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Ask HN: I'm a SWE without a CS degree. Will online certs help me get into FAANG?

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Re: Ask HN: I'm a SWE without a CS degree. Will online certs help me get into FAANG?

#161

Post by operatingthetan »

themoonisachees wrote: post #82
treprinum wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have over 100 Coursera/edX/Udacity certificates and work on the bleeding edge of tech (AI). MIT's Underactuated Robotics got me into the first cohort of Udacity's Self-driving Car Nanodegree. I think you are shooting yourself in the feet if you plainly reject people like me who just want to keep learning new things.

I mean this in the nicest way possible. I genuinely have nothing agaisnt you and this is as far as I know the first time i've ever read one of your comments. You appear unsufferable. If i was in charge of deciding whether or not to hire you, I would not, based on this comment.

>If i was in charge of deciding whether or not to hire you, I would not, based on this comment.

Good thing we don't hire people based on social media comments then! It really looks like you just took an opportunity to use careful language to bully someone that you just didn't need to.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a SWE without a CS degree. Will online certs help me get into FAANG?

#162

Post by tomcam »

huehehue wrote: post #160
tomcam wrote: post #3

Dude I got into a FAANG company with no CS degree (or any other degree). Unless you're going into research, where is PhD is almost required, they'll hire you based on your skills.

When? I also have a successful career despite not having any degree, but my read is that it's not as easy for newbies as it was 10 years ago. It's anecdotal based on my social circle and their younger friends, but I'm wary of turning into my parents with advice like "you don't need a degree, just a firm handshake and an affinity for hard leetcode problems!"

Well hang on. You say "newbies". I made sure I had been doing hard stuff for a few years before I joined the FAANG company, but yes, it was in the late 1990s. At that time it was harder to get in with no degree. I made it my job from the very beginning of my career to choose areas that were hard for most programmers and to keep up my skills.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a SWE without a CS degree. Will online certs help me get into FAANG?

#163

Post by JambalayaJim »

morelisp wrote: post #155
JambalayaJim wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don’t have a high regard for the Harvard CS curriculum, it’s reasonable enough to disqualify people on that basis. That said, I think you’re completely out of touch with how 18 year olds choose universities. It can be as simple as a friend of theirs is also attending, or the school is close to a parent’s home, or they were actually in a liberal arts program before they switched into CS. Sometimes as you implie…

Yeah, sure, spare a tear for all the kids who accidentally ended up at Harvard.

The point of my comment wasn’t “Harvard kids are discriminated against”, the point is that your hiring logic doesn’t make sense.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a SWE without a CS degree. Will online certs help me get into FAANG?

#164

Post by JambalayaJim »

meneer_oke wrote: post #154
JambalayaJim wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don’t have a high regard for the Harvard CS curriculum, it’s reasonable enough to disqualify people on that basis. That said, I think you’re completely out of touch with how 18 year olds choose universities. It can be as simple as a friend of theirs is also attending, or the school is close to a parent’s home, or they were actually in a liberal arts program before they switched into CS. Sometimes as you implie…

> If you don’t have a high regard for the Harvard CS curriculum, it’s reasonable enough to disqualify people on that basis. It's not reasonable, those statements are liability for you and the company you represent. Hiring laws are quite strict of discrimination.

Is that discrimination? To prefer candidates from one university over another?

Re: Ask HN: I'm a SWE without a CS degree. Will online certs help me get into FAANG?

#165

Post by tsingy »

tomcam wrote: post #162
huehehue wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When? I also have a successful career despite not having any degree, but my read is that it's not as easy for newbies as it was 10 years ago. It's anecdotal based on my social circle and their younger friends, but I'm wary of turning into my parents with advice like "you don't need a degree, just a firm handshake and an affinity for hard leetcode problems!"

Well hang on. You say "newbies". I made sure I had been doing hard stuff for a few years before I joined the FAANG company, but yes, it was in the late 1990s. At that time it was harder to get in with no degree. I made it my job from the very beginning of my career to choose areas that were hard for most programmers and to keep up my skills.

What is "hard for most programmers" exactly?

Re: Ask HN: I'm a SWE without a CS degree. Will online certs help me get into FAANG?

#166

Post by andrewjl »

flanked-evergl wrote: post #42
nwoli wrote: post #5

I remember a time when online certificates was an anti signal. I think it still is in many startups. (Most people just hire on skill.)

> I remember a time when online certificates was an anti signal. I have never interviewed someone with many certifications and thought the person would be a good addition to a team, and I have never worked with someone who has many online certifications and thought they are good at the things they are certified in.

Thinking this way tends to carry a bias against historically underrepresented backgrounds in the tech industry. In some cases certifications might be the only way to get ones foot in the door.

It's fairer to just focus on competency, certified or not.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a SWE without a CS degree. Will online certs help me get into FAANG?

#167

Post by tomcam »

tsingy wrote: post #165
tomcam wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well hang on. You say "newbies". I made sure I had been doing hard stuff for a few years before I joined the FAANG company, but yes, it was in the late 1990s. At that time it was harder to get in with no degree. I made it my job from the very beginning of my career to choose areas that were hard for most programmers and to keep up my skills.

What is "hard for most programmers" exactly?

Back when I did it, assembly, embedded programming, and compiler implementation were all subjects programmers avoided in college so I went in that direction.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a SWE without a CS degree. Will online certs help me get into FAANG?

#168

Post by morelisp »

JambalayaJim wrote: post #164
meneer_oke wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you don’t have a high regard for the Harvard CS curriculum, it’s reasonable enough to disqualify people on that basis. It's not reasonable, those statements are liability for you and the company you represent. Hiring laws are quite strict of discrimination.

Is that discrimination? To prefer candidates from one university over another?

Assuming you mean strictly in the hiring/legal sense, it is absolutely not.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a SWE without a CS degree. Will online certs help me get into FAANG?

#169

Post by [deleted] »

JambalayaJim wrote: post #163
morelisp wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, sure, spare a tear for all the kids who accidentally ended up at Harvard.

The point of my comment wasn’t “Harvard kids are discriminated against”, the point is that your hiring logic doesn’t make sense.

[deleted]
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