undefined | Better HN

0 pointsthe_only_law4y ago0 comments

> Your mistake was thinking you could go into, say, a CS degree and have nothing to learn.

I made this exact mistake at 17/18 and even had a very similar line of thinking as OP, but my decision was not to go to school at all.

I ended up in the industry a few years later, but have had a mostly crippled career. It was unfortunately drilled in my head around the time that people were handing out six figure salaries to anyone who could remotely program regardless of education.

0 comments

3 comments · 1 top-level

actually_a_dog4y ago· 2 in thread

Being self taught doesn't have to cripple your career. I'm self taught and doing reasonably well, and there's another guy I worked with a few years ago who's also self taught and studied music in college who's now an engineer at Facebook making I don't know how many zillions of dollars. Looking at LinkedIn just now, I discovered that another self taught engineer I know, who doesn't even have a high school diploma, is now working at Netflix.

In a sense, we're all fortunate that we lucked into a career in an industry that de-emphasizes credentials in favor of knowledge, ability, and track record.

the_only_lawOP4y ago

You’re right, the “crippled” career part was as much due to other circumstances at the time, but a certain benefits of the degree program could have still helped alleviate those issues.

> In a sense, we're all fortunate that we lucked into a career in an industry that de-emphasizes credentials in favor of knowledge, ability, and track record.

Agreed, though I think there are costs to this as well, but most people probably will never worry about them.

true_religion4y ago

You can still get a degree. I know someone who went tot law school at age 50, and back when I was in school I roomed with someone who was 35 self taught programmer who came back to study.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse