To Degree or Not Degree

Something that comes up a lot when I talk to anyone wanting to start out in the development sector, is whether I have a degree and whether you need one.

Well, yes, yes I do, I have a BSc in Applied Computing. Do you need one? Well, that opens up a whole can of worms, and this is what I'm here to discuss from my experience.

Does a degree instantly get you a job?

If only, If I could simply walk into an interview, show my certificate and they throw a job offer at me, we'd all be employed. Sadly this is not the case, although having a degree in some jobs is a necessity, meaning having one already gets you through the metaphorical turnstile.

Some companies believe that having a degree gives you more credit than someone who hasn't, that you'd be a better candidate, which obviously isn't necessarily true.

In my opinion, a "good degree" (2:1 upwards) shows you can apply yourself, work hard towards a goal, as well as retain knowledge and learning. After speaking to employers at tech talks and networking evenings, a lot of them share this view.

Do you need a Degree though?

I would have never got my first job without a degree ( as it was a job requirement), but even then it was a junior web developer role. I've still had to work my way up, gaining experience over the last 8 years to a senior role. A lot of real development I've learnt through on job experience and putting things into practice.

All this said, I did also benefit from doing a more varied computing degree, which covered all sorts from web development, coding, networking, solutions design/deployment, agile vs waterfall etc, which gave me a much broader knowledge base than what I feel I'd learn on the job. This certainly helped me in areas such as project management, understanding the development life-cycle, and the theoretical side of computing. This has aided me throughout my career to offer my thoughts, and opinions on improving processes within the businesses I've worked in, fully understand how all layers of dev interact and believe has got me to where I am today.

Could I have done this without a degree?

Of course, I could have taken a multitude of courses, online training modules, and gained knowledge and experience through my jobs. The only downside to this is, if you're company isn't doing something right you could learn bad habits. It's like your parents teaching you to drive, you'll still want some lessons with a qualified instructor before taking your test.

Should I go to University and get a degree?

When I attended Uni, tuition fees were £3,500 per year, nowadays the costs can be anything up to £9,000. I recently paid off my student loan debt (mainly cos mine was low, and I'm currently in a well-paid job). But this is not the case nowadays with the huge increase in course fees.

Statista states that the average student debt leaving university in the UK is £35,950. This is an amount that a student will be paying off for the rest of their life, losing a chunk of their salary each month to repay. So the question is more "Can I afford to lose a chunk of my salary each month for the next 35+ years?"

Is it worth the debt?

My opinion has changed a lot around this question over the last couple of years. After being to Uni myself, I learnt that 75% of a University degree can be self-taught, and it was. I attended lectures which gave me the direction of what and where to learn. However I still then had to teach, and do all the researching myself (some may say this is a skill in itself). You could do this via cheaper online courses for sure.

You will hear others say that it's OK, and should think of a student loan as more of an ongoing subscription for the rest of your life that you'll never pay off. This is kind of true, but as your salary increases so will your student loan repayments! As you student loan payments are calculated based on a percentage of your income (before tax). Think, can you afford to lose that money every month for the rest of your life, will this degree be useful and get you a better job.

You could teach yourself

Online courses, tutorials etc are a great place to learn new skills and languages. The main negative with this approach is preparing to be knocked back from a lot of jobs due to lack of experience when trying to get your first developer role, but maybe you can prove your knowledge and passion within the tech test.

So what do I do?

If you're happy to accept you'll be paying this off for the rest of your life (most likely) with debts ranging from $30-40k. You want to experience student life, potentially gain a meaningful qualification, as well as theoretical and textbook knowledge. Go for it, after all, it may lead to unlocking those more demanding jobs, leading to a better career. It also opens up graduate scheme opportunities both in this country and others, which could allow you to get into some prestige companies.

If you're a more hands-on learner and want to work your way up from the bottom, learning on the go, gaining "life experience" and saving yourself a pretty penny, I'd say teach yourself. Look at popular coding languages, local job requirements, frameworks and learn them. Sign up for online tutoring sites such as PluralSight (i couldn't recommend them enough). You could combine self-teaching and perhaps an apprenticeship, but just remember this industry is becoming a sought after one and the competition is high.

Any questions, or advice on attending University and course material please don't hesitate to comment below or contact me via Twitter "@ Gweaths"