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A New Kind of Tech Job Emphasizes Skills, Not a College Degree (nytimes.com)

Steve Lohr, writing for the New York Times: A few years ago, Sean Bridges lived with his mother, Linda, in Wiley Ford, W.Va. Their only income was her monthly Social Security disability check. He applied for work at Walmart and Burger King, but they were not hiring. Yet while Mr. Bridges had no work history, he had certain skills. He had built and sold some stripped-down personal computers, and he had studied information technology at a community college. When Mr. Bridges heard IBM was hiring at a nearby operations center in 2013, he applied and demonstrated those skills. Now Mr. Bridges, 25, is a computer security analyst, making $45,000 a year. In a struggling Appalachian economy, that is enough to provide him with his own apartment, a car, spending money -- and career ambitions. "I got one big break," he said. "That's what I needed." Mr. Bridges represents a new but promising category in the American labor market: people working in so-called new-collar or middle-skill jobs. As the United States struggles with how to match good jobs to the two-thirds of adults who do not have a four-year college degree, his experience shows how a worker's skills can be emphasized over traditional hiring filters like college degrees, work history and personal references. [...] On Wednesday, the approach received a strong corporate endorsement from Microsoft, which announced a grant of more than $25 million to help Skillful, a program to foster skills-oriented hiring, training and education. The initiative, led by the Markle Foundation, began last year in Colorado, and Microsoft's grant will be used to expand it there and move it into other states. "We need new approaches, or we're going to leave more and more people behind in our economy," said Brad Smith, president of Microsoft.

116 of 218 comments (clear)

  1. College degrees were only a proxy for an IQ test by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Now they've figured out that skills tests are just as easy and useful a measure of employability.

  2. Re:Third world country by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    Harsh words for white trailer trash.

  3. Universities hiring lobbyists in 3...2...1... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Universities are a HUGE business, if they had their way you'd need a PhD to flip burgers.

    1. Re:Universities hiring lobbyists in 3...2...1... by MBGMorden · · Score: 1

      It all depends on the are of the country. While not as drastic as comparing any part of the USA to say, India, there are still extreme differences in the cost of living depending on where you're at in the USA.

      Someone living in Silicon Valley who makes $45k/year may be dumpster diving for food. A guy with the same salary in rural Tennessee probably owns a house, car, and maybe a boat.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    2. Re:Universities hiring lobbyists in 3...2...1... by FunkSoulBrother · · Score: 1

      Are cars actually cheaper in Appalachia? I'm willing to fly out and drive one back home if so, I like a good road trip.

    3. Re:Universities hiring lobbyists in 3...2...1... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Are cars actually cheaper in Appalachia?

      Did he say that?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    4. Re:Universities hiring lobbyists in 3...2...1... by FunkSoulBrother · · Score: 1

      He implied it? I mean there lies the rub.

      Sure the house is cheaper in Appalachia but if you want to say fuck it and retire to Palm Springs when you turn 65, your house is worth shit and you're basically stuck there.

      Imo get a work from home position from a California tech company, and then live in Appalachia while saving the difference. That's how you get ahead and eventually return to civilization.

    5. Re:Universities hiring lobbyists in 3...2...1... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      I can't move, so don't ask and it's personal so don't ask why.

      I'll spare you the whole joke, but the punchline is "My balls are caught in a bear trap".

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    6. Re:Universities hiring lobbyists in 3...2...1... by sunking2 · · Score: 1

      Because most IT jobs are the equivalent of flipping burgers. They hired this guy because he took 1 class at a community college and was qualified for what they need as opposed to holding out for someone with a 4 year degree that would have wanted more. Most IT jobs by numbers are a joke that can be done with 6 months of training. I'm not saying all, but the bottom of the IT pyramid is very wide and full of mouth breathers.

    7. Re:Universities hiring lobbyists in 3...2...1... by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      Fun fact: buying a car is hard when you're spending all your money on rent and food.

      Competition isn't "Nike and Puma both sell shoes." Competition is universal. You have $50,000 every year to spend, and there are $140,000 worth of goods you'd like to buy. With everyone buying a $400 tablet and a $400 phone, a $100 pair of Crocs or Uggs might not fit the budget anymore.

    8. Re:Universities hiring lobbyists in 3...2...1... by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      I made $75k, put $18k into my 401(k) in one year, bought a house, bought a (2013) car (a Chevy Volt!), bought a motorcycle.

      I could manage it in $45k, but it'd be hard. I'm paying double mortgage payments, shuffling $1,200/month to knock down credit card debt (took a cash advance to insulate a room in my house, cut 20% off my heating bill), and spent a few thousand in psychiatric care over the last year. I'm spending this year poor focusing on debt management--credit card, mortgage, car loan--and next year I want a $3,000 bed, an electrical upgrade, and a central heat pump (comfort is rather important: I have serious insomnia problems and drugs don't fix it).

      At $45k, I'd be able to pay my mortgage and my car loan; I'd only be able to buy junk and home improvement at half the rate I do now. The last five years would have taken ten years. I have cash holdings and three layers of financial contingencies, and don't live paycheck-to-paycheck.

    9. Re:Universities hiring lobbyists in 3...2...1... by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      You're stealing my material man. I got a shitstorm yesterday for pointing this out.

    10. Re:Universities hiring lobbyists in 3...2...1... by Outta_the_way_peck! · · Score: 1

      I guess the AC should have specified. Ph.D.s in humanities are worthless.

  4. but you still need to fake it to get pass HR/Taleo by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    but you still need to fake it to get pass HR/Taleo.

    And for an 80-150K piece of paper loaded with skill gaps.

  5. One big break by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    that's sorta the trouble. Everybody's gunning for those one big breaks. Life in general, just basic life, has gotten intensely competitive as we fight among ourselves for scraps. I see it with my kid's college. She's Rockin' a 4.0 and will still have to interview to see if she gets into her 300 level courses.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:One big break by Shotgun · · Score: 1

      But, it has always been scraps. And yet, humanity still continues to progress...and the scraps just keep getting better.

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
    2. Re:One big break by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      It's always been like that, although it used to be worse. We expand our population to carry capacity, which means our population grows rapidly when we feel like we live in a comfortable world of vast abundance and more-slowly when we feel like jobs are hard to come by and money's tight.

      Remember the baby boomers from the tech growth in the 1970s? What about the boomer generation during the California Gold Rush? What about every single economic growth event in history that resulted in lots of work, lots of cheap goods, and population exploding?

    3. Re:One big break by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      That requires an understanding of economics. He even claimed it's zero-sum, which is a direct claim that technical progress doesn't exist.

  6. the college degree cost / loans are a turn off for by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    the college degree cost / loans are a turn off for smart people as well. Do you really want to spend 4-5 years and 80K+ to work at starbucks?? with an wage the does not cover the cost of the loans?

  7. New? by Toddlerbob · · Score: 5, Informative

    It seems strange to call this "new" since a few decades ago, it seems like there were lots of people like this in tech, including my high school buddy who never went to college yet did quite well designing computer printers.

