RE: Experience vs College Degree

I finished college 29 years after I started.  Unfortunately, I didn't go to
school continuously for 29 years.  I did a couple of other things too. <g>
I think a degree probably counts for something although what it counts for
may be like Hadacol.  Hadacol was a patent medicine.  There was a country
and western singer named Jimmie Davis ("You Are My Sunshine") who later
became governor of Louisiana.  He had a radio show sponsored by Hadacol.
Supposedly when someone asked him how he could endorse it when it never did
anybody any good he said something like "I don't know about that.  It did me
$200,000 worth of good."

The degree may not give you anything tangible that will help you do your job
better.  It may result in people being willing to pay you more.  One benefit
of going to school is that you can usually find a way to squeeze in a few
courses on things that interest you.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Booth Martin [mailto:Booth@MartinVT.com]
> Sent: Friday, June 28, 2002 11:33 AM
> To: midrange-l@midrange.com
> Subject: Re: Experience vs College Degree
>
>
> --
> --
> [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
>
> Why wouldn't Liberal Arts qualify?  In a Science course
> nothing technical is
> useful even a few years later.
>
> My experience is that a degree shows a level of ability and
> persistance to
> one's work.  There's a common experience in college of
> learning to solve
> problems in a group setting, and most management jobs require
> that ability
> -  after all, thats what management is all about.
>
> In other words, find a way to get started on your degree,
> even if its a 13
> year process.
>
> This opinion and $5 will get you coffee at Starbucks.
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------
> Booth Martin   http://www.MartinVT.com
> Booth@MartinVT.com
> ---------------------------------------------------------
>
> -------Original Message-------
>
> From: midrange-l@midrange.com
> Date: Friday, June 28, 2002 14:16:26
> To: midrange-l@midrange.com
> Subject: Re: Experience vs College Degree
>
> Justin,
>
> Very good question. I myself would like to hear some of the
> more seasoned
> professionals' response to this.
>
> What I have found, here in central Pa, is that
> programmer/analyst is about
> as far as you can go without some sort of degree. If you have
> any ambition
> of going into management, I'd get not only the BA or BS, but
> also an MBA or
> some other advanced degree. This, along with your building experience,
> would really make you very marketable.
>
> I myself have about 10 years experience in RPG. I also have a degree,
> although in fine arts which qualifies me for absolutely
> nothing. I feel
> that I have attained the most advanced position available to
> me, given my
> education and experience. Although, I haven't even thought
> about exploring
> the waters. I am given allot of opportunity to expand my
> skills here. And I
> still really enjoy the nuts and bolts of programming and application
> development.
>
>
> Thanks for the food for thought,
>
> Mark
>
>
> Mark Walter
> Sr. Programmer/Analyst
> Hanover Wire Cloth a div of CCX, Inc.
> mwalter@hanoverwire.com
> http://www.hanoverwire.com
> 717.637.3795 Ext.3040
>
>
>
> "Justin Houchin"
> <justin@RELIATEK.CO To: "Midrange-l" <midrange-l@midrange.com>
> M> cc:
> Sent by: Subject: Experience vs College Degree
> midrange-l-admin@mi
> drange.com
>
>
> 06/28/02 01:44 PM
> Please respond to
> midrange-l
>
>
>
>
>
>
> 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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