What are some good careers in terms of working with computers? - Page 5

.

Yes those in the military do deserve a head start.

But people shouldnt feel like they have to join to do well either. It may be a wise choice if you feel you do not have the self control and discipline to go through college, but you also have to weigh that with the fact that you'll be asked to risk your life... Hopefully its for something you believe in.

If you're worried about finding work, I wouldn't recommend taking the computer science route. I pursued CS because I enjoyed coding (been writing C programs since junior high).

I got my BS degrees in computer science and mathematics last year, and I consider myself very lucky to be making over 50k/year my first year out, most of my CS friends aren't. The market right now is terribly saturated with new college CS graduates looking for work as entry-level software engineers or computer programmers.

If any of you are currently pursuing a CS or CE degree, I highly suggest getting an internship before graduation, even if it means that you have to delay your graduation by 1 or 2 semesters. My internship actually helped me land this job.

I'm currently working days as a software engineer for a medical company here in St. Louis, and spending evenings attending graduate school at WashU. The job market for CS majors is highly competitive... is a masters in CS worth it? I dunno, but I'm going to find out...

You're right.. The job market is really bad for anything computer related right now, at least for entry level people. An internship or at least some part time experience while in college is almost a necessity if you're going to go anywhere with your degree.

I have a postgrad diploma and Im only makin 35 g's a year (and Im a year out of graduate school now) But I only have to work 220 days a year to make that

Are you a teacher?

.

No, tech at a public school system.

Good job fellow Missourian. It's almost unheard of to make $50k the first year (I did back in 2000 but that was a stroke of luck).

STL has a decent IT market.

I'm in IT too. Programmer doing C++, C#, Java etc, etc. Basically, I'll program in any language that someone will pay me enough to program in. My current contract has just gone to India(and I didn't even get a lousy t-shirt). It just seems inevitable at the moment that a lot of work is heading that way. It's obviously bad for the likes of me but it's not always that great for the client either. The companies providing the Indian programmers aren't always altogether truthful about their skills and experience and it can cost a lot of money to fix the stuff that comes back. It's not cheaper to write the software offshore at half the cost if you then have to spend twice the money to fix it back onshore when it doesn't work;-).

Long term I'd be very wary about recommending that anyone does a pure CS type degree. The market isn't stupid and the number of kids actually wanting to do CS degrees is plummeting as it should. Why spend 4 years getting a degree in a specialisation where the salaries are plummeting to third world wages? That is when you can find an entry level job in it in the West.

If you want to work with computers ally CS with some kind of business knowledge, e.g. finance, medicine, law, etc. People will pay you for your business knowledge before they will pay you for your ability to construct a beautiful formed for loop;-).

At the rate we're going I suspect the only jobs that're going to be left will be hairdressers and nursing homing carers.

Cheers,

JAHBOO

I think most CS salaries of a few years ago were entirely bloated beyond reason and the outsourcing to India is a direct response to that. However, once the rebound from that response plays out (less new CS grads and less pay for those with jobs), I think the average salary will rise again and level out at a more reasonable figure. Either way, unless you're coming out of an Ivy League school with a good GPA, its not a dependable job market anymore. If you want a high paying job, specialize in something rare, but that limits your job options. If you want more job options and can accept less pay, your best bet is to become a chameleon, able to blend in to any company with a broad menu of skills.

Not true. I never finished college due to money and on top of that my BS was in History. I worked in computer related jobs while in school, and eventually they crowded school out and became a 15+ year career. Being able to speak and write effectively is key, the rest is just showing up on time and working hard. If you are willing to work hard, you have an edge over 90% of you competition no matter how well educated they may be.

Anyway, started out around $20/hr as an entry level unix/windows sysadmin at IBM, and 15 years later I'm chief technology architect for a Fortune 100 company. Except for 2 years with a startup, I've always worked at Fortune 500 companies (can afford the coolest computer toys). I'll most likely never be a CIO or part of executive management unless I finish my undergrad and get an MBA, but I still get paid very well, and I am never without a second job offer waiting in the wings. I have never had to worry about being without a job.

The ultimate kicker is that I'm a geek....I love being paid to work with technology.

The downside is that this is Dibert's world...I have to deal with a lot of PHB's.

Well it sounds like you had a good reason not to sit thru 4 years.. Im talking about the lazy folk who would rather party than sit down and spend 5 minutes studying to pass a test.


In the end, job experience and a good resume are much harder to obtain than a college education (and Id say both are equally important in the long run).. A college education is easy to earn. Job experience is harder to earn because its a catch 22 situation - in order to get job experience, you need it.

The military is *often* nice for this because it gives you the job experience in return for your service (assuming you get thrown into a job that has any relation to what you want to be doing in the 'real' world afterwards).. The main thing I've read about the military is even though you can put down a list of preferred professions, its ultimately up to them what they do with you.. You could be a highly skilled computer nerd who ends up as a cook or a helicopter gunner...