[nfbcs] Research

Mon Feb 27 22:24:16 UTC 2017

I suspect you are underestimating the amount of self-teaching you had to 
do before you were able to contribute to that project. In fact, a lot of 
the people on open source projects are self-taught. That's a skill that 
can be developed and it may be the most valuable skill an IT 
professional can have. But likemost skills, some people are better at it 
than others.

For years on this list I've been advising people to go out and get a 
used computer and put linux on it. That's how I learned linux systems 
admin. But experience has to be earned. If you did something for the 
freeBSD project that didn't requireyou to either have programming 
experience or to acquire it, then it's not worth putting on a resume. 
There is no shortcut here.

On 02/27/2017 09:50 AM, Littlefield, Tyler via nfbcs wrote:
> I beg to differ here. I found something on the todo for FreeBSD and
> implemented it. There's one open source contribution. If you use a
> project and find bugs, contribute. There's another contribution.
> Volunteering and working on a project doesn't mean  you just find one,
> jump in and start coding. Usually people dogfood it, realize there's a
> problem and then fix said problem.
> On 2/27/2017 10:08 AM, John Heim via nfbcs wrote:
>> By definition, an "entry level" job is one that does not require
>> experience. That's what "entry level" means.
>>
>> For most people, I don't think it is really practical to suggest that
>> they get experience by volunteering for an open-source project. You
>> can't just walk into an open-source project and start coding away like
>> crazy.  The project manager is going to say something like, "We could
>> really use someone to write a USB driver. How much kernel module
>> experience do you have?" Or something like that. It's true, though, that
>> if you are the type of person who can jump into an open-source project
>> and teach yourself somethinglike how to write a kernel driver module,
>> then you probably don't need a CS degree.
>>
>> The main value of things like volunteering for an open-source project or
>> building a web site for your church would be that it shows initiative.
>> You didn't just sit around waiting for someone to offer you a job. This
>> is really probably the elephant in the room. The truth is that if you
>> are smart enough and determined enough, you can overcome any
>> disadvantage. If you're not, you can fail in spite of every advantage.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 26/02/17 12:08, Andy B. via nfbcs wrote:
>>>> 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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>>>>> m
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Christopher (CJ)
>>>> chaltain at Gmail
>>>>
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>>
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