Graduated with a computer science degree, what now?

[Kenji4861]

I graduated with a Bachelors degree in computer science and happily working for about 9 months now.

After working for some time, I don't think this is what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. Coding is great, pay is great, but there are other things in my life that sparks my interest.

What triggers my mind is business/marketting, but what now? What should be my next step? Would a company hire me in that position without a degree in that area? I feel trapped. Should I get an MBA? Someone with experience, please help me out. Thanks!

 

[Siddhartha]

Get a MBA. Is there anybody you can talk to in that field that can give you a realistic view of the what the job involves?

 

[Kenji4861]

Not that I know of at the moment, I will ask around.

 

[Svnla]

I have a BS in MIS and an MBA with 10 years of working experience. Do you work for a large company that you can volunteer to help another department? You can try Marketing or Operations and such and see if you cut out for business and it will not be risky.

It won't be easy for you to get a job in business/marketing at another company if you only have 9 months of experience in coding and a BS degree in CS, especially with this economy.

You could try to go to grad school and get an MBA but I warn you, it will not be a guaranty.

This is why I would do if I were you. I would try out some business/marketing tasks and see if I am good with it (you have to be able to work well with others, able to communicate, quick wit). If I am good with it, I will ask for a transfer. Then I will go to grad school for my MBA if the company pay for it (most of the large companies will). Good luck.

 

[rh71]

Only took you 9 months to realize huh ? I don't want to sound negative or like an "I told you so" person, but I think it's pretty easy to foresee that sitting in a cubicle for 30-40 years coding all day long isn't a very fun job... it could be tolerable and even entertaining for 5-10 years... but the rest of your life ? No.

That's why I don't understand how CS people can make fun of Business/MIS people because they think it's not really IT. Ok whatever.

 

[LordJezo]

Get a job in the mall and make $7.50 celling cell phones.

 

[Pepsei]

Suck it up, work there until you can move up to the management. It's better to have 4 years experience in the same company than getting another degree. Unless of course, the company you work for...sucks...

 

[NTB]

I think I'm going to end up doing something similar: I will graduate with a degree in CS after the fall semester next year; once I get out and get a job, I may very well go back and pick up the Biology degree I left behind when I switched majors. Still might not be as useful as some other things, but I can't stand buisness & marketing (sorry, nothing personal - it's just me)

Nate

 

[Jzero]

I work in IT. When are CS snobs going to realize there is more to CS than just writing code?

 

[Zombie]

Originally posted by: rh71
Only took you 9 months to realize huh ? I don't want to sound negative or like an "I told you so" person, but I think it's pretty easy to foresee that sitting in a cubicle for 30-40 years coding all day long isn't a very fun job... it could be tolerable and even entertaining for 5-10 years... but the rest of your life ? No.

That's why I don't understand how CS people can make fun of Business/MIS people because they think it's not really IT. Ok whatever.

haha, MIS sucks. Plain and simple.

 

[nageov3t]

Originally posted by: Jzero
I work in IT. When are CS snobs going to realize there is more to CS than just writing code?

I agree. I didn't major in CS while in college because I hated programing.

I took my English Lit degree and got a job working with hardware, though, and I enjoy it a lot more. Writing code bored the snot out of me; trouble-shooting hardware for high profile, critical servers is a lot more fun (albeit stressful on those days where even after doing everything right, everything still goes wrong).

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Originally posted by: rh71
I don't want to sound negative or like an "I told you so" person, but I think it's pretty easy to foresee that sitting in a cubicle for 30-40 years coding all day long isn't a very fun job... it could be tolerable and even entertaining for 5-10 years... but the rest of your life ? No.

See, this is why there are different careers, so people with different interests can do different things for a living.

Doing market analysis and drawing up business plans for me would be exactly the same sort of hell you seem to think software development is.

 

[Kenji4861]

Thanks guys for your inputs. As you guys said, yes, my current position is not just "coding." There are some business aspects.. and I'd say I'm in a meeting 30-40% of the time. I will continue to work at my position and try to jump on to more business tasks when I have a chance to see if it's really IT for me.

