Continuing Education Advice & Career Thread

[The_Light_Brigade]

It helps to be incredibly handsome and charming like myself.  Gets you into so many doors.

[PandaPancake]

Not true. But math is a big part to computer science.

 

I did say programming not computer science. But this was back when C++ was cool.

[The Saltman]

C++ is cool if you're into making video games.

[dos poptarts]

I always recommend public speaking (or interpersonal communication) classes. Joining Toastmasters really helped my wife because it forced her to speak to strangers. English is not her primary language and it provided a place where if you fumble over your words it isn't a big deal. You aren't in front of your peers at work. But you HAVE to participate. Speak, lead the table topics...etc...Her work paid for it, so I don't know the costs.

 

At team lunches, my previous Global Sales VP would drop a random topic and choose someone at lunch to speak for a full 60 seconds. Mine was philips head screws/screwdrivers. Even you don't know the topic, you need to be able to BS your way into changing the topic for a full 60 seconds. He told me afterwards, he thought about choosing "quilting" as a topic....I may have been in trouble.....I told him, next time I'll bring up the topic first and might choose the topic "Who's better, Brady vs Manning" and give it to him. He wasn't a football fan.

 

 

[natty]

I'm going on information about twenty years old. I was looking to become a programmer way back before there were women on the internet. When asking around trying to focus on what I should take in school I was always told they prefer math degrees over programming degrees. Any truth to that?

 

And become an Engineer and you can do almost anything you want except heart surgery.

 

They must have meant some kind of programming certification.  Before the early 90s I don't know of anywhere that offered a programming degree.  My first year college I was in the college of engineering and after they created the college of information technology.  

 

I never learned 'programming' though.  The intro courses taught you some c++ but you were basically expected to pick up whatever language you wanted to learn on your own.  Nothing I learned directly applies to what I do now but it was definitely worth it to learn those core concepts.  

[MCCNASTY]

You could try making meth.  Worked out for Malcoms dad.  Sort of.

[4Corners]

So as you guys know I've been absent a lot lately. This is due to a lot of things but mostly due to going back to school, switching careers and having a family.

I thought this thread would be a good thread to have and stickied.

I'll start off first: I've been changing my mind in my career path and finishing education. I'm in the software industry but I'm an account manager and not a developer for the time being. I am finishing my degree in computer science and want to transition to a developer / programmer role. I hear the developers here don't make as much as others do in the industry.

What do you guys recommend I do?

 

just get that degree bro - I have a health degree (not a BS) but I don't work in the health field. those tech jobs seem to be good ones - I have a friend who is a web developer and he makes a pretty decent living. I just don't have the tech poo in my blood. 

[Jackofalltrades]

I'm trying to figure out what I could do with a two year cyber crime degree...

[PandaPancake]

I'm trying to figure out what I could do with a two year cyber crime degree...

You need a degree to be a criminal now? Things have changed.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using CarolinaHuddle mobile app

[Jackofalltrades]

No, I got my criminal record shortly after high school.

I was an overachiever.

[PantherMan89]

Graduated in December with a bachelors in accounting and finance. Working as a seasonal tax preparer now but that ends next month. I've been putting out a lot of resumes but few bites thus far.

[TANTRIC-NINJA]

I am in the Liberty Tax dancing Statue of Liberty training class atm...really promising.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using CarolinaHuddle mobile app

[PandaPancake]

I'm just waiting for people to wise up and say, "NC sucks for actual job growth. Let's GTFO"

[LUUUUUKE]

The future in IT in my honest opinion resides in Cyber Security. The governments growth in this field will grow 30% by the year 2020. That doesn't even account for the private sector. My advice would be to go to a school where the IT program has been NSA approved/certified. Get your degree, hopefully you already have IT experience and go from there. Naturally, in the IT field, you would definitely want to get some Technical Certifications. Start with baseline Certs like Comptia's Security+ and work your way up to CISSP (certified information systems security professional) and CEH (certified ethical hacker). Cisco certifications are highly recommended as securing the domain will require port knowledge and the proper configuration of routers and layer 3 switches.

I recently attained my Associates Degree in General Education. I have 12 years of experience in IT as a systems administrator and information management officer. It won't be hard to get my Bachelors in Cyber Security based on my experience. It will just take time, but it's well worth having the degree. Degrees show the world that you're educated and trainable. Honestly, I'm probably smarter than most that have Bachelors degrees, and I think it's BS, but such is life. I'm 30 yrs old with a family of my own, but I fully intend upon getting my Masters in Cyber Security. That's the goal anyways.

If anyone has any questions, I'd be more than happy to assist. I don't have all of the answers, but if I don't know, I won't BS you. I hope this was helpful for at least one of you.