This is fascinating for me, and so are the other articles on your blog!
The sad truth is that you probably need to get that damned piece of paper from the educational system, because during your entire life there will be a chance that people in HR will use it as their first filter. Even if not now, maybe ten or twenty years later. So the options seem to be:
avoid the school system as long as possible… but join at the last moment, to get the final paper. The specific details depend on your school system; if being admitted to the institution that gives you the final paper requires you to get the previous paper first, etc., maybe starting with the kindergarten, then you are screwed.
accept the risk that you will never get a job, and will have to start your own company, or get homeless.
become so famous or so good at networking that you will never have to use the standard channels, because when you apply somewhere, the CEO will call the HR department and tell them to shut up.
The last two options are very high variance, I would probably recommend against them.
In my experience (probably not relevant: different country, different decades) there are a few tricks one could use without the diploma:
networking: a friend inside a company recommends you directly to their boss
get a shitty job in the same industry, they will accept you because no one applies to them, when you apply to the next job you already have experience in the industry (this assumes that a diploma is more relevant fresh after school, but your previous jobs are more relevant later)
apply to the same company to a different position (e.g. software tester instead of developer), when you are hired, demonstrate extra skills and try to get promoted to a new position
a combination of the previous two steps, where you get a different but similar position in a different company, and as you change companies you try to slightly adjust your role
But none of this will probably work if there are many candidates and the HR is free to apply simple filters.
This is fascinating for me, and so are the other articles on your blog!
The sad truth is that you probably need to get that damned piece of paper from the educational system, because during your entire life there will be a chance that people in HR will use it as their first filter. Even if not now, maybe ten or twenty years later. So the options seem to be:
avoid the school system as long as possible… but join at the last moment, to get the final paper. The specific details depend on your school system; if being admitted to the institution that gives you the final paper requires you to get the previous paper first, etc., maybe starting with the kindergarten, then you are screwed.
accept the risk that you will never get a job, and will have to start your own company, or get homeless.
become so famous or so good at networking that you will never have to use the standard channels, because when you apply somewhere, the CEO will call the HR department and tell them to shut up.
The last two options are very high variance, I would probably recommend against them.
In my experience (probably not relevant: different country, different decades) there are a few tricks one could use without the diploma:
networking: a friend inside a company recommends you directly to their boss
get a shitty job in the same industry, they will accept you because no one applies to them, when you apply to the next job you already have experience in the industry (this assumes that a diploma is more relevant fresh after school, but your previous jobs are more relevant later)
apply to the same company to a different position (e.g. software tester instead of developer), when you are hired, demonstrate extra skills and try to get promoted to a new position
a combination of the previous two steps, where you get a different but similar position in a different company, and as you change companies you try to slightly adjust your role
But none of this will probably work if there are many candidates and the HR is free to apply simple filters.