Collage degree vs skill

Hey… My name is Lakshay I am 19 years old. it’s about four months since I learn to program personally I loved it.
I want to ask that is learned to program through any collages is better or learn through the internet/self though. Is a college degree is really important to start a carrier in web designing or skill is important.

Hi @lakshay0sharma!

Whether you go to college or not you do have to be able to demonstrate some level of skill abilities for the job. It’s either college and skill or self-taught and skill.

I think you can learn web development or design being self taught. But I don’t think there is anything wrong with the college route if that is an option. You will probably still do some self study in addition to college classes.

A college degree will make it easier to get interviews.

From a recruiting perspective, there are always far more applicants than positions and it’s not practical or time efficient to carefully review every single one (try carefully reading 100 one-to-two-page documents and see how much time is left over in your week - don’t forget you still have to actually interview a few of them - oh and get your other work done :wink: )

A college degree helps you pass that initial filter/screening process.

That said, once you have the interview, the degree itself matters very little. Some managers will care, but in my experience it really doesn’t help beyond getting the interview.

The biggest hurdle/difference in being self-taught vs bootcamp vs university (assuming you’ve learned what you need to learn) is getting those interviews.

So, my advice if you decide not to go to school - Make a game plan on how you’ll land interviews, and start applying early.

Keep in mind this isn’t the only difference. You’ll also not have a group of peers to rely. My initial college cohort helped me out later by referring me to other positions. So - you’ll also start out with smaller network unless you do something about that from the start (building relationships with people online is a good way to go).

Last thought: The best thing you can do for getting interviews (and this is true regardless of having a degree or not) is to work on open source projects. Don’t choose a tiny project no one’s heard of. Choose something that will purposely be difficult. Bonus points if it’s a recognized project. Imagine having “Contributed XYZ to React” on your resume. As a manager I would definitely want to learn more about you.

Google something like "good open source projects for beginners in [language]. Go make some contributions over the next few months, then (1) Add those to your resume, obviously and (2) Ask the core maintainers for the open source project for referrals or letters or recommendation.

Summary: You’ll have to get creative on how to make yourself stand out and compete against other folks with college degrees. Remember: You’re effectively convincing a stranger that you have at least as much capability to do a job as someone who just spent 4 years getting that college degree.

Ok, one more last thought, don’t forget to also consider junior/community college programs. They’re usually much shorter than 4 years and can get something very useful on your resume as well.

I still say open source is the biggest bang for your time though :slight_smile:

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@jefejeff answer is very thorough, but I wanted to add another note about going to higher education.

If you are going to college, you get access to resources to get jobs, experience, and networking but have to take advantage of those perks. Stuff like job fairs, internships, access to faculty that work in the field, working on projects with your peers. All of this can be available to those that end up in higher education. Where-as if your learning by yourself you have to go seek all of this out yourself.

You can easily go to college, not take advantage of any of these resources (or they just not be available) and end up graduating feeling like you didn’t learn enough. College wont teach you everything you need, but it can provide a platform and place to learn a lot. If you are learning by yourself you have to find/make/build that platform yourself.

Good luck, keep learning, the choice of how you do it is yours :slight_smile:

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thanks for your advice its means a lot

Man just go to college. It adds another dimension to your life. At least go there and if you find things are not working well for you, drop out(Bill Gates path).

There is a lot of great advice here.

At the end of the day none of use really knows your situation. For some, college is an option and that is a great choice. For others, it is not a viable option.

You just have to make a decision that make sense for you particular situation.

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Hey @besaje20!
Welcome to FCC forum