I don't necessarily disagree with this - I've often felt like the criteria used to make software development decisions should be more empirical (YAGNI etc, schemas, contracts - not the whole formal specification bucket, but formal-"ish") and constraint based
However, it seems to me - as a layman with zero accounting experience beyond Wikipedia and GnuCash - you could feasibly drop an accountant into any arbitrary business and they would eventually find their way around the cash flows, balances, and - given sufficient information - build up a general profit/loss and general idea of financial health.
It doesn't seem to me, however, that you could drop any software engineer into any arbitrary company and expect the same. You should be able to, but not right now. Some software engineers can do that. Not all of them.
I suppose my point being: a degree from a chartered accountant indicates a core level of competency to me. But a software engineering degree doesn't. This is why we interview them with whiteboards / fizz buzz / how many windows can you wash / what is the ideal shape of a manhole cover.
Because you can get a top class degree in S.E. / C.S. and still not be able to handle a JVM OOM error.
However, it seems to me - as a layman with zero accounting experience beyond Wikipedia and GnuCash - you could feasibly drop an accountant into any arbitrary business and they would eventually find their way around the cash flows, balances, and - given sufficient information - build up a general profit/loss and general idea of financial health.
It doesn't seem to me, however, that you could drop any software engineer into any arbitrary company and expect the same. You should be able to, but not right now. Some software engineers can do that. Not all of them.
I suppose my point being: a degree from a chartered accountant indicates a core level of competency to me. But a software engineering degree doesn't. This is why we interview them with whiteboards / fizz buzz / how many windows can you wash / what is the ideal shape of a manhole cover.
Because you can get a top class degree in S.E. / C.S. and still not be able to handle a JVM OOM error.