Obligatory disclaimers: Individualism trumps generalities; I am a CS graduate and am probably biased. I think what is learned in a good CS curriculum is very important. (We can argue over the definition of good later.) I also think that same information can be learned on the job, although it often isn't, especially if there's no mentor there to teach the science side of computer science. >From within my own company, I can report that the guy educated with an engineering slant is great at designing (software) systems, but isn't the best coder or application designer. The self-taught individuals who (have been there longer than I have) are great coders, better than I am, but they're not great at design and architecture. They are intelligent and do pick up concepts very quickly when they are taught them. This obviously shows that you don't need a degree to learn. I'm not going to attempt to judge myself. But I will say that I have needed the CS degree for the work I have done. Then again maybe most flex developers aren't inventing their own scripting languages in applications that need be continually extended. Also (a little OT), I have needed to learn about 5 languages in the past year and a half. I think being taught to think like a computer scientist is what has allowed me to do this well. So if I were advising someone on a hire (and I'm going to start looking for a new hire next week so someone please show me I'm wrong before then if I am), I'd advise to hire the person you need. If you need a computer scientist, get one. It'll be harder to find a self taught computer scientist, but they are our there and if they have more experience than a trained one, don't give the degree extra weight. If you need a coder to write one-offs, I'd care less about the formal knowledge and skills and more about the proven ability to do the job. I'm sure there are thoughts I've missed or failed to explain correctly and I join Simon in hoping this has in no way offended anyone.
- Dan Freiman On Feb 19, 2008 8:22 PM, Paul Decoursey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > My experiences have been similar. I do consulting and get most of my > work by having good connections. I don't have a degree at all. I went to > school just never finished it, never needed to, and frankly don't see any > advantage to doing so. I do occasionally get requests for my resume, and I > hide the education bit at the bottom. I'd have to say I'd be skeptical of > anyone that required a CS degree or any degree for that matter. Perhaps if > you were going into the Molecular Biology field a degree might be a good > indicator, but I think that in this field it is irrelevant. > > Paul > > > > > On Feb 19, 2008, at 6:20 PM, Doug McCune wrote: > > I don't think I've ever been asked about my education when discussing > potential work. When I was first getting into Flex consulting I didn't even > give out resumes with that information before getting hired. If you have > solid samples that's all anybody cares about. Start a blog and post like > hell. > > Doug > > On 2/19/08, Matt Chotin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > In my opinion, a degree primarily counts if you're looking to get a job > > out of school when you have little to show your prospective employers. Once > > you've had industry jobs it's your experience that matters, not your degree. > > Degrees get you the interview potentially, they don't get you the job. > > > > Matt > > > > On 2/19/08 4:12 PM, "Sherif Abdou" <[EMAIL > > PROTECTED]<sherif626%40yahoo.com>> > > wrote: > > > > A bit off-topic but I was just wondering since i have no reminescense of > > this and their seems to be a lot of programmers on here I thought I would > > ask this question. Do you actually need some sort of CS degree or Computer > > Related degree to get a job say in programming Web Applications or getting a > > Job at Adobe or MSFT or Google. I have a degree in Molecular Biology with a > > Chem Minor. I am Self-Taught so let me here some stories. Thanks. > > > > ________________________________ > > Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try > > it now. < > > http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51733/*http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ > > >< > > http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51733/*http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ > > > > > > > > > >
