BBC Online - Do you need a degree to work in tech?

You absolutely don't need a degree to work in Tech. For entry-level roles, we look at candidates from all backgrounds. In the digital marketing space, even a small amount of practical experience often trumps academic qualifications. When recruiting, we look at values alignment, ability to problem-solve, and potential
- rather than just whether someone has a degree or not.

The apprentice route has also been very successful for us - we run an apprenticeship scheme where we take on apprentices each year. One of our apprentices (over 8 years) progressed to become Head of the Department, and all have moved into successful full time roles after their apprenticeship.

I'm an ex-recruitment leader, previously leading hiring for an FTSE100 company (tech hiring). I am now the co-founder of an HR technology consulting business. I do not have a degree.

Hi, I am a recruitment consultant focusing on tech recruitment. In response to your question, it is not necessary for individuals to have a degree to work in tech. There are many amazing bootcamps and alternative routes into the industry which are becoming more popular now, with a huge rise in individuals looking at changing careers during Covid when many were on furlough.
In the tech industry, skills and experience often hold significant value, and employers often look at practical knowledge and abilities over formal education. Some tech professionals have acquired their skills through self-study, online courses, coding bootcamps (as mentioned), or by working on personal projects. Demonstrating a strong portfolio or relevant work experience has helped people to secure roles in companies who are looking at a more practical background, for example those with prior work experience who can demonstrate commercial understanding.

I have worked in the MSP (outsourced business IT department) industry for 12 years, and a manager of personnel for 11 of those years. I have a degree in Economics myself.

A degree is certainly not necessary to work in tech. Liberate IT prefer to recruit apprentices who are just starting their career since they don’t come with any bad habits (technical or procedural) and often bring fresh ideas on how we could operate. We train our staff in-house like many in the industry do, to ensure the correct standards are met at the best price, for us to compete in what is a very competitive market.
We thoroughly interview, vet, and trial new employees to ensure they meet our criteria, rather than look at qualifications.

Those I have worked alongside, with degrees, often share that their degree counts for nothing. University degrees operate too far from the industry they are supposed to prepare you for. Vendor qualifications are the only thing that make a difference in IT support.

I left school in 1988 at 16 years old and never got a degree. Thirty-six years later and I'm still working in the field. The key is to be curious, and keep in a cycle of learning. As we've seen with AI, Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies in the media, it's like fashion, things change every season. The key is to anticpating the season trends and how to learn them quickly.

Degrees are a gauge of good research methods and have their place, however if you want to code then there's nothing stopping you learning to code.

If you don't have a degree don't worry, show your expertise, and showcase your code publicly. Good code gets noticed. After being told I needed a PhD to work in AI and machine learning I was asked to write two books for an international publisher, which worked better than a degree or PhD for me.

Don't be fooled, anyone can work in tech. It's other people that make the barriers.

Degrees are overrated in tech. Over the past 20 years' I've seen first-hand how some of the brightest prospects have managed to progress through the ranks, even in super-technical fields such as software development, despite not having done a Computer Science or similar degree. There doesn't seem to be the same level of trust (amongst technical hiring managers at least) that universities are preparing students for careers in the fast-moving tech industry compared to other more traditional fields, so preference is instead given to those candidates who can demonstrate a genuine passion for tech through attending self-funded bootcamps which are lean, highly practical and much more representative of the job they're going to be doing.

During my many years of advising and coaching early-stage tech businesses and being an investor in some of them, I have come across quite a few successful people in tech that did not start there, nor have a degree in it. This includes coders that are self-taught and brilliant in what they do, as well as people with great business ideas that become CEOs of tech companies that they founded - they built their own ladder instead of trying to convince someone to let them climb it, with or without a degree.