Is IT a good career path?

Post by **Gandalf** » 2003-05-25 01:01am

I'm soon to reach a point in my life where I have to pick a path, and I was looking at courses that Universities within my reach offer, and most offer lots of IT based careers, and IT has always appealed to me.

So is IT worth pursuing as a career?

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2003-05-25 02:25am

Shrug I am in the IT buissness.

The work is fun and the pay is very good.

The downside is that you have shit for working security rite now and forget about finding a new one.

Hopefully this will change but who knows.

A university IT degree is somewhat more secure than having none but nothing is for certan in IT nowdays.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-05-25 02:27am

It's not the most engaging stuff in the world but it's a pretty good career, as far as business degrees go, though I opted for accounting instead.

Hamel · Post by **Hamel** » 2003-05-25 02:48am

I'm going for an IT degree, and I can tell you right now that the journey is frought with dangers, idiots, and total bullshit

Only go into the field if you love what you're doing~ I'm still not sure if I'm cut out for the field. There are over 800k MCSEs in this country, so if you do get certified and get out there, expect stiff competition

And lemme tell you another thing~ college education and certification won't mean jack shit in terms of real-world stuff. I recently had a substitute instructor for my Win2k Infrastructure class, and he was throwing out stuff left and right that we knew NOTHING about that came from real-world situations. What made it worse is that i'm in my most advanced IT courses

If you do go into IT, you might want to look at Cisco hardware, Novell Netware, UNIX, or perhaps even an obscure part of the field.

No matter the road you take, job shadow. job shadow. job shadow. You need to know how the whole thing works in reality aside from what you've seen in a sterile college room

Brother-Captain Gaius · Post by **Brother-Captain Gaius** » 2003-05-25 02:49am

If you're going IT its better to have certifications than degrees, but degrees do still help.

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2003-05-25 03:22am

Certifications sux!

I got MCSE for NT4 in 1998 but the crap test is pure shit and I never bothered in upgrading to W2K.

The only test worth anything was the "Internetworking Microsoft TCP/IP on WindowsNT" but MS being MS they retired that test...

Read the books but don't bother with the MCP/MCSE test it's a dime a dozzen and not worth the effort.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-05-25 03:27am

If I could go back and do it all over again, I'd become a doctor. After some initial pain, it's easy street. Besides, IT is a crapshoot, which is why I'm glad I didn't really get into it. Everybody thought it was a license to print money during the Silicon Bubble Boom, but it doesn't look that way any more. There are still people raking in money in that business, but it's luck of the draw; others are starving.

Long term, medicine is the way to go (or at least, that's what I plan on telling my boys when they get older). Think about it: we have aging baby boomers with money, unbelievable vanity, and a remarkable history of self-absorption. Small wonder cosmetic surgeons are raking in the dough. Add to that the more serious health problems they will have as they get older, and you can see why medicine is a growth industry.

Moreover, medical experts note that the junk food and sedentary lifestyle increasingly prevalent upon the younger generation will result in a spectacularly unhealthy generation in the decades to come, with problems like heart disease and diabetes starting much earlier in life than has historically been the norm. This will create even greater demand for medical services, although the big cash cow will still be the baby boomers as they desperately try to stave off mortality.

Go into pre-med. If you don't, you'll remember this advice someday

Hobot · Post by **Hobot** » 2003-05-25 03:36am

Medicine sounds good in theory, but do you really want to look down someone's asshole everyday?

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-05-25 03:46am

Hobot wrote:Medicine sounds good in theory, but do you really want to look down someone's asshole everyday?

You'll be doing that in IT too. That asshole is called "your manager". And worse yet, you'll be looking up at it.

Hobot · Post by **Hobot** » 2003-05-25 04:03am

Darth Wong wrote:
Hobot wrote:Medicine sounds good in theory, but do you really want to look down someone's asshole everyday?
You'll be doing that in IT too. That asshole is called "your manager". And worse yet, you'll be looking up at it.

Touche

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2003-05-25 04:04am

Darth Wong wrote:If I could go back and do it all over again, I'd become a doctor. After some initial pain, it's easy street.

I'd rather put holes into people than reach into their guts to pull out rolls
of fat...

Hethrir · Post by **Hethrir** » 2003-05-25 04:44am

IT is Australia is in a slump. Not only is there no work, and what there is floating around pays crap, has crap hours, and EVERYONE wants you to fix their computer.

