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0 pointscthalupa8y ago0 comments

Learning to learn is an important skill.

But so is the ability to do a job.

Some companies have the resources available to take a fresh grad that knows theory, concepts, and how to learn, and then get them up to speed on how to actually do the job they've been hired for. Some WANT people that only know how to learn and the concepts, so they can teach them how to do it the "X Company Way".

But a whole lot don't. A whole lot of companies need to hire people that can slot into a position and hit the ground running. A whole lot of companies need people that can deliver on the job description.

A strong Computer Science education will probably make you a significantly better programmer in the long run, but if you can't get a job or keep one because you aren't prepared to step in and do the job, it doesn't really matter.

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tjoff8y ago

Ability to do a job and education are orthogonal skills. No, you don't necessarily learn how to do a job during your education but that is a skill quickly picked up (or never learned) after. As is the case for anyone not getting any education.

> Some WANT people that only know how to learn and the concept, so they can teach them how to do it the "X Company Way"

Those companies would do well in not hiring people with ambitions that have not had any education, correct. But part of getting an education is avoiding having such mindless jobs.

watwut8y ago

I have always felt that these takes highly overstate how difficult practical part is. It is significatly easier then it is made up to be.

Also, you should not expect even seniors to hit the ground runing, unless you hire on total complete match of both culture, code style and exact libraries being used. In which case you should not be surprised about there being lack of qualified applicants. Even experienced seniors need to learn every single time they change a job and thus also tech stack.

Moreover, many agile companies are basically organized to cater to unexperienced programmer.

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