Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below if i wanted to pursue a career in the wonderful world of computers,say networking or something. would it be better to go to a regular 4 year university or just a shorter school that specializes in the field i want to go into? what would be a good field to go into with computers? i understand its good to know a bit of everything.
careers in computers?
- Thread starter rushx79
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Depending on what you're looking at doing you'll find these two factors within a computer education.
Four year universities tend to focus on theory. You may receive a broader education on the topic, but you will rarely find hands on experience. However, if you're looking at working into management, you'll probably need this type of education. I'm not saying it can't be done without it, but the odds are better.
Tech schools and so forth are going to focus more on the hands on engineering approach. You'll probably find it easier to get a job - but your salary may shortly cap if you're not continuing your education elsewhere (certifications, additional areas of study, etc).
It also really depends on where you go. I had wanted to go to the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana, but I ended up going to Illinois State University. Let me just say that the Computer Science scene here is only what you make of it - and that means what you learn is what you do in your spare time and not in class. That's why I switched my major to Philosophy. Now I actually enjoy and learn from courses I'm paying to take.
Find a niche you think you may enjoy. You can almost always take a two year tech degree and finish up at a four year university later. You'll probably find that you learned more and saved money.
Four year universities tend to focus on theory. You may receive a broader education on the topic, but you will rarely find hands on experience. However, if you're looking at working into management, you'll probably need this type of education. I'm not saying it can't be done without it, but the odds are better.
Tech schools and so forth are going to focus more on the hands on engineering approach. You'll probably find it easier to get a job - but your salary may shortly cap if you're not continuing your education elsewhere (certifications, additional areas of study, etc).
It also really depends on where you go. I had wanted to go to the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana, but I ended up going to Illinois State University. Let me just say that the Computer Science scene here is only what you make of it - and that means what you learn is what you do in your spare time and not in class. That's why I switched my major to Philosophy. Now I actually enjoy and learn from courses I'm paying to take.
Find a niche you think you may enjoy. You can almost always take a two year tech degree and finish up at a four year university later. You'll probably find that you learned more and saved money.
Diversify
Take something else that goes well with it. An MBA for example is always useful.
Right now the market sucks. We're going to see a shift in the industry regarding perceptive usefulness. Most junior networking jobs will become a lot like being a gopher at a construction site. Most mid-level networking jobs will shift as well, the pay will drop 10-25% for new openings.
And in the long run, due to folks who think the industry is a gold mine, we will be saturated with 'certified' engineers. So much so, that pay will platue for a long time.
Right now if you don't have a good combiniation of the following, you're not going to make the big bucks:
BSCS or BSEE.
5+years experience.
C++
java
perl
COM+
It's not a fun list of things to accumulate. But if you can do it, it will pay off in the end.
Take something else that goes well with it. An MBA for example is always useful.
Right now the market sucks. We're going to see a shift in the industry regarding perceptive usefulness. Most junior networking jobs will become a lot like being a gopher at a construction site. Most mid-level networking jobs will shift as well, the pay will drop 10-25% for new openings.
And in the long run, due to folks who think the industry is a gold mine, we will be saturated with 'certified' engineers. So much so, that pay will platue for a long time.
Right now if you don't have a good combiniation of the following, you're not going to make the big bucks:
BSCS or BSEE.
5+years experience.
C++
java
perl
COM+
It's not a fun list of things to accumulate. But if you can do it, it will pay off in the end.
BigDdaGanjalist
New member
iceman11111 said:
Hmmm. . . . that's odd.
An ex co-worker of mine graduated from Humber's programming/analyst program. . . and like 2 weeks later he got a job at a website creation firm. . . and that was the last we heard of him
Re: bumpin it for ya....
C,
I don't know shit about technology. What are you talking about? Hee hee hee
Rush,
Any tech knowledge you have is good. Programming never gets old. Software people are always in demand.
If you are looking to make a quick buck, I would change your attitude. You have your whole life to make money.
There are a million ways to do it.
Do you want a tech career? I can tell you, after a few years, it is terribly boring to me.
If you have more questions, email me.
Pimp C said:Hopefully Matt the Skywalker will reply, he knows alot and was very helpful to me.
C,
I don't know shit about technology. What are you talking about? Hee hee hee
Rush,
Any tech knowledge you have is good. Programming never gets old. Software people are always in demand.
If you are looking to make a quick buck, I would change your attitude. You have your whole life to make money.
There are a million ways to do it.
Do you want a tech career? I can tell you, after a few years, it is terribly boring to me.
If you have more questions, email me.
D
decem
Guest
rush,
i make $23.50/hr as a tier II help desk analyst for a fortune 50 company. i'll be moving to cali soon to work as a network engineer and earn $55k-$75k a year.
i saw money in the field and took some mcse/mcdba classes. the mcp got me the job at the help desk and the mcse and mcdba didn't really mean anything.
i'm one of 15,000 mcdba's in the world and i couldn't get a fucking job as a db admin/junior db administrator to save my life. why? lack of experience.
where you go in this industry depends on a combination of experience, education, certifications.. if you have all three, then you're the shit. with two, you're still pretty well off, with only one, you'll be at entry level position status.
my suggestion to you would be to get a help desk job and get into the industry and work your way through school on it.. from there you'll know if you like it or not, you'll know what certs you'll want to get, and you'll know what concentrations to pursue in school.
personally, i'm not a tech head.. never was. but at first, i saw the money and hurried up and crammed and got all kind of certs.. got on the internet and learned all kind of computer shit, built computers, built servers, etc etc. but now, i finally came to the conclusion that i don't like what i'm doing. i can't get the motivation to recert in win2k. it's easy to me, but i'm just not into it. so after taking some CS courses, i changed my major back to Business and i'll just work my way through school in the industry.
i guess what i'm trying to get at is don't look at money as the deciding factor for what career you pursue. if you do what you like, no matter what it is, you'll be good at it and if you're good at it you'll make money.
peace
i make $23.50/hr as a tier II help desk analyst for a fortune 50 company. i'll be moving to cali soon to work as a network engineer and earn $55k-$75k a year.
i saw money in the field and took some mcse/mcdba classes. the mcp got me the job at the help desk and the mcse and mcdba didn't really mean anything.
i'm one of 15,000 mcdba's in the world and i couldn't get a fucking job as a db admin/junior db administrator to save my life. why? lack of experience.
where you go in this industry depends on a combination of experience, education, certifications.. if you have all three, then you're the shit. with two, you're still pretty well off, with only one, you'll be at entry level position status.
my suggestion to you would be to get a help desk job and get into the industry and work your way through school on it.. from there you'll know if you like it or not, you'll know what certs you'll want to get, and you'll know what concentrations to pursue in school.
personally, i'm not a tech head.. never was. but at first, i saw the money and hurried up and crammed and got all kind of certs.. got on the internet and learned all kind of computer shit, built computers, built servers, etc etc. but now, i finally came to the conclusion that i don't like what i'm doing. i can't get the motivation to recert in win2k. it's easy to me, but i'm just not into it. so after taking some CS courses, i changed my major back to Business and i'll just work my way through school in the industry.
i guess what i'm trying to get at is don't look at money as the deciding factor for what career you pursue. if you do what you like, no matter what it is, you'll be good at it and if you're good at it you'll make money.
peace
Whatever you end up going after in the computer market, make sure it is something you enjoy. When I was in high school I was planning on going to college and majoring in CS or CE. Well, I started taking programming classes and worked a couple contract positions as a programmer and realized I ABSOLUTELY HATED PROGRAMMING!! I have no idea how people can for years on end hack code day in day out, but that's just me, I'm sure alot of people love to crank out code. So now I am majoring in business management, however I have a pretty technical background from my years of programming and building networks, certifications, etc...
As for 2 yr vs. 4 yr. 4 yr. is alot of theory, 2 yr. is more cut to the chase, still I'd have to say employers like the 4 yr. better, and it'll allow you more vertical movement in a company, better pay too.
As for 2 yr vs. 4 yr. 4 yr. is alot of theory, 2 yr. is more cut to the chase, still I'd have to say employers like the 4 yr. better, and it'll allow you more vertical movement in a company, better pay too.
Careers in computers
I've worked in Computers for nearly 15 years. I have a degree in Computer Science but although I've worked on around 100 sites in that time (I'm a contractor and I often work for consultancies and software houses) I've virtually never met anyone similarly qualified. If I was starting in the industry again I would try to get myself a niche, they always pay better and while they're hot there's a reasonable amount of work around. ERP packages are taking a pounding at the moment but the hot ones still have a reasonable amount of work going. SAP/ABAP is always good. JDE is doing OK. Oracle financials is always good and Siebel is going gangbusters. It would also be good to get a good backup. C++ with all the other junk, CORBA, etc is always worth having - there's always loads of work around. Oracle is a perennial favorite. I'm not too impressed with Web design, stuff like that. It's too easy to get into, which means that rates are low and will get even lower, and I don't think long-term there will be enough demand to maintain the people that are around
I've worked in Computers for nearly 15 years. I have a degree in Computer Science but although I've worked on around 100 sites in that time (I'm a contractor and I often work for consultancies and software houses) I've virtually never met anyone similarly qualified. If I was starting in the industry again I would try to get myself a niche, they always pay better and while they're hot there's a reasonable amount of work around. ERP packages are taking a pounding at the moment but the hot ones still have a reasonable amount of work going. SAP/ABAP is always good. JDE is doing OK. Oracle financials is always good and Siebel is going gangbusters. It would also be good to get a good backup. C++ with all the other junk, CORBA, etc is always worth having - there's always loads of work around. Oracle is a perennial favorite. I'm not too impressed with Web design, stuff like that. It's too easy to get into, which means that rates are low and will get even lower, and I don't think long-term there will be enough demand to maintain the people that are around
Get a good solid background in C/C++ programming and design principles if you always want to have a job. You will find that if you knows these 2 hten you can learn just about everything else with time.
If you don't like programming, then focus on networking specializations.
The Doc
If you don't like programming, then focus on networking specializations.
The Doc
