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OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

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Re: OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

#41

Post by resonious »

lennoff wrote: post #28
bruce343434 wrote: post #12

Do you actually get a degree at the end? Or is it a lot of work that you put in which will be ignored by recruiters that "just get too many applications" and filter by college education?

Is a CS degree important nowadays? I do have one, but literally no one mentioned or asked about my education during an interview, ever.

I think it's less about the actual interview and more about the initial opportunity. Some recruiters definitely still filter on degree. And similarly, some companies have special pipelines for big schools they like.

Once you're in the interview, it's more about real experience and knowledge. I think nobody cares whether you got your experience from school or from somewhere else.

Re: OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

#42

Post by detaro »

switchb4 wrote: post #27
alexeldeib wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alienation from? The academic community? I question whether those are the folks this content targets.

Yes alienation from the academic community

Who cares? The academic community is often alienating everybody who is not in academia, degree or not. And where it isn't, it doesn't care if you have a degree or not.

Re: OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

#43

Post by strangeattractr »

switchb4 wrote: post #9
sdevonoes wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't get it (was it a joke?) Answering your question: To become a better computer scientist.

You can't call yourself a computer scientist by doing self taught education. That's the biggest problem with it

Most people that do computer science degrees don't call themselves computer scientists afterward. In fact, the only people I've ever known that call themselves that title are those in academia.

Re: OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

#44

Post by psyc »

switchb4 wrote: post #35
psyc wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn’t go to college, and I don’t include an education section on my resume. In 23 years in the industry, I’ve never been asked.

Well you are an inspiration for others. Can you share some useful knowledge so others can benefit from your experiences?

I can summarize my path. Ages 12-20, wrote code every day. Took a QA job at a small software company. Moved to development team. Spent 6 years there. Used that experience to get into Microsoft. 5 years there. At that point, there were almost no companies that wouldn’t interview me, and it was just on me to do well in the interviews. I have practiced white boarding all through my career.

So the idea is to get your foot in whatever door you can at that time, and climb when you can.

Re: OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

#45

Post by switchb4 »

psyc wrote: post #44
switchb4 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well you are an inspiration for others. Can you share some useful knowledge so others can benefit from your experiences?

I can summarize my path. Ages 12-20, wrote code every day. Took a QA job at a small software company. Moved to development team. Spent 6 years there. Used that experience to get into Microsoft. 5 years there. At that point, there were almost no companies that wouldn’t interview me, and it was just on me to do well in the interviews. I have practiced white boarding all through my career. So the idea is to get your foo…

Thanks for your input. Highly appreciate

Re: OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

#46

Post by FranzFerdiNaN »

switchb4 wrote: post #27
alexeldeib wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alienation from? The academic community? I question whether those are the folks this content targets.

Yes alienation from the academic community

I have multiple degrees in history yet I’m completely detached from the academic community because I don’t do research and don’t publish anything. So if I follow your logic it means I (and many thousands like me) have no degree at all?

Re: OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

#47

Post by hestefisk »

switchb4 wrote: post #4

All this is needed for becoming a better what?

I personally find the algebra and infinitesimal calculus quite useful for general problem solving skills. Sure it doesn’t provide you with concrete skills in the latest JS framework but it does help in terms of ability to reason about abstract problems and generalisations. Each to their own but I find it quite useful (I used to be a dev but now work in strategy consulting and here I cherish my math skills every day).

Re: OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

#48

Post by nivenkos »

Nand2Tetris and Roughgarden, looks like an excellent syllabus tbh.

Unfortunately it's pretty worthless without a paper degree. It's cool that Finland is now having open online registration for Finnish citizens to do online courses like https://fullstackopen.com/en/

It's a shame something like that doesn't exist in every country.

Re: OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

#49

Post by _vbnz »

psyc wrote: post #34
switchb4 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one asked you because you already have a degree in CS. But for a non CS graduate things are different I guess

I didn’t go to college, and I don’t include an education section on my resume. In 23 years in the industry, I’ve never been asked.

With 23 years in industry, you were joining back when CS degrees were less common.

This is like the "boomer handshake" meme. Nowadays you need a degree.

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