    1. Re:New? by luis_a_espinal · · Score: 1

      It seems strange to call this "new" since a few decades ago, it seems like there were lots of people like this in tech, including my high school buddy who never went to college yet did quite well designing computer printers.

      That's how it used to be. I started my career with a AA in CS. And some of my classmates were running software programming one-man-shop businesses with only a HS degree (but also studying towards a AA and BS degree.) That was in the early 90's.

      But by then we were all seeing the change, the progressive change in academic requirements in job postings. There were people at my first job who wanted me out because I only had a AA degree (regardless of how well I was performing.) So many of us kept studying, got a 4-year degree or even went to grad school.

      There is no fucking way nowadays for someone without a 4-year degree to get a job in programming. Maybe you can get an IT job with an AA degree, but there is so much bias in the job market, one might as well suck it up and get the 4-year degree.

      I went to grad school and all, and I'm going back again. And yet, I can categorically say (pulling a number out of my ass) that maybe 80% of the work in software does not require a 4-year degree.

      The complexity of tools and technology would make it very difficult (not impossible for the naturally gifted, but difficult for the rest) to do the job with only a HS degree. But a AA or AS in IT/MIS/CS with enough programming courses, that's all you really need.

      Hopefully we go back to that at some point. Yes, there are jobs that require 4-year degrees or advanced degrees. But most software jobs aren't like that.

    2. Re:New? by nine-times · · Score: 2

      It's definitely not new. Decades ago, computer experts were all hired based on their skills rather than the CS degrees, because CS wasn't really a major yet. I've had a whole career in IT without a CS degree, and in fact without any formal training or certifications at all. When I've hired people, I've never hired based on certs or majors.

      The focus on official certifications (including college degrees) is much more common among large companies, particularly when the candidate search is being performed by HR people who don't have knowledge/experience in the domain of the position being hired. If you work in HR and you're asked to get candidates for any kind of job, you're going to want to come up with some objective criteria to judge the candidates by. You receive 5,000 resumes and you need to bring the number down to 10 candidates worth considering. You'll look for a handful of skills and some known-good certifications, because you don't have the expertise to delve any deeper.

      People receiving fewer resumes and having more expertise can afford to base their criteria on more meaningful things.

    3. Re:New? by h4ck7h3p14n37 · · Score: 2

      It's not new and it's not unique to tech.

      Any business is going to want to hire you if you can demonstrate to them that you have the skills and experience to help them make money.

    4. Re:New? by fermion · · Score: 1
      My sibling graduated high school several years before me. Many at the time were able to get married and live a comfortable middle class life working for construction, for about a decade. By the time I graduated high school, the economy was in the worst shape of my short life. I however got a computer job nearly immediately, making about $20 an hour in todays dollars. This was not a typical as many of friends made the same or better money. Many of them quit college to work full time, making nearly six figures in actual money back then.

      Some managed to make a career of it. Some managed to have 20 years at the same firm, making very good money, only to not find a another job when the firm went under.

      As a tech worker, the reality is that many jobs are not going to last more than a few years. My friends who have college degrees, like me, are able to find other lines of work when we need to. I am not saying that someone with a degree can't find good paying work when the economy goes down or their firm goes under, but a degree definitely helps.

      As once was said, high school prepares you for your first job, college phttps://tech.slashdot.org/story/17/06/28/184225/a-new-kind-of-tech-job-emphasizes-skills-not-a-college-degree#repares you for you last job. And almost now one stays at their first job for 30 years.

      --
      "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
    5. Re:New? by Toddlerbob · · Score: 1

      no, he was designing daisy-wheel printers

    6. Re:New? by 0111+1110 · · Score: 1

      Any business is going to want to hire you if you can demonstrate to them that you have the skills and experience to help them make money.

      Did you see this in a dream? Some kind of drug fueled visionquest? In reality CEOs don't come by your house to see how awesome your skills are despite having no degree or experience.

      Instead they hire HR drones who couldn't give a fuck about your skills, but do care about not getting fired. They don't schedule interviews with clearly unqualified candidates because as I said they don't want to get fired. They don't care if you have an IQ of 180 and can write more optimized compilers than Intel in your sleep. I suppose you might get an interview though if you put a gun to their head but you'd probably end up in jail or dead and still unemployed.

      --
      Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
    7. Re:New? by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      Functional managers write PRDs and interview candidates. HR gets the paperwork later.

  8. This is almost exactly how I got started! by MyrddinBach · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Self studied and then paid a modest amount for some classes to obtain my first IT Certification in 1999.

    Used that to get a support position in 2000.

    Continued working my way up the ladder in IT jobs for the next 17 years.

    Now making a 6 figure income

    At least half the people I work with have gone a similar route and the company I work for even has an apprenticeship program for paid work/study position for one year and then advance them into an actual position and they will even take people with no computer skills as long as they have the right personality and drive to succeed in IT.

    1. Re:This is almost exactly how I got started! by geekmux · · Score: 1

      Self studied and then paid a modest amount for some classes to obtain my first IT Certification in 1999. Used that to get a support position in 2000. Continued working my way up the ladder in IT jobs for the next 17 years. Now making a 6 figure income At least half the people I work with have gone a similar route and the company I work for even has an apprenticeship program for paid work/study position for one year and then advance them into an actual position and they will even take people with no computer skills as long as they have the right personality and drive to succeed in IT.

      Congrats on your personal success. Regarding your company's program, this is the way it should be for technical positions that demand a constant refresh of training and skills to keep up with technology.

      An accountant who obtained training 20 years ago can still find value and use most of those skills today. That is not the case for those in IT, and more people outside of IT need to understand that instead of looking down upon the highly skilled IT professional who can still provide great value without being a ringknocker with a sheepskin under their belt.

    2. Re:This is almost exactly how I got started! by XopherMV · · Score: 5, Informative

      An accountant who obtained training 20 years ago can still find value and use most of those skills today. That is not the case for those in IT, and more people outside of IT need to understand that instead of looking down upon the highly skilled IT professional who can still provide great value without being a ringknocker with a sheepskin under their belt.

      This statement might be true for lower-end IT jobs, but it's bullshit for development work.

      A computer science degree from a decent school teaches students a number of things including data structures, algorithms, hardware architecture, project management, etc. Lists, sets, and maps haven't fundamentally changed in decades. Algorithms don't change either. Dijkstra's algorithm were first published in 1959. Hardware architecture hasn't changed all that much over the years. As for project management, the main significant change in that time is that agile processes have become popular. Agile isn't exactly hard to pick up. All of this knowledge I've personally used in my years since graduation and plan to continue to use in the future. In fact, having this base level of knowledge helps me pick up and understand new technologies, which come and go.

      Developers definitely benefit from computer science degrees. That's true even 20 years after the fact. Frankly, I wouldn't hire a developer without a degree. Yeah sure, maybe I might miss out on that diamond in the rough. I'd rather not deal with the uncertainty. With a degree, a developer shows that they've been exposed to a basic set of information and persevered through difficult circumstances.

