[iolothebard]

I've worked with fantastic developers without a degree. Typically, I've had to point out gaps in their understanding of the "why" behind things. I also had these shortcomings because I had an MIS degree. The difference when working with CS graduates is simple business knowledge seems to be their shortcoming. So working in accounting, finance, etc. they have a knowledge gap.

No one comes out of college knowing it all, it's just figuring out where your shortcomings are and always trying to fill in those gaps. I'm a mediocre software developer at best. However, I'm better than about 90% of the people I've worked with (IMO). The 10% that are better than me I strive to learn from and discuss topics constantly instead of being intimidated by their expertise.

If companies would simply hire good people and make growing them into well rounded developers, they'd have a hell of a lot better return on their investment than simply having a checklist of "employee must have" when hiring.

I'm on (failed) startup #8 at the moment with one of these friends. Our primary goal is to hire people that haven't had job experience in the field so we can train them on the proper ways to build software (well, our opinions on what's "right"). Assuming we ever get to the point of replacing ourselves. :-)

[robertcorey]

If you're better than 90% of the people you've worked with you definitively aren't mediocre. This type of mentality is what leads people to undervalue themselves.