Many of the job roles in Tech don't need a CS degree. Such as QA, Program Manager, Document writer.
I’m 22 and I’ve failed
81–89 of 89 posts
Re: I’m 22 and I’ve failed
#82Before you can decide if you're failed -- even temporarily, you need to decide if you've succeeded. What does success really look like to you?
Re: I’m 22 and I’ve failed
#83Ah, man, kid, try being 43 with a Github profile full of half-finished repos. You haven't failed. Part of what's pathetic about the tech industry and culture, and why I've mostly bowed out of it, is that it makes you feel like you're a failure at 22. Christ, even rock singers get until they're 30 to feel that way. You're fine, man. You just need to decide what you really want. If that means being a coder, it's easy -…
this was a really good post. youre not going to get the top job at google, but you can make a lot of money by just getting good at one backend language + sql.
also great advice to get some excercise
Re: I’m 22 and I’ve failed
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
Being self taught doesn't have to cripple your career. I'm self taught and doing reasonably well, and there's another guy I worked with a few years ago who's also self taught and studied music in college who's now an engineer at Facebook making I don't know how many zillions of dollars. Looking at LinkedIn just now, I discovered that another self taught engineer I know, who doesn't even have a high school diploma, is…
You’re right, the “crippled” career part was as much due to other circumstances at the time, but a certain benefits of the degree program could have still helped alleviate those issues. > In a sense, we're all fortunate that we lucked into a career in an industry that de-emphasizes credentials in favor of knowledge, ability, and track record. Agreed, though I think there are costs to this as well, but most people pro…
You can still get a degree. I know someone who went tot law school at age 50, and back when I was in school I roomed with someone who was 35 self taught programmer who came back to study.
Re: I’m 22 and I’ve failed
#85I don't know anyone who wants a job for its own sake. Maybe there are some people desperate to eat and so will think a job is essential but what you really want is freedom. Money facilitates that freedom and a job is the poorest way to get it so don't feel bad that you had fun coding.
* Maybe there are some people desperate to eat and so will think a job is essential Maybe? I feel like this describes virtually every living human being. Only the most fortunate of the most fortunate have the luxury of not struggling for survival.
Depends how you define the most fortunate. It seems to me like if you are disciplined enough to work for a while and be frugal while you do it, no matter how smart you might be, you can save a month of living expenses for every month you work - at least. So you might work 5 years then get 5 years of freedom, and that's at the lowest level. The most fortunate might work for a year and get 3+ years of freedom
Re: I’m 22 and I’ve failed
#86If you're 22 you haven't even started.
Re: I’m 22 and I’ve failed
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
You’re right, the “crippled” career part was as much due to other circumstances at the time, but a certain benefits of the degree program could have still helped alleviate those issues. > In a sense, we're all fortunate that we lucked into a career in an industry that de-emphasizes credentials in favor of knowledge, ability, and track record. Agreed, though I think there are costs to this as well, but most people pro…
You can still get a degree. I know someone who went tot law school at age 50, and back when I was in school I roomed with someone who was 35 self taught programmer who came back to study.
Technically yes, but it will be made significantly more difficult and more expensive that going at the culturally acceptable time and a lot of the value with fade overtime. I’ve tried to go back and I’m not even particularly old.
Re: I’m 22 and I’ve failed
#88Don’t aim for big companies, but a little ones that are just starting. That’s how I got into industry after failing just like you.
Re: I’m 22 and I’ve failed
#89Am I the only one to worry this person explicitly has suicidal thoughts? Hey HN, is there something we can do? "I wish I'd die" is quite an alarming signal for psychological distress.