Are Diplomas Overrated?

When I first began learning software development 14 years ago, I was on a pretty traditional path. I knew I wanted to be a 'computer guy' when I grew up - it had always been my thing. So, naturally, a couple of years out of high school I enrolled in a community college and eventually transferred to Utah Valley University - where I currently teach some of the same classes that I took several years ago.

But do you have to go to college to become a good developer? Absolutely not. Will you get a better/worse learning experience if you go to a boot camp, or do you take some other type of course instead? I think that depends on you — the same as if you go to a university or college.

A Diploma is NOT a golden ticket

As you might imagine, I was very excited to receive my diploma. I graduated from Utah Valley University with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. Here’s the thing though - I had already been a professional developer for four years by the time I graduated. (My degree took me seven years to complete, as I was working full time and supporting a family at the same time.) I can’t speak exactly to what it might have felt like to be a fresh graduate trying to break into the job market. I didn’t want to wait that long so I took any development job I could find. I wanted to get as much ‘real world’ development experience as possible.

After 10 years in the industry, I’ve come to learn something about degrees and certificates — they’re just pieces of paper. Don’t get me wrong; they represent a lot of hard work and sacrifice and are certainly a grand achievement that should not be overlooked. Over the last ten years, I have found, however, that software development is far more ‘skill’ based rather than ‘prestige’ based.

What do I mean by that? I’ll give you an example. If somebody were to be hired onto my team sporting a shiny new master’s degree but they were coming into their first or second programming gig, I would be very wary of their skill until it was demonstrated. Until that person can demonstrate their skill, the degree doesn’t mean much. In fact, by having a master’s degree they set others’ expectations potentially much higher than they can deliver.

Please don’t misunderstand — it is not my intention to discredit higher education and formal training. We need it. I have the utmost respect for those that pursue and make good use of it.

What I take issue with is the attitude so many young professionals have these days that makes them think that a diploma/certificate means that they automatically deserve more respect and higher paychecks. These individuals pay (sometimes) ludicrous amounts of money to obtain an advanced degree, and then are disappointed or angry when they don’t automatically qualify for six-figure positions right out of school because they don’t have the experience to back it up.

An interview example

I sat on an interview once where the candidate had been given a week to develop a simple “Connect 4” game program. No fancy graphics, just print out the game to the terminal if they wanted to - our main focus was to have them demonstrate their coding and problem-solving skills. This individual had been working as a developer for some time - a few years at least. I had a chance to review their code before the interview, and it was immediately concerning. Not only did a lot of it not make sense, but I wasn’t even sure if it was going to work. Once we got into the interview, the candidate even had a hard time explaining how it worked. Not a good look.

Contrast that to a later candidate - not only was their code clean and concise, but they had also gone above and beyond to write a process that automatically deployed their application to the cloud for easy access and testing.

Can you guess which of the two we hired?

Progression in real life takes awhile

I don’t know where this attitude came from of fast-tracking professional success, and I’m no philosopher so I can’t offer any ideas or suggestions off the top of my head. We can blame marketing, schools, smartphones, the economy, or whatever else we want to point at all day, but that’s not going to change anything. Frankly, I don’t know what the answer is either, assuming there is one. Social issues are not my specialty (hence why I’m a computer guy). 🙂

All I can say is that the world is largely going to pay you what it thinks you are worth. Do you think you are worth more than you are getting paid? Then prove it. I know, I know, growth isn’t always possible in certain positions, or with certain managers, etc, etc. I’ve been there before, trust me.

But, you still have control of your own life. If you want to earn more and be trusted with more, then you have to put in the time and effort to earn that trust. You have to put in the time to show employers or customers (if you’re running your own business) what you are worth.

Something else to keep in mind is that you are not going to make a difference in a company or business in a few months. You must be there reliably and continuously if you are going to make an impression.

Platitudes don’t help anybody

All the feel-good stories that I scroll past on LinkedIn about “demanding to be paid what you are worth” are nice to read, but I think they are all garbage. If I was a manager and I had somebody come to me demanding they be paid more because they think they “deserve more” without giving me a good reason as to why that is, they aren’t going to see squat. Maybe that’s harsh, but that’s the truth of it.

Do you want a promotion? Work as if you already got it. Do you want to get paid more? Do the extra work or show the initiative that will move you in that direction. You can even ask your managers what extra work needs to be done, or tell them your ideas. It’s worked for me.

Don’t be discouraged

This article came out as more of a ‘hot take’ than I had intended it to. It is not my intention to look down upon those that are learning and tell you that you have no hope. I am not saying that schooling and learning are irrelevant.

Education is the key to economic opportunity. Work hard for an education. I reiterate though, that the world will largely pay you what it thinks you are worth. Instead of waving a piece of paper in front of everyone and yelling that you are worth something, go and prove it.

Don’t tell the world what you are worth.

Show the world what you are worth.