Also, there were some discussions on the MIS degree. I think it's a great degree and idea
, however the people I have met from that department are mostly people that couldn't handle CS or Econ.
I personally have a long story with this. There was this one class, I had to team up with 4 other MIS students. They promised to do all the writing if I do all the coding at the beginning. I ended up doing everything from small paper work to the entire final project. (Terrible experience)

Anyways, thanks guys, this really cleared my vision! If it is IT for me, I'll be getting an MBA. If not, I'll continue to do CS and explore around.

 

[Ameesh]

Originally posted by: Jzero
I work in IT. When are CS snobs going to realize there is more to CS than just writing code?

like what, setting up software on somebodys laptop or maybe you aspire to be tier 2 tech support?

I've been working for a few years now as a developer and after putting some time in the trenches i am getting more reposnsibilities with regrds to the business side as well as the architecture side of the business. If you want to work at a software company but don't want to code forever you need to spend some time doing it. It gives you a very full foundation to build upon when you go and become a manager or an architect. Coding is not the end of CS its the beggining. I'm only 25 and i've worked on both the business side and the technical side of 40 million dollar contracts. I seriously doubt a majority of you CS flunkies out there (aka IS/IT/MIS/etc.) will ever have a pivitoal role in any major project at your company if you work in the technology field.

and trust me, I don't know any Developer who aspires to write code for 30 years in a cubicle, the ones that i do know who have been writing code for 10+ years are soo wealthy they could quit today if they felt like it, but they like what they do, and they like to drive the products they are in charge of into the direction they want to take them.

 

[Passions]

Now you shut up and work your high paying job and save money so that in a few years you can quit and start your own business.

 

[rh71]

For every "CS flunkie" MIS graduate out there who can't design a database or write SQL, there are those who can and work hard at it. There are those who know exactly what they are doing. There are those who intended not to do a CS degree simply because they do not like writing code 5 years their junior, but rather get a grasp of the entire business cycle and still integrate their IT knowledge/enthusiasm. I've done better than $40 million dollar contracts. That means nothing. I look at "MIS" and see it as a way to touch on all things you speak about, just starting from the other end and not having to reach as far as code. Frankly, I'm one of those who detest coding anything more than small web apps. Java or C interests me as much as politics or religion does. No thanks.

Saying MIS is synonymous with 2nd level tech support is likely equal to my statement about CS people doing nothing but coding for 30-40 years. There's tons of exceptions. I'll admit that.

Whatever the case, I don't think there's any place for CS people to belittle the MIS major as CS failures. The interest simply isn't the same in every case. Saying that would be ignorance. And I'm not even an MIS major.

 

[pukemon]

Whatever the case, I don't think there's any place for CS people to belittle the MIS major as CS failures. The interest simply isn't the same in every case. Saying that would be ignorance.

Althought there is a distinct difference between IS and IT, the two are inherently tied together. Having a sound knowledge in both is the best cast scenario. The way I see it is, why limit yourself? The fact of the matter is that coders can only get so far with their knowledge alone. System Analysts are the ones that have a better chance at climbing the ladder and eventually becoming project or task leads. But only if that's what you're looking for.

 

[Nanotech]

Originally posted by: Kenji4861
I graduated with a Bachelors degree in computer science and happily working for about 9 months now.

After working for some time, I don't think this is what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. Coding is great, pay is great, but there are other things in my life that sparks my interest.

What triggers my mind is business/marketting, but what now? What should be my next step? Would a company hire me in that position without a degree in that area? I feel trapped. Should I get an MBA? Someone with experience, please help me out. Thanks!

I'm in the same exact same boat except I have a BS in Business Administration with an emphasis in Business Information Systems. Thus, I have spent the last 9 months programming in Visual Basic and performing other IT functions. I plan on staying with what I am doing for another year or so for the experience factor and then either switching over to Business Anaylst position within my company or if they will not allow me then finding another company who will. However, if you have not considered the Analyst position then you may want to because it does not involve coding or working for the IT dept and it pays more while at the same time opening future doors into other depts more readily.

