GoKawiilIn September 2022, I impulsively signed up for a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science after seeing an ad for it on Coursera. Getting a degree had been on my mind for quite some time, after a long career without one, but I wasn't sure how to go about it. And now, about 3 years and 9 months later (with the last 3 of those months spent waiting for my results), I've finally completed my degree - entirely after hours whilst working full-time.
This article is a brief write-up of my experience.
My Background
My degree-less tech career spans nearly 21 years, with about 14 of those as a software developer and MLE. I left high school early as a teenager; I was ready to enter the workforce and become independent as early as possible. I got into tech through certifications like MCP, MCSA, and A+ (they were all the rage back then), which was enough to land a helpdesk job at 18. From there, I followed my interests, which eventually led to software engineering and, later, a focus on machine learning.
So far, my lack of a degree hasn't been a barrier to my career. I've heard from colleagues that Australia tends to value experience and attitude over formal education, whereas the opposite can be true overseas, so maybe I got lucky in that respect. I'd go as far as to say that being "self-taught" is typically seen as a positive by employers, provided you appear to have actually taught yourself the skills needed to do the job. That said, I'm not really "self-taught" - I think "self-educated" is a better term. I've collected the skills I've needed for the jobs I wanted via MOOCs (shouts to David J. Malan's CS50, Andrew Ng's ML courses and Jeremy Howard's fastai), certificates, books, and Kaggle. I've always had something to put in the Education section of my resume. I've written before about my opinion that Software Development is a Trade, and that education makes sense interspersed with work experience. Of course, I acknowledge that my journey makes me quite biased here.
However, a lack of a degree has impacted my ability to work overseas. In my younger years, I made it to the final rounds of an interview with a US company I was interested in, only to learn that the E-3 visa, an Australia-US-specific agreement, requires at least a Bachelor's Degree. Though I have no intention of working overseas at the moment, it's nice to have the option.
I also genuinely love learning, and I was interested in identifying my knowledge gaps. And it's also an excuse to test out the Zettelkasten Method on a real study problem.
Finally, I'm not getting any younger. I sometimes wonder if I should have got my degree in my 20s. Now, as I approach my 40s, I don't want to be saying the same thing about my 30s.
About The Degree
The degree is done 100% remotely.
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