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Show HN: I made a jobs board for developers without degrees

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Re: Show HN: I made a jobs board for developers without degrees

#181

Post by archeantus »

I dropped out of college about seven years ago, about 24 credit hours shy of getting my IS degree. The classes left were a mix of business classes I don't care for (Accounting) and generals I don't care for (Biology 100? PASS). I haven't had any problems finding great jobs as a software engineer throughout my career, including working at Apple in Cupertino straight out of college.

Recently, a guy in my neighborhood who works at the school I went to tried to talk me into going back and finishing up. He talked to the dean and said they could waive four of the eight classes I had left to do! So now I only have four classes left, all doable online, most of them easy generals like arts and letters...

That sounds pretty tempting and everything, but part of me has also enjoyed achieving success outside of the path that our society more or less mandates as a requirement. I almost want to skip the degree to continue showing that it isn't the paper that matters, but the line of work that you pursue and the effort you put into it.

Am I crazy? Should I just go get the silly degree?

Re: Show HN: I made a jobs board for developers without degrees

#182

Post by mixmastamyk »

mattmar96 wrote: post #116
mixmastamyk wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At a lot of places, yes. However, try getting even a "no thank you" form letter in response to a job post at a desirable company without a degree. First step in the hiring funnel: no 4-year degree --> /dev/nul. I live nearby Netflix, Space X, Hulu, JPL, etc with twenty years experience in what they do and have never even spoken to a single person at any of them despite applying for years. I'm good at what I do, now I…

Complete opposite of my experience. I have no degree either. Interviews with 2 of the 4 you've listed, google as well. Only 2 years of experience.

I'm "overqualified" for junior positions unfortunately.

Re: Show HN: I made a jobs board for developers without degrees

#183

Post by uwuhn »

lostgame wrote: post #113

My lack of degree has never been relevant in my 12-year-long coding career, I have never had issues getting jobs I want and often seen them choose me over someone with a degree. Side projects, my obvious passion for coding, and eventually, of course, my experience got me where I’m at, making a triple-digit salary as a senior iOS developer at a major bank here in Canada. I’m so very glad I avoided the horrors of stude…

I feel like iOS development is especially lenient for degree requirements. Barely anyone learns Swift or dabbles with iOS while in school. I know that some places do offer specific iOS classes (e.g. Stanford), and some students will end up doing iOS internships, but the vast majority of students don't.

Re: Show HN: I made a jobs board for developers without degrees

#184

Post by tempestn »

archeantus wrote: post #181

I dropped out of college about seven years ago, about 24 credit hours shy of getting my IS degree. The classes left were a mix of business classes I don't care for (Accounting) and generals I don't care for (Biology 100? PASS). I haven't had any problems finding great jobs as a software engineer throughout my career, including working at Apple in Cupertino straight out of college. Recently, a guy in my neighborhood w…

Can't tell you what you should do, but if it were me I would. Who knows if it could help get you a higher salary at some point in the future, for instance, if nothing else. Given the small amount of work remaining, I'd say go for it.

Re: Show HN: I made a jobs board for developers without degrees

#185

Post by mcqueenjordan »

I dropped out of college. I self-studied CS and I've now worked at both AWS and Google.

A degree is just a piece of paper. The only thing that actually matters is what you know and what you're able to do.

Getting through the door the first time is the hardest part. Keep trying. Once you have any experience, you can keep building on it.

Re: Show HN: I made a jobs board for developers without degrees

#186

Post by new_guy »

joshmanders wrote: post #174
wvenable wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The whole point of my comment is to encourage people to who don't exactly meet the requirements to apply. I might attempt to make that more explicit next time but it's a slow process.

Why would I waste my time applying if it specifically states a CS degree is required? If you don't REQUIRE it, state that. It's not encouraging at all. Last time I was applying for work, I sent out 150 applications/resumes, every single one I look at the list of requirements, if I don't meet one of them, I don't apply because it's a waste of my time.

Job 'requirements' are there to get rid of people like you.

If you're not confident in your fundamentals then you won't apply because you can't tick all the boxes.

If you ARE confident in your fundamentals then you'll apply and probably get the job and the posted 'requirements' won't even factor into it.

Knowing that is the difference between 150 applications, and just 1.

Re: Show HN: I made a jobs board for developers without degrees

#187

Post by dragonwriter »

new_guy wrote: post #186
joshmanders wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would I waste my time applying if it specifically states a CS degree is required? If you don't REQUIRE it, state that. It's not encouraging at all. Last time I was applying for work, I sent out 150 applications/resumes, every single one I look at the list of requirements, if I don't meet one of them, I don't apply because it's a waste of my time.

Job 'requirements' are there to get rid of people like you. If you're not confident in your fundamentals then you won't apply because you can't tick all the boxes. If you ARE confident in your fundamentals then you'll apply and probably get the job and the posted 'requirements' won't even factor into it. Knowing that is the difference between 150 applications, and just 1.

Confidence in one's job skills and confidence in other people’s willingness to disregard what they describe as “requirements” are not necessarily linked.

Re: Show HN: I made a jobs board for developers without degrees

#188

Post by joshmanders »

new_guy wrote: post #186
joshmanders wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would I waste my time applying if it specifically states a CS degree is required? If you don't REQUIRE it, state that. It's not encouraging at all. Last time I was applying for work, I sent out 150 applications/resumes, every single one I look at the list of requirements, if I don't meet one of them, I don't apply because it's a waste of my time.

Job 'requirements' are there to get rid of people like you. If you're not confident in your fundamentals then you won't apply because you can't tick all the boxes. If you ARE confident in your fundamentals then you'll apply and probably get the job and the posted 'requirements' won't even factor into it. Knowing that is the difference between 150 applications, and just 1.

I have 2 fortune 500 companies, one of which is fortune 100, and many large companies including fintech on my resume. I don’t have a fear of my skills or anything, but I do know I don’t have a degree. Guess what, you state that you need a degree, I will skip your job.

Re: Show HN: I made a jobs board for developers without degrees

#189

Post by honkycat »

mywittyname wrote: post #161
honkycat wrote: post #136

How do you know someone doesn't have a CS degree? They'll tell you. You're right: Nobody cares you don't have a degree. It's not impressive, it is just normal. What I have a problem with is the huge chip on people's shoulders about "not having a degree" and insisting on dissing anyone who chose to go a different route. I have a CS degree, I went to school on a scholarship, did not have these massive loans and "wasted…

> Probably would have had a different experience if I went to whatever crappy state school was nearby. I went to a bottom-ranked state school and loved it.

Yeah, that's fair. I shouldn't diss on state schools. I had a specific one in mind when I wrote this, but it can definitely come off as elitist. My apologies.
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