Is a CS degree necessary to land a job?
Posted by PrincipleSudden1200@reddit | learnprogramming | View on Reddit | 48 comments
Hey there folks! I am currently studying BBA but I am not reading it out of passion rather out of my family pressure..... But I am always super passionate about tech, coding....therefore besides my BBA I am also studying to become a Self Taught Developer. I want to land on a job/Internship at a medium sized company and eventually I also dream to get a internship or job at a Tech giant company( eg. Google, Microsoft) So do I really need a degree on CS to land a job?
vyhot@reddit
fun fact, yes it is
mxldevs@reddit
The main issue is whether you're able to stand out from your competition.
Do you have friends that can get you a job?
Have you done a lot of projects and can use those to leverage your application?
The degree is mostly for not getting weeded out immediately if you have no other way into a company besides your application.
If you just want a job, there are plenty of people looking for people that can write code, even if you're just using AI.
The money probably isn't going to be great but it'll be something to put on the resume. But you'll still be competing with people that do all that and also have a degree.
Having a strong business background along with technical expertise can be invaluable if you prefer to run your own business.
DustRainbow@reddit
You'll be competing with thousands of graduates who struggle to find a job, except they actually have a degree.
Commercial_Process12@reddit
I study cybersecurity this is the sad reality of it and most tech jobs, broke 22 year olds like me that didn’t have the money to go to university straight outta highschool have no role in the tech industry pretty degrading & demoralizing I’ve been rethinking even continuing to study cyber and just stick in construction because of that
Time_Construction193@reddit
I feel like so often we are speaking in a relative sense that we have no idea what the standard is, and what exceptional is. The standard in CS is an illusion half the time. Everyone's always talking about the things you need to know as being part of the standard. Exceptional isn't hard, it could just be refocusing your efforts into a few big probects or something. I feel like my mentality had changed a lot after seeing how a lot of repositories look like.
im_in_hiding@reddit
No. I work as a dev and I have a business degree
blablahblah@reddit
You don't necessarily need a CS degree, but the farther you get from that, the harder it will be for your resume to make it past the first pass screening. It's not too much more difficult with a degree in a different STEM field and some projects - I know plenty of people with engineering degrees or physics degrees that ended up at tech companies. But with a completely unrelated degree or no degree at all, you'd need some substantial accomplishments for anyone to give your resume a second glance among the giant pile of applicants they're reviewing.
PrincipleSudden1200@reddit (OP)
So what should I do? Then maybe taking CS in masters can help?
blablahblah@reddit
Anything you can do to get more computer stuff on your resume would help. A masters would be great. If you can't do that, then even a minor would be better than nothing. Take classes, do projects, make connections.
Any-Range9932@reddit
You don't need knew necessarily but in this climate it just be really really hard. First be competent and you'll at least have the tech interviews covered (proctoring so many interviews and alot of ppl are weak in fundamentals and concepts)
I come from a STEM related BS but career switch over to a SWE before the current market climate so I know a little bit of it
what_sup0@reddit
Top uni's degree have value i guess so
else
be cracked .
elg97477@reddit
No, but it does help.
Hey-buuuddy@reddit
I say this as someone who is 25+ years into a career in programming, a degree is not needed BUT you are going to 1) actually be a good programmer and 2) find a career path opening.
Internships are hands/down the best way to start the career path. You are low-commitment and low-risk. If you impress during your internship, full-time offers come much easier.
I hire all the time and have seen job market and skillset dynamics come and go. There will always be demand for good programmers, even in economic recessions.
Things on your resume outside purely programming that will set you aside:
Good luck!
PikaPachi@reddit
Hey mind if I ask a question?
I’m currently getting my Masters in computer science. I’m only in grad school for 2 years which means next summer is the only time I see internships that I’d be eligible for as a student. I’m just wondering how much I should know when applying to the internships.
For background information, I studied game design in college where I learned Java and C#. Right now I’m studying Java again (which has been extremely helpful since what I learned in undergrad was super basic) and SQL. Next semester I’m learning python.
I’m just worried that I won’t have many projects to show or that I’m not going to know python at a decent level before I start applying to the internships. I’m planning on self-teaching python in between semesters just to get a head start. Do you think someone like me can potentially get an internship?
Hey-buuuddy@reddit
You have a strong college education background and that’s typical for interns getting close to the end of a degree. You’ll do fine applying to internships.
If you have spent time in classes for OOP Java, python will be not much more than learning syntactical difference from Java and types/type conversion/stuff like that. Python can be written in OOP, but most use it procedurally or barely OOP.
Read about Agile and get familiar with the general scrum setting. This is nearly universal in large companies and will resonate with non-tech management you interview with.
PrincipleSudden1200@reddit (OP)
But some people say I won't be able to land an interview....so I am kinda confused as well as concerned
elg97477@reddit
It may be more difficult. It will depend a lot on who you know. If there are any programming clubs or groups in your area, join them. The majority of jobs will come from people you know and who like you enough to recommend their company hire you. An internal recommendation can overcome nearly any deficiency.
PrincipleSudden1200@reddit (OP)
Then taking CS in masters will help?
elg97477@reddit
yes, it will help.
Hey-buuuddy@reddit
You have a strong college education background and that’s typical for interns getting close to the end of a degree. You’ll do fine applying to internships.
If you have spent time in classes for OOP Java, python will be not much more than learning syntactical difference from Java and types/type conversion/stuff like that. Python can be written in OOP, but most use it procedurally or barely OOP.
