Do I Need to Go to College To Be a Software Developer?
The question everyone glancing at a future in tech is now asking
For many years, going to college was the default track for having a seat in the tech industry. Nowadays, this power is no longer taken hostage by universities. Yet, following a different path from everyone else may scare the hell out of you.
During my first ever solo trip to Southeast Asia, I thought it would be a good idea to complement my vacation with some tech intellectuality. So, I attended this tech conference in Hong Kong at the iconic HKCEC, right in the center of those postcards you might have seen.
In one of the conference days, there I was, sat down in one of the front rows of the main stage. Not really knowing what the next talk was about. Shortly, I learned that it was a debate between two ladies and the subject was “Do you need a college degree to work in a tech company?”. On the pro side was Cindy Wang, CMO of the Uxin Group, against Diane Yu, CTO and Co-founder of Comcast Corporation.
Both ladies gladiated for 20 minutes. Cindy Wang mentioned you would be better positioned on a job application if you had already some academic degree. On the other hand, Diane Yu told the audience that the most important aspects of a candidate were their eagerness to learn and a roll-up-your-sleeves attitude. The rest of the debate was very much around these arguments. At the end, I’m sure nobody became enlightened on the matter. I surely didn’t.
I went to college myself, but, since then, I’ve crossed many times with people who didn’t or ended up dropping out. This question is actually getting more and more frequent in the tech industry, but I think there is no such thing as a universal answer.
Learning Paths to be a Software Developer
First, let’s dive into which paths you could take to become a Software Developer. What? Did you really think that you could be directly hired without knowing or doing anything? Well, good luck with that.
Self-learning
Only reading books and watching youtube videos is really the hardest way. Even if you were really hard on yourself and set yourself some project deadlines, it would become an unhealthy process.
You’d end up rushing on those deadlines and being your own professor. You’d have the need to estimate those deadlines first hand, but how could you do that if you’d never done this kind of tasks before? You’d end up delaying that date limit and going at your own pace which would be contra-productive. Sometimes you need some outside pressure to push yourself a little further.
Everything considered, I don’t recommend this path. It’s a valid one to learn some topics, but for getting the whole thing it would be catastrophic very rapidly. Sure, there are a few brilliant minds who managed to do this, but seriously, do you really want to assume you are in that 1% of the world population?
Don’t get me wrong. Many subjects I took in college felt like I was learning all by myself. Whether I didn’t get the concepts right in class or because I happened to miss one lesson entirely (oops), I always had some resources provided by my professor, and colleagues who could know something about it.
The most important thing is that I was not alone. However, if you try to do it on opposite terms, you will eventually lack motivation, support and networking. Not the smartest strategy, I can tell you.
Online Courses
In the last years, it has emerged really interesting online courses like Udacity Nanodegrees. Although I was almost including them in the self-learning section, I decided not to because you are in fact learning in a community.
These degrees vary in length and price, and you can have almost all the benefits from a college degree without being in one. In each course, there is a forum where you can talk with your colleagues and make questions to your mentors. Moreover, there are projects for you to make. All this without leaving the comfort of your home.
However, if you are not the natural social guy and don’t like doing physical exercise, this option will not promote a better lifestyle. This is a more suitable approach for those who have already some occupation like a job or college and want to master some complementary topic in part-time.
Coding Bootcamps
This is probably the option I’d be most considering instead of going to college.
Coding Bootcamps are intensive courses. Usually, they vary in time-length between 2 to 3 months and within this time you jump right into practical stuff. Not much theoretical knowledge is given, but they put you in the woods at no time.
You learn really fast. It is not easy, but it will be worth it. Actually, it makes me think of those superheroes who had to overcome a very hard training, so they could master their superpowers. In these bootcamps, if you are not a quitter, you will feel getting considerably better day after day. You should also consider taking more than one.
Some of this courses have a remote format, so you don’t have to be on site all the time. However, you’d be taking the most of it by hanging out and networking with other students.
This is all great, but here’s the thing. Because you’re not learning much theoretical stuff like Data Structures or Algorithms and even introductory notions on, perhaps, AI or Big Data, you will not have a wide computer science culture. Sure, you can learn these things later, but will you have that discipline? You see, many of these topics are the hardest and therefore most hated classes in college for a reason.
Still, this is a really good alternative to college and if you have the right attitude, you can learn the theoretical stuff from some well-written introductory books. As long as you are not thinking about an academic career like being a professor or a researcher, or even applying for a conservative company who believes that college is the only right way to go, you’ll be fine.
However, don’t think you are avoiding the toughest path. No pain, no gain. This will always be true unless you bought yourself some Bitcoin back in 2011.
College
For many years, this was the solution to achieve a successful career in the most promising jobs. It’s still the right track to be a doctor or a lawyer. Yet, for you to be a Software Developer you can tell now it is a different story.
College was the approach I ended up taking or almost brainwashed to do it. In the current society, college means the next step after high school. All the information that our governments give to high school finalists is for that purpose. I almost had no time to choose a different option, because I was too drown by the final exams. I guess I just thought of it as the safest way and I took it. Also, because I wasn’t aware of the alternatives I just gave you.
Going to an academic course will give you almost all you need to pursue a Software Developer career. Even though some subjects will seem pointless to you, it’s always good to have some basic understanding of everything. You never know what the future holds.
Whatever you do, don’t follow the crowd
Many companies see a college degree as a pre-requirement. Therefore, if you don’t have one and the company is not used to accept those cases, your application may be tossed in the trash even before they review it entirely. That’s why having at least a bachelor degree can help you buy some attention. However, once you start having some jobs, your degree will be less and less valued.
On the other hand, companies who really aim for success will pay more attention to what you’ve done outside the mainstream line. Taking a college degree has become too normal. That’s why you need to do something else to differentiate yourself from the competition.
Many A-students think that mastering the university game will be worth it in the long-run. Yet, they end up being these academic souls thirsty for scientific magazines publications and communitarian funds. Consequently, they become addicted to reputation and individualism.
On the contrary, the truly smart A-students and the ones who weren’t that good at playing the college game (like me) end up taking two steps back and look at the bigger picture.
“Luck protects the daring ones”
Whatever the option you end up taking, you must never settle or feel like it is enough. Don’t be scared to take things further by escaping your comfort zone. You know the famous saying “luck protects the daring ones”? You must stand out with or without a college degree. Therefore, you must play hard the industry game. Tech conferences, bootcamps, online courses, networking, meetups, open source and personal projects. Do as much as you can and tell the tech world “I am here!”.
