Introduction – Do you really need a Technology Degree to be a Technology Consultant?

Drawing from a recent debate among technologists, I would like to start this blog with a question:

Would you define programming as an art or a science?

Being a programmer myself, I find this question extremely difficult to answer and in a recent debate with housemates, we came to the conclusion that it is neither one nor the other, but both.

Teaching someone the basics of logic will allow them to write a program, which will either work or not work, a very scientific outcome. Pushing the boundaries of programming, bending and twisting logic to achieve a desired state is very much an art. This outcome made me think, if there is an art to programming, how do you learn it? Have I just wasted three years at university on a technology degree? The answer is ‘no’, you cannot expect to be a pro without learning the basics, and learning the basics is like learning a language, it takes practice and everyone has the ability to do it. If this is the case, do you really need a technology degree to be a technology consultant?

More and more IT companies are opening their doors to graduates from non-technical disciplines, and, if anyone can learn to program, with good reason. In this blog I will attempt to answer the question, do you really need a technology degree to be a technology consultant, by covering a range of topics such as the types of work you can expect to complete and how everyday skills can help you in the IT workplace, to answering the controversial question - what is more important, soft skills or technical skills?

What skills have you picked up whilst at university? Do you think these skills could be transferred to a career in technology?