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"Nobody really cares about your education in this field -- it's can you do it, or can you not?" Is this unique to software development? Like, if I wanted to br

by minimax 13y ago

"Nobody really cares about your education in this field -- it's can you do it, or can you not?" Is this unique to software development? Like, if I wanted to break into the fast paced world of industrial fastener sales would prospective employers be worried about my undergraduate degree? My experience on both sides of the interview table has been that after a few (2-3?) years of working in a field, your professional experience counts for much more than your academic credentials. I don't think it's unique to web development.

jonknee 13y ago
No, but if you wanted to actually design the industrial fasteners your education would probably be questioned. That's more akin to software development.
- sanxiyn 13y ago
  To me software development seems more akin to (say) game art design. As long as you can program (or draw) -- which can be checked by portfolio -- education is less important.
  - randomdata 13y ago
    If you have a great portfolio of designing fasteners as a hobby, couldn't the same be said of that job? To me, it is a matter of supply and demand. When the talent pool is larger than the demand for talent, there is a need to find a way to filter the hiring application results down to something that is manageable. A degree has become the defacto standard for doing that. It doesn't matter if you throw out great people with the bath water doing that, because you still have a ton of great people to choose from. Web development, and software development in general, have been through a fairly lengthy period of demand outpacing supply, leaving many companies without the need to arbitrarily reduce their application result set. That gives them the ability to evaluate all applicants as the normally would, just without the arbitrary filter to start.
  - nbouscal 13y ago
    I think you're right that we treat it that way, and I think that it's a problem. If you missed out on learning something about game art design, the worst that can happen is the game art isn't quite as good as it could have been. If you missed out on learning something about software development, you can cause significant economic damage. You can check portfolio for basic programming ability, but it's non-trivial to check for all of the other supplemental knowledge.

by minimax 13y ago

jonknee 13y ago

No, but if you wanted to actually design the industrial fasteners your education would probably be questioned. That's more akin to software development.

sanxiyn 13y ago
To me software development seems more akin to (say) game art design. As long as you can program (or draw) -- which can be checked by portfolio -- education is less important.
- randomdata 13y ago
  If you have a great portfolio of designing fasteners as a hobby, couldn't the same be said of that job? To me, it is a matter of supply and demand. When the talent pool is larger than the demand for talent, there is a need to find a way to filter the hiring application results down to something that is manageable. A degree has become the defacto standard for doing that. It doesn't matter if you throw out great people with the bath water doing that, because you still have a ton of great people to choose from. Web development, and software development in general, have been through a fairly lengthy period of demand outpacing supply, leaving many companies without the need to arbitrarily reduce their application result set. That gives them the ability to evaluate all applicants as the normally would, just without the arbitrary filter to start.
- nbouscal 13y ago
  I think you're right that we treat it that way, and I think that it's a problem. If you missed out on learning something about game art design, the worst that can happen is the game art isn't quite as good as it could have been. If you missed out on learning something about software development, you can cause significant economic damage. You can check portfolio for basic programming ability, but it's non-trivial to check for all of the other supplemental knowledge.