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8 Comments

Should I attend further education (3 years), despite wanting to be an indie hacker?

Hi guys,

I finished my apprenticeship 2 years ago and I'm figuring out my career path.
I think I want to be an indie hacker. I say think, because I wasn't in a position where I have a business which generates revenue. I don't really know if it's something for me, but I'm highly sure it could be something for me!

So currently I'm thinking about starting further education which will last 3 years. It will give me higher salary and also more knowledge in certain coding and business areas.

So my question to you is, would you do the further education as a plan b, or don't do it and go all in on indie hacking?

  1. 3

    I'd say that the rate at which you will learn useful skills on your own and through the right community is far greater and more current than higher education.

    Find a job that pays you enough to survive and go all in on hacking on the side.

    1. 1

      Thanks for your insight.. :)

  2. 2

    I just finished my masters in computer science while working on a full time job and also doing side projects. If I could travel back in time I would NOT have started my masters degree. It is honestly a total waste of time and money. The things taught in academic is very different from real world experience. Academic is all about machine learning and big data. The things they teach in school is 80% useless. The technology they teach is old. Professors are give useless homework and assignments so they get paid at the end of the semester. I would rather have spent the past three years working on a meaningful side project and learning new technology.

  3. 2

    Education + IH on the side.

  4. 1

    Depends. School is fun, there are great parties. However these days you can learn everything online, and the drive it takes to get good at something by taking an online course is a very good sign. You will have traditional businesses that have a problem with you not having a degree, but I think really clued in HR departments will jump at the chance to hire someone who is excellent and self-taught.

  5. 1

    I was born in Europe where education is "cheaper" compared to some other places through favourable loan repayments or low upfront costs. For me doing a degree opened a lot of doors.

    Looking back for me University was completely worth it. It opened my eyes to different experiences and different cultures and gave me extensive work experience in tech as well as in the service industry through many part-time jobs/internships. I concede the point I hear a lot that University does not teach how to write "clean code". But this is accepted by teams and when you join a company they will train you (in Software Engineering anyway).

    My advice would be to get an education and experience on your resume that means you can always fall back to a well-paid job in software. Make the most out of every opportunity you have at University making your world as big as you can, join clubs, throw yourself into your study and work on side projects.

    Final note: Some of the best engineers/visionaries I know have not got a degree, I am not making the case that a degree is the best way to go just sharing what worked for me.

    Good luck whatever you decide!

  6. 1

    I think it’s a personal decision, and one that you will ultimately have to decide is best for you.

    I went to school and got my Bachelor Degree in computer science. In my personal opinion, it was NOT worth it. The only thing it really gave me was a bit of credibility in getting my first job out of school, but that’s about it. If I could go back, I wouldn’t have wasted so much time and money getting a degree.

  7. 1

    If you can afford it, I'd do education + sideprojects/work.
    Probably education is not worth it, but within lifetime span, those 3 years is not as much and you might use this Master Degree paper one day 🤓. Beside, you have a lot of spare time to spend on IndieHacking while studying.

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    This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

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