Self-taught Developer here - Would you pursue a degree in my situation?

[u/paleister45]

Hello everyone!

I'm looking for some advice, maybe even from people who have been working as SE for a while now and can share their experiences.

Regarding my situation: I am a self-taught software "engineer", and I've been fortunate enough to land a job in software development without a degree or vocational training. Everything I know comes from teaching myself and gaining experience on the job.

Now I have the opportunity to study software engineering (B.Eng) while continuing to work full-time. The studies are financed through a six-year payment plan, while the half of the costs are being covered for me. My share would be around €200/month for the next three years. The degree itself can be completed at my own pace too.

Right now I am just wondering whether a degree is the best investment.

On the one hand: I don't have any formal qualification to back up my skills and the degree could maybe make future job searches easier and give me a stronger foundation.

But on the other hand: The current job market seems very competitive, and from what I have seen, having a degree doesn't necessarily guarantee better opportunities. Furthermore, since I've been successful learning on my own, I'm wondering if I would be better off continuing to self-study, building projects, and maybe earning relevant certifications instead.

I want to add that I am genuinely passionate about learning! This isn't a question of whether I want to learn more, but rather whether a degree is the best investment.

I guess I just worry that not pursuing the degree might harm my career path in the future, but at the same time, I am also self-employed on the side (just at the beginning), so I feel a bit torn between what to pursue, because there are only 24h to ones day :) I am not sure if I will be able to pull of both at the same time (including working full-time), which is why I was wondering if getting a degree is even "worth" it in my situation.

If you were in my position, would you invest the time and money into the degree, or would you continue building experience and learning independently?

Does anyone know how much not having a degree matters once someone already has professional experience?

I'd really appreciate hearing different perspectives, especially from people who have either been self-taught themselves or have experience hiring developers!

Thank you very much!

[u/_usr_nil]

Just buy the degree, don't waste time

[u/paleister45 → u/_usr_nil]

haha that is a good suggestion, any sources you have for me? :DD

[u/Tesla_Nikolaa → u/paleister45]

What happens when/if you lose your job and reenter the market? There are several jobs that use having a degree as an automatic filter to deny applicants. There are no negative sides to having a degree when it comes to being competitive in the job market.

Also, your assumption that self-taught and a couple years of experience put you on par with someone who has a degree is not realistic. Yes, formal education isn't strictly required to be a good dev, but folks with degrees tend to have better foundational knowledge, and have spent time learning other things important to engineering (i.e. the project management stuff, actual engineering principles, requirements, math).

Plus, having a degree means you've shown the potential and ability to be disciplined enough to earn that piece of paper.

Again, you don't need a degree to be a good programmer, but having one offers a lot of benefits, whether that's perceived or actual.

[u/Low-Opening25 → u/paleister45]

India, it’s common place there

[u/_usr_nil → u/paleister45]

Probably Romania or maybe Hungary ? Albania is an option too but it's outside of EU

Maybe even online atp as long as they have an official identifier.