Computer career


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There are so many computer fields out there, and I want to know what is the best computer field to go for.

I know there's engineering, programming, IT. But what would you pick if you had to decide on one of those three?

I was aiming for IT and system administration but I keep hearing that certs mean nothing and there are too many incompetant people?

I also heard that computer jobs are on the decrease... :wacko:

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Right now I'm at NJIT going for a BS in Computer Engineering. I can tell you from the curriculum that's laid out in front of me that I'll have a pretty healthy background in programming, networking, electrical work, and actual computer engineering once (I should say if, it's a very tough major) I graduate. I'm sure that you could even get an IT job with a CoE degree.

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As a sysadmin/netadmin myself, I can give you a little advice:

"Certs mean nothing and there are too many incompetant people."

Hehehehe, its true! But you were probably hoping for more, so heres more:

Do what makes you happy, or at least start with what you think will make you happiest. If you find later that you like somthing better then go for that instead. All through college I was thinking to myself while I sat in C++ class after C++ class, "All I really wanna do is Network Administration". Now 3 years out of college and with the very job I wanted, what do I really want? ...to be a programmer. (LOL) Funny how life works out that way sometimes.

However let me give you a forcast that I will be the first to admin is unscientific (but probably worth listening to anyway). I forsee in the next 5 to 10 years a slow drain of what I consider "location independant" IT jobs, into countries that have FAR cheaper work forces. By "location independant", I mean jobs that don't really matter where they are performed since it doesn't adversly effect productivity. These would be jobs such as programming and tech support, and maybe some types of engineering. Where doing them in India is just as good as doing them in say Boston or NYC, assuming that the person doing them is at the same competence level. And its FAR cheaper for a company to pay an Indian $2/hour than it is to pay an American $40,000+ to do the same job. Systems/Network Administration however is what I would consider to be a "location dependant" job. No matter how good remote administration becomes, sometimes it always seems nessesary to have at least 1 person (maybe more depending on size) physically at the location of the network for proper support. For this reason, there may be more sysadmin jobs and fewer programing jobs in this country, in the future. So maybe thats just somthing to think about along with it all.

(BTW: I'm using the terms systems and network administration together because many people who work at smaller companies, like myself, find themselves doing both on a regular basis.)

Here are a few tips that I found true about Sys/Net Admin:

1. HAVE (OR QUICKLY DEVELOP) PEOPLE SKILLS!!! It has WAY more to do with dealing with people than I EVER though before I started! This may be less true if your working at a large company where you aren't also the end user support but keep in mind I'm coming from a small company background here where I have to do all that myself.

2. Dealing with idiots who unknowingly break the computer/network/etc... all the time and repeatedly is a regular occurance. Oh sure you can implement and enforce policies all day long, but it's still going to happen, Murphys Law will find a way. To cope with this regular occurance see item #1 :p Also regular user training's help minimize this for the future.

3. Never sit back and relax. When you finally get your network running smoothly, and find you have a little time to chill, instead look for ways to fix problems before they occur. Be proactive instead of reactive. Write network documentation, analyze the traffic going across your networks to see if you can speed (or secure) things up a bit. Heck, even ask your users what kinda things they would like to see happen on the network to make their jobs easier. Even if you can't fulfill most of their requests, they just might be flattered you asked. And "user flattery" tends to make your job easier down the road. ;)

But above all that back to my original point... Do what you think will make you happy, if you're caring more about the cash, you may just find yourself waking up to a misrable job day after day instead. And that doesn't make the money worth it. I get paid alot less right now than I thought I was going to make out of college. That may be because of the economy, but its not whats getting me out of bed every morning. What is getting me out of bed, is doing a job that I pretty much enjoy. At least for the time being while I look for that next programming job.

Good luck and take care.

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The job market in IT is slowly increasing, but no worries for a boom is expected within the next couple of years.

Certifications are not useless! It depends on how you use them to get the job you want. They are great for getting your foot in the door via an entry level position.

The Bachelor's degree I am working towards is known as "Business Information Technology." It covers both technical and business related subjects which is a good thing.