    3. Re:This is almost exactly how I got started! by h4ck7h3p14n37 · · Score: 1

      17 years to earn six figures? From what I hear that's what good programmers make right out of school these days.

    4. Re:This is almost exactly how I got started! by Tesen · · Score: 1

      Developers definitely benefit from computer science degrees. That's true even 20 years after the fact. Frankly, I wouldn't hire a developer without a degree. Yeah sure, maybe I might miss out on that diamond in the rough. I'd rather not deal with the uncertainty. With a degree, a developer shows that they've been exposed to a basic set of information and persevered through difficult circumstances

      And I am not sure I would hire you as a manager with a statement like that. While I value education, I have hired developers with no degree or college experience that can run circles around experienced college grads with the same workplace experience. How do we filter them out? The same way we filter out college grads during the interview process. You are measuring ability and intellect. Code proficiency is easily demonstrated during the interview process, their ability to answer questions about data structures, how to use them in a real world scenario.

  9. Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Just sees it as an opportunity to pay people less. Same reason they want more women in IT (that they pay 25% less than men) and they keep pushing for foreign workers. Not to say all of those things are bad, just know that Microsoft isn't jumping on the bandwagon because they are so magnanimously generous.

    1. Re:Microsoft by Hadlock · · Score: 1

      I don't think there's much/any overlap between being able to study for a test and being technically proficient. Most of the people coming out of university with comp sci degrees are mostly useless at doing real world tasks, whereas our top developers are all self taught, or have degrees completely unrelated to their profession. The general impression I have of people with uni degrees in comp sci are children with helicopter parents who wanted their kid to have a good job so they held their hand through high school and college to get them that piece of paper at the easiest/cheapest state school and got them a job that will pay their own rent, without teaching them any useful life/work skills.
       
      The self taught ones are working in the industry for very different reasons/life paths.

      --
      moox. for a new generation.
    2. Re:Microsoft by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      How do you know they're your top developers?

  10. Re:the college degree cost / loans are a turn off by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As soon as the government got into the college loan business, costs started skyrocketing and have never slowed down. Much like everything else the government touches, it became a money pit and completely ruined the supply/demand curve.

  11. That new band Aerosmith by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This reminds me of a time in the 1990s when I overheard one teenager ask another if he had heard of that new band Aerosmith.

    There is nothing new about this, and in fact it used to be the standard. Indeed, the techies without a degree that really know their shit have always been the best. We don't need hand holding to learn, have a passion not seen in most with a degree, and are experienced in a much more diverse way.

    --
    Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    1. Re: That new band Aerosmith by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      Yes. I meant to mention that what is new is that the people deciding who gets interviewed are people with no understanding of the technology. It used to be that the resumes went straight to the highly technical people. Now no matter what you tell them over the phone they only know how to ask "How recently were you paid to do X and at what company?" And if you did X' that is almost the same as X, as far as they are concerned that is worthless. "Oh, I see you have done C programming. How much experience do you have with RFC822? Because we are looking specifically for a programmer with at least 6 years experience implementing RFC822."

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    2. Re: That new band Aerosmith by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      The fact that you think 4 years spending more hours per week focusing on all the other shit you have to focus on to get a degree rather than spending all of your time learning your profession is quite telling. I spent more than 60 hours per week on the important stuff and learned from qualified professionals while you were wasting your time. When I took a few college courses I had to explain to the professors why their code was not solid. Sorry you wasted your money and time, but you did.

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    3. Re: That new band Aerosmith by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      So you still never heard of Principia Mathematica then I take it? (Trust me, you don't come anywhere close to "owning my ass")

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    4. Re:That new band Aerosmith by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      I got some good drugs and want to do this soon (CompSci, Math, Economics), but I'm still not sleeping consistently. If I do begin sleeping consistently, I tend to burn myself out--it's a habitual thing, or maybe an addiction, I can't tell. Psychosis is weird; the drug I'm on acts like an atypical antipsychotic due to high norepinephrine load in the prefrontal cortex agonizing D2 (the psychiatrists don't know this--yet), and so I'm trying to get the dose lowered just a touch because the unadulterated real world is... uh... really, really boring. The pattern looks like addiction from my end.

      Being able to sleep is better, though. I spent 15 years on nothing and the last 4 were a slow decay into severe insomnia; sleep is critical. I'll get used to the world being too... real... eventually, if I must. Then I can finally accomplish things. A touch of something way weaker than Wellbutrin will at least set the motivation without triggering some kind of twisted euphoria bullshit I don't need.

      Nothing can stop me now. I have no friends and way more free time than anyone else around me. This is really going to happen.

    5. Re: That new band Aerosmith by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      Well that certainly explains your attempt to belittle me :-)

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  12. middle-skilled jobs? by tommeke100 · · Score: 1

    I would hardly call people with 4 year college degrees highly skilled. You can already be happy if they can code their way out of a wet paper bag. And that's for a technical or scientific 4 years degree.

    1. Re:middle-skilled jobs? by Osgeld · · Score: 4, Funny

      with POKEs, duh

    2. Re:middle-skilled jobs? by luis_a_espinal · · Score: 1

      I would hardly call people with 4 year college degrees highly skilled. You can already be happy if they can code their way out of a wet paper bag. And that's for a technical or scientific 4 years degree.

      Highly skilled? Not highly skilled? We are making these assessments with respect to what? What's the reference point? I'm sorry, but someone who did a 4-year degree (and who just didn't collect 2.0 grades) will be highly skilled. Highly skilled relative to the general population who did not achieve the same level of education. Highly skilled in their branches of study relative to other educated individuals that studied a different career path, etc.

      Sure there are exceptional individuals that do not fit that pattern. But that's the thing with exceptions: Neither we can use them to describe the general case, nor we should use them to paint broad generalizations.

    3. Re:middle-skilled jobs? by tommeke100 · · Score: 1

      You are correct and I definitely see it that way too. The 8 o'clock news and politics will consider no HS diploma lowly-skilled and college degree highly skilled.
      But I don't like the fact that people who manage to learn highly specific software engineering skills on their own or the job "middle skilled". I've seen "lesser" CS degree people being able to adjust very rapidly and learn new skills; and PhDs that needed hand holding all day long. You don't learn in college how to tweak an Oracle or postgresql database, or how to setup and use maven, jenkins and the like. If you can do that on your own, you are highly skilled, no "middle skilled".

  13. Lister would be proud... by yodleboy · · Score: 1

    "Rimmer, I'm going to pass me exams and become an officer by actually KNOWING things" - Dave Lister

  14. Re:Cooking question by i_ate_god · · Score: 1

    35% cream

    --
    I'm god, but it's a bit of a drag really...
  15. Re:College degrees were only a proxy for an IQ tes by jellomizer · · Score: 1

    The problem is that Colleges are not for everyone. However the Job Market makes them as a benchmark to what they want.

