Re:Ask HN: Should I go back to university?
by herval on Wednesday February 25, 2009 @09:21AM
(#494370)
Speaking as a former enterpreneur, I don't think having a BS represents anything at all.
Speaking as an employee, one thing I came to notice was that the BEST people I worked with did not even attend an IT course (they had graduations on other areas, like math or physics - one in english literature!). Of course there were some IT bachelors in the bunch - what I'm trying to say is that, as far as I've noticed, it didn't make anyone better than the ones without a degree on the field.
I'd get to know new technologies, get to meet new people (both online and offline), take part on things (like JUGs or other technology groups - even give a try at setting up my own, maybe), get involved on open source, write.
Investing in a bit of hype also helps - like jumping on RoR one year ago, when it was 1.0, for instance, would automatically turn you into a 'Rails Hacker', which is a 'niche'.
Bottomline: I don't really think getting back to work or learning 'low level stuff' would really help in anyone's career (except if you plan on becoming an academic).
Speaking as an employee, one thing I came to notice was that the BEST people I worked with did not even attend an IT course (they had graduations on other areas, like math or physics - one in english literature!). Of course there were some IT bachelors in the bunch - what I'm trying to say is that, as far as I've noticed, it didn't make anyone better than the ones without a degree on the field.
I'd get to know new technologies, get to meet new people (both online and offline), take part on things (like JUGs or other technology groups - even give a try at setting up my own, maybe), get involved on open source, write.
Investing in a bit of hype also helps - like jumping on RoR one year ago, when it was 1.0, for instance, would automatically turn you into a 'Rails Hacker', which is a 'niche'.
Bottomline: I don't really think getting back to work or learning 'low level stuff' would really help in anyone's career (except if you plan on becoming an academic).