Read about Agile and get familiar with the general scrum setting. This is nearly universal in large companies and will resonate with non-tech management you interview with.
unethicalangel@reddit
Short answer yes it's necessary. Long answer is you can do it if you're exceptionally skilled and they can't find someone with a degree to fill the position
TechNerdinEverything@reddit
Put BBA with specialization in IT or something and on interviews tell you did some courses and love this field
PrincipleSudden1200@reddit (OP)
Sadly, in my country public uni's don't offer this sort of facility....
nivedhz_@reddit
Yeah but no. Because if you have skill then you will get a job but if you don’t display that skill online, then the companies would have to trust you based on your resume that you have the skill that takes and if you don’t have a CS degree too then they will just think you’re capping. So degree is handy to show the companies that you have the most basic skills needed other than that, skills are mandatory.
Hope you get it..!
PrincipleSudden1200@reddit (OP)
What you mean is I should create some good projects and deploy them and create a portfolio?
nivedhz_@reddit
Yeah, if a traditional hirer is hiring you for dumb low money they will check your resume only. But if a technical guy or a fellow programmer is hiring you I promise it will be for mad money and they will care more about your Github account rather than your qualifications.
PrincipleSudden1200@reddit (OP)
Thank you! I will work hard to make strong GitHub profile!
thaneros2@reddit
I feel this is more important than a degree. I am bias since I am self taught.
jexxie3@reddit
What is bba? Can you double major?
PrincipleSudden1200@reddit (OP)
BBA stands for Bachelor of Business Administration In my country public uni's don't allow double major they don't even allow taking a minor!
DegreeFunny1729@reddit
You can but the market will be unfair on you
If you are going for it make sure it's a side thing, just think of how badly the market is doing and how pointless is to work for free in a field where the phd and masters are sitting at home
I said work for free because your self taught journey is projected to last years in this current state of the market
Get it, I thought I was smart by going for some crappy entry level degree and it only wasted my time.
Regardless of what you do, do not stop coding in your free time if you want to prosper because AI is kicking everyone in the butt
circuit_heart@reddit
Anything is possible... I don't have a degree, I interned at a friend's startup to learn then convinced a small company that I could pick up the rest, did it, now am "picking up the rest" again at a large tech company.
This is a low-%-success play, not a good idea. You can do all of the grinding and self-learning that gets you ahead, while also getting a degree. That's a much better position to be in
PrincipleSudden1200@reddit (OP)
Can you explain a bit more please?
carcigenicate@reddit
It's possible, but not likely. I'm serious taught, and it took me almost a year to find a job; and this was three years ago when the market was better. I had also been writing code for around a decade at that point.
If you're going to skip school, you better be able to prove that you're competent despite that.
PrincipleSudden1200@reddit (OP)
So can you share your story a bit please?
carcigenicate@reddit
I started writing code in Junior high and taught myself to wrote code because I showed an aptitude for it during a robotics class.
Then, a decade later, I went to school for Cybersecurity. I used connections from school to land my first development job, and then I used experience from that job to get a better development job later.
PrincipleSudden1200@reddit (OP)
So having work experience makes it much more easier to land a job at a bigger company? So does freelance projects count?
carcigenicate@reddit
Yes, and probably; I don't really have any freelancing experience. You'll likely run into the same problem though: who would pay for the work of someone without experience?
circuit_heart@reddit
See other comments. You need to find a path into the door. A degree plus a good portfolio/record of contributing is probably the easiest way to do that. Without a degree you are very locked out of the vast majority of opportunities. I had connections and luck to get that first internship without a degree. It doesn't just happen normally.
hotboii96@reddit
You are making it 10x harder for yourself if you dont have a degree. How good is your network?
PrincipleSudden1200@reddit (OP)
Not so much but my uncle might have some as he is an ex-programmer..... But if I have some work experience will it make it a bit easier?
hotboii96@reddit
Yes, if the work experience is related to the field you want to enter. It also matter how long your experience is, and the value you produce. Honestly, just get the degree.
PrincipleSudden1200@reddit (OP)
Thank you!
slowerthaninfinity@reddit
>I want to land on a job/Internship at a medium sized company and eventually I also dream to get a internship or job at a Tech giant company( eg. Google, Microsoft)
in this current market chances are 0 especially when all the people you are competing with all have a cs degree
OkTell5936@reddit
Not necessarily, but the challenge is proving your skills without one. Even self-taught devs with solid projects often struggle because resumes don't capture what you've actually built.
Random thought: do you think having a verified 'proof of work' profile (showing real contributions to projects, not just GitHub stars) would help bridge that gap for people without CS degrees?
Hurridown@reddit
Yes — it is necessary
CountMeowt-_-@reddit
Incompetent + no degree = no job
Incompetent + degree = maybe job (depends on degree)
Competent + no degree = job (but you'll be paid less than you deserve for a good while when you're starting out - unless you get really lucky)
Competent + degree = job
Competence is subjective to market states and will differ from time to time.
Watsons-Butler@reddit
In the current market? Yes, you need the degree if you want to get hired as a software engineer. You won’t get an internship unless you’re enrolled in a CS degree, and the paths to an entry-level job are extremely limited outside of the internship pipelines. If you want to work at a Google/Microsoft-scale company? There’s about a zero-percent chance you’re getting in the door unless you intern for them.