I have two parallel careers, I.T. and sworn law enforcement. Currently I work full-time in I.T. and part-time in law enforcement, 16-20 hours per week. In the past it was the other way around. I will do my best to give you an honest reply.
I.T. is indeed lax on degrees, just like you said. Certifications alone will get you some opportunities. Certifications and a little bit of experience will get you more opportunities. Significant experience, I would say 3+ years, will get you opportunities with no certifications or degrees. The thing about I.T. though is that there is so much more to it than the skills, technology, and results you would think would be what mattered.
First of all, in I.T. , if you take a job and completely suck at it, rather then get fired you might get promoted. Before you say "wow what's wrong with that?", my response is that this generally is for women only. Women get into I.T. and can't handle the technical trenches. Next thing you know, they are your boss. Telling you what to do, on stuff they are proven to know nothing about!
ALSO, the meetings... OH the meetings. Every thing leads to a meeting. You can have 30 meetings taking 100+ man hours, all to get another team to do something for you that takes them 45 seconds. I've had 12 x meetings scheduled in an 8 x hour shift. I've had to multitask 3 x meetings at the same time (virtual) becuase they were the three out of the five meetings people threw on my calendar at the same time, without respecting the other work I had going on, that I "could not get out of, too important", The Boss. Everything is priority #1. Forget how your Kindergarden teacher taught you to count 1,2,3,4,5, etc. In I.T. with priorities it's 1,1,1,1,1... And again, For the I.T. manager women, especially, it's ALL about the meetings. Nothing else matters but how much time they sit in meetings taking about the work for others to do but themselves...
ALSO, I.T. is very socialist.... If you have a capitalist mindset, you better pretend to be a socialist in I.T. Let's say you and one other person are in the exact same position, 100% equal. If you excel at the job while they slack, you are expected to pick up their slack. And don't you dare complain about it, or you will be accused of "not being a team player" or "having anger issues". I have resigned from I.T. jobs in the past and had probably 5-6 people resign after me within a couple of months, because I was pulling their weight, and they couldn't find another sucker to replace me in doing that. (my beta days). They knew they couldn't do the job without me. And once I left, they had to bail and save their face.
ALSO, I.T. is a fvck load of stress. I only mentioned my parallel career in law enforcement above to compare it to I.T. FOR ME anyway. I can work my cop job 10-11 hours a day. Patrol. In 95 degree weather, wearing 40 lbs of gear. Getting in/out of my squad 40 times in a shift. Dealing with domestics, DUIs, intoxicated fvcks at the bar, Karen's mad because I pulled them over and gave them a warning, all that shyt we cops go through.... So at the end of the shift, I'm somewhat tired, but not sucked dry with energy. I can still do stuff.
On the other hand, in I.T., 8 x hours sitting at the desk, and I am completely zapped. No energy left.. I.T. really takes a toll on your mental health, which leads to physical health issues.. (ex. being too tired to go to the gym, eating shyt for lunch cuz you have to work through lunch and can't take a real break).. I.T. is hard. Everything depends on it, and people freak out when it doesn't work. Lots of stress. Something to consider.. On the other hand the money can be really good. And it's a lot more flexible now than it used to be. Just make sure you learn the full picture before you jump in. There is far more to it than "I have some great skills to offer and I will get paid a lot for them".. There is FAR more to I.T. than just that in 2022.
PM me if you want to ask more, or tag me in a post on this thread..