Today while I’m at work I’m going to spend some time talking with a senior manager about taking a new job within the company.
My goal is to move into the Mobile Phone and Tablet division because I believe mobile software is the future of technology. I want to get into the field while it’s still relatively new so I can get great experience and make myself a much more valuable and marketable employee. There’s only one problem.
I don’t have any mobile development experience.
I’ve actually looked into taking a mobile development class at the local community college, but after looking through their course catalog I’ve realized they don’t offer mobile programming courses. In fact there are very few colleges or universities that offer courses in this new and exciting field.
So college is outrageously expensive, many graduates can’t find jobs or work jobs that require only a high school degree, and they can’t even stay current and offer courses on the latest technologies? I’ve already written about how I believe higher eduction is a huge bubble waiting to burst and tank our economy, but they can’t even teach the latest and most highly sought skills? What a rip off.
I’m Gonna Learn Mobile Development from a Web Course
I realized that if I want to learn mobile development I’m going to have to do it without the help of a college, and unfortunately I’m not a good enough developer to just “learn as I go”. I needed to find some way to get instruction without going to a college.
Enter this kick-butt site Udemy.
This site allows people to create their own classes and charge users to access their content. It looks like anyone can create a course and there is a built-in review system so users know which courses are best. Unlike college where you take the courses that are required with instructors that may or may not be more helpful than Sheldon Cooper, on this site you get to read the reviews, take what you want, and learn at your own pace.
I haven’t tried any of the courses yet (because I’m a little busy building my own site), but once my new site launches I plan to take either Android Programming for Beginners ($49) or Android Apps in 1 Hour: No Coding Required ($99) using this awesome free tool built at MIT called App Inventor.
The best part is that either one of those classes is going to be a heck of a lot cheaper than a class at my community college.
Skills Beat Education Almost Every Time
Imagine you take one of these courses and learn to build mobile phone apps. Then you use that knowledge to build a few apps, publish them for the iPhone and Android, and maybe even make a few bucks along the way. Now imagine you and some guy with a Masters Degree in computer programming are interviewing for a mobile development position. He has the edge when it comes to education, but all you have to do is pull out your phone in the interview and say “Look what I’ve built.”
If I’m the hiring manager, I’m hiring the person who has proven he has the skills and experience to do the job and I don’t care if he or she has been to college or not.
Mobile development might not be the right career path for you, but if you know what you want to do then I suggest you figure out how to learn the skills. It could be going to college, or it might be an online course or an apprenticeship. Don’t worry about a piece of paper; when you have awesome skills it doesn’t matter.
Readers: What’s the next thing you plan on learning, and how are you going to learn it?
Kevin McKee is an entrepreneur, IT guru, and personal finance leader. In addition to his writing, Kevin is the head of IT at Buildingstars, Co-Founder of Padmission, and organizer of Laravel STL. He is also the creator of www.contributetoopensource.com. When he’s not working, Kevin enjoys podcasting about movies and spending time with his wife and four children.
College is over rated. The new and improved education system is called Google!
Everyone always asks me how do you know this, how do you know that. I tell them the University of Google!
I’ve been wanting to learn Android development also but I’ve just been putting it off. It’s so hard to get the motivation to do it on your own. Those links you posted look pretty interesting – I’m off to take a look! Good luck learning mobile!
I am at the end of my career cycle, but I am still looking for new things to do. I learned web design recently to teach to my students. It was just enough to introduce them to the elements, but I learned something new. As a teacher, I do this all the time. It keeps me young!
I come to this blog daily and use it as a hub to reach other blogs that are listed on here. The reason I do this is because you seem to emulate (almost) everything that I’m thinking to the day. This morning I woke up and had the epiphany that I need to create an app. I, unfortunately, don’t have the necessary programming skills to do this. So I started Googleing and came up with a few interesting articles to read about how to learn these skills. You just gave me another thing to research! So, thank you for somehow having the same thought process as me and writing about it each day.
Also see, VTC (Virtual Training Company) it is $30 a month with no contract so you can cancel after 1 month if you want. It has over 1000 training classes on various things. I just checked and they have iPad App Dev but not Android anything yet. I am going to see if my work will pay for a subscription to it for a month to test.
I’m glad I can be helpful. Like I said, I haven’t tried it yet but I’m hoping the instruction is good. I did look at that MIT app inventor site and it looks really good for putting an app together pretty quickly.
I’ve been learning PHP through online tutorials so I can eventually create some WordPress plugins. App development is also something I’d really like to get into down the road. Looking forward to hear what you think about Udemy and those courses.
Why no love for iPhone?
I don’t have an iAnything so I wouldn’t have a device for testing. It’s all android for me.
I’ve found that the lessons that serve me best in life are those I gained by seeking out a skill and teaching myself. The stuff I learned in college is useful, and I’m glad I have an education, but hard skills win every time. Jumping into mobile NOW is a great move and I think you’ll become highly marketable. I’ve also heard from numerous people that apps for Android are very easy to develop. Keep us updated!
I sure hope it’s easy because I’m not a great developer. I will let you know how it goes.
I learned 1 thing in college. How to find the answer to almost anything. Other than that, most of my knowledge is “University of Google” as mentioned above haha.
“Eduction” ??
Did you mean “Education” ?
Wow, that was an embarrassing spelling mistake. Thanks for letting me know.
