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Also you should just write your graduation year for education anyways, not duration.
I also took 7 years to finish my Master degree. I was working full time and only took a couple classes a year. I also took off a few semesters off when I had kids.
Nobody has ever asked about either situation. I wouldn't worry too much. As a hiring manager I've never cared about that.
When you build out your resume just list the year of graduation for your CS degree, which is standard. Don't include HS or other dates where they can see it took more than 4 if you're worried.
If they ask be honest and just indicate you worked your way through college, participated in this, lots of good reasons for taking more than 4 years.
All I list on my resume is my graduation date. I've never had anyone ask how long it took, why I didn't list the start date (probably because I looked older), or my age. My GPA has never been asked for either. Just don't talk about anything related to the time it took, GPA, age, anything.
When I graduated I had multiple job offers within the first month. No issues at all. The main thing they care about once you make it to the interview is that you know your shit and can talk to people.
Good luck.
- Mostly it does not matter. List when you graduated, provide evidence of what you have worked on and done well at, and be transparent if people care enough to ask
- It matters more in highly competitive or zero-sum situations in which they are comparing two otherwise well qualified people, and less if they need to hire someone.
- It matters more in other, more competitive fields than it does in CS because CS work is more accreditive (and less role driven than law, for example)
As a long-time employer the answer is "no" ... I don't necessarily care how long it took to earn a degree. But ... From my observations, earning a BS (or BA?) requires a far less rigorous schedule than working at a full-time job. If you couldn't manage a normal class load because there was "stuff going on", I'd expect that "stuff will continue to go on" and that would distract you from what I need in an employee. Wha…
Pfft. A 9 to 5 job sounds like a piece of cake compared to some of my semesters. At least provided you are not working when you get home. I guess that some universities just don't push students too hard then.
Also, the "stuff going on" could well be a full time job, as it was in my case. What then?
Me, it took 7 years to graduate due to severe health issues and family issues, but I kept on going, taking one course at a time in some semesters.
So don't worry about it, in fact, it can be a positive thing. If they know that despite many struggles in life, you kept on going, you'll appear as a go getter.
So don't worry about it, stuff happens in life. Keep on going and graduate, that's what matters the most.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/02/education/most-college-stu...
Most people do not graduate in four years. This is not an issue.