[LRUG] [JOBS] - Ruby Programmer Wanted FT/PT to join funded startup as lead tech/ CTO (urgent)

[Stephen Nelson-Smith]

Hi, 
> Stick them on a team looking after a simple B2C play with no data mining or research component, and they're going to get bored quickly, more so than somebody who didn't go to Uni and has just been living for shipping product all their lives.
> 
> 


Absolutely agree - practical/pragmatic attitude, and experience shipping product trumps everything.  But I don't think anyone doubts that, and I don't think the OP said: "Most important is a good degree from a good university" - I think we can take it as read that the OP isn't planning to hire people without some demonstrable ability in meaningful development.  So what we're actually talking about is sorting between people who *do* have that proven ability.

Speaking from my own experience of hiring and consulting over the last decade I can say with few exceptions that the best people I've worked with have in addition to the above stated prerequisite, studied at Oxford, Cambridge, or one of the top technical universities.  They also haven't necessarily had degrees in computer science.  What a degree from a top university (especially Oxbridge, where the learning culture is quite radically different from other universities) provides is a grounding in how to learn, how to adapt, how to react when everything suddenly changes.  I'm not doubting that these skills can be acquired on the job, over many years of experience, but the high-pressure learning environment of Oxbridge is actually great preparation for the real world of business, especially startups, where everything is new, and  the ability to learn and thrive very quickly is essential.

( Full disclosure: MA(Oxon) Theology )

S.
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