Re: Success of VB

On Wed, 9 May 2007 15:59:51 +0100, "Robin Tucker"
<rtgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Terry/Others,


The main reason CS professionals don't usually employ people without a
formal CS education is because they have no way of gauging your basic
knowledge (beyond a one hour interview and a few technical questions). With
a CS degree you are basically demonstrating an understanding of the basic
form and it is then easier for the potential employer to see that you have
the foundations of knowledge neccessary to progress and learn further.

There are many people who think they are skilled coders, who wouldn't know
how to construct some fairly basic data structures (in whatever language),
such as a Binary Tree or Linked List. Although these things are less
important today, having basic knowledge about how things work is fundamental
to producing good software and more particuarly to the process of innovation
and making the right choices with the algorithms and structures your work
promotes. Unless you can demonstrate these things with a previous
substantial piece of work, it is only left for the employer to take your
word for it. I don't know many employers who can justify to their bosses
taking a punt on a new team member without formal qualifications or
demonstrable knowledge and ability. In any case, after your initial
employment, your formal education becomes less important than where you have
worked before and what you were doing there.

In short, if you want to work in CS and can't get a break, go get yourself
some formal CS qualifications. The process is the same in most other
industries, CS is no different.


Robin



When I decided to switch careers and go into programming (around 1984)
I went to NYU to ask about getting a masters in computer science. The
guy I spoke to told me that it would take at least two years at night
and then I would need to get my first job. Instead, he sent me to the
Continuing Education department where they had a "14 weeks to a
computer certificate" course. There was a summer session coming up
that took 9 weeks full time. I took their aptitude test and came in
6th out of 140.

Twelve weeks later, Banker's Trust hired seven trainees, and six of us
came from the "quickie" computer courses. They explained that a
computer science degree taught folks lots of theory, but the quickie
programs taught how to solve business problems using computers.

Another interesting thing was the breakdown of careers that went into
that quickie program. I came from a biology background, working as a
lab tech, but most folks were musicians. Musicians seem to make good
programmers.

.

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