So, you think you need a college degree to get into IT field

[Ancient Dragon]

Here's a good story about a homeless guy that learned how to write programs and was successful.

[ObSys]

That is truely amazing. Not that he can write code, because realistically, anyone can do that given the time and resources...but that someone was willing to give him a chance, that's inspirational.

Thank you for sharing this

Beautiful I love watching these type of stories.

[<M/>]

This is proof that you don't even need to go to school to be great. This kind of makes you question the existance of school... There are a handful of people that have made it in similar conditions as he is in but I find the one man in the story a bit more interesting because instead of getting rid of what he got for money he instead decided to make the best use of it and was pretty successful at it (he is already a lot better than me...).

People that are like him include: John Paul Dejoria, Chris Gardner, Michael Oher, Carnegie (i think), and many more...

That is truely amazing. Not that he can write code, because realistically, anyone can do that given the time and resources...but that someone was willing to give him a chance, that's inspirational.

Very true.

[vegaseat]

Even a blind chicked will find a piece of corn every now and then.

[JorgeM]

great story.

[smslån]

I don´t have a college degree and didn´t use to be interested in IT. I have mow learned everything I now about IT at the Internet by self investigation and believe it or not, now I am very interested in it, I hardly can´t sleep at nights, and just wants to learn more and more.
Now I am into creating a website in 4 languges about smslån. No it´s not beauticful - Yet :-) But I am learning new things every day because now I have the interest. That´s all you need . No college degree.

[JorgeM]

My life experience has tought me that the "secret sauce" in the recipe of sucess is passion... not a piece of paper. That's not to say I do not value a college education, because i highly value it, but the college degree is one tool out of many that you will need in your toolbox. Without the passion, the rest of the tools are not as useful... just my two cents..

[Reverend Jim]

Yes, it's a great story, but unfortunately it misleads people into believing that writing good code is a skill that can be picked up on the fly. Knowing how to nail two pieces of wood together does not mean you are capable of designing and building a house that won't collapse under its own weight. Any complex piece of code requires knowledge of proper design techniques.

[JorgeM]

I would hope that the message that most people would get is that being homeless doesnt mean being useless.

[<M/>]

My life experience has tought me that the "secret sauce" in the recipe of sucess is passion... not a piece of paper. That's not to say I do not value a college education, because i highly value it, but the college degree is one tool out of many that you will need in your toolbox. Without the passion, the rest of the tools are not as useful... just my two cents..

That is why a lot of tech companies are ignoring degrees and certifications... they just look at your experience.

[­V­­]

My life experience has tought me that the "secret sauce" in the recipe of sucess is passion... not a piece of paper. That's not to say I do not value a college education, because i highly value it, but the college degree is one tool out of many that you will need in your toolbox. Without the passion, the rest of the tools are not as useful... just my two cents..

That is why a lot of tech companies are ignoring degrees and certifications... they just look at your experience.

Yep, that´s absolutly true!
Many company really ignore your academic qualifications.
It doesn't matter if you have no degree. Try to find your way into the IT-World!

[jwenting]

Having a degree is not required, but it sure helps getting a foot in the door.
Doesn't have to be an IT related degree though, anything in the sciences especially will teach you valuable skills unrelated to the exact discipline, effectively teaching you to learn and think independently and outside the box, making you more likely to be a valuable addition to the team.