Ask HN: Should I focus on my job or my degree?
I can't help wondering, which of the two should I be prioritising? It's not a run-of-the-mill startup (so far we've worked with the NHS, the RAF and a whole raft of local businesses and innovators). I've had the chance to play with a lot of cool technologies (Nodejs, Go, MongoDB, Redis, Phonegap etc) and thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience. If we get off of the ground, there is a directorship waiting for me when I graduate.
Succeeding as a company however, is going to mean working hard for it this year, not something I can do alongside studying at uni. I can probably coast my degree and get a 2:1 or 2:2 or I can focus and almost certainly end up with a first. Which is going to count for more in the long run? The classification, or the experience?
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Thoughts and advice are very welcome.
9 comments
[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 31.2 ms ] threadIn terms of grades, I found that only my first two jobs cared about GPA - I took it off my resume shortly after because work experience became much more important. That's not to say you should give up on your GPA entirely, but in my experience companies care far less about GPA than they care about whether or not you can actually code.
Moreover, I was really excited about technology (I'm 36 now, and it was a very different field then), and even tech support seemed like a way to learn more/faster/better than whatever I might have learned in school -- partly due to how sad CS education was back then, but partly because IT was still a developing field, and real world experience trumped college experience, at least in my mind, and at least at the time.
That said, if you've already gotten to your final year, it would be literally foolish of you to abandon your current investment for a job, especially when that job will be there later, and especially when that job isn't already paying you ridiculous amounts of money.
In short, if you aren't already a millionaire, finish your degree. Even if it's just to have on paper, throwing away > 75% of your current education costs is just a silly investment.
If what you are getting in your job experience is valuable - that is excellent - however, if you are building true relationships (where relationships are built on trust - almost approaching - perhaps beyond a romantic level) - then. Don't rule out the CS program - there has to be at least one or two professors in the department that you hit it off with - and if not in CS, maybe in another department. When you are in college, there is an open-door policy with professors - depending on how persistent you are.
Avoid burnout by not putting everything into one area of your life. Its inevitable (depending on your focus, type-A ness) but you can hedge by doing stuff where no one cares what you do outside of that sphere (e.g. drawing portraits in a drawing class)
Ultimately, as you progress in your life, you build your own community. The size and strength of it depends on you, your leadership ability - and your ability to inspire others to do what they want to do (the true Internet superstars like Zenhabits, Problogger et al. build communities in the millions).
I've been in my small share of companies/long-term projects (with friends) that sometimes end up - the friendship isn't strong enough to survive the problems that may arise.
And, as others said, the degree is an important quasi-legal HR credential (look up Griggs v. Duke Energy) and signal that you were able to start and finish a large project
Also, diversify your basket - take a theater or short/long-form improv class or art class. All CS and coding makes for a boring Jack once you get outside that bubble - and you will - especially for romantic relationships with Jill - and you want to run up the hill...
Outside of CS I am a focused musician and graphic designer and I like to use that as both an escape and as diversification, so I'm not too worried about ending up as a boring Jack.
Somewhat due to my poor wording, it seems like people got the impression that I would be dropping out (or giving up on my degree), this is not the case. I just need to know how important it is that I achieve a good grade? Is it worth the sacrifice of job experience and possibly the position within the company?
So to answer your question - I have had many project-based relationships. When the project ended, the relationship ended. However, in a few cases, I remained friends, however loose, with a few individuals. The answer to your question is to try to work with and be around with individuals you want to be around with. And do not let the work be the only definition for the relationship.
Truely extroverted connected people have multiple circles of friends with concentric circles of trust and intimacy. For example, this means, many people might want to have some of their time but they get to choose who they spend time with. And having known a few of these successful individuals (who I need to clarify are not always extroverted - but passionate for their cause), they make you feel important when you meet with them.
So in closing of this ramble, do not be biased who you spend time with - but make the most of it - and if you do not like each other, it is natural and ok to drift.