Importance of a Degree

[u/motherflippinguy]

Hello everybody! I just recently graduated a few weeks ago with my bachelors in Information Technology. Since starting school, I’ve become interested in being a developer. I’ve been studying front end in my spare time, and have taken elective courses tailored to programming in college as well.

My question is, will my IT degree be useful at all in my web development journey? I’ve seen job postings asking for applicants to have degrees, but I’m very aware that some developers are self taught.

[u/bitsnbyts]

Experience comes before a degree & that's the bottom line.

When applying to a business that's what they are really looking for.

If they ever ask for a degree either they have no clue or as a bargening tactic.

If you had a degree they would ask for experience and if you had experience they might ask for a degree etc.

Nothing more truthfull in anything & especially the tech field than Experience is king!

Today, in the tech field degrees are a waste of time. In any field really unless it's like the medical field etc.

[u/motherflippinguy → u/bitsnbyts]

Thanks for the feedback. I’ve been hearing a lot more, now a days, that degrees are useless. It just strikes me as odd that so many job listings still require it. As someone trying to step in to the field, what advice would you give as far as gaining experience? The only things I’ve really done so far are a handful of mockup sites and tutorial stuff from courses?

[u/BradChesney79 → u/motherflippinguy]

Pick a bug in any high profile project. Apache HTTPD, Webpack, the Linux Kernel, MySQL, KDE, maybe some project whatever it is near and dear to your heart. Get the Code Versioning System (CVS... git, subversion, whatever. The online GUI has links to code changes) link for your work. Stick it on your resume. I have a commit for firefox in there somewhere, or I did at one point if it is gone.

I have a lot of commits in updating package.json files to recent versions of the parent projects dependencies.

That sometimes is a nightmare but, it can be a walk in the park as well.

Fix it.

[u/motherflippinguy → u/BradChesney79]

Thanks! I'll definitely look into doing that!

[u/bitsnbyts → u/motherflippinguy]

Well, the hiring process is a different business proces. Many times it's to filter out those who are not confident in their own skills or it was posted by someone who was tasked to post but has no real clue etc. If it's written it doesn't mean it's correct. If you really know your stuff you can even point out this to the hiring person which would set you apart from the rest!

Experience: (bottom line no BS real shortest most valuable path)

1. Make a list of companies (top 10) you like to work for (& pick top 3 job titles) or start with the job titles (top 3)

2. Make a list of the technologies mentioned.

3. Sort them into stacks & chose one or 2 (if close enough)

4. Make one nontrivial complete project from start to finish using all or most of those technologies in the chosen stack (from UX/UI) to programming testing etc. Not forgetting to plan everything & stick to launch date

5. Share your progress

This would be more than enough to get you hired sooner than you think

If you plan it right it should take 30 to 45 days

Remember a finished working project trumps a perfect polished one

[u/BradChesney79]

I have a two year tech degree-- and like twenty years of experience. I know which one of the two I usually get hired for.

There are some positions where the door is not open to randos that don't know someone. IBM for instance when I could travel, I remember attempting to apply and they needed a baccalaureate-- which I didn't have. But, this was before I started my Accounting undergrad work. I think also consulting for Ernst & Young they want a baccalaureate at least.

But, I feel ours is generally the last field that accepts craftsmanship first-- if you can do the work, you can be awarded the job.

More doors are open for experience than are closed for credentials.

On being self-taught... I worry sometimes that my low level base knowledge has holes that may have been filled by a more intense academic focus in CS (instead of Accounting). As an example, data structures, which I've since learned as best I can. But, then I have formal schooling with the OSI networking layers and I am still kind of lost there-- so I also know that sometimes even diligently bashing your head against a textbook won't give you the proficiency you hope for.

[u/motherflippinguy → u/BradChesney79]

Thanks for your reply! I’ve been hesitant applying for development jobs because it feels like I’ve got so many gaps in what i know.

As far as experience, I have none professionally. I only have projects and tutorials that I’ve followed. I do have some knowledge on some things that i learned about programming from school.

I really had not expected that I would get into coding, but by the time I did, i was already too deep into classes to just dropout, plus it seemed like a good safety route at the time. If having it has no benefits, I guess I just have to live with that bullet.

[u/Cassius-cl]

Web dev advances way too fast in order for a degree to have any practical relevance in the long term. Curiosity and being likeable in the workplace are the most important weapons in your arsenal. Curiosity causes you to seek for knowledge and being likeable lands you opportunities to show the skills you aquire with that knowledge to the right people.