
Ask HN: Can I ever recover if I did not have an undergrad in CS or Math - nus07
I went to school for an undergrad in Industrial Engineering and started working in tech after graduating about 9 years back.
I work mostly on databases, business intelligence and reporting . That’s very business and operations oriented and any job switch seems like I have to start all over again.Also operations seem very susceptible to layoffs .<p>As a result I never seem to break into Software Development and doing programming , ML &#x2F; AI , data engineering despite trying to teach myself through online learning .<p>How can I recover to convince employers to let me work on engineering and software development roles even though my work history is BI and operations? How do I break out of my current cycle to have a rewarding career without going back to school for another degree ?
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mattmanser
I know a lot of programmers without a CS degree. It's pretty common to be able
to get into it indirectly, or at least it used to be (I took the leap in 2005,
but I know of others more recent). It sounds like you've been unlucky not to
get an opportunity to code something or haven't taken enough initative. Could
you have written automation scripts? Testing scripts? VB Macros for Excel
sheets?

They all (including me) have the same thing in common, took it on their own
initiative to code something for work, maybe excel/access/testing
scripts/extension scripts for services. Sometimes they can use that to get a
different job in the same company, sometimes they switch to a junior dev job
in another company. In my case I coded a prototype of a better way of my
company doing something in my own time, but had to move to a junior Dev role
in another company to get to do it for real. I've also heard of developers who
started by doing small freelance jobs for small companies, although they tend
to be terrible (but aren't always) until they get to work with an experienced
Dev as they don't know what they don't know and make very elementary mistakes.

Also, I'd consider a bootcamp before trying a full CS degree as you already
have a logic minded degree. Although not the best time to be trying to get a
junior Dev job in a recession.

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logicslave
The upper end of this field is meritocratic. If you have the chops to write
innovative software, you can do it, and people will recognize it. The mid
level part of this field relies more on credentials.

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morty_s
Recover? You seem to be in pretty good shape. You know databases and how
business intelligence works. Good. You’re almost there.

I’m not sure if I’d tackle ML/DL unless you have the chops for it (I don’t
mean to discourage you, just saying becoming a SWE might be easier/quicker).
However, there’s more tools at your disposal than ever before to guide you
towards your software engineering/ML goals.

One route would be to improve your engineering skills and land a job at a
mature “startup.” Perhaps something boring, with good financials, and
relatively few employees. Some might disagree with this next part: don’t aim
for companies claiming to be doing ML/AI. You’re good with databases, so if
your company lacks an ML engineer, get close to the data and try to add
value—then continue this trend until you can do some meaningful ml tasks.

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ApolloRising
You could get in via a different route. Since you are a BI person learn the
data cleaning scripting that's been in high demand. After that you should be
able to transition.

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sethammons
My degree is BS in Business Admin. I do happen to have a minor in CS. I was a
photography assistant, a fledgling graphic designer, an insurance agent, a
financial advisor, a construction worker, a high school teacher, and, finally,
a software engineer. I worked a crappy minimum wage programming job while
getting my degree at nights for a couple semesters. I kept it up as a hobby
while doing the other jobs/careers and did some websites, some admin portals,
and some accounting tools on the side. I put out a resume, got picked up by a
recruiter, went on some interviews, and got a programming gig. Roughly ten
years later, still developing software.

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dpeck
CS degree here, I don't think you're in a bad place at all with Industrial
Engineering. There have been quite a few times that I've wished I would have
done a dual degree route there to have a better understanding of stochastics
and other IE stuff. I know several friends who did IE in school that are doing
software development now, didn't seem to hamper them at all.

I think you may do better positioning yourself around data/analytics/etc parts
of software engineering to get your foot in the door for a "SWE" job.

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3minus1
I graduated with a minor in CS. It took me 7 or 8 months to get someone to
hire me as a web developer. Once I was in the industry I got a Computer
Science master's while working. Now I work at FAANG. I think if you believe in
yourself (corny as it sounds) and don't give up you can get interviews and a
job.

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non-entity
I mean, plenty of developers exist who never had any education at all, even HS
dropouts. The reality is that a large chunk of software dev jobs arent really
dependent on math of strong CS knowledge and if all you want to do is get in
the industry, you're probably selling yourself short.

