I was watching an Engineering AMA panel (shout out to a great learning resource for newcomers called MASTERMND for hosting it) and one of the questions asked was how many without formal education have broken into the tech industry? As someone with a non-traditional background, it was really awesome and encouraging (especially for ones trying to break in to the industry) to see so many who didn't go the formal education route. I am very curious as to what other stories are out there, so I leave it with the wider Dev audience: What's your story?
Stephen Leyva (He/Him)
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How have many without a college education broken into the industry?
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Top comments (8)
I am a frontend developer without a degree of any kind in Singapore. You could say I stumble upon the tech industry (happily so). When I first graduate with my diploma (in Singapore, this is the level post-secondary and pre-degree).
Started as a show presenter in the zoo, went into fitness, started my own event startup. Through my startup, I did some web freelance job and volunteer for non-profit. Slowly I manage to get a good enough portfolio. First started working full-time in a blockchain company ran by one of my client's husband. And slowly, through continuous learning, personal branding and giving talks, I manage to transit to a front end developer role in my current company.
I wrote an article about my transition on medium: Against all odds: How I rebrand myself from a zoo show presenter to a fitness instructor to a technologist
I have a friend trying to make a career change breaking into the development industry. I gave them your story and they said it’s quite inspiring! Thanks for taking the time to answer!
Thanks for sharing :)
I have a bachelor degree in economics. Work opportunities in my region were terrible and decided to switch to IT. I found my way in the industry by self-learning Python, machine learning and cloud computing to create a SaaS application, which I sold subscriptions for about two years. I entered an agreement with a competitor to incorporate this app in their suite of services and started working as a developer contractor. More recently I joined a startup as developer advocate.
I think for ~90% of dev work demand, companies are more interested in whether you can get things done more than an academic title. The best route here is to show what you've already done, obviously. Or to do it just for the sake of building a portfolio. Paying dozens of thousands of dollars for a university degree won't help.
Honestly, not all but many graduate certificates nowadays don't really say much about your capabilities. University campuses are increasingly geared towards subjectivity and ideology rather than reason, science and practicality.
This story shows a lot of grind! Building your own SaaS application by teaching yourself python and infrastructure is awesome! Thanks for telling your story
I've studied Electronics Engineering, but midway through, I've decided to focus on my programming career, learning stuff and doing freelance gigs. Now I'm almost done with my study but have already completed my first year as a senior developer and worked on several projects. I don't have a diploma and my resume still have a dash for the end date of my studies, but the work sections are almost 1 page
Not that i have non traditional background.
But one of my best friends started coding at the age of 14 and now one of the smartest guys and software developers i know. His formal education: English Linguistics.
This answer shows a lot of passion about your field! Thanks for the detailed answer! This what I find to be so amazing about the industry.