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I don't know if I can relate. Was the industry really "almost entirely" autodidacts 10 years ago? Were CS graduates "nerds" in a way that autodidacts weren't?
by mikebenfield 4y ago
I don't know if I can relate.
Was the industry really "almost entirely" autodidacts 10 years ago? Were CS graduates "nerds" in a way that autodidacts weren't?
It's still very possible to get into tech without a traditional CS education, and it's not clear why it seems hopeless to you to compete against someone with a degree -- ACAICT most interviewers don't even look at candidates' resumes.
- bluefirebrand 4y ago10 years ago? I sincerely doubt it.
- tharkun__ 4y agoCompletely agree. 10 years ago is 2012. That really isn't a very long time ago. I studied computer science well before that and even then it wasn't true that the industry was "almost entirely autodidacts". That's my dad's generation, where a computer science degree wasn't even a thing you could get. You'd have studied math or electrical engineering or some such and you kinda got into the computer side of things, e.g. through the computer lab usage at university. I can also tell you that for someone with 10 years of experience, I don't look for a degree at all when I hire. Sure, I will read your whole CV and will see whether or not you have a formal degree, but I won't throw out your CV just because I don't see a computer science degree. Whether you have a degree or not, I will check whether you know how to code, talk about software, design a system etc.
- Gigachad 4y agoAlso don't relate. Got my first job in tech about 6 years ago, last interview was 6 months ago. Found the interviewing process very easy and got an offer I was happy with after 1 week of searching. I'm not applying at big tech where you need to do 20 hours of real time leet coding. Just a regular B2B product where they quizzed me on ruby/rails for 30 minutes and another general vibe interview and that was it. Reading the responses to this thread, it seems clear most of this is a lack of social skills rather than any change in the industry.
- throwaway675309 4y agoI mean I can only speak purely anecdotally, but I graduated with a CS degree nearly 20 years ago and in my ensuing career, 90% of my colleagues had either electrical engineering or computer science backgrounds, so I honestly have no idea what he's referring to. If anything, I'd actually argue that there are more non-traditional routes to working as a software dev today.
- ipaddr 4y agoThis is true.. 20 years ago getting hired without a degree was difficult and excluded you from many jobs.. getting a java or c/c++ job was difficult. Now it's more open.