Ask HN: How much value is there to obtaining a degree 10 years into ones career?

1 points by joshnerius 13 years ago | 4 comments

First, some background. I do not have a degree. Shortly after high school, I landed a lowly tech support job at a small ISP startup which quickly evolved into other things and finally when I moved on four years later, I was one of two head network engineers / developers / jack of all trades at the company.

I recently passed the 6 year mark at my current job: A generalist position at a household name credit card company that has involved everything from C# compact framework development to large enterprise application integration and everything in between.

I've been working on earning a CompSci through a well respected university that has committed to providing remote education. I started this endeavor with great excitement and always thought that it was a logical step to take to ensure future career success and marketability. Recently, I've been questioning the value of sacrificing so much free time, mental energy, and sleep when I've been quite successful in my career so far.

Now, on to my question and interest in HN's advice: Am I crazy for thinking that I need to sludge through another 3-4 years of half-time coursework? How have those of you without degrees fared with falling into the "or equivalent experience" category?

davismwfl 13 years ago |

First, I have no CS degree, instead I grew up in family businesses writing software from the time I could type. Assuming you are good at what you do, understand how software really works, have valuable skill sets to offer and can sell yourself well I say the degree doesn't matter. When I say how software really works, I am focused on how decisions we make daily can be inefficient once compiled down or interpreted by some VM (so understanding the hardware/software interaction). Not saying a degree fixes it, but honestly it would've shaved off some time for me in the beginning to have those base classes out of the way. That said, I see a lot of people without CS degrees that love what they do and are better than many grads. I think education is what you make of it, spending 100-150k to get an education at a top school doesn't mean you are any better than the guy who didn't. And personally, sometimes I prefer the people that had to slog their way through to learn things, versus the CS grads that feel they are owed something because they have an expensive piece of paper. But then again, I don't think that has anything to do with the degree or school as much as it does the person.

Just my 2 cents. One thing I will tell you, I stopped long ago looking at whether someone has a degree on their resume. The degree just doesn't matter if you are a smart person in general.

lutusp 13 years ago |

> Am I crazy for thinking that I need to sludge through another 3-4 years of half-time coursework?

If a degree isn't a non-negotiable requirement for advancement where you work (or will be working), then it's probably not worth it -- unless, of course, you're learning practical things directly applicable to your job.

There are plenty of people who either succeeded in ways that their completed degree made no difference, or succeeded without a degree, including these people:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_college_dropout_billion...

Also, the cost of college tuition is increasing faster than any other household expense. Eventually a degree simply won't be worth it in a basic financial sense, something even college education advocates reluctantly acknowledge.

genwin 13 years ago |

Omit the education section from your resume. I bet no interviewer asks you about it, even if they say they require a degree.

joshnerius 13 years ago |

Thanks for your comments. I appreciate the input.