    Colleges are stuck in Victorian Culture, with a rigid set of requirements for success. Historically people with above average IQ were able to pass college. However now that so many jobs require it. Colleges have lowered the requirements, as to make sure people can still pass college and survive.

    Now college for me was valuable, however its value wasn't in Job training, most of the stuff I knew how to do before I got into college. But it did teach me on how to teach myself much better which allows me to focus on new problems with far more confidence then if I didn't go to college. But with the Skills That I had outside of college and if businesses would had hired me, I probably could had worked up to a decent job. Higher then some people with college degrees achieve in their lifetimes.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  16. Let's just call this what it is - a trade by zerofoo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The ability to build a computer, but not understand things like von neumann architecture or how a stack machine works is essentially trade work.

    I've seen guys build networks with only a rudimentary understanding of subnetting and routing and no knowledge of the OSI model.

    And all of that is OK.

    Do you think the guy servicing your car understands the metallurgy behind the castings that make up the block and heads? Probably not.

    IT needs a formal apprentice/journeyman type of arrangement for the jobs that simply do not require collegiate level knowledge. An IT union for these jobs probably wouldn't be a bad idea either.

    This model works well for many other skilled trades - it could also work well for IT jobs.

    1. Re:Let's just call this what it is - a trade by DigiShaman · · Score: 2

      IT is also a moving target. So while there's merit to the idea of a apprentice/journeyman path, it's kind of difficult when the entire IT environment changes with entire paradigm shifts. IT is NOT like plumbing, electrical, masonry, dental, legal, medical, or engineering where you can build of institutional knowledge. Even us seasoned IT folks have effectively shed new skin in this field multiple times already. Really, the industry is just that damned dynamic!

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
  17. This isn't news and the article itself is odd by zifn4b · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I don't have a college degree either but I got into this field in 1997 in the same way. I did attend college for almost 3 years though. I had been programming since a child and had been messing around with computer hardware as well. This is not a new thing. I have friends who did the same a LONG time ago.

    The other thing is, this person's ability to tinker with computer assembly and a community college information technology course has little or no application to a role of Computer Security Analyst. I know about this, I've been in nearly every IT and Software Development role there is. When I was a Computer Science major there were also Information Technology roles and the like and those were for people who can't hack it in full on Computer Science. I have a close friend that was like this. He fully admits he couldn't hack it. Brilliant at Physics, not so much at Computer Science. So, he switched to Information Technology.

    The other thing is, this problem of not hiring people has nothing to do with people lacking education credentials. People with Computer Science degrees can't find jobs. Today, many companies require ridiculous amounts of experience sometimes they even ask for more years of experience than a particular technology has existed. I do believe in many cases they make the requirements ridiculous just so they can whine and say they can't find "qualified candidates" and have to turn to H1-B Visa.

    If we are going to talk about how to make more economic opportunity for people in this field, two things will make the most positive impact in this situation: 1) Companies revive the philosophy to hire smart people and provide on the job training that they might be missing for the company's particular technology preferences and 2) Shut down the unethical H1-B visa game by instituting better criteria and increasing oversight. For #1, I mean I don't understand. Let's take the NFL for example. Bill Parcells would go coach the worst team in the NFL, unlock their true potential and then make them Super Bowl winners. Why can't we do the same thing in this field and why shouldn't we?

    --
    We'll make great pets
    1. Re:This isn't news and the article itself is odd by avandesande · · Score: 1

      Same here and about the same timeframe. I would say about half of the people I worked with over the years have the same background. The funny thing is I've always appreciated the college educated for their perspective and it's always been a good symbiotic relationship.

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    2. Re:This isn't news and the article itself is odd by zifn4b · · Score: 1

      The funny thing is I've always appreciated the college educated for their perspective and it's always been a good symbiotic relationship.

      It depends. Learning theory in a college course and practicing the actual trade are two different things. I think a lot of the more modern college courses work this into their curriculums better but when I was at a large university they sure didn't. That was okay for me, I had already programmed in all the languages they were teaching so what it did for me was fill in some knowledge gaps because we didn't have Google and Code School back in ye olden days. We had libraries that were limited. A lot of times you had to resort to hacking that is trying something seeing how the "thing" reacted and understand it through a feedback loop. This is something I find that's lacking in a lot of newer developers. They've been told oh use these patterns, interfaces, dependency injection and unit tests and yadda and you're guaranteed good, working software. WRONG. Some of them form dogmatic beliefs about this stuff before they're ever attempted to actual use what they've learned. Those things are all good tools but you have to use them right in the right context. That's something college doesn't teach you very well or it didn't when I attended at least. I'd say learning stuff academically whether self learning or attending lectures is valuable but if you try to put what you learn in practice, you're really missing out.

      --
      We'll make great pets
  18. HR is the problem. by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The real problem here is that HR is not interested in hiring based on skills, even if you provide them with the opportunity. Their interest is purely on a resume of checkboxes for the position. These checkboxes always include "X years job experience or a degree in XYZ" and then a list of software you may work with no matter how little. The problem with this is that you cannot get experience if nobody will hire you, so you are stuck with "must have a degree" for entering the the field. HR always insists on the perfect candidate and until you retrain/fire those fools, you won't solve this problem.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:HR is the problem. by Shotgun · · Score: 1

      The real problem here is that HR is not not able to hire based on skills,

      FTFY.

      HR drones come from the party schools, where they majored in socialization. They have no idea how software engineering is actually done, so how would they know what to look for in a candidate?

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
    2. Re:HR is the problem. by Shotgun · · Score: 1

      Could somebody not not fix that for me?

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
    3. Re:HR is the problem. by h4ck7h3p14n37 · · Score: 1

      If you're sending your resume to the H.R. department, you're doing it wrong.

    4. Re:HR is the problem. by 0111+1110 · · Score: 1

      If the system requires you do anything else like say fuck the CEOs daughter just to get a job interview then it is painfully obvious that the system is badly broken. And that is my point. It is clearly badly broken, but people already in the system like it because it limits competition and keeps wages higher.

      If I were hiring I'd be looking for a balance of IQ and testable knowledge and if they seem like they would work hard or enjoy the job. A degree and work experience are nice but there is no substitute for intelligence. For a coding job submitting some completed programs should really be enough. I'd rather hire the better or smarter programmer even if he doesn't have a degree.

      --
      Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
  19. Re:the college degree cost / loans are a turn off by al0ha · · Score: 1

    Absolutely. Lucky for me I figured out the pay-to-play society that was being set up and decided against leveraging myself to get a stupid degree. All any degree other than a PhD shows is that you are good at jumping through hoops.

    --
    Did you ever wake up in the morning, with a Zombie Woof behind your eyes? -- FZ
  20. Real Life Anecdote by dave562 · · Score: 1

    My career started in a similar manner back in the mid-1990s. When I graduated from high school and started community college, my experience with computers and networking was limited to the skills I developed at home with my PC, and a couple of ROP classes that I took through high school on Novell. When I started college, I was able to leverage those skills and knowledge to get a part time job doing IT support.

