[quote=deadzone]Hey I’m anti formal education and particularly a critic of snob schools like Ivy or UC system as being overrated so I’m not the snob here. I’m merely pointing out a pet peeve that everyone in technology likes to call themselves Engineers even if the don’t have a degree in Engineering. I think that is inappropriate and unnecessary. Bottom line you don’t have to be an “Engineer” to code smart phone apps.
But I do realize the reality of the situation is there is virtually no chance to get your foot in the door as an entry level developer at any serious technology company without a CS degree or similar. And without that foot in the door you can’t gain the industry experience needed for any higher paying job.[/quote]
Wrong on both front. Although it’s easy to write fart app, it’s a whole other story to write an app that talks to a bio-medical device and the cloud that can be a life-or-death situation. A mobile device is much more powerful than a mainframe from the 70s. You can do so much with it, so it really depends on what you need the app to do.
As for getting your foot in the door, I’ve hired plenty of bootcampers. There are some diamonds in the rough there, but it’s fewer and farther in between. They also need more mentoring and training. It’s like hiring someone after they finish their sophomore year. If you need warm bodies to write code and have the processes to train and mentor, then I would not shy away from bootcampers. Like I said before, grit, communication, ownership, and humility rank much higher for me than absolute technical superiority. You can teach someone to be a better coder, but you can’t teach someone to have ownership of what they build or have grit and humility.
