yet he's earning a decent salary without a degree or much college study.

What do you think..?