Re: Degree Required

For us there is a corporate rule that anyone in management MUST have a
degree. So, if an IT person wanted to become a programming/systems/
operations manager, they couldn't do it. Stops the climbing of the ladder
if that is what one wants to do.

Debbie Panco
Senior Systems Analyst / Project Leader
United Consumer Financial Services
865 Bassett Road
Westlake, Ohio 44142
dpanco@xxxxxxxx
440-835-6674


-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-jobs-bounces+dpanco=ucfs.net@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-jobs-bounces+dpanco=ucfs.net@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Doug Hart
Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2007 8:19 PM
To: midrange-jobs@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [MIDRANGE-JOBS] Degree Required

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I don't think computers were a science when I went to collage. 8^) The
only course where you could get a programming class was in the math
department. So I punched my Fortran, Assembler, and yes Forth into 80
column cards. I did get into RPG (no Roman Numerals, or arrays, direct file
processing, etc) from a technical school, anyone remember Control Data
Institute. Over the next 20 years I wrote every kind of business
application and some engineering programs too. When I got bored with code
(yes, I still tinker) I got heavily into the OS consulting as a high-end Sys
Admin. type. Then into upper management (VP of IT).

All of this spanning 40 years and without any paperwork (only 1 year of
collage, 1 tech school, no degree). Yes, times have changed, A LOT, but I
have done very well w/o a sheep's skin. I still find it hard to cost
justify the cost of school. I haven't seen salaries go up much in the past
20 years. And when I look at young people coming into the business I
question their business knowledge as much as their technical skills. And I
would rather a developer know Boyce Codd normalization than .NET. It shows
me they can think.

Don't get me wrong, school is ALWAYS an asset. And to stay ahead of the
off-shore workers you need to be working on the leading edge technology.