3 ms·
The question is rather, how do you think degrees help assess new hires? 1) Programming skills? These are easy to assess with programming exercises. If someone
by cousin_it 6y ago
The question is rather, how do you think degrees help assess new hires?
1) Programming skills? These are easy to assess with programming exercises. If someone has a degree but can't solve a programming exercise, I won't hire them.
2) Interpersonal skills? But a tech degree doesn't certify those, you need to assess them the hard way anyway.
3) Culture fit? But if you use degrees for that, it's simple discrimination, "let's hire this guy because he's from MIT like us". Not sure why this should be defended.
So in the end, degrees don't seem to help tech hiring in any way. I think tech companies could stop looking at degrees with very little loss.
- battery_cowboy 6y ago> Culture fit shouldn't be assessed. I can't agree with this, you need to work well with the people you see every day.
- daseiner1 6y agoI think this is a very limited view of what college, and being a great employee, is all about. Yes, I agree that education should not a priori be a dealbreaker. However you're shortchanging here the value of a) accomplishing something over a number of years, which a decent number of people with all 3 of the dimensions you specified, couldn't necessarily do; and b) the Gen Ed side of technical degrees. Strong communication skills and a general intellectual background are both valuable assets in an employee, and aren't captured by programming skills|interpersonal skills|culture fit, but are hinted at by, e.g., the ability to write a 10 page research paper which is a degree requirement for the top-line university certifications. Yes, all of these skills can be gained and evinced without the traditional 4-yr college route, but I understand why generic Big Corp middle management uses it as a proxy for establishing a baseline in what I, and you've, mentioned.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]