[barleymash]

It is definitely not mandatory for big companies. Although depending on the specific hiring manager, some might be more skeptical of your experience if you don't have a degree in CS, but that is true at any company. Not saying it isn't helpful, but not mandatory.

[bsvalley]

I found out that job descriptions are often vague about the minimum requirements - like "BS or higher degree in CS".

From what I've seen, HR creates a short list of candidates, this is before the hiring manager step. When a company is hot, they receive a lot of Resumes. HR maxes out the requirements in order to create a quick short list. This is purely based on the content of your Resume. They run a simple search in their system by maxing out all the requirements to see which candidates pop up first. In 2017 you'll be surprised how many candidates have more than the minimum requirements! If you haven't applied through referral and if you're aiming for a big conpany, you'll get filtered at the very first and automated step - HR.

[__derek__]

Just an anecdote, but: I have a non-CS bachelor's and five years of experience, and I recently received offers from both of the AppAmaGooBookSoft companies that I applied to (via internal recruiters).

[bsvalley]

Sure, in the recruiter land, Bachelor's + 5 years of exp = Master's. there are exceptions to the rule.