    Twenty years later, I'm an IT architect helping to set strategic direction for a publicly traded firm with nearly 5000 employees. There was obviously a lot of hard work between then and now, but I never got a college degree. I was able to pick up all of the skills that I needed from my employers and by continuing my own education. (Thank you O'Reilly!).

    It's only now that I am nearing the Director level that my lack of a college degree is looking like it might be an obstacle to further career growth. Having said that, I'm making nearly $200,000 a year. If my career and salary plateaus here, it is not the end of the world. I am making enough to pay the mortgage and give my kids a solid foundation.

    1. Re:Real Life Anecdote by dave562 · · Score: 1

      Thank you for this recommendation!

  21. I remember skill tests.... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    Whenever I applied at a fast food restaurant, grocery store or a move theater, the questionnaire/skill test always implied that EMPLOYEES will STEAL from their EMPLOYERS.

    1. Re:I remember skill tests.... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      ... his Fat Bot is even more repetitive than than he is.

      Fat Bot isn't a script. Every time I got an email notification from Slashdot, I copied and pasted the same response about how shameful masturbation is in the public square. I didn't get a single dick pic last night.

  22. Re: Third world country by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    That's $55K+ plus bonus and don't forget the ebook side hustle and the affiliate link spam.

    Rumor has it creimer is going to expand his spam business as soon as he can code a spam bot that doesn't crash to a PoserShell prompt every 2.4 hours.

  23. Re:the college degree cost / loans are a turn off by TsuruchiBrian · · Score: 1

    I don't know many people who can do electrical engineering without a degree. So there is another thing that it shows.

  24. Re:College degrees were only a proxy for an IQ tes by darkain · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Its not so much that college has lowered quality so people can pass to survive, they've lowered quality so more people can pay to attend. It is literally a business at this point, not an educational institution. A college degree is hitting that point where it costs more than a house mortgage, which is INSANE! And while some might try to argue this claim, remember that a college education is per-person, whereas a house generally can fit multiple people.

  25. 1990s print news wants its headlines back by uCallHimDrJ0NES · · Score: 1

    Anyone else remember when the emergence of a skills-based tech market was news? This article is hilariously out of date. When was the last time a real tech recruiter asked you about your college degree? (Hint: real tech recruiters don't ask about college degrees.)

    --
    Cloudiot: A person who does not see offsite storage as a way to lose control over access to his or her own data.
  26. No it's not by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    It's going to cost about $160k to get my kid through college. She'll make somewhere between $2-$4 million more over the course of her lifetime as a result (no, I'm not exaggerating). The question is who's gonna pay for that? If you're parents aren't like me and a) have a good job and b) willing to sacrifice for 6-10 years taking on debt then you're just SOL. The amounts of money involved are so huge you can't work your way though college. You can't even borrow enough money to pay for it unless your parents borrow some (well, a lot actually).

    OTOH, who cares? The corps can just go to Congress, tell them they can't get American talent (true, since nobody can afford college) and bring in as many H1-Bs as they choose. Problem solved. Unless you're an American Worker.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:No it's not by WrongMonkey · · Score: 1

      It's going to cost about $160k to get my kid through college. She'll make somewhere between $2-$4 million more over the course of her lifetime as a result

      Assuming her career is lasts 40 years, you're basically getting about a 7-8% annual return on your investment. And that is a pretty big assumption that she gets a six figure salary within a few years of graduating.

    2. Re:No it's not by chill · · Score: 1

      You're doing it wrong.

      If you're talking about a B.S. degree, then $160K is way overkill. The only degrees that should cost that much are M.D. (plus Dental and Vet variants) and J.D.. WTF else costs that unless you've bought the lie that she needs to go to a top private university for 4 full years?

      Community College for the first 2 years, focusing on your core classes, then transfer to wherever to finish up. Even a top notch private school will only run $80K or so -- and you should be able to either get a discount or grants to cover a bunch. If you can't, then you have enough assets to pay cash for her tuition and are whining here as a troll.

      Hell, some of the best university programs in each field are in State schools, which cost a hell of a lot less if you're a resident.

      --
      Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
    3. Re:No it's not by Shotgun · · Score: 1

      You're also assuming she gets a job that has something to do with her major, and that she keeps it. No guarantee of any sort for that.

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
    4. Re:No it's not by Shotgun · · Score: 1

      Tried to get my son to go this route, but he wanted the "college experience". As I was trying to keep my home out of foreclosure during the 2008 downturn, I didn't have the money for him to party for a year. He borrowed $6K from family for two semesters, and promptly flunked out.

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
    5. Re:No it's not by Frobnicator · · Score: 1

      It's going to cost about $160k to get my kid through college

      Put away the silver spoon if you don't like the costs.

      The bulk of universities in the US charge around $8K-$12K per year. Google's top result says the average was $9650 for the 2016-2017 academic year, and $33480 average at private universities. It's even cheaper to start at a community college then transfer to a bigger school after the associate's degree. Don't complain about the $160K for-profit private school when there is the $40K option that can be paid with scholarships, grants, and subsidized loans.

      Some people are ironically stupid about education when it comes to quality and cost. Quite a few studies have shown difference between the $140K education and the $40K education is only the cost. For one link of many, there is no significant difference between the choice of school attended. While attending the school gives an enormous boost, the difference between cheap public schools and big-name private schools are, in the words of that one report, "generally indistinguishable from zero". I've seen plenty of other reports with the same conclusion. The cheapest schools yield the same career results as the most expensive.

      If you want it yet cannot budget the costs of the private for-profit school then don't go there. As parallels, don't buy the porterhouse or lobster dinner when your budget is better suited for the cheeseburger, and don't buy a Lamborghini as your commuter vehicle if your budget is better suited for a Honda Accord.

      --
      //TODO: Think of witty sig statement
  27. Re:Enjoy the big break by OffaMyLawn · · Score: 1

    It depends on the company, honestly.

    I do not have a degree, but thankfully my break came from an industry where that is essentially a check to get through the door. Once you're through the door, they don't really look for it much anymore.

    I had to take a crap help desk job, while working side projects that I could pitch to my management. Thankfully I had management that was willing to sit down and listen to me, and understand the value that what I could do would add to different positions. From there it's been a matter of gathering more skills and certifications to continue advancement, and I work for who is potentially the greatest manager I've ever had the pleasure to even interact with.

    Didn't have much of an opportunity to go to college (life events at the time I graduated high school seriously complicated my ability to do much of anything) and I've certainly built up my career the hard way. If you can land a career without the massive amount of debt associated with getting a degree, it's a great thing going into later life (married, 2 kids, own house and cars, etc).

    Interestingly enough, I also live in West Virginia. Not the same area of the state or company involved, just had to smile a bit when I read that bit.

