Bossman called me up the other day, asked if I had looked at courses and told me I should think about signing up in September.

Thing is, I don't have a degree or anything beyond a high school diploma, since I'm self taught and got hired because of my ability to learn fast and my portfolio, and I told them I'd consider looking at a two year program.

But I don't want to have to be doing coursework after work, and besides, if I do a course, I want to do so because I wanted it... Sad thing is, yearly review is coming up in a month and I worry my salary is gonna stay where it started... Which is not great :S

Any thoughts?

I have a two year degree, and I'm doing very well with it. I really don't have incentive to do more, because the only place to go from where I am is management, and I don't want to do that. I want to remain technical.

I'd just like to reaffirm you on your position. They are paying you for 8 hours of your time, 5 days a week. It is up to you regarding ho much you value your time, but your employer has no say outside those 40 hours unless you let them.

If you are still interested in taking those courses or whatever then maybe try to find a compromise. "Boss, I agree with you that learning those skill will improve my efficiency in this company. What if I were to take half a day a week for those courses? We could try that for a few weeks and then reassess"

I'm sure other people would have other points of view and listen to all and see what fits for you.

The underlying logic to the advice thought is that sadly most employers will take as much advantage of you as you let them, so in a kind but firm way reaffirm what you will and will not do as an employee (hiring is hard so do know that firing somebody is a loss on their side too!)

If a manager suggests you do something to better either yourself, or your perceived status/level; there is probably a reason.

Maybe the company is approaching a staff audit, maybe his boss says you can't be promoted due to qualifications, maybe anything else.

Try thinking outside the box. A friend once told me I'm resistant to new ideas. I think that may be the case with you. Also, your boss may see this as, "I offer the guy a free college course and he turns it down?" Yeah, doing coursework after work might not be the easiest thing, but learn to budget your time and only do the studying for a pre-appointed time. You might actually find you're interested in the course you choose.

Take a few classes that teach new tools or methods. You don't need to jump immediately into degree programs -- those are pretty useless anyway. They just give you a piece of paper that shows you can do something -- that something you're already doing -- professionally. You likely won't learn much.