Ask HN: CS degrees, do they matter again?

Hacker News Discussion ↗

Role of CS Degrees in Hiring Filters

  • Many commenters say degrees matter mainly because companies need crude filters when faced with hundreds or thousands of applicants.
  • HR and ATS/AI tools often auto‑reject résumés lacking “bachelor’s required,” regardless of real skill or portfolio.
  • Several hiring managers admit they personally don’t care much about degrees for senior roles, but recruiters and HR do, especially at large or “prestige” companies.
  • Degrees also affect internal promotion, pay bands, and “high‑potential” talent programs in many orgs.

Experience vs Education Over Time

  • Common view: degrees help most for the first real job; after that, solid experience, references, and shipped work matter more.
  • Counterpoint: even later, deleting the degree line from a strong résumé would measurably worsen outcomes, especially when changing domains.
  • Some long‑time engineers without CS degrees report no issues once they had 5–10+ years of experience; others without degrees say they’re now repeatedly filtered out despite solid track records.

Type and Brand of Degree

  • Strong disagreement here:
    • One camp: any accredited CS degree (including inexpensive online/state options) is a big advantage over no degree and worth ~$5–15k.
    • Another camp: only “tier‑2+” or brand‑name schools significantly change outcomes; low‑prestige or online‑only programs may do little beyond ticking HR’s box and can even be viewed negatively by some managers.
  • Online CS degrees are seen as useful mostly for knowledge and visa/checkbox reasons; few believe they confer the same networking benefits as in‑person top schools.

Alternatives: Portfolios, OSS, Networking

  • Many emphasize portfolios, open source contributions, and personal projects (e.g., games, SaaS, embedded work) as stronger signals than generic degrees, especially in games and startups.
  • Warm referrals and direct access to hiring managers are repeatedly described as more decisive than credentials.
  • Suggested strategies: freelancing, founding or co‑owning products, contributing to notable OSS, attending meetups/conferences, and building a visible “hard thing in public.”

Market Conditions, AI, and Future‑Proofing

  • Multiple commenters describe the current dev market (post‑Covid layoffs, AI, global competition) as the worst in years; even very experienced engineers are sending hundreds of applications.
  • Some see a CS degree as “future‑proofing” against tougher filters, AI‑enabled hiring, and visa requirements; others argue the same time and money would be better spent deepening fundamentals independently and expanding one’s network.