If you are going do IT (no puns

), do web. ASP, .NET, *NIX, SQL. Anything else is a dead end.

But...if you like it, go for it! I work in IT, and am not overly happy, but at least i don't have to go into that despicable sunshine.

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2003-05-25 08:46am

At the moment the arse end is falling out of IT. Everyone saw the cash signs and flocked to it. I wasted a year of my live at an MCSD boot camp and where am i now? I'm a fecking secretary. The problem with IT is that they've overgrazed their food.

Like Mike said Medical is very lucrative and rewarding. But also so is Law. I worked for a solicitor for a year last year and he's making it faster than he can spend it and all he does is civil law, arranging morgages, wills, and suing people etc. Go into criminal and you can write your own cheque's.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-05-25 09:08am

Initial assessment: Go into aerospace engineering.

Study of failing industries: dot.com markets and IT industry.

Rising areas of work: Biotech.

Degree: BSc in Biological Sciences.

Given I open the jobs section for New Scientist every week and find 90% of the jobs related to the Big 3 (biotech, nanotech and computing) I'd say my plan is fairly sturdy right now.

My mum wanted me to get into nursing and palliative care of the elderly for some reason, she keeps going on about how the old are living longer and need looking after, I intend to get rid of ageing instead.

My dad always said that if he had a second chance he'd stay on in the RAF for a career as an officer instead of doing a few years then going into commercial engineering.

UltraViolence83 · Post by **UltraViolence83** » 2003-05-25 07:46pm

If I had to be in IT, I'd flip out like a disgruntled mailman. From what I hear it's nothing but dealing with assholes and the such. Ugh. Plus, I'm not exactly the world's greatest computer tech.

I myself am at a crossroads in my life as well. So far my biggest choices are musicianship and writing. I'm not big on "real" jobs.

Of course I wouldn't mind giving Law or Politics a try. Academics are neat, too. I'd love to be a college history professor. Owning my own business would be great.

Blue collar jobs aren't as bad as some people may think. I wouldn't mind being an independant trucker, or a journeyman (my brother's getting into it, bascially brick-laying...good money)...I'd be happy being almost any kind of tradesman, really.

Lol I used to want to be an astronomer when I was little, then a coroner/mortitian.

Just wanted to point out that some people on this board aren't computer geeks.

UltraViolence83 · Post by **UltraViolence83** » 2003-05-25 07:50pm

Darth Wong wrote:Long term, medicine is the way to go (or at least, that's what I plan on telling my boys when they get older). Think about it: we have aging baby boomers with money, unbelievable vanity, and a remarkable history of self-absorption. Small wonder cosmetic surgeons are raking in the dough. Add to that the more serious health problems they will have as they get older, and you can see why medicine is a growth industry.

Moreover, medical experts note that the junk food and sedentary lifestyle increasingly prevalent upon the younger generation will result in a spectacularly unhealthy generation in the decades to come, with problems like heart disease and diabetes starting much earlier in life than has historically been the norm. This will create even greater demand for medical services, although the big cash cow will still be the baby boomers as they desperately try to stave off mortality.

Go into pre-med. If you don't, you'll remember this advice someday

Seeing all this plastic surgery going on now just reminds me of how shallow people really are. People fucking suck.

So how much worse off will the Lazy generation be, healthwise? I want to make sure my future children aren't immobile sacks of fat struggling with diabetes at age 12.

Kelly Antilles · Post by **Kelly Antilles** » 2003-05-25 07:59pm

As the others have said IT is a very tough field. M$ makes you have to be certified in ALL of their software (which is a bunch of tests to begin with). Plus, with so many people aready graduating or graduated with IT degrees, the market is flooded.

Find something you'd enjoy. It doesn't matter what the piece of paper says anyway. Just that you have it.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-05-25 10:40pm

MCSEs aren't hot, but they might be a way to get your foot in the door - remember that. Get skills in SQL, maybe Cisco's IOS and other stuff too.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2003-05-25 11:17pm

I think it depends on what you define as IT. If you mean taking care of the network and and desktops, then its a very crowded field with not many new jobs out there. I think IT growth will be flat for a very long time.

Very few people are hiring right now and they want experience and a degree (doesnt matter what degree) , certs add icing to the cake. If you support internal staff , then it can be a fun job. You get to know everyone, and touch different area's of the company. However, you are not often appreciated.

