Re:Ask HN: Can a liberal arts BA who can write code break in...
by bitemix on Wednesday June 25, 2014 @05:34PM
(#7946866)
I disagree. I'm employed by Amazon, and have gotten interviews with Facebook, Twitter, and Microsoft without a degree of any kind. If you can prove you can keep up and have a body of work behind you, credentials matter much less.
Re:Ask HN: Can a liberal arts BA who can write code break in...
by Spoom on Thursday June 26, 2014 @09:39AM
(#7949535)
You could be right. I've had internal recruiters at Amazon try to get me on a phone interview; I always assumed that I'd be filtered out once I did the interview though. I've read a lot of anecdotal evidence that Google and the like have high academic requirements but maybe they're more flexible than I thought.
Re:Ask HN: Can a liberal arts BA who can write code break in...
by twunde on Friday June 27, 2014 @10:34PM
(#7957248)
I believe that Google is changing as I read somewhere that they found no correlation between a good degree and good gpa after a few years of work experience.
In general, most places have figured out that you don't need a college degree, but you will need to have work experience to show that you have the skills needed.
I recommend you do some freelancing as it's potentially the easiest way to break into the industry in your situation. Look at markets like http://guru.com/ and see if you can find projects that match your skillset.
Build up a bunch of five star feedback, and then start applying for full time positions (if that's what you want) with your freelancing profile as your portfolio. Worked for me!
(Note as some others have mentioned, however, that you will not be able to work for a top software company like Google or Microsoft as you will be instantly filtered out for lack of academic qualifications. Your only real path into one of them is through an acquisition.)