Title: I&#x27;m curious as to how much it helps, in particular for a software engineer. A bit about me. I&#x27;m 35, male, unemployed and unmarried (so I don&#x27;t have much financial backing) and don&#x27;t live in a tech hub. I went to a fairly standard state school for a non-STEM degree to get into web development.<p>Now I know web development can have the potential to provide a stable, well-paying career. I have not seen this much in my experience. I&#x27;ve only been contracted by very small companies for putting out fires, or for projects that they don&#x27;t want their &quot;core&quot; employees to work on. These places underpay a lot to contractors, and do not make any permanent job offers to me. My professional network is also weak. Nobody I know is looking to hire software developers. I think my reputation works against applying to large companies.<p>As for my goals, it is to work in high-performance computing, in particular with aerospace. My example: adaptive resolution grids for fluid simulations. My reality: CRUD apps and CMS websites for small-med business clients.<p>Obviously good experience and talent can overcome that, but that&#x27;s a lot easier said than done. I did not receive a lot of good experience, and see myself as a mediocre developer. So what are your thoughts about returning to college and doing it &quot;the proper way&quot;?<p>The plan is getting a CS degree at a better school, get one or more internships from reputable tech companies, build connections with people from those companies, and receive full-time job offers. There are a few stated theories made about the hiring pipelines of many of these companies, giving new grads an ironic strength.
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