My Hub went back to night school and got his HS diploma, not GED. He eventually worked in the HVAC field, took the tests and went up the ladder in the HVAC licenses, to finally getting the top license. He was never, ever asked if he finished high school. I worked my whole life and was never asked if I had a HS diploma. Maybe when you fill out a job application they have a check box to say if you graduated and some ask you to list where you went to HS and the years attended. Can't lie about this stuff anymore. People can find out anything these days.
My advice is that if you get a job at a corporation doing any job, ask to go to short courses that apply to your job. I worked at a large corp. that encouraged it and they paid airfare, hotels, the course, food, rental car. It was like mini vacations. I was always told if you just come back with one piece of knowledge, it will be worth it. I went to many, many short courses. The other important thing, when you do take a short course, write a one page report highlighting the dates you attended, where you attended, what the course objective was about and put in some bullet points on things that stood out for you and how it applies to you or to your company. LOL, your manager will love it and you will get raises for attending the courses and possibly bringing new ideas to help the company. Oh, and lastly, in the last paragraph, thank the company for the opportunity of attending the course. When I was a newbie I found this so difficult but after a while, it came to me so easy! One of the last courses I took was Technical writing. There are a lot of scientific courses and computer courses too.
Also, if you are getting into a trade, you can go to some trade schools at night. Some community colleges have welding courses. I have seen some courses for learning how to be an operating room technician. I knew a guy who did that and made tons of money. He was always on call and he'd take all the OT he could get. Learning a second language can open up doors too. Lots of stuff out there.