Is it realistic to become a programmer without education – experts answer

There are more and more programming courses for both beginners and experienced IT specialists. Many companies require applicants to have a higher education. At the same time, there are many stories on the Internet about how programmers without education, self-taught, got great jobs.

Let’s figure out whether self-education can secure a place in a good company – or is it just an addition to basic training.

Is specialized education important for a programmer?

No, the portfolio is more important

Your answer in the comments

Answer

What do managers and leads say about programmers without education?

Alexander Bochkin

General Director of Infomaximum

As the CEO of an IT company – and just for a long time, closely and thoroughly in this area – I can say the following:

The good news is that you can get into IT without a specialized education and being self-taught. Among our programmers, for example, there are physicists, biologists, and district police officers. One of the interesting cases was a developer with a Youth Olympic Games medal in athletics.

The bad news is that it’s difficult. However, if the candidate has sufficient skills, then he may well qualify for junior positions in development or testing <...>.

If a “no-brainer” candidate performed well at the initial interview, then he will have exactly the same chances as the others – he will receive a test task, on the basis of which a further decision on employment will be made. We have a case where a person decided to change his profession as a methodologist at a factory, began taking a specialized course in Python, in the process switched to a video course on JavaScript on YouTube, and then came to us. He received the offer only the second time, now the team lead.

If a candidate without “online courses” decides to apply for our vacancy, his chances of getting hired will be absolutely equal to those of other candidates.

<...>

Alexander Shapovalov

Software engineer, Siroca team lead, information systems architect

<...> From experience in selecting candidates, I know that in the IT field the main thing is not the qualifications, but knowledge and work experience; a well-executed technical task gives a much greater plus than any honors diploma.

The companies I was lucky enough to work for averaged between 40 and 60 percent self-taught, and among them were leading specialists with salaries above the market average.

Any modern student or even a high school student can find time for 4–8 hours a day to study for 6–12 months, so that later, using the chosen technology, they can become an intern and a junior specialist in a year. Numerous freelance exchanges allow you to gain work experience. Nowadays, the process of self-learning can be accelerated by finding an AI assistant for yourself in the form of the same ChatGPT, essentially a personal teacher who will always prompt and correct your code, explain what does not work and why.

Therefore, I strongly advise everyone who is interested in the IT field, no matter where they currently study or work, to first of all engage in self-study, write your own projects, take freelance orders, only through practice in IT can you become a sought-after specialist, regardless of availability of specialized education.

Alexandra Balod

Coach, trainer, ex-COO of a product IT company

<...> Yes, it is still possible for a self-taught person to get a job, but it will require significant effort. Most often, such candidates start with positions of junior developers, analysts, business analysts, project managers, marketers, user support, and designers.

There are practically no restrictions here, because the IT field is not only software development. I know an HR manager who became a project manager and now helps technical teams. Sometimes during interviews, office managers say that they want to get tested later, and this is possible, since many companies promote internal training and are happy to develop an internal talent pool. The main thing is not to wait for a miracle and to take the initiative in your own development.

<...> Specialized education or courses sometimes provide a more structured approach, more extensive and in-depth knowledge in the subject area, but do not guarantee success for the trainee, since thinking skills and independence depend only on the person.

If you have spent a lot of time on self-study and practical tasks, are able to independently understand tasks and priorities, and are sincerely interested in what you are studying, this will be a definite plus when passing an interview.

<...> First of all, the employer is interested in real skills and knowledge, so if you have a portfolio, this will be a huge advantage. You can try to take on freelance projects to create a package of completed work; this will show your interest in the professional field and some work experience. Complete test tasks, they can be used to supplement your portfolio. Prepare a resume, it should not be empty, indicate internships or the skills that you acquired during self-study <...>.

What do the IT people themselves say?

Andrey Makarov

Lead developer Islamic Coin

I’ve been in the industry for more than 10 years (I think I’ve lost count of 12), and I got into it when there wasn’t all this dominance of online schools. I have an education, but I went to study when I already had 2 years of work experience in my specialty, and that’s because I was tired of listening to my colleagues whining that without a diploma all roads are closed.

Came into the industry self-taught. I got my first job by a rather convenient coincidence; I worked in that company in a different position and proved myself well, and they gave me a chance. I passed all subsequent places solely based on my knowledge. At all my places, they never asked about my diploma and were only interested in experience or the ability to solve problems.

If you don’t have a diploma or courses that will make you a senior in a week, it’s quite possible to get a job if you’re proactive. If you doubt that they will listen to you, you can always ask to do a small test before starting communication, showing the potential employer that you are interested in him and that you are ready to demonstrate your skills before starting communication. Well, plus the portfolio of what has been done will expand. It’s also a good idea to have a Github with a couple of demo projects (just please, not the ones given in courses, IMHO a potential employer is not at all interested in looking at a bunch of the same type of repositories, where everything is like a carbon copy, standing out from the crowd). You can also try to get an internship at a large company; a line in your resume that you interned there can be very helpful in finding your first normally paid position (unless, of course, they subsequently make an offer in the same company).

And a little about programmers without education from Reddit users

dapper_Dev

I don’t have a degree and have no problem getting a job, but this is mainly due to the fact that I have practiced for a long time and have gained a very deep knowledge of what I do.

Most of the self-taught people I spoke to only had superficial knowledge, so companies stopped trusting such people.

You can still get a job without experience or a degree, but you have to really stand out. Try to do something rare or, more importantly, network at conferences. Personal connections will bring much more than any pet project.

mikolv2

To this day, the best developer I ever worked with was a self-taught guy, didn’t go to college or university, the guy was obsessed with programming, was a genius, was very good at explaining his thinking, helping others.

There will always be a place for people like him. But there are a lot of videos on TikTok and YouTube of people saying that all you need to do is one short free course to become a software developer. And as a result, we end up with a bunch of “programmers with no education” who struggle to code.

Feev00

If you’re self-taught, you should be EXTREMELY good. It doesn’t matter how many technologies you list on your resume. You will need a serious portfolio and deep theoretical knowledge underlying many things.

Education is easier when it comes to screening out candidates. You, as an employer, know that they have a theoretical basis, experience working in a team, and some kind of portfolio.

In addition, a good training program <...> – simulation of work in a company, preparation of complex projects, immersion in the labor market. And when you hire people, you want to select not those who probably MAY not be bad, but those who at least know the basics and have definitely practiced and received feedback.

Velasco

Read books, don’t take dubious courses. The books tend to dig deeper, perhaps at the master’s program level.

<...> You can become a professional if you study and program on your own for several years. <...> Perhaps you will become much better than university graduates.

At the very least, I know quite a bit about the topics I studied at university, but I have a very good understanding of what I learned on my own. It is from the latter that the most interesting and attractive projects are born.