[ale] Little OT: Blind Future: Advise Wanted

[Bob Slaughter]

> If every thing goes well I will graduate December 2001. I am interested
> in knowing, from you who have been there and/or know what employers are
> looking for, should I go to collage and pursue a degree in computer
> science? If yes, would a four or two year be enough?
> 
> Or, I can skip collage and go get the certifications? Which
> certifications should I look more into? Any additional advise would be
> welcome!!! Hind site is 20/20
> 
> What would be better?

Partially, it depends on what you think you want to do.

IMHO:
Go to college and get a four year degree. This is for several reasons. One is, 
this is the best time in your life to do it. After you start working, your 
income will preclude almost all financial assistance, and going part-time 
while you work may mean you never finish your degree. A four-year college is 
not a trade school, so the major isn't as critical as you might think. A 
bachelor's shows you have a well-rounded education; you're not more 
technically capable than if you had a two-year computer degree. What you ought 
to have is the ability to communicate clearly to a wide range of different 
people, not just techies. And the ability to be flexible. Not only will you be 
more flexible in the job and therefore more valuable, but it will help you 
down the line. Back when I was working in academic advising after I graduated, 
the 'average' college graduate at that time would change jobs around 10 times 
in their working life, and change *careers* three times. Hence, when students 
would say "I need degree X to so I can work as Y", we'd show them alternate 
ways to get to Y, because a) they might never be Y and b) sooner or later 
they'd be something else anyway. For instance, of the UNIX sysadmins that I 
know from work and elsewhere, two are History majors, and one is a Chemistry 
major.

While in college, get a balance of things. Don't do what one friend of mine 
did, for his humanities credits he took "Science, Myth and Values", and 
for his social science, "History of Science". Its those oddball courses that 
don't directly apply that will show up later as far more useful. After all, I 
was a History major with a lot of computer credits; now I'm a UNIX sysadmin.

Also, while in college, get experience. Take summer internships, or see if you 
can get in a work co-op program, where you work and take full-time classes in 
alternate terms. This will help you see where college and real life do and 
don't mix in your field, and help a bit with money, and keep you sane. A 
degree is nice, but a degree + experience is $$$$.

There is nothing wrong with two-year technical degrees and/or certifications. 
But a number of postings I've seen require a Bachelor's degree, so sooner or 
later you'd hit a ceiling. And some certifications aren't worth the effort; 
ask around and be sure it means something. Check out places like monster.com 
and techjobs.com, and see what types of jobs are out there, and what skills, 
experience, and certifications they require. 

Regardless of which way you choose, check out the program with people there 
currently and graduates. Make sure what they offer makes sense to you. If you 
want to do web programming, a school that offers a lot of courses that use RPG 
III on AS/400s won't be worth a toot. On the other hand, if you want to 
program for the insurance industry, that's a first-class ticket.

That's enough for now. Let us know if you have any more questions.

-- 
Bob Slaughter, rslau at mindspring.com     http://www.mindspring.net/~rslau/
North Georgia Modurail: http://www.mindspring.net/~rslau/ngm/



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