"how does college contribute to their development? Only social skills come to mind here."
How about the ability to FINISH something. To someone else's widely accepted and high standards. This is, for example, the reason that getting one of those mail-order degrees doesn't work -- their standard is not widely accepted. It's why dropping out of uni doesn't look good unless it's to go do a millionaire making startup.
There's the "working in groups with others who you didn't choose" (Your assignment partners will be picked for you. If you are lucky, you'll have some languages in common), there's the "writing code to a spec you didn't pick and someone else's standard".
There's several bunches of "delivered work on time in a chaotic environment".
You don't graduate without getting at least some experience in those things.
There's "learn a dozen languages and ship software in most of them".
And the always useful "The world is bigger than you can cope with alone".
The latter is actually the useful thing. Smart people know what they don't know and know how to learn things they don't know. People who didn't go to university don't tend to the same way. Yes, I know, you'd be the exception. Everyone is always an exception to that rule.
As I said in an earlier post, I've got a huge heap of CVs to read. I don't have time to find the few individuals who are truly brilliant but didn't go to uni amongst the many ones who aren't. It's easier just to bin all the CVs of people who didn't. Sorry and all that. But I don't need to hire a PARTICULAR developer. I just need to hire ONE developer -- and the best chances of me finding one are in the "went to uni and graduated well" pile.
You've heard the joke about throwing a random half the CVs away? Because you believe in only hiring lucky people? More true than you want to know.
These are the rules. Learn the rules. Play the rules.
🎉 Celebrating 25 Years of GameDev.net! 🎉
Not many can claim 25 years on the Internet! Join us in celebrating this milestone. Learn more about our history, and thank you for being a part of our community!
Standing out - Is there really a "right" way?
Author
Quote: BTW, since this thread is about "do I need to go to college," it belongs in Breaking In. Moving.
I'm IN college, for crying out loud. BTW, it's about "how much does college matter?"
Quote: Degree depends on what you do. BS in CS for programmer is the most common. More or less anything for a designer as long as you have strong portfolio work.
I went with CPE since the opportunities for social contact seems more frequent. (Robot competitions, etc.) Did you take advantage of a co-op program?
@Katie
Nicely put. No questions there.
I think it really depends on the hiring manager.
For a small company, they might glance over your resume and see you claim to have the desired skills. That might be enough that they will look over your work to see if it backs up your claims, and they might not even care much about your degree.
On the other hand, even at a small company the hiring manager could have a bias and think a degree is important because it also conveys other information: that you have satisfactory time management, you can be on time, you are organized, you can write and communicate satisfactorily, you have a fundamental theoretical foundation. A stud coder might not have these skills, but it would be hard to make it through university without being at least average in them.
For bigger companies, the degree might just be a filtering mechanism. They get so many applications, it is reasonable to just throw out some resumes that do not meet certain conditions. Of course, they could miss out, but it is practical.
For a small company, they might glance over your resume and see you claim to have the desired skills. That might be enough that they will look over your work to see if it backs up your claims, and they might not even care much about your degree.
On the other hand, even at a small company the hiring manager could have a bias and think a degree is important because it also conveys other information: that you have satisfactory time management, you can be on time, you are organized, you can write and communicate satisfactorily, you have a fundamental theoretical foundation. A stud coder might not have these skills, but it would be hard to make it through university without being at least average in them.
For bigger companies, the degree might just be a filtering mechanism. They get so many applications, it is reasonable to just throw out some resumes that do not meet certain conditions. Of course, they could miss out, but it is practical.
Author
Quote: On the other hand, even at a small company the hiring manager could have a bias and think a degree is important because it also conveys other information: that you have satisfactory time management, you can be on time, you are organized, you can write and communicate satisfactorily, you have a fundamental theoretical foundation. A stud coder might not have these skills, but it would be hard to make it through university without being at least average in them.
For bigger companies, the degree might just be a filtering mechanism. They get so many applications, it is reasonable to just throw out some resumes that do not meet certain conditions. Of course, they could miss out, but it is practical.
True. It does make sense that degrees reveal a background a portfolio or resume can not.
By the way, what about the benefits of a degree when one is an entrepreneur? What are the consumers views on this, typically?
I just used to "smell" a CV...(not literally)...but after a while you get a sense of those that are worth interviewing....and those that are not.
Or you can just throw CV's at a wastepaper bin and those that don't land inside, you do some more investigation on :)
One of the most important things I was looking for...was the ability to finish something and present it well.
There were a number of other things I was looking for...but that would take up too much space to list.
Or you can just throw CV's at a wastepaper bin and those that don't land inside, you do some more investigation on :)
One of the most important things I was looking for...was the ability to finish something and present it well.
There were a number of other things I was looking for...but that would take up too much space to list.
Quote: Original post by zyrolasting
By the way, what about the benefits of a degree when one is an entrepreneur? What are the consumers views on this, typically?
Consumers do not know or care. All they care about is the products they buy.
But lenders and business partners might care about such credentials.
Quote: Original post by zyrolastingQuote: BTW, since this thread is about "do I need to go to college," it belongs in Breaking In. Moving.
I'm IN college, for crying out loud. BTW, it's about "how much does college matter?"
No need for over-emotionality. I sit corrected. It's still a Breaking In topic.
Author
Quote: There were a number of other things I was looking for...but that would take up too much space to list.
Any major ones that a rookie would most likely miss out on on the first tries?
Quote: No need for over-emotionality. I sit corrected. It's still a Breaking In topic.
We're good. [smile]
Quote: Original post by zyrolastingQuote: There were a number of other things I was looking for...but that would take up too much space to list.
Any major ones that a rookie would most likely miss out on on the first tries?
I wrote a column about resume-filtering. http://www.igda.org/games-game-march-2010
Quote: Original post by Tom SloperI wrote a column about resume-filtering. http://www.igda.org/games-game-march-2010
A link to not-your-website for advice?! D:
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement
