I suspect people with a degree in computer science or applied mathematics tend to be on average better programmers than people who claim to be programmers who don't have those degrees. But the bar set by simply having a degree is so incredibly far from the level that you'd want out of your technical lead that it's not much of a useful metric.
Typing seems even odder. Doubly so where I live as they don't teach folks in school here to touch-type. These days I'd suspect that typing speed is probably more correlated to the speed with which one sends IMs than how fast they code.
Really, if your hiring requirements are "a guy with a degree that types quickly" you're going to find yourself pretty quickly up shit creek.
> average better programmers than people who claim to be programmers who don't have those degrees.
I doubt that. Further more a person with a degree has on the average a higher intelligence than a person without. Also, most degrees have language requirements and subjects that at least ensures that the person has a basic grasp of grammar and spelling.
> Typing seems even odder. Doubly so where I live as they don't teach folks in school here to touch-type.
You should at least check if a person can type. There are a lot of so called "programmers" that can not even type properly.
> Really, if your hiring requirements are "a guy with a degree that types quickly" you're going to find yourself pretty quickly up shit creek.
You constructed a straw man – no where did I suggest you should only use these metrics – my suggestion was that it made sense to hire/contract a programmer to help you make the hiring decision.
I suspect people with a degree in computer science or applied mathematics tend to be on average better programmers than people who claim to be programmers who don't have those degrees. But the bar set by simply having a degree is so incredibly far from the level that you'd want out of your technical lead that it's not much of a useful metric.
Typing seems even odder. Doubly so where I live as they don't teach folks in school here to touch-type. These days I'd suspect that typing speed is probably more correlated to the speed with which one sends IMs than how fast they code.
Really, if your hiring requirements are "a guy with a degree that types quickly" you're going to find yourself pretty quickly up shit creek.