CS Majors/Grads?

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kalster

Diamond Member
Jul 23, 2002
7,355
6
81
You shouldnt have much trouble finding a job IMO, I have a Masters degree in CS. Atleast right now the job market seems to be pretty good, I am in the middle of changing jobs, I will be starting my new job this coming monday, When I decided to change jobs, withing a couple of weeks, i had 3-4 onsite interveiws lined up and finally picked one offer. Do well in classes and make sure you take a good mix of core CS classes (OS, Networking, etc) and concentrate on your projects, you shouldnt have too much trouble.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
My problem was I was a late grad. I have been doing major pc (apple work in the beginning ;) ) since 1983.

I was online and overseas prior to the internut.

My profession was banking though, at 12 my dad hauled me to work in my free time to learn about mortgages and secondary marketing.

I progressed during my Engineering education (high school internships that did sprinkler systems in a few multimillion dollar projects here...but screw that) then Pharmacy education (7 years focused in Zoology) still I was doing Mortgage work. By 23 I had a house, freaking excellent income which only recently I surpassed. All the while I was doing major IS/IT work for these companies as side ventures to help myself/team be more efficient.

Finally I got tired of hearing I have no certs, no comp. degree. So I went back to school, sold off a lot of stuff, took a major paycut in 1999. Got my comp sci degree. Did a few worthless jobs that I quit, a couple good ones that petered out...kept working.

Now I am with a fortune 500 Mortgage company, but in their IS department. I was part of still the biggest loan sales ever in the history of banking (directly responsible and hands on), so I know a lot of stuff. Got a 13% raise my first year here, most got at most 4%...plus I am being challenged daily instead of being looked over.

Getting a degree is a big part of it. Certs have a bigger wieght in the beginning...get experience that you can put on your resume (e.g. not doing work on the side unless you are reporting it as a small business).

Currently my employer sent me an email telling me the 'classes' they want to pay for me to go to.

I got a book list to pick from to, with a link to the expense report sheet. ;)

all in all I think if you have motivation and drive, and do a good job the people above you that you make their lives easier will notice you.

My wife's company just had a problem where 5 associates were fired, another 6 told no longer needed due to theft.

She took a pay cut for less responsibility, and may now get a bigger raise for the same job.

 

fartbag

Member
Jul 8, 2005
80
0
0
Originally posted by: tami
i have friends who, once out of college, were making anywhere between $35k and $70k. this is columbia university class of 2003.

masters degrees can help, but it depends on what kind of work you're going into. if it's a development position, more knowledge of programming can't hurt. if it's a research position, more knowledge of theoretical aspects of computer science can't hurt either. it depends on what you plan on going for.

personally, i majored in CS and ended up doing IT, which is not related to CS at all (contrary to popular belief). i just don't like programming all day and i hated the mathematical concepts that were required of the computer science major. i picked up everything i use now through on-campus (paid) jobs in networking and system admin.


FOO! How is IT not related to CS?
 

BigJ

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
21,330
1
81
Originally posted by: alkemyst

Senseless babbling and penis-stroking...

Getting a degree is a big part of it. Certs have a bigger wieght in the beginning...get experience that you can put on your resume (e.g. not doing work on the side unless you are reporting it as a small business).

More senseless babbling and penis-stroking...

Again, WHAT THE FVCK are you talking about when it comes to certs?
 

qaa541

Senior member
Jun 25, 2004
397
0
0
I just graduated this June (in Information and Computer Science) and I got picked up by the Linksys division of Cisco Systems. I got picked up right before graduation and I started on the job a week after graduation. I had been applying for jobs since fall quarter though.

I think the reason I got hired straight out of college was that I had previous years work in the industry as a sys admin and also the fact that one of my specializations was in networking.

My ultimate goal was to avoid programming at all costs. I positioned myself into Networking as a first choice, and computer system architecture second. Those ended up being my specialties since they were my two greatest interests in the field and I was trying to avoid software engineering.

CS is not just programming. It is like a baseline knowledge of how everything related to computers work. Languages, programming, system architecture, networking, etc. However, CS majors typically get typecast as code monkeys.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
Originally posted by: BigJ
Originally posted by: alkemyst

Senseless babbling and penis-stroking...

Getting a degree is a big part of it. Certs have a bigger wieght in the beginning...get experience that you can put on your resume (e.g. not doing work on the side unless you are reporting it as a small business).

More senseless babbling and penis-stroking...

Again, WHAT THE FVCK are you talking about when it comes to certs?


now that I got you focused on my penis :confused: let's talk about it?

how do you feel about certs?

wow you are ready for this.
 

BigJ

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
21,330
1
81
Originally posted by: alkemyst
Originally posted by: BigJ
Originally posted by: alkemyst

Senseless babbling and penis-stroking...

Getting a degree is a big part of it. Certs have a bigger wieght in the beginning...get experience that you can put on your resume (e.g. not doing work on the side unless you are reporting it as a small business).

More senseless babbling and penis-stroking...

Again, WHAT THE FVCK are you talking about when it comes to certs?


now that I got you focused on my penis :confused: let's talk about it?

how do you feel about certs?

wow you are ready for this.

For me to feel a certain way about certificaitons, I'd have to know what certifications you're actually talking about.

So what specific certifications are you talking about?
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
Originally posted by: BigJ
Originally posted by: alkemyst
Originally posted by: BigJ
Originally posted by: alkemyst

Senseless babbling and penis-stroking...

Getting a degree is a big part of it. Certs have a bigger wieght in the beginning...get experience that you can put on your resume (e.g. not doing work on the side unless you are reporting it as a small business).

More senseless babbling and penis-stroking...

Again, WHAT THE FVCK are you talking about when it comes to certs?


now that I got you focused on my penis :confused: let's talk about it?

how do you feel about certs?

wow you are ready for this.

For me to feel a certain way about certificaitons, I'd have to know what certifications you're actually talking about.

So what specific certifications are you talking about?
i am not sure, you started this about my wiener.

but that is usually the topic when I enter a room.

:beer::confused::beer: