
Ask HN: What is more valuable career wise, software engineering or computer sci? - gladsva
Hey,<p>For weeks I&#x27;ve been struggling to contemplate the answer to this.. and thought &quot;hey why don&#x27;t I ask the people that run the industry&quot;<p>I am three quarters of the way through my software engineering degree. Meaning I have one more year to go to complete. As it stands now I have enough papers to cover a computer science degree if I was to choose to graduate now. At the moment if I was to graduate I would have a full time at a well respected company.<p>I am still young and in no dire need for money.<p>I have three realistic options here:
- Work part time and finish my software engineering degree.
- Graduate with a computer science degree and work full time.
- Work part time and start working on a side project that could have potential.<p>My question to you guys is.. What would you do?<p>I am in desperate need of some guidance or advice.
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brudgers
Which one do you want to do?

There's no right answer. No grade at the end. And other than going off and
working on a side project, none is likely to have much effect on your career
over the long run. Going off and working on a side project is likely to
negatively affect your career because it will most likely reduce the size and
strength of your social graph and the size and strength of your social graph
usually has a significant impact on a person's career.

Quitting school to work part time probably won't send a strong signal to
future employers either.

Finally, why not get a dual degree/double major/whatever? This would give you
time to line up a post graduation job that would benefit your career more than
whatever job you have now. And it would make your resume stand out.

Good luck.

~~~
gladsva
I wanna do what's my best for my career.

That's the hard part.

I would never consider doing another major, there is no tangible benefits to
it in my opinion, except a structured learning process that seems to be
tailored to the normal achievers. I learn a lot better on my own and a lot
faster.

I am in one of the best jobs I could possibly imagine in terms of my career
point right now. Where I get paid an amazing amount for a junior and I am with
some of the best people in the industry.

~~~
brudgers
I trust you got my point about what probably is not best for your career.
Notice I did not say 'bad' because how the future turns out is just a guess.
That guess rarely matches what someone imagines.

First professional jobs are usually amazing...even when they aren't very
good...because working around professionals is amazingly different than being
in school and the rate at which a person learns is amazingly high. Most people
still find another job after a few years because they have changed more than
the company.

The first few years out of school, school often still matters and it is likely
to matter to your next employer. For your current employer, well you already
got the job and it is not unusual for an employer of students to see school as
a distraction.

It's also not uncommon for companies to serially hire students with the
expectation (and possibly encouragement) to move on after graduation. Before
assuming a long term career at your current company, it's a good idea to take
stock of how many people have moved from student to long-term employee and how
many people have moved from junior to senior employee.

None of which is to say that is the case with your current employer. But in
terms of a career it is good to have options and that means irons in the fire
in terms of other employment and contacts down the road. Again, the most
important resource for your career is your social graph.

~~~
gladsva
Quitting school is not best for my career? But working full time is good for
my career?

So taking the computer science degree and working full time is in my best
interest?

~~~
brudgers
There's no text book and no test. It's real life. There are probabilities and
there is luck. People make their choices and take their lumps.

Your career is probably going to be much much longer than the next year.

------
dozzie
> What is more valuable career wise, software engineering or computer sci?

Industry experience. And you won't get that studying in academia. Finish what
you have there, get your degree, and start working. At this point you probably
won't learn anything of significant value in the university, and after three
to five years nobody will give a damn where you have the degree from.

(I'm not saying that university doesn't teach valuable things, because I'm
today where I am because of what I learned studying; you just are too far now
to select a new school that would bring such benefits in the next four years.)

~~~
gladsva
I think you are probably right. Or am I just trying to convince myself another
year is a waste of time.

But I don't learn a lot from university nor have I ever. But the learning
isn't the valuable part of university, it's that piece of paper to wave at
employers.

What do you think is a more valuable piece of paper, Software engineering or
comp sci? If hypothetically two people came in identically each with the
different degree who would you hire?

~~~
dozzie
If I was to decide, it wouldn't matter which one. I would rather have the
candidate tell me about the projects he's proud of (and why he's proud) or
projects that gave him a big, important lesson (and why).

Even if the candidate didn't have the degree, it could be of little importance
if he provided some evidence of skills (completed projects or work experience
would be enough).

Granted, I haven't been in the hiring position for quite long time, so I may
not be the best person to ask that.

~~~
gladsva
Hiring people never changes, if anything it is gravitating to less and less
care for a degree. So your opinion seems to be perfectly valid to me.

It probably is in my best interest to not go back to university, give me some
time to work and start working on some more personal projects to decide what
area of tech I want to follow.