  28. Not just "One big break" by Dareth · · Score: 1

    If you lack the education to back up your experience, every time you hunt for a job you will need that "One big break" again not to start off at entry level and work your way back up. Seen too many people drop out of college with maybe a year to go to graduate. Some make good money and work for a few years, but they are always at a disadvantage when the job markets tightens up and they find themselves looking for a new job.

    --

    I only look human.
    My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
    1. Re:Not just "One big break" by ranton · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Seen too many people drop out of college with maybe a year to go to graduate. Some make good money and work for a few years, but they are always at a disadvantage when the job markets tightens up and they find themselves looking for a new job.

      This is the important part most people don't consider when they give advice based on their past experience. When I talk with someone in IT with no degree, their opinion about how useful a degree is is generally dependent on if they were out of work sometime around 2001 or 2008. This is when the degree is most important. Sure it isn't too hard to find an IT job without a degree in 2017 when the economy has been doing great for 5+ years. But once the next recession hits you'll find HR departments filtering inbound resumes based on degree real quick.

      It is a significant risk to work in a knowledge based industry without a college degree. Some people never get burned, and they'll probably attribute that to skill and hard work instead of dumb luck. But there is always another recession down the road to potentially bring them down to reality.

      --
      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    2. Re:Not just "One big break" by Bigbutt · · Score: 1

      It might depend on experience as well. I moved half way across country in 2004 and idled about for several months, living off of the sale of my house, until I hunted for and got a job with IBM. Then in 2007 I changed jobs again. But I don't know if 2001 and 2008 are real specific dates. I know in 2008 we were having all kinds of trouble finding Unix admins and the few who did apply were woefully lacking in skills. One guy claimed to be "afraid" of soft links and never used them. One woman said she worked in data centers for 20 years but couldn't write a script to save her life.

      [John]

      --
      Shit better not happen!
    3. Re:Not just "One big break" by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      It's skill alright, but it's not IT skill. I never get burned because I interview well. I'm the guy who can pass a multiple-choice knowledge test on any subject, even if it's one I've never even heard of. When you get into subjects I actually understand, I have an answer for everything.

      I flubbed one interview, hard. Phone interview. Two senior techs basically told me to start talking, with no direction. I was like, "...about what?" I have an answer for everything; I don't have a prepared speech for an open-ended interview where the interviewer isn't participating.

      Fortunately for me, I can keep things running, and I develop new knowledge quickly. There are a lot of people who interview well, and plenty of them get to the job and turn out to be useless. There are also great candidates who can't articulate well and so sound like they don't know much about their job regardless of how they can actually perform--and can't get hired.

    4. Re:Not just "One big break" by ranton · · Score: 1

      I wish you were wrong, but under Republican economic policies, a recession once a decade is normal and definitely not healthy for people.

      Recessions are normal part of an advanced economy. Before the Great Depression recessions happened every 2-3 years. Since then we have averaged a recession every five years or so. Since the 90's we have started to enjoy an 8+ year break between recessions.

      If you want the economy to grow, it needs to be unshackled enough to make mistakes. And those mistakes will happen. I do believe we should be doing more to correct the mistakes of earlier recessions, such as banking regulation much more comprehensive than Dodd Frank, but to believe we could stop having frequent recessions and a growing economy is foolish.

      --
      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
  29. How it used to be by sarbonn · · Score: 1

    I know this dates me, but I remember a time when I had been working as a computer tech (were no teachers of it in my day as you learned by tearing apart a computer that couldn't be opened) so you could figure out what was wrong with it, and then when the world wide web came around, I started designing web pages. I remember an older company was in need of a web designer and I applied, but then realized they wanted seven years of web page design experience. They didn't seem all that cooperative when I explained the Internet hadn't been around for seven years so NO ONE except maybe some DARPA guy somewhere would have seven years of experience. Ended up not taking the job when I realized it was more or less a secretarial job, as they didn't really know what to do with any tech people they might hire. Their IT section (not the name used) was basically a guy who switched out IBM selectric typewriters.

    --
    Sarbonn's blog: http://www.sarbonn.com/blog
  30. Re:Education is the one thing that... by PPH · · Score: 1

    How about making these public corporations (also) invest in education?

    They do. They just demand a high return on their investment.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  31. Re: Yes, but... by ranton · · Score: 1

    Uh, about 20+ years ago ...

    Your comment loses all relevance in the first few words. The IT industry was incredibly different in the 90's and it was much easier to get your start without a degree. And all you generally need to do is get your foot in the door once and you won't get asked about your degree again (although it could still hurt your chances to climb into upper management).

    People who started in the IT business in the 90's without a degree generally had a much easier time than a CS graduate today. I'm glad I got my start in 2004 and had a few years of experience before the recent recession, because my younger coworkers have it much harder now. Career advice from people in a different generation, especially with a 20+ year difference, is becoming more and more useless as our society changes at a rapid pace.

    --
    -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
  32. Tech apprenticeships FTW by ErichTheRed · · Score: 1

    I'm a fan of the apprenticeship concept, basically for any IT or development job. Start with a baseline of knowledge, or give that knowledge in parallel to on the job training, just like the other skilled trades and professions do. In states with strong unions, it's not uncommon to have people come out of high school and do a union-sponsored internship. THe union sets them up with a total newbie job, pairing them with someone more experienced. At the same time, they run classes to teach the theory needed to do the work. Some people might turn their noses up at this, but what do you think medical residents are doing for years and years of on-call duty? The attending shows the newbie how to do something, then has them do it next time, then has the newbie teach an even newer newbie. The residents don't come out of medical school ready for independent work -- they've spent the last 2 or 3 years being pumped full of book knowledge.

    I'm actually still a proponent of a college education if done right, and not as a substitute for OJT. Having a CS degree shouldn't obviate the need for training though -- maybe you would just start a few rungs up the ladder because a lot of the theory was covered. Similarly, having a non-CS degree should not be a bar to employment -- I got a degree in chemistry and wound up doing quite well in IT, moving up through the job progression slowly until I got to systems engineering/architecture. I think a guild-style system is the way to go because the knowledge you have upon finishing a degree gets stale so quickly. The only way I've found to keep up is to fall back on the basics I've learned when trying to figure out what the latest overhyped product/method/framework is an improvement on.

    People say college is a scam, but I do think you get benefits proportional to what you put in. If you're going just to check a box, then of course you'll be unhappy. Back just before I graduated (around the mid 90s,) just going to college and finishing was almost a guarantee that someone would hire you. Today, there are no guarantees and like the people in this story, even the educated are hoping for that "one big break." I think going to college vs. not going is still a good idea if you have a plan and take steps to make yourself marketable. I know I was a lot more mature when I left than when I entered - having to navigate a bureaucracy, deal with all sorts of different people and perform under pressure are all good things to have under your belt and make you more employable.

