OT - IT industry

[Mantle2600]

Hello all, I was just wondering if any of you fine feathered friends are currently working in the it industry. Im looking into going to school to be a tech but I cant decide for what. Just wanted to know if anyone does work, what you do and would you recommend this field. Thanks.

The Ass Hat of the millennium.

[Coffee Warlord]

Alright, I imagine there will be other folks in the field who disagree with me. (Surprise). But, here goes.

If you want to do anything IT-related, with the exception of graphical stuff, don't major in CS/Whatever They Have Now. Major in something else that interests you. Teach yourself whatever you want to learn. If need be, take a couple IT courses, but don't bother going the whole major. It just ain't worth it.

Learn linux. Buy a book. Read it. Learn to write code. Figure out something you'd like to make, and do it. There's a plethora of examples out there on the internet to get you a starter, buy a couple more books, read them. Play with things. Make stupid mistakes. But do it because you *want* to do it, and it's interesting to you, not because it's step #104 in Programming 101.

Result? You've learned practical knowledge, something that the good majority of college requirement courses in IT do not do. You've played around, you learn by your fuckups and by your doings. In the meantime, you've majored in Something Else, preferably interesting to you, and you have some interesting tidbits of knowledge outside the industry, and still have the piece of paper that assists in getting you your first IT job. (Note, I said your first. The longer you work in the industry, the less that piece of paper means.)

And there you have it. And to answer your question, I write code. Lots and lots of code. For lots and lots of different things, in too many damn languages. And keep our servers up. And everything else. You don't want my job. I basically like what I do, I just hate the people I do it for. :)

[VPI97]

I write code for a living...the only recommendation I have is to also get some business knowledge to go along with the programming. In my case, I had a double emphasis on Decision Support Systems (database design) and Production Operations Management (warehouse/factory management). All three companies I have worked for have had a hand in the industrial sector and I have no doubts that my experiences and knowledge beyond just coding have been a major reason for my success in those positions.

[hukarez]

The industry was pretty bad here in Southern California. I was out for a year, after having been laid off from my previous job. In any case, I lucked up just a couple of months ago, and got myself a job as a programmer with the local police and sheriff department.

If I were you, I'd follow the aforementioned posts above and learn a bit about coding. I think I invested my entire first paycheck on a miniature 'library' of books for reference (mostly, to clear out the code-rust).

[Peregrine]

I work in the networking field. I didn't do any IT or network stuff in college, in fact I majored in history, then got a master's in history before I came to this field. It's in a bit of a crunch, but I'm seeing some new hiring start up and still think it's a good field to be in for the long term, it's something all companies need and there are a variety of positions available, from more hands-on stuff at a small company where you'd be configuring and installing routers, to high level design stuff where you're laying out networking solutions for clients.

[Draft Dodger]

well, whatever you do, make sure you learn how to program in __________ because it really is the language that everyone is using these days.

[MizzouRah]

I work as an HP/Compaq authorized service provider (technician) as well as help maintain other contracts such as Boeing, Washington U., Reuters, and some others. I really love my job, I can honestly say that... even after 9 years.

Good pay, $0.38 a mile (and we drive like 800 miles a week), great benefits, etc..

I went to ITT Tech and got an Associates degree in electronics, actually went at night and worked in the field for another company during the day.

Software is where it's at, or so I've been told, as well as networking. Although I don't mind carrying a tool bag and parts. :)

Whatever you do, make sure it's something you really like.


Todd

[hukarez]

I work as an HP/Compaq authorized service provider (technician) as well as help maintain other contracts such as Boeing, Washington U., Reuters, and some others. I really love my job, I can honestly say that... even after 9 years.

Good pay, $0.38 a mile (and we drive like 800 miles a week), great benefits, etc..
This sounds very much like my old job, before I got laid off. I worked on a Boeing contract myself...though, in Huntington Beach, Long Beach, and Seal Beach. We got the same amount for miles and stuff...though, we don't drive all over the place and all. Field Technicians...data migrations, desktop/laptop O.S. upgrades...relocation of machines and all. Eh. That was IBM for you, I suppose.

[daedalus]

Mantle2600 . . . I'd go with Coffee Warlord advices except I do think you should go to school and do CS as well. [Just, for goodness sake, don't be like some CS majors I've known and ONLY do geek stuff. Do OTHER classes for fun as well - yes, even non-required crap. Don't be a one-dimensional putz. You'll end up all f'ed up in the head.] For some company, that sheepskin is something they still look at. On the other hand, if you notice a lot of the recommendations and comments the BIG thing is: get experience. No matter what you decide, get experience. That is big, huge and large. Good luck and have fun. :)This sounds very much like my old job, before I got laid off. I worked on a Boeing contract myself...though, in Huntington Beach, Long Beach, and Seal Beach. We got the same amount for miles and stuff...though, we don't drive all over the place and all. Field Technicians...data migrations, desktop/laptop O.S. upgrades...relocation of machines and all. Eh. That was IBM for you, I suppose.Heh. That's funky. I live in Long Beach and used to commute to El Segundo (via bus and train) to work for Boeing. Well, that was before they deemed me and my post unnecessary awhile back.

[Desnudo]

Hello all, I was just wondering if any of you fine feathered friends are currently working in the it industry. Im looking into going to school to be a tech but I cant decide for what. Just wanted to know if anyone does work, what you do and would you recommend this field. Thanks.

The Ass Hat of the millennium.

It really depends on where you want to go for a career. When you say tech, do you mean consulting or working internally? If it's consulting, I'd say focus on business or communications with a minor in a tech or math related area. If it's a job making TPS reports then focus more on tech. Personally I'd say stay the hell away from it for a variety of reasons. But it might appeal to you.

