| I signed up for this comment. I graduated from a small liberal arts school with a degree in Physics (and a minor in CS). I actually would have done Computer Science, but the university's program didn't teach the things I was interested in -- but let me be clear: computers were my primary passion. I got a software engineering job offer after graduation, but I decided to go to grad school instead and I'm now finishing a masters in Computer Science. When I started, I was worried that not having a BS in Computer Science would handicap me compared to other students, but it didn't seem to (or at least grad school is hard enough for everyone that I didn't stand out). My work and my interests are in Free Software, and what I'm finding out in applying for jobs is that companies (especially those that deal with Free Software) care very much about your contributions to Free Software. It's obviously easier to get a handle on someone's skills if their entire portfolio of work is available in public git repositories. In working with different projects, I've also gotten to know developers who work on the teams that I'm applying for jobs on. I feel like this gives an extra advantage that's not easily available in other fields. The summary of this is that the degree doesn't matter so much. What matters (at least in the world of Free Software) is what have you contributed and who have you worked with. Another data point: a number of really good software developers at Red Hat have non-computer degrees or no degrees at all. Owen Taylor (GNOME) - Physics Jerome Glisse (AMD driver) - PhD in Biology Matthew Garret (Kernel, power management) - PhD in Biology Ben Skeggs (Nouveau driver) - no degree |