what accreditation do most recruiters and hr people look for when interviewing cs grads/candidates for coding jobs?
I’ve never heard of anyone asking about accreditation for coding jobs, but that might be a factor of where I’m located or the type of developers I’ve worked with? What matters more is what you’ve studied and especially what kind of real world experience you’ve had via internships and such.
I did just search to find out NC State, where we hire lots of grads, is an accredited program but I never knew that until today.
Just the normal accreditations I would assume as any other program. ABET is not necessary for Computer Science.
None. They look that you have a CS degree or related degree/experience. Many top programs are not ABET accredited, for example. As long as you’ve taken the required CS courses for the major at your school, it’s usually enough. Some smaller schools may lack some core classes, which can hurt you practically but the degree itself will not be why recruiters won’t reach out.
Here’s a list of core topics that every decent CS major will have beyond the intro courses (which will be most):
Data Structures / Algorithms
Systems / Computer Architecture
Theory / Logic Course of some sorts
Software Development / Project based class of sorts
Here are courses that should be either required or offered as electives. Most schools will require about half of these maybe in their program:
Networks
Databases
Artificial Intelligence
Programming Languages
Compilers
Operating systems is another typical course. Every computer program interacts with the operating system or is part of the operating system, so knowledge of operating systems and how they behave is useful generally.
@ucbalumnus Systems / Computer Architecture was meant to also include operating systems. It goes by many names, not many all that intuitive. Agreed completely on the usefulness.
In another thread, the OP has indicated that he wants to pursue a non-traditional CS degree, specifically a “fast-track online” degree. There are plenty of “online universities” out there, many of which are for-profit, that offer such degrees. However, I suspect that a lot of online CS degrees are of questionable value, and are not necessarily well regarded by potential employers.
It’s true that the traditional CS programs at Elite Private U or Big State U may not need ABET accreditation. But what about a non-traditional CS program from Online U? Would the ABET “seal of approval” add significant credibility in this case? My guess would be “yes”.
Helpful advice from @Corbett - in general, coding academies and the like are looked down upon in industry. I highly doubt a fast track degree would ever be able to cover ABET, or it would no longer be a fast degree.
That changes things. I do know of a few in-person coding academies where the top graduates usually land jobs - but online? Not so much. I would say even traditional CS programs at non-elite private us or state directional universities don’t need to worry so much about accreditation. Especially if the student gets some solid internship experience in the summers. But online fast track degrees? Those wouldn’t make it past the screening process at my company.
For an online school, I doubt ABET accreditation for CS matters. Whether the school is regionally accredited will be more important.
After working over 30 years in the computer biz, I’ve never heard the topic of CS accreditation discussed at work.
There’s no shortcut to learning programming. I would no more trust a “fast-track” CS degree than I’d trust a doctor who got a “fast-track” medical degree.