“I believe higher eduction is a huge bubble waiting to burst”
My cousin Jerry would agree with that. Back when he was actually thinking about getting a master’s degree, he discovered that none of the colleges close enough to attend were actually offering any courses relevant to what he had already been working on for years. I don’t know if there is any good way for the traditional colleges and universities to stay on the leading edge.
Coming out of college, I had no real skills, just a diploma with a business degree. I definitely got my job because of my education, NOT because of my skills.
Since then, I’ve grown a lot and learned even more, so my next jobs will be based much more on my skills and how I sell myself, and 99% of those skills were not learned in school.
Still, getting started is often the hardest part and my diploma got me there.
Just an FYI to anyone that cares, I met with the Mobile Development manager at my job and he said that the most useful programming for me to learn would be HTML5. I’m going to have to do some research on that one too.
That shouldn’t be too hard for you to learn. What web skills do you already have? I know in my web dev class I took my last semester of school, mobile was trying to peak its head through in the book but not quite out in the open. We never learned HOW to make a mobile site just that we should make one (for usability of course).
I sometimes feel like it’s the degree that gets you the interview and the job. But it really should be the skills and experience that get you the job. I did the work study option in my program at school and when I graduated, I had almost two years worth of work experience related to my degree. Ironically enough, my current job is not really related to my degree.
I am planning on taking courses on food science, towards a certificate, which my work will pay for. I am hoping this will give me an edge and help me advance in my career.
Nowadays, it’s mostly skills and experience that land you the job. I have a bachelor’s degree in IT and got a job last October. My boss said it was cool that I had a degree but he was really interested in my work experience. I was lucky enough to have worked for a squadron at an Air Force Base one summer that gave me incredible experience (not in IT). Not that I regret going to school or anything, but I think I could have got a similar job fresh out of high school. My B.S. is purely a bargaining chip for salary.
The healthcare company that I’m a software developer at is just starting to make the push to mobile development. We are targeting the iPad initially. For the last several months we were looking at making our applications web-based but realized by the time we had that in place everything would be mobile. Mobile development seems like a good place to be. We have subscriptions to pluralsight for getting up-to-speed on mobile development. So far I have enjoyed their offerings.
THANK YOU for writing this. I have a crappy art degree (2-year) and dropped out of community college because it felt worthless. I am not making more than I could have gotten out of a 4-year college, and I’m doing something I enjoy. I learned on the job and through the internet. I also studied online and passed three IRS exams in a year to become an Enrolled Agent and start working for a CPA firm part time. I’ve also swapped the motor in my car, built a fence, am building a brick patio and pergola, and pretty much feel confident I can learn anything because I have the largest knowledge database known to man at my fingertips. I am starting to learn a litle HTML and web design (obviously, I have work to do), but I didn’t need a class and a piece of paper to start.
Nice work on the possible move to mobile. You’re totally right, everything is going online, cloud, and mobile and geting in early to develop skills will get you a job over any university grad.
Note: I am no knocking education, I think it can be valuable, but don’t place all of your trust in a degree to get you a job.
nice website you have here…thanks for sharing the informationhttp://www.formulaplastica.com
In my life I’ve seen this proven over and over again. I’ve actually gotten jobs/clients that other people were more qualified to get, just because I had the experience and “living, breathing proof”. A lot of people can pass a college test, but passing life tests is a whole different story. I choose skills over education any day!
i have to agree that life skillz that show not only that you can do it, but more importantly that you have the ability to enhance your skill will get you in the car on the way to success. however, if you do have the education, what will be so blatantly obvious is whether you have used your education wisely.
In most cases I’ve come across (that i’ve interviewed for and interviewed folks), education allows people to see the full picture of their chosen line of work while practicing their expertise (real world experience). if you have this characteristic, you’ll be in the driver’s seat in the lead car to success while others are in a similar car, but in your rear view mirror.
hey kevin, gluck on picking up the new skill! i’m a long time fan of your written thoughts chief!
I think the article though was about individuals being wary of expecting a return on the investment. Many people associate a more advanced degree with a higher-paying salary, and that is most certainly not always the case (especially in Fine Arts). However, I agree with your sentiment. I went to graduate school because I was passionate about my field and wanted to become a better educator, not because it would move me up on the pay scale.
I spoke too soon! Classes from University of Illinois were just released on Coursera today and an Android app class was one of them! Check it out: https://www.coursera.org/course/androidapps101
Hi Kevin, read your article with much interest. I am wanting a new career as I’ve retired and want something to keep my mind active. Thanks so much for the information. I’ll check it out.
Although I agree that an “Education” doesn’t make or break a person, the right education from the right school offers a higher likelihood of success and earnings. I wrote an article about this: http://www.gajizmo.com/forget-tuition-and-cost-go-to-the-best-college-you-can/
While I don’t discourage attending the “School of Hard Knocks”, I would highly discourage anyone from saying that education doesn’t matter. If children begin to hear this regularly at a young age, it will likely become associated with laziness and the uselessness of math, science, writing skills, etc. Not to mention the fact that, many professional positions, absolutely require a degree. You will not see a high school degree or any number of skills get you a position as an engineer, physicist, biochemist, investment banker, hedge fund manager, etc.
Check out PersonalMBA.com and buy the book if it interests you. I purchased this book last week and haven’t been able to put it down. It confirms my thoughts about college being a total waste of time and money.