computer science degree

Interesting post.

I don't think you need computer science in particular but it is beneficial. I recently got a job offer in Software Engineering at a large company but my background is Mathematics and I certainly did not go to a top tier university but the institution was good enough for me.

I would say Software Engineering is a varied role where not only do you need the programming skills (computer science) but you need other skills like passion for technology, communication, teamwork & commercial awareness. The role encompasses different areas of project management too so its really different to Software Developer who is more specialised on programming/testing/maintenance and maybe even training.

I have connected with a lot of Software Engineers via LinkedIn (highly recommended) and found that their backgrounds are vastly different, even psychology degrees.

To answer your question, you don't necessarily need to study Computer Science but I believe any STEM degrees are most beneficial as well as how you sell your key strengths to the hiring manager. (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics = STEM).

Best of luck.

some recruiters require top tier computer science degree and they pay more money than average salary. I agree stem degree must be on your CV, every one writes code but 10 percent is becoming top places also fang companies require computer science degree.

FAANG is your goal? I recommend trying to get an internship/placement with one of those firms. It will do you wonders! Sounds like you have it all sorted now.

One thing I did not do but should be essential is to build your own portfolio and keep it updated, you could even turn the portfolio platform itself into a project, such as building your own website! Whatever you want. Get acquainted to LeetCode early on, I've heard this is very popular in Google Interviews.

What sort of universities are you considering? Are you good with Math?

Best of Luck!

some recruiters require top tier computer science degree and they pay more money than average salary. I agree stem degree must be on your CV, every one writes code but 10 percent is becoming top places also fang companies require computer science degree.

Where did you hear that? Somebody should tell the FAANG company I work at, because approximately half of my team do not have a computer science degree.


That is one of the most unpleasant to browse sites I've even been on. Good God! Oh, and you won't get a job at FAANG through a third party recruiter.

i know google hires its employer from top tier university only ten percent does not study barchelor computer science

in my opinion there are lots of teams at faang company top teams hire from red brick or oxbridge universitiies

so what are the requirements to get a job at faang?

Honestly, I'm not sure you "know" anything about this subject at all. You've read a lot of conjecture on the internet, but not much more. That said, if you have a real source on that statistic (10 per cent) I'd be interested. It does not match my experience. (I work to Google, went to a non-Oxbridge but highly ranked university, and did not study computer science. I've worked with a wide variety, including people who went to "not highly ranked" universities, studied subjects other than computer science, and sometimes have no degree at all.)

Ouch, I think this was meant to be a jab at me? It doesn't make too much sense to me, though. Outside of specialised areas, and high level (i.e. well beyond grduate/entry-level) jobs, Google at least does not hire people for "teams"; they have a company-wide hiring bar and then people are distributed to teams based on head count and mutual fit calls. After a year, you can join pretty much any team that is recruiting (some will be more competitive than others, but I doubt any will be childish enough to judge based on the university attended.)

You can read the minimum requirements on their websites. Looking at Google (I don't know or care much about the others), I see: Bachelor’s in Computer Science, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.

Not only is there no hard requirement on CS (let alone CS from a "red brick" or "oxbridge" university), but there is no requirement for a degree at all.

To put it a different way, here are the requirements to get a job at FAANG:
1. Get an interview.
2. Pass the interview(s).
(3. If the former were for an internship, then do well in the internship and convert to full time.)

How people get and pass the interviews can vary wildly. It might be based on your degree, your university, your projects, you experience, or anything else that gets a recruiter's attention. In my case, a recruiter reached out to me without knowing anything about my degree (or lack thereof) or university attended. They will have subsequently seen it on my CV, but it was never mentioned then or since.