Udacity, Coursera & Self Thought - Would You Grant an Interview?

Cork Boy

If mods could add a poll that would be great.

Essentially Udacity and Coursera are free online uni's.

As we all know there is a wealth of tutorials, ebooks and the like on the interwebs...

So, would anyone here rate these or would a degree be a must?

GavinFlud

Cork Boy wrote: »

If mods could add a poll that would be great.

Essentially Udacity and Coursera are free online uni's.

As we all know there is a wealth of tutorials, ebooks and the like on the interwebs...

So, would anyone here rate these or would a degree be a must?

Most employers use the whole "Minimum of BSc/MSc degree or equivalent in Computer Science or related discipline" as a way to filter out a large portion of candidates. It doesn't prevent you from applying. Just make sure that if you don't have a degree to show then you should have very good portfolio of personal projects or related experience.

I'm not an employer but I've been to multiple interviews with companies where other candidates (I'm a graduate) didn't have a degree.

sethasaurus

"Self thought"?
...

Cork Boy

sethasaurus wrote: »

"Self thought"?
...

I'm obsessed with myself :pac:

Evil Phil

I think the MOOCs are a great way to keep your skills up but I wouldn't consider them in an interview - the ones I've taken so far, that do issue a cert, depend on an honour code. Its not a genuine measure of actual ability.

A degree is important, having a portfolio to demonstrate that you can do work is also good.

ChRoMe

Evil Phil wrote: »

A degree is important, having a portfolio to demonstrate that you can do work is also good.

FWIW, I put a good portfolio way ahead of a degree.

donegal11

What would be expected in a portfolio and to what standard?

BrokenArrows

Ive listenened to managers in the past going through cvs. They seem to be very fickle.

So you would need to grab attention elsewhere with personal projects.

GavinFlud

donegal11 wrote: »

What would be expected in a portfolio and to what standard?

Completed side-projects, contributions to open-source projects, evidence of your ability to use multiple languages, etc.

jgh_

FWIW Coursera now has a "Signature Series" that provides an actual Certificate from the issuing university.


Anyway if there's anything that I'll tell people is A MUST, it's having a Github account. At least over here in California, people are looking for that first.

Trojan

A degree shows that you can survive a lot of bureaucratic bullsh!t (important in most jobs), and that you have demonstrated an ability to meet deadlines when pressured, and that you probably have some basic understanding of the topic.

It doesn't necessarily mean you know the stuff, or that you can do the job.

Someone self-taught with no degree will need to work harder and smarter to get as far as the interview room, but if they did, all they need to do is demonstrate that they've got social skills and they can do the job well - that will put them above 95% of competing interviewees.

Cork Boy

I've only just completed CS101 but some of the above posts have given me the motivation to continue, thank you.

I'm also in touch with a friend who owns an IT company and he's giving me good pointers on what to study and what might be important down the line (HTML5 for example).

Seems building a solid portfolio is the way to go so!

Amirani

GavinFlud wrote: »

Completed side-projects, contributions to open-source projects, evidence of your ability to use multiple languages, etc.

Any suggestions for where to get started on such projects to help out with or would you recommend trying to build something yourself to start with?