5 ms·
Community colleges really are underrated. In a world where increasingly a bachelor's degree does not guarantee a job, university education is super expensive, a
by freehunter 8y ago
Community colleges really are underrated. In a world where increasingly a bachelor's degree does not guarantee a job, university education is super expensive, and especially in fields where a bachelor's degree is not necessary (I've never had an interview where they asked about my college education), vocational schools are the place to be.
Four-year universities put big emphasis on well-rounded educations, so you're taking humanities and physical education and biology and math classes in order to achieve a business degree. Community colleges cut away the "well rounded" part and often just tech the skills necessary to get a job at a local company. Oftentimes the instructors actually work at these local companies as their day job, so they know what to teach to.
If your goal is to get a job that leads into a career, go to a CC. If you need continuing education past that, many CCs have programs that let you transfer your credits into a local state university at extremely generous rates. My local CC has a 3+1 program where you can take 3 years at CC and one year at the state university and get a bachelor's degree from the university. The cost per credit hour at the CC is literally half the cost for the university, so you're paying $35k for your bachelor's compared to the $50k you'd be paying for four years at the state university. It's a no-brainer.
- maxerickson 8y agoMy university had some 1 and 2 credit hour classes in physical education. It maybe required 3, I don't remember. But people took those classes for fun, to fill out a schedule, etc.
- mixmastamyk 8y ago> (I've never had an interview where they asked about my college education. They don’t ask, but many places throw your resume without a bachelors into the trash at the first step in the hiring process. Ask me how I know.
- toomuchtodo 8y ago> They don’t ask, but many places throw your resume without a bachelors into the trash at the first step in the hiring process. Ask me how I know. I'm very understanding of this sentiment. I have suggested to people to get around this by simply lying about having a bachelors degree on their resume. If the employer verifies, you're out nothing. If they don't, you have a job you otherwise wouldn't have had. You have to be able to do the job though.
- mixmastamyk 8y agoI suppose that could work, but you’re still vulnerable at the tech interview, aka test that can’t be studied for, or haven’t encountered in years. I’ve found the kinds of places that focus on these things tend to coincide.
- toomuchtodo 8y agoMy comment assumes the only signal you’re missing is the degree. You still have to nail the tech interview.
- mixmastamyk 8y agoI write code every day sans a gun to the head.
- themodelplumber 8y agoDon't do this. I have a client who did this, and he now wonders how many interviews he _missed out on_ over a 3-year period because the employer was interested but the college screening came up lie-positive. Many, many employers public & private do verify. And some people will start rumors if you are in a small community, or if they know someone you know. And if the employer later finds out that you lied, the lie will cost you the job, not the lack of education. IMO if you are low on experience like education, your best bets are things like formal networking events or informal events (parties, concerts with friends, etc.), or even informal walk-ins to companies where you want to work. For some, the biggest problem is that they won't talk about wanting a job around their friends, for fear of appearing incompetent.
- toomuchtodo 8y agoWhat is your suggestion for OP where their resume is immediately discard because of no education? Networking and meetups won’t get you passed HR filters and corporate requirements. As I mentioned, even if you don’t get the job or lose the job, you’re still ahead of not trying. And you now have experience to put towards your next employer (and your old employer will only verify employment dates, as they don’t want to be sued). This is the unfortunate reality of an asymmetric labor market where employers can make demands with no cost to themselves. Fake it until you make it.
- freehunter 8y agoI didn't have my bachelor's degree until very recently... three jobs and nearly 10 years into my career. When I got my degree, no one seemed to care. I didn't get a pay raise or anything.
- rifung 8y agoI don't think you'll get a pay raise for it but not having it might prevent you from getting jobs. I've definitely been asked why I didn't go to/finish my Bachelor's in many interviews. Who knows how many jobs I was skipped over because I didn't have it. Could be 0 for all I know but how would I know? That being said, after a few years of working nobody cared about it anymore.
- freehunter 8y agoLike I said, some fields care. Some don't. YMMV. Getting an interview depends on a million and a half factors, it's hard to say one is more important than the other.
- walshemj 8y agoAnd depends on culture - I have had negative reactions in the UK when being interviewed by IBM and by a French company. I also why its why I didn't get a call back from Ebay I suspect spain where the hr person was based might have some biases.
- user5994461 8y agoYou won't be able to get a job in France without a master. Education is free and there are no jobs. The norm is to continue up to the master.
- drawnwren 8y agoIf you're a dev, my impression is that boot camps have changed this a lot. 10 years ago, someone without a bachelor's had a larger chance of fitting the 'lone hacker' stereotype than they do today. Of course, work experience trumps all.
- pininja 8y agoI’ve been involved in many interviews in my jobs, and we haven’t thrown an Software Engineer application out because they don’t have a bachelors. Many of my friends and I don’t have a bachelors, and we haven’t noticed this issue. I have been asked if I have a degree, and I am honest about it and tell my story. While not everyone agrees, I think it matters more what you’ve done on your own and on the job than what degree you’ve got.
- user5994461 8y agoYou can't notice the issue since you don't have a bachelor. You are de facto excluded. It can be compensated with 15 years of experience. Better not be a millennial with no degree.
- skookumchuck 8y ago> math classes You really shouldn't avoid math if you want to be an educated person. Math is the key to the universe.
- srtjstjsj 8y agoBut if your goal is an undergrad business degree (looking for a marketing job at Dunder Mifflin), you've already set your educational goal well below unlocking the universe.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- martinpw 8y agoA few years ago I did the rounds of a bunch of schools in the Bay Area giving talks to CS departments. By far the most passionate students and the smartest questions came from a community college I spoke at in the East Bay. They had so many questions that the planned 1 hour talk ended up taking 2 hours, and nobody left even though it was the end of the day. They had also set up their own after hours meet-ups to teach themselves parallel programming. It helped that their teacher was highly inspiring and passionate too. In contrast, the university students just felt a lot less interested, and in one case they had to be promised credits just to get them to show up.