Is university worth it?

I’d hate to be you right now. No offence, but going to university is a much harder decision now for sixth form/college students who are thinking of applying. The fees are up, competition is hard and scary statistics of graduates not finding jobs.

It’s hard for anyone to find a job at the moment and I’ve recently been researching on companies and how they accept people. They will automatically not hire someone who’s got a perfect CV/portfolio but turns up with a suit on and not wearing a watch… At least having a degree on that CV will at least hopefully tick the box to get the interview in the firs place.  

This is for most aspects of computer science, I’ve seen programming jobs for graduates. With requirements like “Good with C#, Java, C++, AS3, HTML 5, Python, Maxscript, Unity, 3Ds Max, Maya, good word/excel skills and can sketch well”. Now, I’m not a programmer, but it must be frustrating applying for such vague job descriptions. I think it’s probably rare to find anyone who is fluid with all of these languages at graduate stage. Almost every job I’ve seen requires a degree and a good one at that. Though there are routes you can take with internships and personal portfolio building in your own time, I think it’s personally a great idea to get a degree. 

I have yet to graduate, but I’ve already got myself a few interviews. I’m almost certain that I wouldn’t even be considered if I applied for my degree because to be honest it’s the skills you learn and the knowledge you gain which is much more important that the paper work. So now I’ve got a much more impressive portfolio that I had a few years. Of course I could have worked on 3Ds max projects in my own time, but why not both? I’ve done a lot of freelance work while at University including stuff for Microsoft, YouTube and internships.  

If you have a passion for something, you will try in all means to succeed. I personally think getting a career you love is almost winning at life.