question about the IT world?

[danielson]

how easy is it to break into, and what qualifications make it easy?

gf's brother wants to work in IT and is enrolled in a course at a polytechnic (not a famous university but more of a local thing, inbetween a uni and a community college)

either way he ends up with an MCSC, whatever the fuck that is...but how worthwhile is it? He's having issues at home and may need to drop out, but is there someting better he can go into?

I told him to stick with it and try and get as much experience as is humanely possible as frends here have told me the computing industry is getting hard now?

Is that the general consensus?

 

[Dial_tone]

It's difficult to get into now for two reasons:

1. There's a glut of people, like your gf's brother, who graduate from these MCSE schools but don't have any real experience.
2. Programming/tech support jobs being outsourced to India forces those people into other areas of IT

Both of these are pushing down the entry level salaries. The best way of getting into IT now is getting a computer-related degree from a REAL 4-year university, interning during the summers and/or working in of the school computer labs during school. This way you graduate with a degree and experience. You can still skip over entry level jobs if you do this. It's a serious dead end to finish an MCSE certification with $10-20,000 debt; you're better off doing something else.
I didn't have experience nor a degree when I started. I talked my way into a help desk job then studied at night for my MCSE 4-5 years ago when it actually meant something. Now an MCSE is the IT equivalent of a high school diploma. It cost me maybe $1,500 in books, spare PC's and cert. testing costs. I went from $31,000 in '97 to an $80,000 dotcom job in 2001. I'm back in the high $50's now but I turned down higher paying jobs for stability and a life outside of work. Things ARE better now than they were 1-2 years ago.

 

[danielson]

i wonder if your MSCE is the same as what the UK one is. Since i know nothing about the comuter industry i have no idea

what you say makes a lot of sense though...problem is his poly. refuses to let him take the cash back as they took it upfront. he'll finsih in just under 2 years, so i think its probably best for him to use the time to get as much experience as possible and then maybe do another qualification?

thanks, and karma

 

[Dial_tone]

I believe the MCSE is the same worldwide. If he is going to graduate with an Associate's degree it won't be such a bad thing........but to spend tens of thousands on just a certification, which will be outdated in a few years, is not a good investment.