I would pick IT, mainly because the amount of available jobs will be higher.

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Yea, I always like administration (I "administrate" my home network :D) , so I guess I will stay with IT/system admin ;)

Now all I gotta do is work on those people skillz :blink:

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Corndawg first of all first class post.

I was going to add but hell youve said all i would have.

anyways enough asskissing heh :p

Your welcome to the programming does my head in i subcontract out to a friends software house ;)

im staying put not the greatest wages but lined up for replacing my ICT manager at the end of 2004 ;)

I started studying part time hnc computing and then full time hnd computing support but realised i was learning nothing new after HNC.

I was lucky to land a summer job in my local home town through the college course and did not finish the course totally.

Working in It Support(desktop/network/database admin) supporting 50 clients locally and 10 remotely with VPN.

that was my foot in the door half the time its getting that foot to show your passion for it.

Consider writing to the IT manager of your local authorities and businesses asking if its possible to apply for work expierience in IT while at college shows that you are keen. People may go on about how certs help etc etc but real world workk expeirence counts for a lot these days in IT.

Yes im over 30! hehehe

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Ive just started a degree in software engineering (programming basically). Here is a link to the course and university where im studying for it.

http://www.tees.ac.uk/prospectus/ft2004/ft...urse=83&fos=128

ive always wanted to write software and i would love to work on somethibng like windows, or have my own company that makes an alternative operating system, Watch out for me in the next few years im the next bill gates :p.

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I'm currently majoring in Computer Science, though I am considering changing to Political Science.

I fear that I may not get work when I get out of college, considering there are so many people in the computer field as it is. It's been hyped that computer jobs will continuously raise for several years to come, though I see the complete opposite.

I'm not really sure what I want to do right now. I've loved computers all my life, but I question the finantial security I may have if I proceed with this major. Like I said earlier, it seems that computer jobs are on the decline since there are so many computer science or CIS majors out there.

I initially wanted to be a programmer, but the lack of real programming classes has me a bit discouraged. Sure, Java is a decent language, but I wanted to dive in, face first in to C++.

So I get more interested in the hardware aspect of things. Though it's hard to find work doing system upgrades or repairs, since so many people already know how to repair hardware and software issues...

This leads me to my final area of interest, which is networking, from what I've been told, if you hold a degree in Networking, you'll always have work. I really hope so, otherwise I'll be switching majors soon.

I hate to bite on your thread, OptiPlex, but I'm glad you started this thread, because I'm unsure of the security of avalibility of work when I get out of college, which will basically result in me waisting 4 years of my life for nothing. I hope someone can steer me in the right direction. Thanks.

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Where at? Ga Tech?

No, at least not yet at least.

I'm currently going to a two year community college, when I gain my associate degree I plan to move to a larger university. I'm looking at GA Tech and UGA right now.

Though I'm really hopeful for GA Tech.... That is, if I stay in the computer scene.

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No, at least not yet at least.

I'm currently going to a two year community college, when I gain my associate degree I plan to move to a larger university. I'm looking at GA Tech and UGA right now.

Though I'm really hopeful for GA Tech.... That is, if I stay in the computer scene.

UGA doesn't even have an engineering school, do they?

I graduated from Auburn last year (Software Engineering) and I think Ga Tech and Auburn have two of the best Eng schools in the southeast. Vandy would be a good choice too.

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I am computer programmer and I think programming is the salt of the IT. It requires you to have many many brain cells. Everyone can administrate something because you are using software, but our job is to create this software ;)

Also I admire the system programmers which I am not, not enough brain cells I think :(

Without you guys everything is uselles - Cheers!

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im currently a computer science major at univer of mo-columbia (mizzou). what kind of degree do you need or skills or whatever to become a sys admin?

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UGA doesn't even have an engineering school, do they?

I graduated from Auburn last year (Software Engineering) and I think Ga Tech and Auburn have two of the best Eng schools in the southeast. Vandy would be a good choice too.

