I was hired with no college degree, when Microsoft and Google would not even consider me on that basis.
Also, for Amazon and other companies, there is a world of difference going through their public-facing recruiting process and getting to know someone on an interesting team through your network, and getting hired through them.
I'm sure the same rules of networking apply anywhere, though, including Microsoft and Google. Degrees are an HR filter, but networking can bypass HR. So it goes.
