RE: Experience vs College Degree

Well, I've seen a lot of others chime in, so I will too.... ;-)

I've been working in computers since @1978, but only programming
for about 20 years.  I do not have a degree.  Unfortunately, when
your just starting on a career path, things like education can be
very expensive -- so I can sympathize with you there (BTDT) :(

Its possible that you will get turned down for not having a
"sheepskin" -- its happened to me in the past. But, I kept pounding
the pavement to find an employer who would hire me based on my
limited experience.  It worked.  I've been with the same company
for about 15 years and make pretty good bucks for someone without
a degree.

If you want to advance and make the proverbial "big bucks",
get into management, etc. then you should look toward getting
a college degree.  You certainly don't have to do that immediately.

My advice would be to find employment with a company that has
tuition assistance and start taking part-time classes.  This might
be pretty tough to do (require relocation etc.) but you would be
gaining experience and education at the same time.

Quite frankly, many of the CS graduates that I've come in contact
with didn't impress me at all -- they probably would make good PHB's
though (read Dilbert for examples :).

Personally, I just like to program computers (love that '400).
I'm also happy living a semi-modest lifestyle...most people aren't.

I wish you the best with whatever decision you make.

Good Luck,
Terry



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Justin Houchin [mailto:justin@RELIATEK.COM]
> Sent: Friday, June 28, 2002 1:45 PM
> To: Midrange-l
> Subject: Experience vs College Degree
>
>
> This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
> --
> [ 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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