Ask HN: Do employers care whether my Computer Science degree is a B.A. or B.S?
Yes, it's a serious question. I'm a community college student who is applying this fall to transfer into a University of California. Although most universities offer CS as a B.S. degree, some offer it in BOTH B.S. and B.A. The B.S. degree would require me to stay an extra year to finish a math class and the physics series, however I've been in CC for too long and would like to transfer as soon as possible.
I was thinking of going for the B.A. degree, but I would like to know if that would put me at a disadvantage later on when I'm applying for jobs. Thanks.
20 comments
[ 2.4 ms ] story [ 62.9 ms ] threadThe first big thing is to get your associates and get to the university.
Good luck.
We're hiring at our startup, Sococo. Check it out, now or when you graduate.
I have another question. I see you're located in Mountain View. I'm assuming you receive a lot of applications from top tier universities such as Stanford and Berkeley. Is the degree still not that important?
Assuming you get two applicants of equal ability, one is from a top tier college and the other from...let's say a CSU college. Would you be biased towards the more elite applicant?
Sorry if these questions are silly. I'm really interested in the recruiter's perspective though.
I'm from a state U. Our chief Architect completed his degree decades after leaving college. Our VP of Eng. has no degree. Humility aside, all are top-knotch professionals with years of experience.
Of course we also have PhD's and Stanford graduates. Because they rock. But other people rock too.
We'v hired unknown people based on personal references, and we have a great team. Enthusiasm, smarts, a willingness to jump into a chaotic environment and swim like mad to stay afloat are all more important than technical credits.
Long answer: They do not.
Find something interesting to work on while you're in school. You'll gain experience and have something to talk about in job interviews.
I remember when I applied for my first full-time, non-freelancing job. I do not have a degree (I had been in the field for long enough to feel that I had significant experience), so I would not bother looking at postings that requested one. Therefore, I did not bother submitting my resume to my that employer.
Instead, a headhunter found my resume, the company interviewed me and they ended up hiring me. I was fairly close with the person responsible for hiring me, and he stated that the degree never crossed his mind. Instead, they looked at the source code for one of my free software projects at the time and thought that I would be fit for the position.
I was later actively involved in the interviewing process for new candidates, and a degree was the last thing on any of most our minds. In fact, when asking for code samples, we found that many with degrees had only elementary knowledge because they only completed what was necessary for the course, but did not apply themselves any further.
That said, these were the opinions of my employer; others may not feel the same way. If you are able to provide extensive examples of your work to your employer (e.g. source code if you are applying for a programming position), that is likely to be more representative of your ability than a degree that only says "Yeah, (s)he completed this course."
Case in point: when I applied to grad school it did seem to be a big deal that I have a BA and not a BS. I took this (among other things) as a sign I didn't actually want to go to that school...
A bachelor's degree - BA or BS - is more about your particular courses and program of study than anything about the letters.
I'm still in academia - at a liberal arts college, marlboro.edu - and don't have much experience with what employers want. But my CS students - most with BA's - seem to be doing fine.