I dropped out of college to take a game job, and while I have enjoyed a decent amount of success based on that decision, recently I have begun to see where not having a degree could be holding me back in some ways. While I don't think that having a degree would have helped me much in the way of my current career field (I have enough real-world experience in my portfolio now to make any kind of degree a moot point in what I do), there are other things that I might be interested in doing that require a degree. For example, if you ever get burnt out on the whole game thing (average time someone lasts in the game dev biz is 5 years) then a degree is going to be very helpful in more traditional fields. If you ever decide you want to teach game development, you will need a degree no matter how long your mobygames list is. If you are already on your way towards a degree, I would go the extra mile and see it through.

Hi,

I had to chime in on this one. I have been developing software for almost 12 years... and I don't even have a college diploma. I have not had trouble finding jobs, I am currently at my 5th location by choice... The paper does help get your foot in the door, but all my employers agree, including my first one, that's what it's good for. Later on it's all experience and work ethic. On my first job, they laid off two programmers that both had CS Degrees, but their work ethic, knowledge and creativity was not up to par...

But def get it done, because now I am attempting to get my CS degree through correspondance, and man it's tough, I wish I finished it the first time through...

O BTW, I got into my first job through a CO-OP placement, they decied to give me an offer and I chose it, instead of finishing my degree...

Quote: Original post by vetroXL
I have been developing software for almost 12 years... and I don't even have a college diploma.

In fairness the industry was totally different 12 years ago. Few employers required a degree whereas now many require a degree or equivalent experience (which your 12 years of work are clearly equal too).

[Edited by - Obscure on November 28, 2006 3:23:54 AM]

I also want to reiterate that the industry is changing and it is getting harder to get into without degrees ... partially because it has become more BIG BUSINESS than hobby oriented ... with multi-million dollar budgets and such ... and partially just because so many people are going into the Comp Sci programming career field for the good money it pays that you have to compete against them.

Where I work (a game company you may have heard of), your resume will not get past HR screening for a programming position without onew of a college degree or industry programming experience on a verifiable title (i.e. we know who you are already).

do your degree + build your engine.

I was in the game industry for 5 years.
Because the salery was very low, i quit making games
and started doing my degree.
Some years later i started in the game industry again.
The salery was much higher as before, but i realized
that i could earn much more in other fields of the industry.
Without the degree i would not be able to get into the other
field as easy as i could with the degree.

Don't be a gambler with your possibilities. Betting on one side
is to much risk, which you don't have to do.
Now, you could do both, your degree and building your engine.
At the end, your degree can boost your career.

good luck