Breaking Into the Programming Industry: College Education and Portfolios

Question

I'm currently working professionally in the arts/entertainment industry where the quality of your work (as seen in your portfolio) comes before all else. An employer cares about the following in this order:

1. Portfolio
2. Work Experience
3. College Degree

A college degree is a small footnote, easily overshadowed by a strong portfolio.

My question:
How important is a college degree in breaking into the programming industry? Could the above be ordered in importance to the programming industry? Are there other factors that are just as important?

I have practically no college education, but have been programming in my free time since I was < 10 and still continue to actively study it. The lack of college education has actually been a plus for some employers in my current industry as it comes off as self-motivated and passionate (which I am). I'm considering making my programming hobby a career. Does my experience and education (or lack of), help or hurt me?

As a sub question: How common is something like a programming portfolio and what form would it be in? Is it common to send in code samples, links, or otherwise with your resume and application?

Answer 1

You might want to check out this question.

Answer 2

How important is a college degree in breaking into the programming industry?

It's very important. If you're trying to "break" into an industry, that usually indicates that you have no real applicable work experience. Having a degree in the field will compensate for this.

Does my experience and education (or lack of), help or hurt me?

As someone who hires developers, I wouldn't put much stock into the fact that you were programming since 10 years old, however your relevant work experience would trump a degree in almost all circumstances. It's not fair to say a degree will help you, because there are plenty of developers (like me) with a degree that suck at programming, and there are plenty of developers without a formal education that kick butt. If your experience is interesting, and your resume properly highlights it, I would invite you in for an interview and depending on how you answer the questions and how you handle yourself you may be given a job offer.

One thing to note: there are plenty of developers with degree's that also have been programming since they were 10, and have years of experience. By simply having a degree they have set themselves apart from those with similar work experience, but without a degree.

How common is something like a programming portfolio and what form would it be in?

It is not very common in my experience, but it is more common in Web Development, and Game Development positions. That said, unless you are sure your code samples are absolutely stellar and will shock the pants off your potential employers, I would forgo them unless asked. You run the risk of exposing any ignorance you may have in an area.

Answer 3

Programming portfolios are rare to unheard-of, but I think they're an excellent idea. I interview candidates quite a bit, and it's extremely difficult to evaluate someone's abilities without some concrete record of their history. For veteran programmers, this means evaluating their past projects. For new graduates this is usually impossible.

Candidates that come to me and show me a program they've been working on or a web site they've written immediately get a huge boost in my estimation. A candidate who put together an actual portfolio of work (assuming it's not horrible, of course) would be almost a sure hire at my company, whether they had a degree or not.

I think a portfolio is an excellent idea.

Answer 4

Being able to program only gets you so far. You need to have a good grasp of the theoretical foundations in computing to break into the "next" level of understanding. (Which translates into more interesting jobs, better career, etc).

Automata, algorithm analysis, and formal language are the usual suspects here.

Answer 5

I'm not a lawyer, but I've always been afraid of legal issues with regards to creating a portfolio. You've got trade secrets, non-compete clauses, and "we own all of your work and thoughts" clauses to worry about. If you create work for a portfolio on your personal time, will it really be representative of the type of work you devote 40+ hours a week to? I've wanted to create a portfolio, but I don't have the answers to the questions, so I've basically avoided it.

Answer 6

Code portfolios are rare, and for good reason; few people have the time / inclination to read through someone else's code. It's hard enough to do on a professional basis! Seriously, the code readability issue is a big one here.

What's more worthwhile is work experience, and the way that you can demonstrate your knowledge in an interview by answering the interview questions well. That's a much better determination of coding ability than a portfolio.

Consider this, as well; plagiarism is exceedingly easy when dealing with code; how do I know that that code you're presenting is your own and not someone else's? With art, I can look to aspects of original production; with code, it's much harder (not that there's not nearly infinite room for originality in code, but more, since everything is digital, there are no "telltales" that indicate truly original production).

To answer your main question, though; a college education is... not particularly important for getting into the software industry. It's obviously preferred, and it's safe to say that there are strata of the industry that you simply can't get into without one, but at the same time, there is plenty of space in the industry for those who don't have a degree in a technical field.

I think of a former coworker of mine as a great example. He got a degree in acting, apparently because that's where the women were (can't fault his logic on that one). After graduation, though, he was bumming around with different crap jobs; he was very interested in computers. So he got himself a cheap computer, taught himself to program, and then found an entry-level testing job at a local software house. He's still in the industry now, as far as I can tell, and he's very good at what he does.

Answer 7

I find it kind of surprising how many people have responded negatively to the idea of a code portfolio. In my opinion, a carefully selected sample of your work demonstrates that:

• you really enjoy programming
• you are ambitious enough to spend your free time putting a portfolio together.

Granted, I may be biased, because I am in the processes of producing something very similar to what you describe I think. I have found that the best medium for this is a content management system like wordpress or blogger. If you are interested you can see my efforts by clicking here