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I was a freelance web developer for a few years (utilizing skills I picked up growing up) when one of my clients hired me to come on-board full-time for my firs

I was a freelance web developer for a few years (utilizing skills I picked up growing up) when one of my clients hired me to come on-board full-time for my first salaried position. My supervisor wanted me to build a team, so he had me right a job req. I sent it to him, and he sent it back with the addition: "Bachelor's degree in CS". I pointed out that, not only is my degree not-in CS, but I would probably be dissuaded from applying to a job that required one. He said "don't worry - it doesn't mean anything, they just all say that."

methodover 12y ago
Wow. I feel like you're more likely to get a poor non-CS candidate this way. i.e., you're more likely to get a non-CS candidate who isn't good at reading instructions, or isn't honest. I myself wouldn't apply for a job that asked a BS in CS, as I don't have one. The best case is still awful: The company is being dishonest about its requirements. Which if they're dishonest about their requirements, who knows what else they're being dishonest about? Benefits? Hours?
- Bahamut 12y ago
  Most companies will add the "Bachelors in Computer Science, or the equivalent" with maybe a caveat of it being a technical equivalent or something similar - this is to home in that it is an engineering job. In my workgroup, I think only one has a degree in computer science - at least two don't have any degrees, one of them being an excellent senior engineer. I have a masters in math myself, and I usually gloss over the bachelors in CS requirement since my work speaks for itself. I don't think most companies really care about the degree unless they have an obstinate manager.
throwaway345254 12y ago
This very similar to what I did. I didn't have a college degree and as a result I thought that I had no chance. I didn't really know what I wanted to do at 18 so I followed in my family's footsteps and went to a top ten business school. I absolutely hated it, got depressed and screwed up my grades freshman year. After moving back home, I realized that I would spend all of my time reading about the stuff I had learned in AP Computer Science so I decided to give being a developer a go. So I started by freelancing for small businesses while learning, practicing and reading constantly on the side. While it was slow in the beginning, after a few years business picked up and I had constant work on larger and larger projects and made solid money. When I was 23, I was hired for a 6 month contract working with one of the big four consulting firms creating the UI on a project for a major financial firm. I made sure to go above and beyond on the project, and at the end of the engagement the financial firm offered me a full time position as a Senior Front End Developer making ~$125k plus a 12% annual bonus. I was so surprised at the offer I called the developer who offered me the job just to make sure he knew about my terrible educational background. He said "Frankly, college isn't a good indicator of actual skill, I just put it on the list because HR requires me to. I have let more people go with CS degrees from Stanford than anywhere else because they come in and think they know everything. I want people who are constantly trying to improve. People who may not know, but will figure it out and make it happen." I had always been weary of applying for developer jobs simply because I had messed up in school. I knew that I could was good at it but I was scared that the blemish on my resume had destroyed all hope. It turns out I was completely wrong and should have applied for a "real" job years earlier. Now the age that most people are graduating and becoming junior devs, I am senior dev without a degree leading a team of 6 made up of top CS program grads.

methodover 12y ago

Wow. I feel like you're more likely to get a poor non-CS candidate this way. i.e., you're more likely to get a non-CS candidate who isn't good at reading instructions, or isn't honest. I myself wouldn't apply for a job that asked a BS in CS, as I don't have one. The best case is still awful: The company is being dishonest about its requirements. Which if they're dishonest about their requirements, who knows what else they're being dishonest about? Benefits? Hours?

Bahamut 12y ago
Most companies will add the "Bachelors in Computer Science, or the equivalent" with maybe a caveat of it being a technical equivalent or something similar - this is to home in that it is an engineering job. In my workgroup, I think only one has a degree in computer science - at least two don't have any degrees, one of them being an excellent senior engineer. I have a masters in math myself, and I usually gloss over the bachelors in CS requirement since my work speaks for itself. I don't think most companies really care about the degree unless they have an obstinate manager.

throwaway345254 12y ago

This very similar to what I did. I didn't have a college degree and as a result I thought that I had no chance. I didn't really know what I wanted to do at 18 so I followed in my family's footsteps and went to a top ten business school. I absolutely hated it, got depressed and screwed up my grades freshman year. After moving back home, I realized that I would spend all of my time reading about the stuff I had learned in AP Computer Science so I decided to give being a developer a go. So I started by freelancing for small businesses while learning, practicing and reading constantly on the side. While it was slow in the beginning, after a few years business picked up and I had constant work on larger and larger projects and made solid money. When I was 23, I was hired for a 6 month contract working with one of the big four consulting firms creating the UI on a project for a major financial firm. I made sure to go above and beyond on the project, and at the end of the engagement the financial firm offered me a full time position as a Senior Front End Developer making ~$125k plus a 12% annual bonus. I was so surprised at the offer I called the developer who offered me the job just to make sure he knew about my terrible educational background. He said "Frankly, college isn't a good indicator of actual skill, I just put it on the list because HR requires me to. I have let more people go with CS degrees from Stanford than anywhere else because they come in and think they know everything. I want people who are constantly trying to improve. People who may not know, but will figure it out and make it happen." I had always been weary of applying for developer jobs simply because I had messed up in school. I knew that I could was good at it but I was scared that the blemish on my resume had destroyed all hope. It turns out I was completely wrong and should have applied for a "real" job years earlier. Now the age that most people are graduating and becoming junior devs, I am senior dev without a degree leading a team of 6 made up of top CS program grads.