> To say this occupation is attainable for anyone though is a bit of stretch. It still requires some math chops and long hours of practice.
> "You have to be a self-starter to go along with this," Kenefick said. "In the beginning, it was literally all day and all night, day after day, I was practicing and building up my portfolio. I'm pretty sure it's more work than going to college."
To be fair, that quote is right at the end of the article.
(Not that there's anything necessarily wrong with dropping out)
I don't mind doing More Work. I mind doing Useless Work.
Its a messed up situation. They make an excellent product, but most of the people going don't want it, but they can't get something else because the market demands they attend. Very much like complaining a 5-star restaurant sucks because they don't have cheap hamburgers and a drive-thru, or the reverse situation.
In the enterprise ( or small enterprise ) world, when was the last time a web dev needed to write a bloom filter in Go?
Even if someone didn't have technical experience, banging out code at a small company could be the starting point, for someone who is driven, to develop their skills and attain that six figure position.