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“What would a high school diploma or 2 year college give them that would enable them to get higher skilled jobs?” When I look at programming jobs you pretty mu

“What would a high school diploma or 2 year college give them that would enable them to get higher skilled jobs?” When I look at programming jobs you pretty much need a college degree to even get a company to talk to you. I wouldn’t be too surprised if there were other jobs where having 2 years of college or a high school degree is required to be even considered. There may be exceptions but in general there is a trend for employers to require certain education levels if it makes sense or not.

goldenManatee 7y ago
There’s the employer expectations, but I would also bring up access to capital for launching entrepreneurial endeavors - for this category of guys and people in general. We need to target how we can encourage more small business.
wccrawford 7y ago
I disagree. What you need to get your first programming job is some kind of evidence that you will be able to do the job. That might be a piece of paper from a college, but it could also be a portfolio, which is how many novice programmers get started. I actually believed what you're saying and paid for college for a couple years. When I got my first job, it turns out they didn't even care about my degree. All that mattered was that I was better than the other applicants. 1 applicant in particular had a much better resume, but I blew him out of the water on a set of BrainBench tests that the company paid for. At my current company, we mostly hire self-taught programmers because they're consistently the ones that show the most promise. Of course, at Google or Apple, this might be different, and the competition is going to be much more fierce.
- Ididntdothis 7y ago
  At the companies I have worked at or contracted with a college degree was the minimum requirement to get a foot in the door. Not necessarily a computer related degree. Any degree would do. It’s kind of silly but to me it seems a fact of life. Thats why I recommend to get a college degree. You can live without but life is much easier with.
  - wccrawford 7y ago
    I'm sure that's what they say, and for entry-level jobs it's probably mostly true, even. But I guarantee that if a mid-level developer with lots of experience applies for a mid-level job, they'll look at them with or without a degree of any kind. And they won't even care for senior-level. Just about everything on the "requirements" list of a job posting is negotiable. You just have to make up for it in some other way.

goldenManatee 7y ago

There’s the employer expectations, but I would also bring up access to capital for launching entrepreneurial endeavors - for this category of guys and people in general. We need to target how we can encourage more small business.

wccrawford 7y ago

I disagree. What you need to get your first programming job is some kind of evidence that you will be able to do the job. That might be a piece of paper from a college, but it could also be a portfolio, which is how many novice programmers get started. I actually believed what you're saying and paid for college for a couple years. When I got my first job, it turns out they didn't even care about my degree. All that mattered was that I was better than the other applicants. 1 applicant in particular had a much better resume, but I blew him out of the water on a set of BrainBench tests that the company paid for. At my current company, we mostly hire self-taught programmers because they're consistently the ones that show the most promise. Of course, at Google or Apple, this might be different, and the competition is going to be much more fierce.

Ididntdothis 7y ago
At the companies I have worked at or contracted with a college degree was the minimum requirement to get a foot in the door. Not necessarily a computer related degree. Any degree would do. It’s kind of silly but to me it seems a fact of life. Thats why I recommend to get a college degree. You can live without but life is much easier with.
- wccrawford 7y ago
  I'm sure that's what they say, and for entry-level jobs it's probably mostly true, even. But I guarantee that if a mid-level developer with lots of experience applies for a mid-level job, they'll look at them with or without a degree of any kind. And they won't even care for senior-level. Just about everything on the "requirements" list of a job posting is negotiable. You just have to make up for it in some other way.