6 ms·

As a professor at a state university, I try to tell my students all of this. They’ll get hired at non-tech companies no problem with just a degree. But if they

As a professor at a state university, I try to tell my students all of this. They’ll get hired at non-tech companies no problem with just a degree. But if they want the high salary tech company positions, they have to spend considerable time practicing their skills outside of class and building a portfolio. Our curriculum is great for exposing them to a variety of CS topics, but it won’t make them stellar engineers by itself.

jmilloy 7y ago
There needs to be a "portfolio" movement in software development degree programs. That, and a clearer distinction between a "cs" degree and "software engineering" degree. In, say, an architecture degree, students and professors understand that you will apply to positions with a portfolio. I think students are able to use work from the degree program in their portfolio. Their professors have portfolios from when they first applied for positions out of school, so they can help or at least provide examples. Currently, we just have a vague notion that you should have code or contributions on github, and that is for some reason not part of most degrees. Or, too many students get a cs degree and try to use it to apply for software development positions. In that case, yeah, you're going to need to self-study if you want to apply for positions you didn't actually get a degree is.
- snazz 7y ago
  If you put serious effort into your class projects outside of what is required (https://thume.ca/ray-tracer-site/ https://thume.ca/ray-tracer-site/), you can certainly put that in your portfolio (that project is absolutely crazy). That said, I agree with you that more students should take "software engineering" degrees if they have trouble building things outside of class, plus that universities should make it clearer that a CS degree != a job offer from Google.

6 ms·

As a professor at a state university, I try to tell my students all of this. They’ll get hired at non-tech companies no problem with just a degree. But if they

by azhenley 7y ago

jmilloy 7y ago
There needs to be a "portfolio" movement in software development degree programs. That, and a clearer distinction between a "cs" degree and "software engineering" degree. In, say, an architecture degree, students and professors understand that you will apply to positions with a portfolio. I think students are able to use work from the degree program in their portfolio. Their professors have portfolios from when they first applied for positions out of school, so they can help or at least provide examples. Currently, we just have a vague notion that you should have code or contributions on github, and that is for some reason not part of most degrees. Or, too many students get a cs degree and try to use it to apply for software development positions. In that case, yeah, you're going to need to self-study if you want to apply for positions you didn't actually get a degree is.
- snazz 7y ago
  If you put serious effort into your class projects outside of what is required (https://thume.ca/ray-tracer-site/ https://thume.ca/ray-tracer-site/), you can certainly put that in your portfolio (that project is absolutely crazy). That said, I agree with you that more students should take "software engineering" degrees if they have trouble building things outside of class, plus that universities should make it clearer that a CS degree != a job offer from Google.