Hello campers,
I am egyptian, I got high percentage at high school then I joined faculty of veterinary medicine. I am 28 years old and sometimes postpone my study. I want to change my way because I hate biology. I like math, physics, engineering but it was my family desire. I really need a job and I like programming and I started learning it few days ago. I do not want to continue at my faculty although I am at the last years because I hate biology and I want a job as soon as possible. If I continue studying at university, I will get older and may be I can not get a developer job. so please can I get a developer job with high school certificate not university certificate for necessary if I am looking for that job outside Egypt, my country even if it will be visa sponsorship job, or they will ask me for university degree? what are my chances? please I want your opinions
Some professions like medicine and biology need a degree for safety reasons, it’s difficult to judge how good a doctor is by their portfolio, they can’t effectively prove how good and ethical they are with a portfolio.
Painters, cooks, singers, programmers and even mathematicians often don’t need a degree, because what matters is what they can do. A good institution doesn’t imply in a good programmer, however a good institution often implies in a good doctor, at least for the market.
So don’t worry about it, a lot of us don’t have a degree, as long as you’re good enough and can demonstrate that knowledge, companies won’t care if you study at home or at Harvard. But don’t be fooled by the idea that you can get good quickly, studying alone is difficult and often times things don’t go as you expect them to.
TL;DR: you don’t need a degree
thanks so much for your reply
@Selhar1 and please I want to ask the same question in different way. high school certificate is enough for getting developer job outside my country?
In my experience nobody will even ask for any kind of certificate whatsoever. All you need is a portfolio and the skill to get some work.
If you’re working remotely you may have some problems with your local bank, but other than that, as far as the company is concerned, you could even not have a highschool certificate for all they care.
Of course, one can also freelance or start their own web dev business… it can be very lucrative, especially in an emerging market and being one of the early developer pioneers.
Getting hired isn’t the only way to make money.
You could also continue your biology studies while learning to code. If you are almost done anyway you have already invested a lot of time and money into it. You may regret later not finishing. Plus, combining your formal schooling in biology and your future coding skill, you might be able to create software useful in the field of biology.
thanks so much for your reply
Hi, @migha2!
Yes and no.
Yes, if you have experience and in case that you can show projects that other professionals couldn’t show. I think it is possible; even it is not easy to find.
However, now I will start with the negative answer, you should be aware of your competitors. Why will a company hire a no degree talent instead of someone that has a degree + experience?
Think about how you can differentiate yourself from others. Why don’t you start to think about machine learning? Biology + Programming? It is not late to start.
Was it helpful? Please, let me know. Good luck.
Thanks so much @PatriciaAlmeida . it was very helpful. please you mean that vet med certificate will increase my chances to get a developer job? and why? as et med is not related to programming. the problem for me is my age. if I continue learning veterinary, it will take long time and I will get too old may be i will be 33 or 34 years old when I finish it and also i am sure I will not work as vet, so it will be just a certificate. I can learn both vet and coding but when I want to get deeloper job as freelance or remotely or even working abroad that will not make me able to study veterinary and work as programmer at the same time because we hae so many practical, theoretical, and oral exams at my faculty
Hello @migha2!
Here is a thought for you:
How many Veterinary websites have you seen that really could use some revamp.
Or better yet, how many vets do you know, personally or not, who do not have a website?
I work in the Healthcare sector and Farmers Market, so I have been able to help create websites for those two areas several years ago. They were static websites, due to my limited knowledge in JS, but I learned HTML ans CSS pretty well.
Perhaps finishing your degree/certificate in Veterinary medicine may give you a foothold inside that elite world of highly skilled doctors who do not trust programmers very well; you will know their language better than any one of us here.
Thanks so much for your reply. I do appreciate
thanks so much for your reply and suggestion
@migha2
No if you’ve been practicing and already built some Web, Mobile or even System apps to show off your coding skills. Just make sure to put them on the web pages so everyone can see them.
Yes if you don’t currently have an impressive (Web) Portfolio and thus the degree can speak for itself; for example, I’ve got my Bachelor degree in Computer Science more than 10 yrs ago and now I’m back to college to get Associate degree in Web Development; as the result, some people wonder why I go backward but some hiring managers can see immediately that I’m learning the current coding languages needed for Web Development instead of C, C++ that I’ve got in the past for my BS degree…
If you don’t want to spend too much time in college, get some certificates; however, as it’s short time to obtain those certificates, it’s also short time for you to gain knowledge and experience in those coding languages as well so consider twice which path you should take. Of course, if you have time and money, take both is best but not many people would able to do so, thus, best way is to get some proven coding skills first then some company would pay for you to go back to school to earn more knowledge and skill sets, of course after you’ve get hired.
Last but not least, if some company don’t want to hire you because of your age, it’s age discrimination and most if not all companies avoid it at all cost so don’t worry about your age as long as you can show that you can do the job that they are hiring for.
That is great. Thanks so much for your advice.
The majority of the developers I have known over the last 10 years have a university degree, but none have a degree in Computer Science or science in general. Most have math, history, geography and social sciences degrees. The are probably the most diverse bunch, in terms of education. If I’m correct the majority of them haven’t actually finished their degrees. In most cases where you don’t need a university degree for professional credentials a degree is just a signalling mechanism that shows you have grit, persistance, can deal with vagueness, self reliant and have an analytical bent.
Thanks so much for your reply