[nfbcs] Research

[Andy B.]

If you can get experience through opensource projects. Most hiring managers
around here require boat loads of experience. Who wants an entry level (jr.
developer job) when it requires a B.S. in CS and 5+ years of experience? Iam
sure contributing to opensource and building personal projects doesn't pay
the bills for 5 or more years. Most graduates have at least a $40K bill from
school to pay back as well. We know the trend is for hiring organizations to
keep the jobs just out of reach of recent graduates. What are we going to do
about it? Most people start their own business, become freelance developers,
or create a startup. Never forget that working for someone else is not your
only option.


-----Original Message-----
From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Christopher
Chaltain via nfbcs
Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2017 11:54 AM
To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Christopher Chaltain <chaltain at gmail.com>; David Andrews
<dandrews at visi.com>
Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Research

It is true that a CS degree will not guarantee you a job, and it's also true
that not everyone working in the technology field has a CS degree. 
I've been a hiring manager in the technology field for over 15 years, and
I've worked for three different companies during that time. Most of the
positions I've helped staff have required a CS, CE or I degree or equivalent
experience. Obviously, if you're a recent college graduate, it's going to be
hard to have that equivalent experience if you don't have a technical
degree.

My advice to anyone going into the technology field would be to pursue the
appropriate degree. If you want to go into software engineering then I'd
recommend a CS or a CE degree. If you want to go into some other area of IT
then an associates degree or a relevant certificate may be appropriate.

Whether you have a technical degree or not, internship experience is key. As
I think someone else pointed out, nothing prepares you for the real world
better than experience. Volunteering or contributing to an open source
project will also help you stand out by showing your commitment and
demonstrating your experience. All college graduates, especially from the
same university, look the same. Internships and other experience can help
you stand out.

On 25/02/17 14:19, David Andrews via nfbcs wrote:
> Greg, I have no doubt that what you say is true. On the other hand, 
> most people who hire entry-level people are going to consider 
> blindness a strike against a person. Not having a CS degree is 
> another, and this isn't baseball -- two strikes and you are out.
>
> We always need that little extra edge to end up in the same place.  
> You can talk about overcoming countless accessibility obstacles to get 
> your degree. This is a plus.
>
> Dave
>
> At 01:49 PM 2/24/2017, you wrote:
>> This is going to sound odd but I work for a major technology company.
>> I can not think of a single person in my group with a CS degree. More 
>> common in fact are fine arts degrees, like mine, history and 
>> humanities and music. We have some people including a supervisor who 
>> have no college degree at all, he came out of the military. We are 
>> all doing very technical work much of which involves coding which we 
>> all seemed to have learned as we needed it.
>>
>> So is having a CS degree a guarantee of a good job at a technology 
>> firm? Silicon Valley is filled up with CS graduates working at 
>> Starbucks so the answer is clearly no. IS not have such a degree 
>> going to keep you form a career at such a firm, well my experience 
>> the answer no as well.
>
>
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--
Christopher (CJ)
chaltain at Gmail

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