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Discussion on: BSc Vs Self taught?

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swiknaba profile image
Lud • Edited

I personally don't think finishing a degree necessarily shows, whether you're qualified or not. However, it shows us at least, that you finished a long term project. Finishing projects is a good habit to show ;) on the other hand, you have a good reason to drop out, so again, I would be fine with that.

I know people that managed to get a BSc., but honestly, I would never employ them because I know how they managed to pass their exams :D and I also know that they are mentally underqualified for many things :D (e.g. social skills, thinking out of the box, etc.)

One of the smartest and successful people I know personally, never finished a degree. He similarly to you started but had urgent reasons to drop out early.

If you look through insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/... this survey, you'll see that about 70% of developers have finished a BSc/MSc, so a big minority is working without that. Thus you are not alone with your educational situation. From my experience, 5 years of work experience equals a BSc. so probably for most recruiters, your 7 years should be more than enough!

Accumulating years alone doesn't make you a senior!!! You can be junior level after 10 years if you work as a lonely developer in a shit company were you just fiddle around with PHP without any framework and jQuery. Working 2 years in an Agency where see multiple projects and work with several very good developers can already shoot you to a senior level if you are a fast learner.

Finally, to answer your question :D I would say whether or not to finish your BSc. depends on multiple factors:

  • how much time/money would it cost you to do the last year + thesis? Can you support yourself for that time without a job? You'll lose an equal amount of time for your experience count.
  • which country do you work in? E.g. in my home country (Germany) people LOVE papers with stamps. A degree is a such paper, and without it, you are not worth looking at (I know, ridiculous, but so are (we) Germans.... -.-)
  • is it required for your absolute dream job, or was that just one random company?

As for my self, I've finished a BSc. and I think it was worth it for my personal growth. For my current career, it definitely was a door opener for some of my jobs, but it never was a hard requirement. All the best for your path! I hope I could give you some useful opinion ;-)

Also, read this post here: dev.to/cilvako/what-is-your-backgr... people discuss their educational backgrounds

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swiknaba profile image
Lud

PS.: Just put on your CV the time you've spent in University, don't explicitly mention, that you have or have not received a BSc. Than add all the companies you've worked for. I bet most people will not ask, if you actually finished your degree. They'll ask you probably mostly about your last or last two jobs.