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If I were starting out now, in exactly the same situation as I had been in 1991, a smart, hard-working, self-motivated, well-organized, fast-talking, interviewe

If I were starting out now, in exactly the same situation as I had been in 1991, a smart, hard-working, self-motivated, well-organized, fast-talking, interviewer-impressing young person with no college degree, nor any credentials beyond a high school diploma, but the ability to learn to do hard things fast, and independently, if just given a chance, and the chutzpah to talk oneself into jobs one doesn't actually know how to do in the confidence one will figure it out when one gets there: what options would I have to turn that promising constellation into cash in my pocket? This statement is exactly my lived experience except that I started in 1994 or 95. My question for others here. What is the answer to his question? Is it possible to do now what we did back then? Why?

JeremyBarbosa 6y ago
As a recent college grad who has held many junior developer interviews while working at a startup, I would say that the answer is most definitely no. The current interview process is so bogged down with a high number of applicants and focuses so much on objective accomplishments, that any shortcut to trim applicants is taken. It seemed that only by removing applicants with a lower GPA or perhaps a mismatching degree could the interview pool actually reach a manageable number. This is a real shame because so many good people are most definitely ignored, but it is so much harder to prove character traits versus simply checking for a degree.
- nradov 6y ago
  The online application process has made it so easy to apply for jobs that employers get flooded with applications. So they really have no choice but to use arbitrary criteria to filter candidates down to a manageable set. (The same thing has also happened to college applications.)
- barry-cotter 6y ago
  The fact that Lambda School has a business model suggests you’re missing something. People manage to get jobs paying $50,000 a year and much more based off of nine months of full time instruction. > Time to placement: How long does it take students to be placed into jobs after graduation? > Of the 201 students who graduated in H1 2019 and were placed in jobs, 116 (58%) accepted jobs within 90 days of graduation, 68 (34%) accepted jobs between 90 and 180 days after graduation, and 17 (8%) accepted jobs 180 days or more after graduation. > Salary expectations: What is the median annualized salary of placed graduates? > The median annualized salary for H1 2019 placed graduates was $70,000. https://lambdaschool.com/reports/2019-outcomes-report#how https://lambdaschool.com/reports/2019-outcomes-report#how
rjbwork 6y ago
Possible? Sure. Probable? Certainly not. You're already filtered from 99+% of career style jobs because if you don't have a bachelor's the HR software chucks you.
- iqihs 6y ago
  Soon to be master's at the rate things are going...
vsareto 6y ago
>Is it possible to do now what we did back then? Why? Just one difference: you have to do that "figure it out" magic before you get a job.

JeremyBarbosa 6y ago

As a recent college grad who has held many junior developer interviews while working at a startup, I would say that the answer is most definitely no. The current interview process is so bogged down with a high number of applicants and focuses so much on objective accomplishments, that any shortcut to trim applicants is taken. It seemed that only by removing applicants with a lower GPA or perhaps a mismatching degree could the interview pool actually reach a manageable number. This is a real shame because so many good people are most definitely ignored, but it is so much harder to prove character traits versus simply checking for a degree.

nradov 6y ago
The online application process has made it so easy to apply for jobs that employers get flooded with applications. So they really have no choice but to use arbitrary criteria to filter candidates down to a manageable set. (The same thing has also happened to college applications.)
barry-cotter 6y ago
The fact that Lambda School has a business model suggests you’re missing something. People manage to get jobs paying $50,000 a year and much more based off of nine months of full time instruction. > Time to placement: How long does it take students to be placed into jobs after graduation? > Of the 201 students who graduated in H1 2019 and were placed in jobs, 116 (58%) accepted jobs within 90 days of graduation, 68 (34%) accepted jobs between 90 and 180 days after graduation, and 17 (8%) accepted jobs 180 days or more after graduation. > Salary expectations: What is the median annualized salary of placed graduates? > The median annualized salary for H1 2019 placed graduates was $70,000. https://lambdaschool.com/reports/2019-outcomes-report#how https://lambdaschool.com/reports/2019-outcomes-report#how

rjbwork 6y ago

Possible? Sure. Probable? Certainly not. You're already filtered from 99+% of career style jobs because if you don't have a bachelor's the HR software chucks you.

iqihs 6y ago
Soon to be master's at the rate things are going...

vsareto 6y ago

>Is it possible to do now what we did back then? Why? Just one difference: you have to do that "figure it out" magic before you get a job.