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I've been personally experiencing the credentials trap pretty recently in a manner tangential to the OP. I get hardballed to hell when it comes to internships b

by zalzane 14y ago

I've been personally experiencing the credentials trap pretty recently in a manner tangential to the OP. I get hardballed to hell when it comes to internships because I don't come from a good school and don't have a great gpa. It really bugs me that despite programming an order of magnitude more often than my friends, they still have an easier time obtaining internships because they come from a decent college or waste all their time obtaining a 3.5+ gpa. Even loading up my resume with all of my programming projects/github is of no aid, it's like HR doesn't give a damn about how competent of an engineer you really are, they just hire based off of sorting all the applicants by gpa/school. </rant>

RyanZAG 14y ago
You're completely correct. This is how corporate works. There is a very well defined system that has been created over decades or centuries of networking. You're not going to break into the corporate system on merit alone after all these years of 'by the book'. Startups - especially your own - are the best method for getting 'around the system'. Startups are nearly always very heavily based on what you can accomplish and ship in the first couple months you start there, and you will quickly build a name for yourself if you can succeed. There are also a number of ways to get 'back into the system' regardless of your age, such as the numerous degrees and diplomas offered directly at someone like you. Choice is up to you, but the reality is: there is a system to corporate HR and it is not based very heavily on merit. Decrying reality won't help you here.
thisone 14y ago
your friends are obviously not wasting their time keeping their grades up. Yes, the theory/practice divide can be strong, but you really will need both. And I say this as some one on the practice side ('I can do it!') who's working very hard to get the theory side up to scratch ('but I can't articulate why as well as I should!').
- dopamean 14y ago
  I think when he says "wasting their time" he means that the time wasn't spent becoming a better engineer. If the end goal was to get a job then, no, they didn't waste their time. If the goal was to be the best engineer possible then perhaps they did.

by zalzane 14y ago

RyanZAG 14y ago

You're completely correct. This is how corporate works. There is a very well defined system that has been created over decades or centuries of networking. You're not going to break into the corporate system on merit alone after all these years of 'by the book'. Startups - especially your own - are the best method for getting 'around the system'. Startups are nearly always very heavily based on what you can accomplish and ship in the first couple months you start there, and you will quickly build a name for yourself if you can succeed. There are also a number of ways to get 'back into the system' regardless of your age, such as the numerous degrees and diplomas offered directly at someone like you. Choice is up to you, but the reality is: there is a system to corporate HR and it is not based very heavily on merit. Decrying reality won't help you here.

thisone 14y ago

your friends are obviously not wasting their time keeping their grades up. Yes, the theory/practice divide can be strong, but you really will need both. And I say this as some one on the practice side ('I can do it!') who's working very hard to get the theory side up to scratch ('but I can't articulate why as well as I should!').

dopamean 14y ago
I think when he says "wasting their time" he means that the time wasn't spent becoming a better engineer. If the end goal was to get a job then, no, they didn't waste their time. If the goal was to be the best engineer possible then perhaps they did.