programming jobs without degree

[Feoggou]

Honestly, if someone I was interviewing said that, I'd just end the interview right there and then. I wouldn't really care how many years of "self taught" experience they have.

That is the problem with "Self Taught". Its not a question of having or not having a given skill, its a matter of amount of background, and (proven) ability to learn said skill.

The point in having a degree is not just saying "I am skilled at programming", but saying "I've learned already learned tons of things. I've graduated, which proves I can (and will) learn the required skills, and anything else you'll potentially throw at me. I have a background in Math, Physics, Algorithm and Economy, so I can understand the point of the project, and, maybe eventually lead its development. I will not stare at you like a retard every time you mention things like Fourier Transform or Logarithmic Scale. I can think for Myself".

Without a degree you might be able to get a job, but as a tech rank. And probably stay there.

Anyways, that's my view on the thing. As was also mentioned, a Degree, regardless of what, is better than nothing. The sole fact that you have a degree means you actually took the time and effort to take and stick to a cursus, and that is already something employers will appreciate. Saying "6 years of self taught" means nothing.

a few things:
1. can you recommend me some books on maths, physics and perhaps algorithms? and... is economy really necessary? I've always disliked even thinking about it. I mean, something that is NEEDED.

2. I tell you this just so you would undertand me: if I would have lived in a rich and developed country, in a large city, with a very important university that would have taught all that is needed and did that properly and I would have had the money, I would have NEVER thought about learning programming home instead. On the contrary, the 'advanced' programming techniques that I've learnt in faculty - it was a course named something like that - I could have done them myself in the high school, I had useless subjects (like one that asked us to learn the definition of an alphabet, of a letter, what is that a language, formulas about them, how to arrange the letters to form a word, etc.), the Artificial Inteligence course had unexplained abstract schemes, was full of abstract definitons and nothing concrete, while the teacher that 'taught' that seemed to have not known anything about what she was 'teaching', etc.

So, all I can do is make use of what is AVAILABLE to me. And that is, self-teaching and, if I get a job in C++ programming, to learn there more and more. I said these so I would not seem like a "not willing to do anything" guy.