Ask Hacker News: Online BS in Comp Sci? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask Hacker News: Online BS in Comp Sci?

#31

Post by walesmd » Tue, Jun 09, 2009, 7:16 PM UTC

jmatt wrote: post #26

I'd recommend sending your resume in anyways. As others have mentioned networking is they best way to work around such bias. A recommendation from a competent employee will usually outweigh a degree. It's likely the tech manager doesn't care if you have a degree, only how well you will do the job. As someone who has worked for large and medium size tech companies in the past I can tell you that your experience will v…

A lot of really good points here. I grabbed my job based off of my open source work and community involvement alone.

Re: Ask Hacker News: Online BS in Comp Sci?

#32

Post by learninglisp » Tue, Jun 09, 2009, 7:24 PM UTC

tom_b wrote: post #29

learninglisp wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I defined it as "mostly coding database apps, doing tech support, and some sysadmin type duties." That means coding the hell out of SQL... and then taking that SQL and dressing it up in ways that users can benefit from it without bothering me. Which means coming up with little cutsey applications that dish up a variety of "stupid spreadsheet tricks". I code these sorts of apps start to finish by myself, deploy them,…

Just to insert my 2 cents - you are doing "real" computer work. I have a friend (neighbor actually) who has degrees in geology, but is clearly a top notch developer. He runs a very successful small software shop (doing custom development for small to medium businesses, usually on the Microsoft stack) - when you mentioned the 90% social, "pin down what should be done" angle, I immediately thought of what this guy does…

Here's my new theory:

I wouldn't necessarily be happy getting a high-powered hard-core ultra-geek development job. I don't want to have to move to the Big City (tm) and ignore my family.

Going "deep" would be fun... but strategically, going "wide" would be just as good.

As a developer, I'm irritated with my dependence on cranky and unsympathetic sysadmin types. The Unix Admin Cert here:

http://www.oreillyschool.com/certificates/

... would let me pin down a side of the business I'm less comfortable with... give me a cheap platform to run my own apps on... give me the skills to try a Unix solution when I want to try that as a Guerilla solution... and... maybe open the door to a different sort of job in a location that would be a better fit for me. Maybe.

So... not a better hat... just more hats.... "IT Guys" are always generalists anyway. Why try to be something I'm not when I have a perfectly good career (even if it's a little dull.)

Re: Ask Hacker News: Online BS in Comp Sci?

#33

Post by otto » Tue, Jun 09, 2009, 10:59 PM UTC

I've worked with a person that received a Software Engineering degree from the University of Phoenix. He was a very intelligent and interested computer scientist.

The degree is just a piece of paper that gets you in the door. The college experience is a great place to network, though I'm not sure how this would work at an online university. The real learning comes from your own interest and desire to figure new things out on your own.

That said I recently finished my BS in CS from a traditional university and now am working on a degree in Mathematics.