Can programmers without CS degrees find jobs?

#1

Post by tommaxwelll » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 6:19 AM UTC

Hi HN,

Just a few months ago I started teaching myself how to program (JavaScript, JQuery, HTML, CSS, so far), so I'm nowhere near experienced enough for a job, but I was curious -- can developers without CS degrees find jobs? Is there a stigma in, say, the Silicon Valley around people without degrees, or is it lax?

Also, if I were to try and get a job in the field down the road (still, without a CS degree), what would be the best way to apply? With a portfolio/Github profile with my work?

Re: Can programmers without CS degrees find jobs?

#2

Post by bluestix » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 6:32 AM UTC

In my experience no one even asks if you went to school during job interviews.

It's very easy to get tech jobs with no degree.

Re: Can programmers without CS degrees find jobs?

#3

Post by lachyg » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 6:33 AM UTC

Why yes, yes they can. I would say 95%~ of our graduates at Dev Bootcamp do not have CS degrees. We have an incredibly high placement rate, so I can say without a doubt, programmers without CS degrees can find jobs.

We teach Ruby, by the way.

Re: Can programmers without CS degrees find jobs?

#4

Post by factorialboy » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 6:39 AM UTC

Having a CS degree doesn't really matter.

Now more than ever you can teach yourself everything there is to know.

And showcasing your skills is easy too. Build up a good GitHub profile, contribute to open source projects, build a product and put it out there.

Re: Can programmers without CS degrees find jobs?

#5

Post by pheon » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 6:49 AM UTC

My experience is the best coders ive met who get shit done, dont have CS degrees. If they do have a degree then its either in real engineering(building hardware) or pure math/physics.

Re: Can programmers without CS degrees find jobs?

#6

Post by jaeccles » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 6:54 AM UTC

I knew nothing about web dev 2 years ago and am now a senior sw eng at a successful company. Self taught.

Do everything you can for free, experiment with all at your disposal, and get passionate about the stuff that you don't know that you never think you'll understand. Then find a lower level eng job somewhere with kind smart people, and shadow the hell out of them every day :)

Some of the best developers I know aren't CS majors. If anyone has stigma, it's b/c they either need someone with skills to handle some insane new architecture or data handling at big scale, or they're just misinformed.

Re: Can programmers without CS degrees find jobs?

#7

Post by malux85 » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 6:54 AM UTC

Yes. I started off learning PHP/JS/HTML/CSS in my own time. It took me 6 months and I got my first webdev job.

You have probably heard that it takes 10,000 hours to master a craft. That's about right. I realised that without going to university I was probably missing about 6,000 hours (4 years?) of experience. So I worked double overtime and built products so that I could get 6k hours under my belt.

Then in the job interviews I said "Look what I've built"

My lack of degree has instilled an exceptionally strong work ethic, because I'm constantly trying to prove myself. I'm always over compensating my learning new things and having a real drive and hunger for development.

I'm now a tech lead at a developer company. I have an iPhone app in the app store (Insider Guide), 2 weeks ago I setup a Java (Red5) video server for live broadcasts for a billion dollar company. In my spare time I'm working on a Python ( + websockets) prediction engine.

You can get a job without a degree, but you gotta do the same amount of work.

Good luck friend, never, never, never give up

Re: Can programmers without CS degrees find jobs?

#8

Post by mrkmcknz » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 6:55 AM UTC

I'm not a CS grad and have landed a spot as the technical co founder of a company on a UK accelerator. Hustle and always learn and you will pretty much get where you want to be!

Another tip is to contribute to GitHub projects and attend hacks to build mini projects that showcase your talent. And of course write a blog.

Re: Can programmers without CS degrees find jobs?

#9

Post by StJobsFromGrave » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 6:56 AM UTC

no

Re: Can programmers without CS degrees find jobs?

#10

Post by lexandstuff » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 7:00 AM UTC

I'm doing okay working as a developer here in Australia without even a high school certificate. Granted I'm working in enterprise, so I'm not exactly doing the sexiest stuff on the planet. But the money's good, and I love the work. I learned to code a couple of years ago, starting with PHP then Python, and, after putting together a few websites for my team, I managed to transition from a Operations role to an Engineering role, developing a few in house monitoring products.

Good luck.