Degree vs. Experience.

[wyrd]

Obviously both would be ideal, but what when hiring someone, which is more important? Degree or experience?

[Merrion]

IMO they are differently important and the weighting you give either depends on the task in hand. For maintenance of existing software type work then relevant industry and language experience is important but for "architecting" type work a degree (in an IT subject, please no more Eng. Lit. majors ;) ) is important.

[KenpoMatt]

Most companies I have worked for require a 4 year degree. They won't even consider an interview without it. Then, they evaluate your experience compared to that of the other candidates.

 

Experience is far and away the most important thing. But, you have to find a company that is willing to hire someone without a degree. I'm not sure that climate exists in the job market anymore.

 

There are some disciplines where it is easier to get in without a degree: helpdesk, desktop support, etc. But, you still usually need some experience & certifications like MCSE and A+.

[Nerseus]

If you have no experience, then a degree might help get you in as a junior developer somewhere. With even 1 year or more of experience (real world, not just lab assistant type) the degree isn't important at all (at my company). It doesn't look bad, but it's much better to see 1 or 2 years of VB.NET, C#, Database, or something else "useful".

 

There are SO many factors into hiring someone though, it's hard to pin one area down as more important than another. Personality is a key (must get along with others) for instance, though many companies won't mention it because it's too taboo (it could potentially be used to weed people out by race, sex, or whatever else people might not want). But if you're expected to work as a team, you must get along well with everyone in it.

 

-Ner

[Bucky]

I'd like to add another questions here that is somewhat related,

although I'm sure the answers will be along the lines of "it depends":

 

Is it "better" to have a lot of experience or training in a few

specialized fields, or is it "better" to have a little experience or

training in a wide array of languages, platforms, concepts, etc.?

 

I understand it'd probably be "best" to be an expert in

every subject, but we can't all be Renaissance Men and Women.

[Nerseus]

To answer Bucky, I'd like to see "highly motivated" whenever I see any kind of deficiency, and everyone's deficient (I know of only ONE renaissance man in development - a pure genius) :)

 

And everyone says "I can learn everything, I'm very motivated, I'll learn anything you want." To be "highly motivated", you have to really convince me. Tell me examples of things you do (read magazines, books, try out technology on your own, etc.), what you like, etc.

 

Aside from motivation, I'd rather see a lot of knowledge in a few areas than general knowledge in a broad range. This is biased (as is almost everything), but in the past, the people I've interviewed that had the broad vs. deep knowledge seemed to have jumped around a lot. They tended to not learn the "right" way to do things because they knew only one or two ways to solve a problem. It's hard to explain, but it's just my experience.

 

-Ner

[hog]

My two cents is this:

 

For my current role if someone were to apply for my job they would need a pro qual something like MCAD and or 3-4 year experience.

 

I have absolutely no quals at all but have worked in programming since 1992 so have a lot of experince in programming for my current employer.

 

I like the idea of getting a proper qualification but at 40......not sure I can be arsed :)

[Runtime_error]

Hello, i am working toward a degree in software engineering, MCSD in .NET solutions architects and a year's experience as a developer. I will start the final year of my degree next year this year i am doing an industrial placement and also studying for mcsd.

 

Is that attractive to any employer? or do i need more :(

[wyrd]

Runtime_error:

My 2 cents from all the digging around I've done;

 

I think that's good once you've actually accomplished all that;

MCSD, B.S. and 1 year of experience (internship?).

 

That's assuming the degree you refer to is a B.S. I don't think a certificate or A.S. would hold much weight, at least not from the impressions I've gotten.

 

Just as an extra thought, you may want to develop a program on your own to show along with your resume. Despite what others have said above, I believe it'd help in a lot of situations, and it certainly never hurts.

[Runtime_error]

Thanks Wyrd , yes the degree is Bsc in Software eng. And rite now i am on an internship, developing applicaitons in C#, Vb.net , Sql 2000.

 

I have University level experience of Assemb;y, C++, C etc but i might go deeper into .Net languages :)

And yes as part of my Degree we have to develop a complex software application that takes around 6 months to be developed using an appropriate life cycle. BTW i am from UK.

Edited September 10, 2003 by Runtime_error