[aclug-L] CS Degrees (Was: Re: Cool new fan site....hehe)

[Jonathan Hall <jonhall@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> As someone who writes personnel requirements and hires people, I
> disagree with you strongly about the degree position. Having a BS in
> Computer Science does not make you a literate computer user or
> administrator. It will get you _P_A_I_D_ more!
> 
> Frankly, if you have the professional computer experience and can back
> it up, I could care less what the degree is in.

It's statements like this that say just exactly how much a degree really is
worth.  If employers don't care what the degree is IN... they just care that
you went through all the hoops to get one... then that's a very STRONG
indication that a degree practically means nothing.  All it is is a 'tactic'
to get into certian companies that are too 'stupid' to realize how worthless
degrees are.

If what you look at is experience... well, you don't need a degree to have
experience.  I don't have a degree (and likely never will), but I have much
more experience in certian areas than the vast majority of this planet's
population.

I know for a fact that I am as qualified for some Unix/Linux admin
possitions as many of the people at ACLUG.  I know I'm more qualified than
some Unix admins--including some people I've worked with in the past.

Being knoweldgable in the area of computers or Unix specifically is not
"magic."  You cannot become proficient at school.  You become proficient at
home, or on the job.

A degree does have uses...  For me, attending WSU served only to 'force' me
to learn the material that I could have learned on my own, but was too
unmotiviated.  (That's a pretty high price tag for motivation, though!)

In some areas, a degree is needed... I want my doctor or dentist to have a
degree!

If/when I'm ever hiring Unix admins, though, I doubt a degree will be all
that important to me.  In fact... in my experience, a degree can sometimes
hurt someone's creative problem solving abilities.  People with "formal"
training are more likely to go "by the book"--that can be good, or bad.

Anyway... that's my 2.5 cents on the topic :-)


--
"I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary
Cooper." -- Gary Cooper, on his decision to not take the leading role in
"Gone With The Wind."
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