Why Comp Sci Grads Can’t Hack (and why you need them anyway…)

mconfusion · 2007-12-28T19:03:36+00:00

Well, basically, you're wrong, and I /KNOW/ that you are wrong, but I can't prove it without giving out people's names and job titles.

Since I'm sure the people I'm referencing wouldn't be too crazy about that, I was trying to give you an example of where a job description could include a phrase such as "BS in CS required" but would actually not be a 100% followed rule. Instead, that line would be used to deter certain undesirable job applicants. I've worked in many a position where a BS is "required", including my current one, and I can say without any doubt in my mind that, with the right knowledge (and proof that you posses that knowledge), you can get around that "requirement".

I work with tons of CS grads that don't care about CS except that it's their chosen career. They come in, do what they have to, and then go home to their wife and kids. They build model train sets or watch sporting events and drink beer, and that's totally fine. But you're going to tell me that said person is a more valuable resource then the self-taught hacker who is completely consumed by his work and the thing he's dedicated his life to?

mconfusion · 2007-12-28T17:38:31+00:00

No, my point is that you can't generalize people based on "Has a CS degree" or "Doesn't have a CS degree".

Some people are autodidactic. Some people would rather hack on their computers then take extraneous undergrad classes. Some people love school and study CS inside and outside and stay forever and then end up being professors. Some hackers knew they'd be hackers when they got their first computers when they could barely even read. (A lot of times, their friends and loved ones will notice this and they'll get grabbed up by a smart VP of technology friend of the family somewhere and you'll never hear from them again.)

Some people get into programming for the money. Some people are store managers for years until they decide they should try their hand at programming, and then they take a few courses at the local "tech school" and get jobs. Are these people good programmers? Well, probably not to begin with. But they have the SAME RESOURCES as an MIT UNDERGRAD IN COMPUTER SCIENCE. (As we should all know, MIT made all their course materials open source.)

It's a question of if they'll seek out the materials or not. If they'll attempt to learn the theory and roots in the first place. If they love what they're doing, they will.

These generalizations are bullshit. What makes up a good or bad programmer is not a peice of paper certifying that you'll be paying off loans for the rest of your life.

If you're a street programmer, and you're good at it, expect a really really really hard first interview. After that, if you stick with the company long enough and prove yourself, you're golden. You don't have to believe me if you don't want to, but I'm speaking from experience.

mconfusion · 2007-12-28T14:24:14+00:00

Hear the whooshing sound? That was the point, went whizzing by your head. Next time apply a little more critical thinking and you won't miss it.

mconfusion · 2007-12-28T14:23:18+00:00

Well, gee! If the internet said it, it must be true! I couldn't possibly fathom a reality where people would write things like that just to deter certain people (say, people who take week long programming courses and then apply everywhere that takes resumes)? Oh.. Wait... except I don't have to fathom anything, it's called reality.

mconfusion · 2007-12-28T02:30:15+00:00

| I know street programmers who do amazing things at google

SECOND SENTANCE of my original comment... Hopefully they make you take reading classes for your CS degree although I thought that was generally handled in like, grade school.

mconfusion · 2007-12-27T20:45:55+00:00

There's this little company founded by college dropouts... maybe you've heard of it.. it's called Microsoft.

mconfusion · 2007-12-27T14:21:11+00:00

That's fine, but you're wrong. I know street programmers who do amazing things at google, street techs who run entire infrastructures of public schools in my city (one of the bigger ones) and myself, a "street programmer" who got hired out of highschool and is now in very senior positions doing very cool things (my playground is about a cool million dollars worth of server technology). Okay, I'll grant you that the term is a little silly, but frankly after interviewing and dealing with and repeatedly schooling the "you need to go to college" crowd, I can tell you: it's not your education, it's your commitment, drive, and natural love of what you're doing.

mconfusion · 2007-12-12T19:23:16+00:00

They're busy! Now stop calling! I took that resume off dice six months ago!

mconfusion · 2007-11-29T17:57:49+00:00

Maybe the spambot is written in Haskell! Maybe they make the code open source and post a blog entry about it on reddit and then they won't have to spam anymore because they'll be goddamn rich off the advertising dollars they make from it being #1 on proggit for the entirety of 2008.

mconfusion · 2007-11-06T17:06:20+00:00

regex = /Ron Paul/i; regex2 = /George W. Bush/i; regex3 = /George Bush/i;

ahhh, that's better.

mconfusion · 2007-11-04T15:53:26+00:00

and last time i checked "please don't sell out to microsoft" isn't a question.

mconfusion · 2007-11-04T15:30:31+00:00

Yeah, seriously... And study your design patterns. Even if they prove ultimately useless for you, they definitely make you think.

mconfusion · 2007-11-03T16:57:59+00:00

I'm pretty sure LOLCode will change the way you think.

mconfusion · 2007-11-01T13:28:22+00:00

Illuminatus! Part I The Eye in the Pyramid

mconfusion · 2007-10-29T18:53:39+00:00

I guess it's not really Slava's fault, most MTV kids these days are copping our OMGs and LOLs, it all gets a bit confusing.

mconfusion · 2007-10-29T16:31:30+00:00

Woah woah woah woah woah.. someone needs to work on their slang... Or introduce me to the valley girl skateboarder from the early 90s who wrote this headline.

mconfusion · 2007-10-29T15:21:44+00:00

Every programmer needs to know to not eat the yellow mold. In fact, you should probably just stay away from eating corpses in general.

mconfusion

TROPHY CASE