for developers, i think in some ways it hurts you if you had college experience. and drop out students are considered accolades in a bizzarre way. sad but true.
Do Developers Need College Degrees?
21–30 of 198 posts
Re: Do Developers Need College Degrees?
#22Yes, they do. Having a degree opens more doors, there is no denying that. Degree doesn't offer enough proof of your skill, but this doesn't mean it is pointless.
I do not agree. It's nice to have options, but one doesn't not need, and practically speaking cannot take advantage of, infinite options.
If maximizing the number of doors opened were the best choice, then a logical extension to "Do Developers Need College Degrees?" is "Do Developers Need A CS Degree From ?" Clearly they don't. When we're given infinite time, energy, and other formerly finite resources, I might feel differently.
Re: Do Developers Need College Degrees?
#23I'm someone who graduated with a non-cs engineering degree (and worked professionally as an engineer) whose now in a MSCS program after trying my hand in the job market. Not for a lack of trying, but my experiences definitely relate to an uphill struggle just to get even noticed. And before anyone says "you should do x|y|z", I've done my part pretty well. A few decent sized personal projects, constant studying, meetups, networking, github, etc.
I hear a lot of anecdotal evidence (mostly from professional devs who have degrees) that they know a friend or coworker who doesn't have a degree.
The truth is that the system for recruiting and hiring is really based around colleges, students, and degree holders. Starting from the application requirements, you see that most applications require a CS degree (or equivalent). Then the technical interview is aimed at fundamental CS questions, most of which students are accustomed to.
So for someone self taught, face to face interactions are a lot better. But even going to events/meetups, you notice a distinct change in demeanor of the recruiter when you mention you don't have a CS degree. It really is a tiring battle just to prove that you're competent.
Do I believe that you 100% need a degree to get a CS job? Definitely not. But without one, your options are very limited and on top of that you'll need a lot of luck and effort just to get past the first hurdle.
Re: Do Developers Need College Degrees?
#24Maybe I'll be down voted for speaking against the grain, but one of the benefits of someone who has the degree is that you know they have some minimal grasp of the basics (yes, there are exceptions) which make adapting to changes in the tech stack or industry practices less painful.
One of the obstacles with he thing hired out of the coding schools is that employers don't know even if you're "current" that you aren'the just equipped for their ephemeral needs.
Re: Do Developers Need College Degrees?
#25We are such a weird profession. What other industry is like "Hey, you can do my job. It's easy, here are lots of extremely detailed courses, documentation and guides on how"
The idea of "open source" is also unique, I can't think of any other professions that have something analogous.
Re: Do Developers Need College Degrees?
#26We are such a weird profession. What other industry is like "Hey, you can do my job. It's easy, here are lots of extremely detailed courses, documentation and guides on how"
The idea of "open source" is also unique, I can't think of any other professions that have something analogous.
No, closed source is I think the more unique thing.
I can go to planning offices and see the plans of any building. Almost no-one has "secret painting methods", or "secret plumbing methods".
Re: Do Developers Need College Degrees?
#27Yes, they do. Having a degree opens more doors, there is no denying that. Degree doesn't offer enough proof of your skill, but this doesn't mean it is pointless.
I do not agree. It's nice to have options, but one doesn't not need, and practically speaking cannot take advantage of, infinite options. If maximizing the number of doors opened were the best choice, then a logical extension to "Do Developers Need College Degrees?" is "Do Developers Need A CS Degree From ?" Clearly they don't. When we're given infinite time, energy, and other formerly finite resources, I might feel…
But the truth is a bachelor degree is not a very difficult option, for 40% of US population, it is very PRACTICAL.
Having a degree definitely helps me get a lot more interview opportunities than my friends who come out of a coding bootcamp.
Re: Do Developers Need College Degrees?
#28[College drop-out here]
TLDR: A degree is not completely relevant, but it gives you an edge.
Im my experience, a degree is not necessary, but demonstrating skills is harder than it sounds; a lot of interviewers at non-tech companies are not technical and rely on typical CS material for interviews (algorithms and the like). As a self-thought, I rarely paid attention to this sort of stuff (I started as a web developer) until I had a few interviews. Salary has an impact as well; even though Ive performed better than colleagues, my salary was ALWAYS lower.
Re: Do Developers Need College Degrees?
#29Succeed is not just getting a job. I have not finished a bachelor. And I had no problem getting in jobs requiring a degree. But the future is unknown. Am I just a good cheap worker? How about career progress? How about when I'm 45 with less energy/interest and stuck in some low uninteresting position? Because although many companies relax on hiring they might not on promotion. I am definitely considering long term finishing my bachelor at least.
Re: Do Developers Need College Degrees?
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If the diploma is from a prestigeous school but says they failed math 101 four times over that would make me doubt their capacity. I don't think diplomas nor resumes normally list failed classes ;)
It's not uncommon for employers to request GPA and/or transcripts. Source: I graduated 2 years ago.
I've never been asked for GPA or transcripts (been graduated since 2012). YMMV, depends on where you apply I guess.