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Software development has arguably more gatekeeping even without any guild. Got a CS degree from a university that isn't R1 and didn't score a summer internship?
by asdff 4y ago
Software development has arguably more gatekeeping even without any guild. Got a CS degree from a university that isn't R1 and didn't score a summer internship? Need a visa sponsor? I don't envy how painful your early career will be. Luck out with the Stanford admission and a summer internship? You are playing on easy mode.
- JohnFen 4y agoIt depends on what part of the industry you're working in. If you're looking at FAANG-style companies, that's absolutely true. But there's much more to the industry than that.
- splitstud 4y ago[dead]
- zeroonetwothree 4y agoI got my FANG job with a degree from a 50-ish rank school. I think their acceptance rate was 70% so it’s not exactly Ivy League levels of gatekeeping. Some of my coworkers went to even lower ranked schools or altogether don’t have degrees (though I admit it’s uncommon).
- jefftk 4y agoWhen I was at a FANG I had at least three bootcamp grads for close coworkers, and many with degrees from schools you've never heard of.
- chitowneats 4y agoSome of the best engineers I've ever worked don't even have a bachelor's degree. These autodidacts will suffer greatly if the wrong kind of "software guild" gains control over licensing tech employees.
- Apocryphon 4y agoNot really, if the guild founders include self-taught coders then they will make provisions for their fellows.
- asdff 4y agoSAG doesn't require a degree in screen acting. It's a little convoluted but they basically operate mainly on proof of work. That sort of system would probably give self taught engineers who spent their years from 18-22 doing actual work a huge leg up compared to those who were in school during that time doing no work on any projects for any company.
- JohnFen 4y agoThose people have a huge leg up right now in large swaths of the industry anyway. The issue with the "proof of work" standard is it sets up a difficult conundrum. You need to work to join the guild, and you need to be a guild member to get most work.
- asdff 4y agoYou can get hired for guild work as a non guild member, usually you join the guild after though.
- quartesixte 4y agoAnd that is the main gatekeeping mechanism that keeps so many talented young writers, actors, cinematographers, etc. out of the game or working for pennies on the dollar as assistants. It’s great when you’re in but if you don’t have the connections to get in you can find yourself on the outs for years. If a SWE guild can find a way to eliminate the nepotism and create a meritocratic way to get into a guild…
- JohnFen 4y agoSure, it's obviously possible. If it weren't there would never be new actors on the scene. But the number of times I've heard directors and such tell stories about how they wrote a line for a non-speaking part as a favor to the actor in the role, solely to allow them to get their SAG card, is disturbing. It's indicative of a high degree of gatekeeping.
- BurningFrog 4y agoStrong disagreement! Software is the high paying industry with the least gatekeeping I'm aware of. I never got around to finish my degree. Neither did Bill Gates. I've worked with highschool dropouts and Harvard graduates. And by and large, nobody cares!
- bilqis 4y agoDid you also have generational wealth and networking like Bill Gates?
- BurningFrog 4y agoNot in the slightest :)