 

[beyonddc]

Yup, CS and MIS is totally different. MIS is more focus on the business side and management side but also give you a little feel about programming and technology while CS is focus right into the software programming side.

I would say both major produced different type of talented people. I graduated w/ CS degree, and I wouldn't think I can do a good networking setup while I think people with like MIS or CIS can do a much better job than me.

And there's many different type of people out there, as for myself, I totally enjoy the whole development cycle, and I wouldn't mind doing programming for many years.

oh, I graduated w/ CS degree also.

 

[Jzero]

I work in information security. I have a degree in CS. CS programs would be well-served to offer more in-depth tracks security theory, administration practices, policy writing. I'm glad I know how to program, but there is a lot that I believe should fall under the umbrellas of computer science that isn't just coding.

 

[Alatariel]

I'm glad to see that there are some success stories out there of people working in MIS. I got my MIS degree in May, 2003, was laid off in August, 2003, and have spent the last 9 months looking for ANYTHING, including tech support (which I have 7 years of experience at) with no luck.

While I'd prefer to be a nose-down coder myself, I chose MIS because I enjoy databases and networks and the flow of information through an organization much more on a day to day basis. I'm capable of doing CS and spent considerable time working on a CS degree only to change my mind to what I more enjoy working with.

However, hindsight being 20/20, I'd not only try to get into more business projects within my company, I would try to work with my manager to re-formulate my job description to something more along the lines of what I wanted to do. That way, you're all on the same page.

 

[yllus]

Bypassing the inter-discipline bickering (did enough of that in my other thread), other than agreeing with what Ameesh stated I wanted to add two things.

One: If you decide to look into an MBA, do it at a quality facility where the degree counts for something. Though I admit to general ignorance on the subject it seems like MBAs are being tossed around lately like they're worth nothing, much like the computer certifications craze of '99/2000. You may end up doing your MBA to get back into the workforce and realize you've just spend $$$ on something other people already have - merely equalizing you in employers' eyes - or on something that the really proficient and determined CSers didn't need to go after to begin with. Basically, be careful.

Two: IMO, there seem to be two general types of businesses out there right now. A majority of companies are focussed on business and turn a blind eye to the role and value of technologically astute employees. These are the companies that will let bright young CS grads sit in support or code monkey jobs forever and do the minimum to keep them happy.

Speaking from a position of inexperience, I would say it's possible to break out of that stereotype but you generally have to act early and independently to let your superiors know you can handle more than the typical cubicle job. Get involved in other projects, try to take a larger view of the project you're engrossed in currently, make some suggestions on paper and see that it gets to people. I don't know...working against the flow is tough, and right now the flow is not with us tech grads.

Then on the other side you have the fairly rare businesses that recognize and encourage their fresh-faced tech types. They tend to be technology oriented themselves or make great use of technology in their day-to-day business concerns. Here, the stereotype of the awkward introvert CS grad is either banished or embraced. Here, you can move up quickly if you've got some intelligence to ya. Keep an eye out for positions at these companies, because they can be at the minimum a ticket to the next level at which point all companies will have to recognize there's more to you than a pair of hands to type out code.

 

[adlep]

I have a similar situation, got a degree but no raise...
My employeer have said that my current position does not require a degree, so there will be no raise...
Anyway, I am planning to go back to school for MS in MIS, because, at least in my school they have a nice mix of CS classes with business related IT which is kind of MBA related...

 

[Nocturnal]

Congratualations on obtaining your degree.

 

[DT4K]

Back on topic.

Kenji,
I think it is too early for you to decide to go back to school. It depends on who you work for obviously, but in many companies there are definite opportunities for someone like you to move into more managerial/business type positions. The main thing is that you have to take the initiative. When you see opportunities around you to do things that interest you, you have to make the effort to get involved in those projects. You need to make it clear to your boss that you are interested in helping the company work better, not just being a code monkey.