[norbu09]

it is funny to see that you go for a masters degree but want actual coders that have experience. in my experience hireing developers you are on the wrong track. if you want good coders in the mid cost tier you go for those guys that dropped out of uni and actually did coding for a while compared to those that did uni but never touched an editor. also, if you want good guys, think of maing them. expecting to get only the good ones without investing into education is a bit arrogant in my view. get the most promising ones and get one really good senior guy who mentors the rest. a team of heros will never get anything done ... they only fight for the best algorhythm :-)

[toumhi]

Well first of all, I don't dictate the hiring strategy at my company. I try to help in that department but i'm a developer myself. There is indeed an emphasis on academic requirements but I think other successful companies (google) have this bias. Management at my company tends to think that people with no university are "too close to the code", meaning they don't have the ability to abstract things.