If you do IT work, for paying customers, you often have to deal with angry and frustrated people. But most customers are actually pretty nice, and its not so bad.

Just remember every job has its cool sides and down sides. In IT you are always in danger of being outsourced, or cut. On the other hand, you usually learn something new everyday.

Trytostaydead · Post by **Trytostaydead** » 2003-05-26 01:51am

Darth Wong wrote:If I could go back and do it all over again, I'd become a doctor. After some initial pain, it's easy street. Besides, IT is a crapshoot, which is why I'm glad I didn't really get into it. Everybody thought it was a license to print money during the Silicon Bubble Boom, but it doesn't look that way any more. There are still people raking in money in that business, but it's luck of the draw; others are starving.
Go into pre-med. If you don't, you'll remember this advice someday

Pre-med probably has some of the highest fail rates and drop-out rates. ONLY do it if you WANT to do it, not for the sake of money otherwise you'll drive yourself nuts. Plus, at least in the United States, medicine is in a HUGE mess. We have doctors quitting in droves, or being forced to move away from their practices and go to cheaper areas, and it's not quite the money-making industry people see it to be.

On average it affords COMFORTABLE living (at ungodly hours per week) but the path there is also incredible. After approxiamtely 8-10 years in school with a huge amount of debt, you'll come out earning less than a janitor does for the next 5-10 years with barely any sleep and sometimes no weekends (one surgeon during his residency had the great luck of covering TWO hosptials with only TWO days off the entire year).

Don't force your kid to go pre-med, it should be something out of their own motivation otherwise you'll get jack-ass doctors or driftless kids as they drop out.. I've seen too many of both so far.

Thunderfire · Post by **Thunderfire** » 2003-05-26 02:57am

Darth Wong wrote:If I could go back and do it all over again, I'd become a doctor. After some initial pain, it's easy street.

Beeing a doctor can be really bad too - depending on the job
you get. The underpaided and overworked doctor at the local
hospital is going to disagree with you.

EmperorMing · Post by **EmperorMing** » 2003-05-26 03:02am

As has been indicated in an earlier post, do what you *want* to do.

But realise you may have to take a slight detour to get there now and again.

victorhadin · Post by **victorhadin** » 2003-05-26 10:35am

Admiral Valdemar wrote:Initial assessment: Go into aerospace engineering.

With 1.3 billion flight tickets bought every year, a number that is growing, and a cost of fuel that will likely rise in future, it has some merit, yes. Add to that the across-the-board applications of aerospace engineering (as opposed to IT or, indeed, bio-engineering which is rather more specialised) and if the aerospace industry fails outright (unlikely) you can find another area of employment in theory.

And hell, if Bush pushes us all into a new arms race, I certainly won't be complaining.

Biotech might be even better, or it might turn out to be the 21st century's IT. Who knows?

Learn Chinese and get civil engineering qualifications and you will be on the gravy train as well (though for how long is debateable). There is more money in the fast-developing nations than you would think.

As for medicine, though, I feel inclined to agree. There is permanence and stability in that.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-05-26 10:38am

Trytostaydead wrote:Pre-med probably has some of the highest fail rates and drop-out rates. ONLY do it if you WANT to do it, not for the sake of money otherwise you'll drive yourself nuts. Plus, at least in the United States, medicine is in a HUGE mess. We have doctors quitting in droves, or being forced to move away from their practices and go to cheaper areas, and it's not quite the money-making industry people see it to be.

That's because of insane American college tuitions and even more insane American malpractice insurance rates thanks to lawsuit-happy lawyers and judges. I don't live in America

On average it affords COMFORTABLE living (at ungodly hours per week) but the path there is also incredible. After approxiamtely 8-10 years in school with a huge amount of debt, you'll come out earning less than a janitor does for the next 5-10 years with barely any sleep and sometimes no weekends (one surgeon during his residency had the great luck of covering TWO hosptials with only TWO days off the entire year).

The American health-care system is fucked up; like too many other industries, it's feast or famine.

Don't force your kid to go pre-med, it should be something out of their own motivation otherwise you'll get jack-ass doctors or driftless kids as they drop out.. I've seen too many of both so far.

Obviously, if they're vehemently against the idea, it would be stupid to make them go in anyway. But I'm still going to tell them it's a good idea.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-05-26 10:48am

Would America ever get a National Health Service like in the UK one day? And if it would, would people living there prefer it?