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

[Steven Saner <ssaner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The purpose of going to school is only in part to learn a
trade. Granted, you do learn things about a trade, but you learn so
much more. Many times you don't realize that you do until much
later. Also, there is more to a job than just being good at
administering a Unix box (for example). I have dealt with people that
know a lot about administering a Unix box, but they don't have good
organizational skills. They don't approach a problem in a systematic
fashion. They don't work well on a team. They don't have good personal
skills. These are the things you learn in college and these are things
that are often more important to having success in a job than the raw
knowledge of what you are doing. Don't get me wrong. That is important
too. And someone that only knows what they learned in school and has
no practical knowledge is difficult to work with. But, no more so than
someone who has not learned the "other" things because they have not
had to. Success relies on a balance between the two. I will never
regret the 6 years I put into post high-school education. I will also
never regret that during that time I spent as much time learning on my
own as I did studying my course material.

Steve

> On Fri, 14 Apr 2000, Jonathan Hall wrote:
> 
> > > 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."
> > --
> > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> >   Jonathan Hall  *  jonhall@xxxxxxxxxxxx  *  PGP public key available
> >  Systems Admin, Future Internet Services; Goessel, KS * (316) 367-2487
> >          http://www.futureks.net  *  PGP Key ID: FE 00 FD 51
> >                   -=  Running Debian GNU/Linux  =-
> > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> > 
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> > 
> 
> 
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