Hello Brandon, I agree with Jeff and Craig. I think its the "can do" attitude that should matter, and not just the "has done" facts :p
I never touched or learned programming until I graduated in Commerce. Simultaneously pursued my hobby in Japanese and then landed in job as a language specialist....... with a .........guess what ..........a software company. That was when I was bitten by the programming bug :p , and have never looked back since then. I have done a certificate course and quiet a few certifications and had an oppurtunity to work for some good companies over the last 6 years. No doubt , its not a smooth sail for many of us in current times..... there are employers for whom degrees are a bare minimum to even look at a resume. But I think, personally for me it finally boils down to pursuing what you want to. Though nothing measures up to hand-on experience but then that's not undermining the hard work many of us put in when earning degrees. I think the 2 descions pointed out in Jeff's email are crucial. cheers :) Rahul ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeff Smith" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Struts Users Mailing List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2003 3:47 PM Subject: Re: Does a degree matter? > Hi Brandon. I thought I'd watch the responses to this thread before weighing > in with an opinion. I was interested to note that none of the responses > appear to have come from hiring managers. So I thought you might benefit > from an opinion on that side of the debate. > > In my career I have hired over 100 different developers on a wide number of > projects. And in my experience, the paper qualifications only matter in the > first 3-5 years after school. Once you have those first few projects under > your belt, it is your experience that matters, far more than your formal > training. (In other words, it takes from 3-5 years of experience to catch up > to the pack.) > > Although it is hard to generalize about companies and employers (since they > are all run by people, and people vary widely) I can say that in general > terms, the more liberal hiring policies tend to be in the smaller and more > "progressively" managed organizations. Larger, more institutional employers > have a much more formalized, and rigid hiring practice. The first screening > of resumes in such places tends to be done by professional HR people, who > are generally only qualified to screen for check-list items. (The job says > A, B and C are required. Here's a fabulous resume with A, B, D, E, F and J > thru N. But he's missing C. Reject.) > > So here are a couple of really important decisions for you to consider: > 1) Do you prefer the mayhem of start-ups and small companies to the security > of large institutional employers? > 2) Do you already have, or can you be reasonably confident in getting those > first few years of experience? > If you said "yes" to both of those, you may be able to successfully avoid > the school thing. If you said "No" to either one, school might be a safer > bet. > > For what it's worth, in the last company I ran, the guy I promoted to Chief > Architect did not have a degree of any kind. He was primarily self-taught. > But he got the job because he was dedicated, articulate, responsible and > clearly understood the technology and the needs of the company. In my book, > those are far more valuable than 4 years of sleeping through lectures. > > Jefficus > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Brandon Goodin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "Struts Users Mailing List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2003 1:09 PM > Subject: Does a degree matter? > > > Hey all, > > I'm trying to make a decision as to what I am going to do. I am sucking wind > on profitable work. So, I was thinking about going to school and getting a > BA in Comp Science to make myself more attractive in the job market. Is it > really worth doing? I've been doing development for 5 years professionaly. 2 > years Perl and ASP, 3 years Java. Prior to that I was hobbying in those > languages on my own. My knowledge is competitive with anyone else in my > realm of experience. Anyways, I was just wondering how important you all > think a BA in Computer Science is for a family man trying to give his career > a boost. > > Brandon Goodin > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
