News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on College Is Much More Than a Means to a Higher Salary.

Re:College Is Much More Than a Means to a Higher Salary by StillBored on Wednesday June 03, 2015 @12:16AM (#9650550)
Frankly, I think 15 years out from school the most important thing I got was the 1 line on my resume that says `BS Computer Engineering`. Everything else I either have forgotten because it wasn't applicable to my daily life, or was basic enough that a few months in the "real world" would have either taught it to me, or I have since moved far beyond.

But, that one line keeps the door open when I need to look for jobs. I have an ex-coworker with similar skills, experience, etc. And when looking for positions I get about 2x-3x as many callbacks as he does. HR departments seem to throw his resume away, and the only thing we can think is that it must be the lack of degree.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:College Is Much More Than a Means to a Higher Salary by louthy on Wednesday June 03, 2015 @12:26AM (#9650576)
You have the raw end of the deal, not him. If an HR person can't make a judgement on whether a candidate is good or not other than by their qualifications (or they're actively marking the individual down when they have the experience but not the piece of paper), then the chances of the other employees at the company being chosen poorly is high.

If he got no interviews whatsoever, then it'd be a cause for concern. But it seems to me he's got a more optimal list of possible future employers.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:College Is Much More Than a Means to a Higher Salary by JoeAltmaier on Wednesday June 03, 2015 @12:31AM (#9650586)
Not quite fair. HR people have a huge number of applicants. They need something to winnow down the field. They could choose white males, or blue-eyed females, or athletes, or anything really. And still have a pretty good cross-section of candidates, some with skills.

So they choose college degree, for (somewhat) defensible reasons. And they interview those that pass the filter, and choose 'good fits'. Which is what they'd have done if they had used any filter at all.

[ Parent | on HN ]