[bookreader]

I don't really have any advice here, because I'm in a somewhat similar situation myself.

But I'm curious about what your skillset and CS knowledge are, since I'm trying to decide whether I should go back to college or continue working (I'm a little worried about how hard it might be to get a job in the future).

I'd definitely appreciate it if you could describe your skillset and CS knowledge, so I can get an idea of how talented a programmer needs to be to get jobs without a degree. Thanks!

[testerofwaters]

I know about basic data structures and know about order of growth. That (and intelligence) will get you through most CS-y interview questions.

Otherwise, the reason I get these offers is because 1) I'm skilled in something that is in particularly high demand (Ruby), so people are more willing to excuse inexperience (but I get rejected often anyway), and 2) I apply to a lot of companies/startups - you only need to have a good day once.

[bookreader]

Thanks for the response. That's interesting to know. What are these interview questions like?

Are they basic questions about lists, stacks, trees, and graphs (and the corresponding algorithms)? Or are they puzzle type questions that you're just naturally good at?

Also, have you mostly had success with startup companies? I'm slightly worried about a bubble in the startup space, though I really have little idea how valid my worries are.

[testerofwaters]

There is a wide variety in the type and format of questions I'm asked.

Phone screen type questions might be stuff like fibonacci, find the min in an array, or find the intersection (shared duplicates) of two arrays.

In-person stuff varies: some companies ask me more practical/specific stuff like Ruby/CSS/JS implementation/coding/design/architectural questions. Others ask puzzle type questions that require me to use data structures in clever ways. Interestingly, hashes and trees are my go-to data structures. Do depth-first search and breadth-first search and that'll get you pretty far with trees. 90% of questions I'm asked require using hashes and/or trees in clever ways.

I actually find interviewing gets more and more fun as you get into it.

[bookreader]

Interesting, thanks for the response. Have you mostly had job offers from startups, or are medium / big companies also interested in you?

Also, what kind of software are these companies building?

Sorry for the many questions, I'm trying to get a better idea of what the market is like for people without degrees.