Henry Wong wrote:I kinda agree about the certification part.... But... I find it hard to have those qualities, and yet, not have the desire to finish a degree (for the education part).
I didn't mention anything about no degree at all, but to be fair after a few years I don't think it really matters outside of a few small areas where very specialized knowledge is needed. I've been hiring people for the past few months, and their degree (or lack of a degree) has been so immaterial that I really couldn't tell you what any of their education was. We look for someone bright, adaptable and who loves technology, with enough specific Java/JSP/HTML/JS (depending on the role) knowledge that we don't need to hold their hand. I suppose all other things being equal education or certs might make a difference, but all other things are never equal.
I've actually worked with a surprising number of really bright folks who dropped out of college. Around their third year, their skills got to the point where companies doing really interesting things were eager to hire them, and the notion of another year and a half in school doing academic exercises with nothing more than working in a BigCo cubicle to look forward to didn't appeal to them. The interesting thing about software development is that Google aside, being overly interested in your formal qualifications is usually a good anti-pattern for an employer.
Cheers!
Luke