My name is Hunter, and I am in somewhat of a dilemma - looking for possible advice. Here’s my background.
I started going to college for business marketing a few years back. Honestly, I find the things they are teaching to be outdated and inapplicable (I’ve been doing marketing for 8 years and none of the things we are learning I have used with actual companies and I’ve worked with billion dollar companies in the past). With that being said, I also do computer science and have many many years of experince in that field.
Here’s my dilemma - I could finish my degree in a subject that doesn’t interest me, ie business marketing, or continue to self teach Machine learning, python, C, and gain experience - all of which are topics that I truely am passionate about. So is it worth it to give up two years of self teaching and diving into CS for a piece of paper that “qualifies” me to get a job in something that doesn’t even interest me.
Any advice would be super appreciated. If you’ve graduated with a business degree or have self taught anything and can tell me some insights, that would be great.
Why not combine the two? It seems like theres alot of money to be made in software that deals with money/marketing/finances if youre interested in that. For example, Elon Musk wouldn’t have ever been able to fund his companies if he hadn’t created and sold paypal.
Well the business marketing degree is only worthless to you because you don’t see the value. All businesses need to be aware and use what you are learning or they can’t make it as a business and they fail.
Self taught CS people are not going to get jobs. There are too may degreed CS people to hire so if you want to branch to CS, change your major, see if you can take some classes online that your college will accept to help speed the process and go for it.
Well, I’d like to amend that. People who teach themselves software development can absolutely get jobs…BUT they generally should have a bachelor’s degree. Take two people of equal age and no work experience who both taught themselves programming; one has a bachelor’s degree in English, and the other has no bachelor’s. Most hiring managers in tech are going to hire the one with the BA in English. Even if it’s not directly related to what you do every day, many companies/managers feel that a bachelor’s degree imparts some skills and knowledge that not having one doesn’t.
A lot of companies say that they will hire good developers et al. without a bachelor’s degree, and technically they will (I actually know someone on a team I work very closely with who has no degree). BUT the chances are very slim, and you will find it difficult to advance or move to other positions even with the work experience.
So I don’t think you necessarily have to change your major. You can add a minor or just take some classes in CS and finish up in business marketing.