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TL;DR of my personal experience on this: No, but you reach a point where it helps, then you reach a point to where it's needed to move up if you are not in a sm
by Communitivity 3y ago
TL;DR of my personal experience on this: No, but you reach a point where it helps, then you reach a point to where it's needed to move up if you are not in a small company or a startup.
My experience is that I started coding when I was 10, went to college in 1987, dropped out of college in my second year due to poor life choices, then for a time did consulting as a small business IT consultant/information broker/web designer (still dealing with poor life choices). Then at 26 in 1996 I got my act together, joined a specialized software company of 6 people at $30k per year as a software engineer. They downsized and let off half the staff in 2001, and on 9/11/2001 I decided to accept a software engineer position I was looking at in a defense contracting company at around $50k. Fast forward 23 years with 3 companies later and I'm a Principal Software Engineer. I've recently been taking courses again at 1 or 2 per session, am within a year or so of getting my degree, and am making in the neighborhood of $170k salary. Probably around $200k total compensation. I've had to work twice as hard, and twice as long, to get the promotions that people with degrees got.
But if I had stuck it out I'd have graduated in 1991, just in time to join a startup before the dot-com bubble and likely have founded/funded my own startup by now, or be in a good spot in one of the FAANGs.
Also, I can't move up more without that degree. I could move to a startup, possibly as a VP of Engineering or CTO, but my wife and I have health issues that mean my wife is very risk-averse when it comes to health care coverage.
If I had it all over to do again, I'd probably stay in college and get the degree (if I could guarantee I'd meet my wife again, I got very lucky there). I'd advise anyone to stick it out, get your B.S., and get your Masters if you can. Ph.D. helps too, but not required, and it's a big investment.