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Something you might not have considered is to forego the time and expense of the degree altogether. Particularly in IT most employers don't care if you have a d
by zxcvbn4038 7y ago
Something you might not have considered is to forego the time and expense of the degree altogether. Particularly in IT most employers don't care if you have a degree or not - the ones that do can always use your existing degree to check the box. If you can pass the interview questions for development or systems engineering then more than likely you'll get hired. You might have to do temp to hire if you don't have a buddy to vouch for you, but you'll get in the door. There are a number of times I've been the most senior person ever hired without a degree, one Fortune 100 even changed their rules specifically so that they could hire me without a degree. The key phrase to remember is "equivalent experience" and you can usually imply that will be accepted. You will run across the occasional HR robot or insecure manager that thinks otherwise, but they are a slim minority. All of that money you spend on college is more or less a waste unless you are planning to be a doctor, lawyer, or something else heavily regulated where state or federal laws don't even allow you to take certification tests without a degree. (For example, in my state you can't take the bar exam without a J.D. degree and a number of hours as an unpaid intern)
Remember also, particularly in IT, that educating yourself is going to be an ongoing task for you. It doesn't have to be formal but you have to keep up. Read Hacker News and High Scalability, when you see things discussed that you don't understand then take it upon yourself to go understand. I probably spend sixteen hours a week on my own research.
- ljm 7y agoWithout putting a downer on the CS degree idea, I’ve been learning a lot myself just by going through the same texts (and a few others). It won’t at all compare and there’s no qualification but things like The Imposter’s Handbook are great to get a basic understanding of things. I’d love to do the CS course myself but £18k’s a substantial investment considering what I’ve managed to earn without the degree.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- Shoop 7y agoI too spend about 16 hours a week on Hacker News :)
- rayalez 7y agoThank you for your reply, I completely agree that self-education can work great for most purposes. But some Master's programs may require academic credentials. Degrees are also important for gaining work visas in many countries. Finally, I feel like structured and more "formal" education would be very helpful to me when it comes to understanding math and more theoretical concepts of CS. I had no problem learning webdev on my own, but for more academic-type things, it would just be easier to attend a program that will make sure I have no gaps in my knowledge.
- jjuhl 7y ago"that will make sure I have no gaps in my knowledge" - You will always have gaps in your knowledge. It's only a matter of what gaps you'll have - but gaps there will always be.
- zxcvbn4038 7y agoThat is a valid point. Of course I've met a number of people who came to America and found their degrees were considered useless once they arrived. Luckily IT is mostly immune to that also.
- magicnubs 7y ago> There are a number of times I've been the most senior person ever hired without a degree, one Fortune 100 even changed their rules specifically so that they could hire me without a degree. Aren't these points against your argument? That they had to change the policy to hire someone without a degree implies that it is very uncommon for someone without a degree to get into these upper-level positions to the point that they had never run afoul of this policy before now, or at least that they preferred to keep the policy rather than hire someone without a degree?