BBC: Do you need a degree to work in tech?

Excerpt from article by Sean McManus

…IBM is hiring people without degrees to help it recruit a more diverse workforce. "There are brilliant people everywhere, but opportunity is not the same for everyone," says Jenny Taylor MBE, who leads the company's early professional programmes.

Whether people join IBM as apprentices or graduates, the company is looking for the same transferable skills. "If you've worked in a bar, you'll have teamwork, client focus and communication skills," says Ms Taylor. "You'll have dealt with difficult people. We're much more interested in the person than the academic qualifications."

As well as having entry-level programmes, IBM has removed degree requirements from many other job listings, so people aren't disadvantaged later in their careers.

Research by The Burning Glass Institute found that only 29% of IBM's listings for a Software Quality Assurance (QA) Engineer in the US required a degree. By comparison, it was between 90% and 100% at four other big-name tech companies.

Read more here: Do you need a degree to work in tech? - BBC News