[Marc Vaughan]

Hello all, I was just wondering if any of you fine feathered friends are currently working in the it industry. Im looking into going to school to be a tech but I cant decide for what. Just wanted to know if anyone does work, what you do and would you recommend this field. Thanks.

The Ass Hat of the millennium.

I work as head of development at a small games company, 'tis cool - I'm basically a programmer/designer but keep tabs on everything the company does and take the blame for anything which goes wrong here ...

As for recommendations I'd suggest going into the sphere which you enjoy most - simple as that, you spend more time working during your life than nearly anything else so its imperative imho that you enjoy your job.

For me this meant specialising in programming because I enjoy the variety of challenges that it gives me, for others it could be an entirely different sphere.

[hukarez]

:)Heh. That's funky. I live in Long Beach and used to commute to El Segundo (via bus and train) to work for Boeing. Well, that was before they deemed me and my post unnecessary awhile back.
And the circle of suffering grows! ;)

[Radii]

In terms of training, I really don't have specific recommendations, how could I, I dropped out myself :P

If you're working an IT job, make a serious effort to learn the industry your company is in. Unless all you do is networking for your company(ie. keep the company's internal network up and running in some capacity, whether it be tech support, LAN admin, exchange admin, whatever), you will benefit greatly by understanding the industry you're working for.

My first few years on the job I really didn't understand this... I programmed transaction processing software, I don't care what the customer is doing with it, I justneed to learn how our software works. Later on I got moved into the healthcare division, and had to really start to learn how healthcare transactions are processed... once I started to learn that, my career took off, I can occasionally find consulting jobs on the side, and I am much, much more valuable to my current employer. Hell, when I applied at the company i'm at today, programming didn't even come up in the interview except for "you know a few programming languages? Want to learn C# and Java?" ... the rest of the interview was entirely about my industry knowledge and my understanding of healthcare data. That kind of thing can get you a lot further than being "just a code monkey"

In general, I don't think you need to study CS specifically, we had a lot of co-ops of other Engineering persuasions, but I'd probably feel safter in some sort of math/business/technical field as opposed to a liberal arts degree if you want to go into some sort of IT field.

[sachmo71]

Mad props for QA, baby!!

[wig]

The IT field is dead.

Don't do it.

[RendeR]

I live near Boston, and frankly, if you don't have a degree in SOME related IT field, wether it is CIS or CS or Database Management, SOMETHING....you will not get a job.

Go to school, take a few classes in different IT fields, then complete a degree in the one you like most. Take some philosophy and anything else that interestes you to keep you sane while doing the IT classes.

Without that expensive sheet of paper, you're unemployed.

[Fidatelo]

IT is a worriesome field in my opinion (and I'm in it). Software development is, in my opinion, simply the 21st century industrial plant worker job. The recent shift of jobs to places like India is really only the beginning. In the future more and more things will begin to standardize themselves within the industry. And once something is a standard, then you can write code that will work eveywhere and all the time. And once you've done that... you're no longer needed. Not to mention that as development tools become easier to use, and more people have grown up using computers all their lives and almost inately understand how software works, the entry barriers to the field become lower and lower.

Yes, this may be a ways off (15-20 years), but if I was in high school right now I would be looking elsewhere. There is nothing worse than losing your job in your late 40's or early 50's, especially if it is because the position has become obsolete throughout the entire industry.

[Marc Vaughan]

IT is a worriesome field in my opinion (and I'm in it). Software development is, in my opinion, simply the 21st century industrial plant worker job. The recent shift of jobs to places like India is really only the beginning. In the future more and more things will begin to standardize themselves within the industry. And once something is a standard, then you can write code that will work eveywhere and all the time. And once you've done that... you're no longer needed. Not to mention that as development tools become easier to use, and more people have grown up using computers all their lives and almost inately understand how software works, the entry barriers to the field become lower and lower.

Yes, this may be a ways off (15-20 years), but if I was in high school right now I would be looking elsewhere. There is nothing worse than losing your job in your late 40's or early 50's, especially if it is because the position has become obsolete throughout the entire industry.

I disagree with this - software is something that is generally user driven and as such attempts to vastly outsource software development to other countries generally leads to software which is not ideally suited to the task it is written to do. Software which is developed for a user (as opposed to embedded automatum software) will always require a dynamic medium including interaction of the end user in order to write consistently successful programs.

I have seen several companies attempt to do this in the past and end up with software which has either had to be retrofitted in-house or simply started again from scratch, a number of the larger European companies which had started to go this route have now rethought this practice (and as such the IT market in the UK is on a definite upswing from what I've seen).

[Galaril]

I live near Boston, and frankly, if you don't have a degree in SOME related IT field, wether it is CIS or CS or Database Management, SOMETHING....you will not get a job.

Go to school, take a few classes in different IT fields, then complete a degree in the one you like most. Take some philosophy and anything else that interestes you to keep you sane while doing the IT classes.

Without that expensive sheet of paper, you're unemployed.

RenderR ,
I am finishing up my masters degree in MIS (concentration in Information Security).I am changing careers from my present government job ,an Intelligence related position.I am overseas these days but will be relocating back to the Boston vicinity next year because I am originally from the area(Grafton).I was wondering since it sounds like you are in the IT industry what kind of job might I be able to qualify for back in the area?Also, what do you think is the best way to get a job back there job fairs,headhunters,search the internet etc?I believe there are alot of consulting firms that contract out to companies for security out sourcing and such.And how is the IT field looking back there in general these days?If you have any other info I would love for you to PM me.Any other advice would be gretaly appreciated.Thanks.