  33. Re:the college degree cost / loans are a turn off by enderwiggen · · Score: 1

    You can get a PhD by jumping through hoops too. When I was getting mine, the grad students that did meaningful work were kept far longer than the ones who didn't. If you were good, your adviser would give you more work to do (just run one more experiment, publish in one more journal, etc). This drove a lot of the best and brightest to leave early with a Masters. If you could jump through hoops, you could get the degree with far less effort and far less contribution to the field.

  34. Re: Yes, but... by Bigbutt · · Score: 1

    Started in 1980 and no college degree and I'm doing reasonably well now.

    [John]

    --
    Shit better not happen!
  35. Re:the college degree cost / loans are a turn off by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As I understand the problem, the abuse of for profit "schools" taking advantage of government funded education loans was almost "allowed" to happen.
    Meaning, as long as the trough was full the pigs would come to slurp it up.
    An entire industry sprouted up to take advantage of it...

    The problem isn't the loans, it's that there was no oversight or accountability.
    But whenever oversight or accountability are mentioned, "free market" types will shriek in horror.

  36. Re: Yes, but... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

    told them I had a PHD from the school of hard knocks.

    I read your dissertation, "Why I Ain't Need No Goddamn Liberal Dental Care". It was most illuminating.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  37. Re: Yes, but... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

    Started in 1980 and no college degree and I'm doing reasonably well now.

    In 1980, to work in computer science all you needed was a familiarity with maintaining a diesel engine and a first-class radio operator's license.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  38. So a Trade by bigdady92 · · Score: 1

    like a mechanic? You don't say.

    --
    Wheel of Time: Book by Book and Sumview (summary review) Bigdady92 style: http://bigdady92.blogspot.com/
  39. schools don't like transferring stuff hurts profti by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    schools don't like transferring stuff as it hurts there profits so they come up with BS to block classes from transferring

  40. more job need an apprentice/trade school system by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    more job need an apprentice/trade school system vs the old college system.

    the 2-4-6+ year blocks are a poor fit for some rolls and some jobs need hands on learning.

    CS is a real mixed bag some schools are loaded with theory other have a good amount of hands on work.

    Now the ITT's and devry's used to be good but over time they got roped into the the degree system leading to a bit of a bad HR rep.
    Now they do have less fluff and filler classes but they can be better off by just being an trade school not tied to the collage accreditation system but to more what trades needs.

  41. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain by ageoffri · · Score: 1

    This is a perfect example of what IBM has been doing. Hire minimally skilled employees, replacing experienced employees. I'm not saying that you have to have a college degree, but I have no doubt that this tactic is being used to depress wages. In a few years, he will move on to something better, but at the same time without a degree he will still have troubles.

    --
    -- Slashdot, making the Left look conservative since 1997.
  42. Re:Management is the problem. by chispito · · Score: 1

    I know an HR person who says that the hiring managers are the problem. They are too picky. He said they found a perfect candidate who was out of work for a year - this was in '10 where a LOT of folks were out of work.

    The manager didn't want him because "he forgot his skills".

    The HR person was incredulous, "Not ten years of experience."

    HR works for management. Don't ever forget that. They take their direction from them. So, if HR is the problem, then management is the cause.

    Oh, and that guy never found work again. Total waste.

    I'm sure there's gonna be folks who are gonna say shit like "well he was no good" or "didn't keep his 'skills' up" or some such thing so that they can pretend that it'll never happen to them. (His company closed his entire department down and sent it to India. All those guys looking for work at the same time....the younger ones got hired first.)

    We are all one layoff from career oblivion.

    I'm curious. How do you know both the HR person and the guy that never worked again?

    --
    The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
  43. Plenty of tech jobs in Chicago by h4ck7h3p14n37 · · Score: 2

    People with Computer Science degrees can't find jobs.

    I really don't understand why I keep hearing people say this. I'm guessing you don't live near a major metropolis?

    Move to one of the tech hubs and you'll have no problem finding work. I'm in Chicago and there's more openings than people to fill them. We just interviewed a Java programmer for a Python job because there's a shortage of developers.

    However, a computer science degree isn't enough, you actually have to be able to program, be proficient with version control systems, be able to write tests, etc. Quite a few people with C.S. degrees can't actually do any of this.

  44. Re:College degrees were only a proxy for an IQ tes by avandesande · · Score: 1

    With the high cost and poor quality it seem like we are approaching an inverse relationship between degree and IQ.....

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
  45. Suuuuuuuure by ilsaloving · · Score: 1

    This is all well and good for jobs that only require basic technical skills, but all that does is increase the pool of available people for jobs that only require basic technical skills.

    And really, this has *always* been true for pretty much *any* company who isn't divorced from reality and think they need a PhD graduate with 20 years of experience for a junor java position.

    However, this will be a massive problem if people blindly try to apply the same technique to higher skilled jobs that require not just the ability to push buttons and mechanically crank out whatever they're told to crank out. I've lost count of the number of people I've run into who have massive Dunning-Kruger syndrome, and think that they grok more than they actually do. These are the kind of people whose projects end up on sites like http://thedailywtf.com/ .

    It's one thing to have "the skillz". It's another thing entirely to understand which of those skills is appropriate to use in a given circumstance. It's the equivalent of a carpenter that knows how to use a hammer, a screw driver, and a saw, but uses a hammer to bash a piece of wood in half instead of using the saw.

  46. Re: Yes, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Why does it lose relevance? I've hired dozens of IT workers in the last 10 years and often consider those with a degree inferior. They tend to be "know it alls" who have little practical knowledge and no love for the work outside the paycheck. I think you're one of them. "My life is so hard because everything is against me, boo hoo." Suck it up buttercup, if you got talent there's plenty of work out there.

  47. Re: Yes, but... by Bigbutt · · Score: 1

    I didn't start actually _working_ in computers until around 1984 or 1985. Before that it was the Sinclair or Color Computer for learning how to code and BBSs. My first job was maintaining BASIC code on a Leading Edge (IBM Clone) and a Franklin (Apple Clone) computer with some dabbling on a Radio Shack Model 4.

    [John]

    --
    Shit better not happen!
  48. I'm proof... by sizzlinkitty · · Score: 1

    In summary, I started with computers when I was 15 (1995), writing progs for AOL (warez, punters and phishing) then dropped out of high school at 17. Finished my GED at 18 and went directly to work from there. Got my first exposure to linux in 1999 and just stayed with it as my key skill. In 2002, I wasted my time getting comptia certifications (absolutely worthless in my opinion) before contracting at a large web host doing data center engineering work. By 2005, started a full time linux system administrator position for a large travel company. I was capped around 80k yearly until 2013, got my first six figure offer. Starting in 2013, went to every hacking conference I could and competed in CTF's. In 2016, I went to work for a large public company as a senior security analyst without any certifications and now make 150k yearly plus bonuses.

    I've always said college was a waste of time for many professions and after working in the IT industry for almost 20 years, I stand by my beliefs.

