RE: Experience vs College Degree -- MIDRANGE-L

Here is my history first:
I have an Associates degree in Computer Science from 1977.  I did not get
into programming until 1987.  I learned all of my skills from going to
classes at the IBM Learning Center here in K.C. Mo.
After that I learned more from just hands on and my co-workers.  I have
worked on Mapics, BPCS, Pansophic, JDEdwards and stand alone systems. I went
to work for a consulting company in 1993 until they closed in 2001, as a
consultant. I feel I am pretty respected in the computer world and I know
quite a bit about RPG, RPGIV and CLP.  I have also learned how to use AS/SET
programming language for the AS/400. So in my opinion you do not need to
have a Bachelors degree to get a good paying job as a SR. Programmer
Analyst.  Now for the BUT, you are still at the mercy of the company you are
interviewing with, if they require a Bachelors degree for the position then
you are out of luck. You need to be sure you can explain what some of the
programs you have done, have some examples if possible and have good
references.
Experience is probably the most important thing along with being able to
program in as many software packages as possible.

I hope this helps you.
Jim


-----Original Message-----
From: Justin Houchin [mailto:justin@RELIATEK.COM]
Sent: Friday, June 28, 2002 12:45 PM
To: Midrange-l
Subject: Experience vs College Degree


This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]

I know this is off the topic, but I need to ask the programming
community. I am 21 years old and have been programming in RPG and E-RPG
for about 1.5 years. I  love it! But I do not have a degree. My question
is do you all feel that I could get turned down for a job over someone
that has a bachelor's degree? This has never happened to me but I do not
want it to ever happen. I am very seriously thinking about starting back
to college at night to get my bachelors in CIS. This is a very hard
decision to make because of the amount of money it will cost to go to
college. That is why I'm am trying to see if job experience would
triumph over a degree. Please give me some pros and cons on this
situation.

Justin Houchin
Programmer and Web Developer
ReliaTek, Inc
justin@reliatek.com


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