[umurkontaci]

> If you're self taught, get a degree as soon as you can, even if you take night classes over an extended period. No matter how good you are, a large portion of companies and recruiters will autotrash your resume without an education section.

Not true. I'm self taught and I had very generous offers from the two of the three big names.

Screw spending a time to getting a degree just for the sake of it and build stuff.

I know it wasn't like that before, but times have changed and so have recruiters.

[root_axis]

I don't mean to suggest that you can't get great opportunities while self-taught, only that a sizable portion of opportunities will be closed off without a degree. There happens to be a glut of developer work at this time, so the consequences are dampened, but that won't be the case forever, better to get the degree when you don't need it rather than wait till the time when it makes a bigger difference. Also, I'll add that getting hired by an elite software firm is absolutely possible without a degree, but you have to be considerably above average intelligence and skill to get in the door, whereas a degree will give you an opportunity to get in the door even if you're not a star, providing you with the environment and resources to become one.