51–60 of 67 posts
It may depend on the specific area of technology. I do phone screens and sit on interview panels (software company, retail point-of-sale), and I pretty much never pay attention to the education portion of the resume. For me it's all about what you've done and what you can do at my company.
I have friends and family that seem to thrive on going to school and can't imagine why I don't. It isn't the same for everyone. In my case, I don't think it has hurt me. I've always had a job, always felt like I could quickly get another job and I make good money.
From the hiring side, despite my "lack" of education, I've had the chance to interview quite a few people. There have been some with masters degrees that I would only be comfortable hiring as a junior dev. They had books smarts but zero experience. Some of them could have had the job if their asking price wasn't insanely high or they had some experience.
I also interviewed a self taught programmer who I'd work with in a heartbeat. It didn't work out for other reasons, but he could have easily had the jr. job and likely grown out of it with more experience.
Formal education opens some doors that experience will not, but I think there are plenty of opportunities with and without a formal education.
When I've been involved in hiring, neither of these mattered as much as if the person could show their knowledge of the relevant subjects we were hiring for in the application/resume/letter & then in the interview.
We care, first and foremost, about what you can _do_ with whatever experience and education you have. Education matters to the extent that it makes you a better developer than the other candidates. For example, did you take a DSP course and learned it well? That enables you to pursue jobs that require DSP knowledge. Experience matters to whatever extent that you can demonstrate that you accomplished something signifi…
Fast forward 3 years. I'm at a different job and interviewing again - same guy. I'm not sure he recognizes me, but I know where I last saw him. I tried very hard to forget the last interview and give him a fair shake, but it was a repeat! I was sure he hadn't learned a thing in 3 years. The same types of questions were still a mystery to him. If I left an interview not knowing something and feeling like that kept me from getting a job, I'd go home and learn it. In this case the main language for both jobs was the same. Oh, in the end, he did figure out this interview was a repeat.
Every employer simply favors competence. For competence, you need both knowledge and skill. That's it.
For example, I would be more likely to hire someone with no formal education (beyond, say, high school) and four years of relevant, "in the trenches" experience over someone with zero real-world experience and a degree whose ink is still wet (and I have done that just, FWIW).
That's not to say that a college education is a waste; it's absolutely not, of course. You'll learn things there that you typically won't learn on the job (algorithms, etc.) and the networking and connections you make there can be extremely beneficial later on as well.
If you have little or no work experience, then your prospective employer will focus on your education. Once you have more experience, then that is what matters the most. Some advice: internships and engineering coops are really great ways to get experience in your field, while getting that magical degree.
Counteradvice: I do not think Co-Ops are a good idea. Tying yourself to a 3-4 year commitment is directly counter to what I consider the big advantage of work/study. I had friends who badly wanted to leave their Co-ops, but were bullied by advisers into not doing so. You aren't just padding your resume, you're also getting a feel for the different paths in your career you could pursue. I had 3 different Internships f…
My initial experience as a programmer was a self-taught and that logic and experience has stuck with me with everything. It definitely is like a muscle and you just learn from your mistakes and only get stronger with every new program you write.
I rely more on my college degree for people to take me seriously, but I have spent the past 5-6 years building a professional portfolio and a base of clients, including acquiring recommendations on LinkedIn -- which is probably the most useful feature LinkedIn has. It really does help to have that as people can see those client websites and their testimonials. It definitely has paid off.
No regrets on the college degree.. and most companies do require it for them to even notice you nowadays.. my experience in college was awesome and made me who I am today. I fell in love.. got my heart broken... I learned a lot.. made friends who I still keep in touch with today, and its just a time in my life that was good. I would love to go back for my Master's degree, but at this time, I'm at a good place in my life, with a great job -- a career I want to call it that I love and could see myself doing for the next 30 years.