3 ms·

Don't have a degree myself and about a third of the people I hire also don't have one. Why? Because I don't give anything about them. I'd say if you don't want

Don't have a degree myself and about a third of the people I hire also don't have one. Why? Because I don't give anything about them. I'd say if you don't want to work for a large, respected company first, it's a waste of time. Your degree is your entry ticket to your first job, not more. Later on, you can even work at Google if you want - just make a great product and get acquihired. Three tips on what you should do instead: 1) BUILD something and show off your skills. Like, continuously. Always have your own challenges, do something about them, put your code online on Github. Host it so it can be seen and played with. Work towards a goal and learn what you need to learn on the side. 2) Focus on applying to companies not listing a degree in their job ad. You'll see there are quite a lot of them. 3) Don't focus on your lack of a degree in any interviews. Don't deny it, but just don't make it seem a deal. Often times, people won't even ask.

cr0sh 10y ago
> I'd say if you don't want to work for a large, respected company first, it's a waste of time. I wouldn't necessarily say that. I don't have a degree (well, an Associates that ain't worth much). I've been employed as a software developer for 25+ years now (since I was 18 years old). I wish I had pursued a degree, though. Back then, when it came to my education, I was pretty lazy - at least when it came to more structured learning. I liked to pursue stuff on my own, though, at my own pace. I've done well in that manner. In 2011, I "discovered" the idea of a MOOC: I took Andrew Ng's "ML Class" - and successfully completed it. That led me Udacity's CS373 course in 2012 - which I also completed successfully. That isn't to say I didn't struggle with both of those: I had no experience with probabilities and stats, and I hadn't touched linear algebra since high school. But with the help of resources on the internet and elsewhere (along with help from others on the internet, and fellow classmates), I managed to complete both successfully, and I learned a lot in the process. Last year, I started Udacity's Self-Driving Car Engineer Nanodegree. Today, I'm working on term 2. We're dealing with localization - basically learning SLAM, which was covered in the CS373 course, too. Prior to that, we learned about how Kalman filters (standard, EKF, and UKF) all worked to integrate sensor data. In the first term, as part of one of the projects I implemented NVidia's End-to-End CNN to drive a virtual car around a track. All of these experiences, and others outside of all this, have taught me that perhaps I cut myself short by not pursuing a degree when I was younger. My current plan is once I finish this Udacity course, I'm going to get my BS online, then work toward an MS in comp sci. It isn't a matter of "I think I can do it" - I know I can do it. It's more a matter of absoluting proving it, and likely learning a lot more along the way. I don't think a degree is a waste of time, unless you intend never learning more stuff as you "grow older". If your only goal is to "make money" and all that, maybe it is. To me, though, had I gotten my degree back then, I believe I would be much, much further along today. I can't change that, though - so all I can do is move forward.
- aws_ls 9y ago
  >Last year, I started Udacity's Self-Driving Car Engineer Nanodegree Same. I am also doing the course, just finishing term 1 (in the Feb cohort). Although I have a degree, taken around 23 years back. But I think, its the always learning attitude, thats more important. As of now, I'm not exactly sure, as to how I can utilize the learnings in CarND nanodegree, but I'm enjoying learning about stuff, all the same. Had never coded in Python before I started taking Udacity courses, so learnt Python along the way, and that's just one of the several things. For me, I find, I am not satisfied with knowing some things at a high level. Until I'd started taking these courses, I'd always get confused between the terms AI/ML/DL for e.g. also other buzzwords would be learnt in some vague way, and soon forgotten. Now the minimum value-add of this, is that that I can distinguish between BS/hype or not, when read articles on ML/etc. Also have advised some friends on what it can do and what it can't. That's a big achievement by itself to me. And lastly although, I am pursuing my own startup, so not actively looking for a job, but if some opportunity arises, I will seriously consider it. Because, heck, why not?
- FanaHOVA 10y ago
  > I wish I had pursued a degree, though. Why? I'm in a similar boat, but don't really regret it or wish I had done things differently.
- jtcond13 10y ago
  Good for you! Your attitude is inspiring.

cr0sh 10y ago

> I'd say if you don't want to work for a large, respected company first, it's a waste of time. I wouldn't necessarily say that. I don't have a degree (well, an Associates that ain't worth much). I've been employed as a software developer for 25+ years now (since I was 18 years old). I wish I had pursued a degree, though. Back then, when it came to my education, I was pretty lazy - at least when it came to more structured learning. I liked to pursue stuff on my own, though, at my own pace. I've done well in that manner. In 2011, I "discovered" the idea of a MOOC: I took Andrew Ng's "ML Class" - and successfully completed it. That led me Udacity's CS373 course in 2012 - which I also completed successfully. That isn't to say I didn't struggle with both of those: I had no experience with probabilities and stats, and I hadn't touched linear algebra since high school. But with the help of resources on the internet and elsewhere (along with help from others on the internet, and fellow classmates), I managed to complete both successfully, and I learned a lot in the process. Last year, I started Udacity's Self-Driving Car Engineer Nanodegree. Today, I'm working on term 2. We're dealing with localization - basically learning SLAM, which was covered in the CS373 course, too. Prior to that, we learned about how Kalman filters (standard, EKF, and UKF) all worked to integrate sensor data. In the first term, as part of one of the projects I implemented NVidia's End-to-End CNN to drive a virtual car around a track. All of these experiences, and others outside of all this, have taught me that perhaps I cut myself short by not pursuing a degree when I was younger. My current plan is once I finish this Udacity course, I'm going to get my BS online, then work toward an MS in comp sci. It isn't a matter of "I think I can do it" - I know I can do it. It's more a matter of absoluting proving it, and likely learning a lot more along the way. I don't think a degree is a waste of time, unless you intend never learning more stuff as you "grow older". If your only goal is to "make money" and all that, maybe it is. To me, though, had I gotten my degree back then, I believe I would be much, much further along today. I can't change that, though - so all I can do is move forward.

aws_ls 9y ago
>Last year, I started Udacity's Self-Driving Car Engineer Nanodegree Same. I am also doing the course, just finishing term 1 (in the Feb cohort). Although I have a degree, taken around 23 years back. But I think, its the always learning attitude, thats more important. As of now, I'm not exactly sure, as to how I can utilize the learnings in CarND nanodegree, but I'm enjoying learning about stuff, all the same. Had never coded in Python before I started taking Udacity courses, so learnt Python along the way, and that's just one of the several things. For me, I find, I am not satisfied with knowing some things at a high level. Until I'd started taking these courses, I'd always get confused between the terms AI/ML/DL for e.g. also other buzzwords would be learnt in some vague way, and soon forgotten. Now the minimum value-add of this, is that that I can distinguish between BS/hype or not, when read articles on ML/etc. Also have advised some friends on what it can do and what it can't. That's a big achievement by itself to me. And lastly although, I am pursuing my own startup, so not actively looking for a job, but if some opportunity arises, I will seriously consider it. Because, heck, why not?
FanaHOVA 10y ago
> I wish I had pursued a degree, though. Why? I'm in a similar boat, but don't really regret it or wish I had done things differently.
jtcond13 10y ago
Good for you! Your attitude is inspiring.