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Laura Vasquez

Do you think a university degree is relevant for tech jobs?

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Or is experience/skills more sought after? For example, I know a few software engineers who don't have a college degree and learned from a bootcamp or were self-taught, but sometimes struggle on the job with things they didn't learn. But is it better to go to university for this? What do you think?
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Chris Theodor
University studies provide you with something that potentially will help you to succeed in your life. That something, can benefit you in technical jobs but it's not the necessary factor to create the success. If you have already know about your passion, if you know what you want to do and if you are convicted that's where you want to be in your life and if that thing does not need a university degree or college, then skip it. If you do not know what you want to do in your life, then in my opinion a college is one of the best places that they can help you to figure this out. Remember, things are totally different than even 10 years ago. There are so many places today that you can go and find your calling in your life... University is just one of them. My advice is, keep searching. There are tones of technical jobs out there and not all of them need a degree. BTW, in none of the companies that I worked with I was asked to show them my degree or anything else...
Laura Vasquez
@chris_theodor Awesome! Great advice
Nick Haskins
I've been in tech for over a decade, full time for the last 8 years, making really good money. I'm 100% self taught. I dropped out of community college. Real world experience holds real world value.
Nick Haskins
@laura_vasquez95 Love the initiative! I would just build something. Anything. Then trash it and do it again. You got this!
Andre
It depends what kind of job but a strong portfolio is more important in my experience. Nobody will ask to see a degree or question your talent if you built a successful product.
Laura Vasquez
@andrefuchs This makes sense!
Michael Le
I think there is gaps on both sides. University doesn't prepare you for the actual work, but self taught doesn't prepare you for the foundational concepts and algorithms. The most important thing is the willingness to learn. Our field changes a lot, so people should expect to be learning new things. I believe real world experience helps more than the a degree.
Fabian
I am from Romania and I fall into the category of dropouts and fully self taught developer. Had quit college after a few months of going, seeing what they are teaching and understanding that it is not for me or for what I want to do in the future. I do not regret a single bit that I had quit college and never actually needed the degree for any jobs that I was personally interested in. This is simply my experience, it depends on a lot of factors tho'!
Laura Vasquez
@altumcode Interesting! I too dropped out of college after one semester and decided to learn coding a different way
ajimix
I've been working for more than 10 years in big companies creating software used for several thousands of users. Never went to the university. I started coding when I was 14 and when it was time to start the university, the level that the university was offering was so low that I basically saw it as a waste of time. Never got a problem to get a job, completely the opposite, my linkedin inbox is flooded with job offers every day 😩
Laura Vasquez
@ajimix That's great! It takes a lot of determination to be self-taught in something like programming, coding is hard!!
Samir Patel
University degrees just helps you land first job unless its ivy league Universities. After that its all about the experience you carry and exposure that you have from your jobs.
⠅҈͚͛͘҉ͨ͟͝҉̦̾ͬ҉͚́ͅ҉͟͝͠҉͙͚͝҈̢̦͠҉̹͂ͅ҈͉͊͆҉̲̈
Just make sure you really dive deep into a subject and not just scratch the surface. I have done a bootcamp 4 years ago and am doing just fine. Never went to school. Just make sure you keep learning. Its more about the mindset then the skills!
Laura Vasquez
@matonias You're right! It's more about self-determination and the right guidance
Victor
Technology change tase is very fast, by the time you have your degree, half of knowledge you'd have would be obsolete. It still nice to know background and why technology got there, but I believe you can find a better options to learn that spending way less money.
Anak Macal
Manatap sy baru belajar dan terus belar biar menjadi sukse
Laura Vasquez
@anak_macal Terima kasih atas sarannya, saya harap ini benar :)
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