I'm not sure of all the different schools it has, but I do know you can finish up your Computer Science major there. So I would assume they do (:

I'm more interested in Ga Tech than UGA, however (:

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  • 2 weeks later...
I am computer programmer and I think programming is the salt of the IT. It requires you to have many many brain cells. Everyone can administrate something because you are using software, but our job is to create this software

While this is true, allow me to reinterprit what I THINK you meant to say:

"Anyone can administrate a WINDOWS NT/2K/2K3/OS X network."

Believe me, it takes the same creativity and ingenuity as programming takes to administer a network where most/all the servers are running BSD or Solaris or some other non Mac/Windows network. I should know... I do both programming and administration. ;)

But yes those who know more about computers than just "I can use Windows really well." will always have more job security and command better salaries from their jobs over time, than Windows users who think they know alot about computers.

But always remember job salaries follow the basic economic rules of supply and demand, however you must also keep the global economy in mind with this: True it does take brains to program and that will always keep the supply of programmers in this country limited. but if the supply of programmers from India keeps at its current pace, then wanting to program "because its where the money's at" may leave you bitter 5 to 10 years from now. If you want to program, do it because you love it. If you do, you will probably get really good at it, and then the money will come. But it rarely works the other way around.

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and if you look at a programming department and an IT support department running side by side which one has the happier,cheerier staff?? (ITSupport dept)

or mayb its cos im in IT Support dept :p

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well personally i work in the IT field and a lot of things can be misleading. First of all, certifications and college degrees will get you a job, but if you dont have the knowledge to back it up, you are not gonna keep the job. We recently just hired a guy who just graduated college with a degree in TSM/Network Administration, and as it stands now he basically sits in the office all day and messes with stuff because he is not capable of doing daily tasks at customer sites. We have three network techs at our company, none of which have a college degree, (two of which are 17 ((me)) and 21) and this guy can't touch the skills us three have. College is great to a point, but you just arent going to learn the things in college that you will through real world experience. Just figured i would through some real world experienced opinions in the mix lol.

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Hehe, I'll keep that in mind too :whistle:

Hopefully I will retain the knowledge :shifty: :)

EDIT - Wow, I didn't even know this thread was resurrected but who cares, this information is good stuff for the future (Y)

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Ya i think I accidentally resurected it when I searched through all the threads I have been a part of for the last 30 days. I came back to read everything everyone posted after me and did alittle more of my own following up.

Anyway, sorry for resurecting it... oh wait... ops I did it again just now. ;)

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The job market in IT is slowly increasing, but no worries for a boom is expected within the next couple of years.

Certifications are not useless! It depends on how you use them to get the job you want. They are great for getting your foot in the door via an entry level position.

The Bachelor's degree I am working towards is known as "Business Information Technology." It covers both technical and business related subjects which is a good thing.

I would pick IT, mainly because the amount of available jobs will be higher.

That sounds familiar...

My major is currently Information Science & Technology [link]

and it combines business with what the faculty calls "application of IT"

it's a fairly new (2-3years) program at the Univerity of Missouri - Rolla

Us students are currently wondering what kind of jobs we will be getting into after graduating from the university.

So this thread sparked my interest.

I've also been thinking about Sys/Network Admin work and I've had some real world experience (well some at least) and I've also sparked some interest at my school for several people to do some certifications (such as Cisco and CompTIA)

I know real word experience is very valuable and that certifications help but are nothing without experience

Several excellent posts have been posted in this thread and I guess I just was wondering if anybody had any suggestions or knew of good resources to start in the IT world (to include IT, admin, programming, engineering, etc)

What would be the best course of action for college students?

take certfications? instead get a full-time job in the real world?

anybody have suggestions?

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I am student too. I am studying Informatics in New Bulgarian University - http://www.nbu.bg if you are interested.

For me the things are not so good as you who are living in the US, my university taxes are very expensive but I am not so sure I can be happy working in Bulgaria...the wages are low and here there are no big projects... :no:

My hope now is to immigrate to Canada and with the help of the God I hope to go there at the beginning of the next year...wish me luck! :rolleyes:

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