Timeline for Career progression in Software development
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
11 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 13, 2020 at 14:04 | comment | added | Joel Etherton | @xyz16179: It will open more doors and get you more interviews. It will not get you the job. As your career progresses it'll be less useful. The paths are there to do it without a degree. That's not in question. They're harder. Reading your question and comments, I'd say you've already made the decision that it's not for you. You sound like you need permission that's not coming from your family. The biggest reason not to get a degree is the cost it incurs. People go into debt with little to show for it. You're looking at a free degree. What do you have to lose? | |
| Aug 13, 2020 at 8:36 | comment | added | xyz16179 | @JoelEtherton I think I will be facing a similar issue when coming back to uni - the courses wont present me with a challenge, I will be required to complete projects that I know how to do but have no interest in completing them, as I am not learning anything neither I am getting paid for it. I think I will be facing a lack of motivation - as the degree is not something quantifiable( like money) - just a piece of paper that promises me improved chances putting my foot in the door with new employers and even that, reading from your comments is not a fact. | |
| Aug 12, 2020 at 18:42 | comment | added | Joel Etherton | @TomTom: I think we can agree that our experiences are disparate and neither reflects the climate that OP is currently working in. | |
| Aug 12, 2020 at 15:06 | comment | added | TomTom | I am sorry. I was self taught. I actually am - never set foot into a university or a professioal level course except to teach them. I have a 30 year career and my problem generally are NOT recruiters but that I refuse to work below my VERY high hourly rate in MY spcialized field. Some recruiters od not like it - I generally do not care. Most companies? Not my problem. If you are 999.999 of the million - sure. Once you build your resume - you are specialized enough that people pay well when they need your skills. Generally: Recruiters are a problem for beginners, then project knowledge it is. | |
| Aug 12, 2020 at 14:47 | comment | added | Joel Etherton | I was self-taught. When I finally went back to get my degree it was actually harder because life presents timing challenges. Most of my classes were fully boring because I was already much more advanced than the topics they taught. There were fundamentals that I learned that self-taught individuals don't get that are very important. I don't lack perspective on being self-taught, and after 25 years in software I've seen it change. The thing that hasn't ever changed: A degree fast tracks a resume through HR. | |
| Aug 12, 2020 at 14:39 | comment | added | Skelethos | I understand your point of view Joel, I speak for me when I decided to drop the university where assistant professors gave wrong slides to study and basic examples of C++ not working, where I had to help my colleagues in the lab every afternoon but when I needed help for math and physics nobody was ever available I had no regrets and a few months later I was working on a .NET project and paid more than I thought. | |
| Aug 12, 2020 at 13:59 | comment | added | Joel Etherton | As for the "you'll never have any regrets", that's an absurd statement to make. I traveled the self-taught path, and the "regret" I have is how a degree earlier would have accelerated my career rather than holding me back having to fight tooth and nail to get every job. | |
| Aug 12, 2020 at 13:58 | comment | added | Joel Etherton | You're right, they generally don't mean much. That doesn't mean they aren't the "price of entry for most companies. A vast majority of companies will not consider a candidate for a position without a degree, and that choice is normally made by someone who is not directly affiliated or knowledgeable about the technical specifics of a position. That's not universal. Either way, the degree is an expensive "get in the front door" card. The environment matters. In 2001, everyone on the market had a BS+. "Self-taught" was laughed out. Covid has done something similar. | |
| Aug 12, 2020 at 13:43 | comment | added | Skelethos | @JoelEtherton In my experience certificates don't mean much, actual completed projects and mental flexibility in case of technical tests put one foot in, not the other way around. | |
| Aug 12, 2020 at 13:33 | comment | added | Joel Etherton | I think your "point of view" has skipped the part for most companies where a recruiter reviews a resume/cv, and that "certificate" is what gets a resume in the door. It would be nice to live in a world where skill is all it takes. That's rarely the case. | |
| Aug 12, 2020 at 11:31 | history | answered | Skelethos | CC BY-SA 4.0 |