[bigethan]

about 3 years ago HN was about 50/50 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3785277

I'm always amazed at companies that don't train their people. It's easier to say "they couldn't use HAVING in a query, pass" than to say "I believe I can teach them SQL effectively." But the freedom to think the latter lets you build a very strong team.

It's the genius of Facebook's OSS policy. Let everyone use their stuff so that new people can pop right in, learn on your own time before we're even paying you...

[dikdik]

Best reasons I can think of is projection and pride. If I couldn't do this job without a PhD and 10 years of experience then of course NO ONE else could possibly do it without those credentials.

Then there's the, if I HAD to have all these credentials to get a decent paying job, then everyone else should have to jump through those same hoops to or it won't be fair to me.

[danieltillett]

It depend on the problem. Some problems really do require you have a lot of knowledge depth to be able to solve.

[wcummings]

You can tell from the tone of some other comments that pride is a pretty big factor.

[danieltillett]

It might be, but it is also a shared culture. People like to work with people who have a shared background and understanding.

The natural sciences are similar in that you have to have a PhD to be taken at all seriously even though most of the time there is really no difference between a person with a BSc and 5 years of experience and someone with a PhD.

[wcummings]

>It might be, but it is also a shared culture. People like to work with people who have a shared background and understanding.

This is clearly the case for many people, judging from the complete lack of diversity at many tech companies.

For a "meritocracy" Silicon Valley sure loves credentialing.

[walshemj]

Companies don't want to spend money on training unfortunately and this has been the case for decades.