  49. Outsourcing troubles? Pay decrease in US? by omfglearntoplay · · Score: 1

    So they are finding more ways to cut up tech jobs and get low skilled or low educated people on payroll to help drive down their costs. Reminds me of the training at ITT which was a sham I hear. To the educated and highly trained/skilled out there, this sounds like a big problem. Outsourcing wasn't enough I guess.

    Doctors and lawyers did a good job of putting up hurdles to keep their ranks lean, so more pay and power to them. Tech is a different beast. For one Tech workers tend to like to share info and encourage equality in many ways. Tech companies are the richest on the planet, and take advantage of all of these things to drive pay down.

    Now that outsourcing to other countries is becoming less viable, they are finding ways to reduce pay to tech workers in the US it sounds like.

    My suggestion? Don't stand for it. Don't hire low skilled people if they aren't good enough for the job. Don't buy from companies that outsource everything and have absolutely abysmal support. Don't work long hours for bad pay. I'm sure other suggestions exist, and I am all ears.

  50. Not really new by wjcofkc · · Score: 1

    In the world of IT, only really serious programming jobs really require a degree. There are good reasons for that. When I say programming, I am not referring to the current coding fad. There is a gulf of difference between a programmer and coder. As far as the rest of IT goes, from tech support to misc. server administration and everything in between, the majority of people I have encountered (including myself) have nothing even close to college or trade school completion under their belts. These are the best techs. Some time ago, I was hired to join a small team for a massive Active Directory migration after one large company purchased another large company. I had little experience with AD going in, but my overall level of expertise, which was put to the test during the interview, was enough. By the time it was all said and done I was leading the team and had written the formal documentation for the project. That's just one example. Most of the people I have met who are excelling in various IT roles either have no college degree or otherwise openly regret that they took that path at all. Good employers know that if they want the best people, this is how it goes. The best education for rising through the IT ranks is to simply do just that. Most of the people I know with IT related degrees are shuffled straight in management, where they then rely on the real IT staff to fix a problem that they typically blindly caused themselves.

    --
    Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
  51. Re:schools don't like transferring stuff hurts pro by chill · · Score: 1

    An AA from a State CC will transfer to a 4-year State U in the same State. That is what they are designed to do.

    The Univ won't give you a B.S. with their name on it unless you take a full 2 years from their school, but it is 2 and not 4.

    Private schools on the other hand...

    --
    Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
  52. Its true by CimmerianX · · Score: 1

    I never finished college (money problems)....

    But I'm self taught and now I earn big money solving the most complex system and network traffic issues... highest level support for 3 companies running now (25 + in IT and systems)

    But if I tried to apply to a job today with any large company that uses online forms that collect your info for those government stats, I would never get an interview because I don't check the box for 'Bacherlors degree'. Thus I never make it through the SQL query from HR to pull applicants for any position. Yet I know 100 times more than any 'paper mcse or ccne'

    1. Re:Its true by Major+Blud · · Score: 1

      Thus I never make it through the SQL query from HR to pull applicants for any position.'

      It's easy to get past that form. Instead of putting a check mark in that box, write in ' OR 1=1

      You could also just change your name to Bobby Tables.
      https://xkcd.com/327/

      --
      If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
  53. Perfect! by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

    Just in time for me to reach retirement age in about 5 years...

  54. Re: Yes, but... by KGIII · · Score: 1

    I done told that teacher lady I learnt all them letters I needed to learn... U S and A! Yeehaw!

    --
    "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  55. Re: Yes, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    People without degrees often have an inferiority complex against those who do and look for every chance to bad mouth something they will never have.

  56. Re:College degrees were only a proxy for an IQ tes by dbIII · · Score: 1

    The problem is that Colleges are not for everyone

    The only problem (not the posters problem - recruiters problem) is thinking they should be for everyone.
    I know an electrical engineer who got there via a trade and apprenticeship route. It's a difficult and time consuming way to do it but perfectly valid. I'm writing that despite the bias on the issue I've gained by working at a University for a few years some time back.

  57. Re: Yes, but... by 0111+1110 · · Score: 1

    You are thinking of the 80s. I know people who got programming jobs without degrees in the late 80s but that was the end of that. By the 90s hiring practices became more unified and there were basically no jobs for people without degrees. By the early 90s you needed both a degree and at least 1 year of experience or no job. Period. Full stop. I was there. I speak from firsthand experience. Also the idea that someone without a degree or relevant work experience would even be granted an interview is laughable. You'd be more likely to get struck by lightning. Total fantasy.

    --
    Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
  58. Re:College degrees were only a proxy for an IQ tes by Darinbob · · Score: 1

    Colleges provide breath of knowledge. You don't learn just one simple skill, you learn a broad range of things. That is necessary for the modern job, where you don't know year from year what you'll be doing. Education is useful, it is not a luxury only useful for elites, it is useful for everyone.

    College is getting expensive now, and the economy is in the crapper for many years now, so people are trying to find shortcuts. I can understand that, but it does hurt career prospects to skip it. It also hurts career advancement! As in, are you going to be in the entry level job for the next 30 years, or do you want to go beyond that? Sure, you may start out as a plumber, but later on you may want your own plumbing business, and you'll succeed at that better with more skills, more experience, and a broader base of knowledge (accounting, marketing, interpersonal skills, etc).

    There is not a single college course I took in 5 years that was useless. I could have gotten by without some but maybe not as successful in the career and may not as interesting in life outside of work.

    Maybe think of college as a gym for the brain. Sure you can skip the gym, and many people do, but you're better off with it.

  59. Except that they now are. by sethstorm · · Score: 1

    The problem is that Colleges are not for everyone.

    Employers prove otherwise.

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
  60. Re:the college degree cost / loans are a turn off by rtb61 · · Score: 2

    Ohh gees give it a rest. The US government is owned and controlled by US corproations. Private industry is running the country, pretending the government is at fault is stupidly crazy. A hand full of corporations created this chaos by buying and owning corrupt politicians, basically the majority of Republicans and Democrats. Blamming the puppets is stupid, what ever major corporations touches turns to shit as they play pillage the planet to feed their isane psychopathic egos.

    You can start talking about your government, once the people control it, then you bitching will actually mean something. Right now corporations are purposefully fucking up every bureaucracy possible to steal as much as possible from the treasury and the rot starts at the top with the US Fed, corrupt as hell.

    --
    Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
  61. Re:College degrees were only a proxy for an IQ tes by Evil+Kerek · · Score: 1

    As long as the government provides loans and there are other ways to get the money besides directly from the student, colleges will continue to live in an unrealistic bubble. They are pretty much as bad as doctors - 'If you pay for this, it's $100. If we file it with insurance, it's $1000'.

  62. Re: Yes, but... by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

    10 years ago. 5 years ago. This has been a continuous phenomena which some firms have occasionally tried to portray as edgy. I've had three firms hire me because I seemed to know about stuff, and one because a recruiter told them I seemed to know enough to fit the job.

  63. Re: Yes, but... by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

    You should read the book, "Godless Bullshit What My Kid Don't Need Learnin'."