Programming Forums > Community Forums > Coder's Corner Lounge

bl00dninja · Feb 4th, 2005, 10:45 PM

i recently emailed my dad for advice on becoming marketable in the CS industry and this is what he said:

Quote:

If you want to be very marketable in the software business, there are a
number of paths open. Which you want to take depends upon your skills
and interests. Here are some examples:

1.) network engineer: installs and maintains computer networks
2.) software engineer: designs and implements software applications.
3.) computer programmer: implements and maintains designs created by
others
4.) system administrator: maintains computing systems, installs
patches and upgrades, manages user accounts

All of these require specialized knowledge. Engineers usually have
4-year degrees, but there are many "technician" jobs in information
technology (IT) that you can learn in a technical school (e.g., ITT
Tech). The better careers and higher pay usually need a 4-year degree
in either computer science or MIS (management information systems).
SysAdmins may or may not have 4-year degrees. Programmers may or may
not have 4-year degrees. Good engineers with 4-year degrees and a few
years of experience earn upwards of 80K a year. System administrators
usually earn somewhat less (~60K), and programmers less still (~40K).

There are also the "staff scientist" labor grades (that's me!), which
typically require advanced degrees and deep technical knowledge. Last
year my salary was $117K, and I was given an additional $77K in stock
options (added to the ones I already had). I also made a little less
than $20K on the side teaching a couple of nights a week.

The "hot" computing languages right now are C++ for general
applications, and JAVA for web-based applications. Check out
Monster.com for some hints on how to get started, and look at job
descriptions.

when they sold the company he worked for to essex corp they gave him a check for the stock options he had in the old company and it was worth like 400,000 or so i believe. that's pretty tight.

kurifu · Feb 5th, 2005, 2:47 AM

Gah... I hate Java.. I think there are many more commonly used web applications in my personal experiences aside from Java for web development.

EdSalamander · Feb 5th, 2005, 3:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kurifu

Gah... I hate Java..

Aww..

...but Java rocks!

*sigh* Oh well, to each their own.

Btw, what other languages did you mean? As far as I can tell, Java's the biggie by far right now.

Dizzutch · Feb 5th, 2005, 8:03 AM

I don't like Java either, but from a business standpoint, aka someone who gives you loads of money, sets dumb demands, cuz he doesn't know all that well, it's a great solution. Cross platform, and developed by a company that has a name, Sun, and not by Zend.org who no one has heard of, yet. Java is a good skill to have, whether you like the language or not. And honostly, java 1.5 has some pretty cool stuff.

Feb 5th, 2005, 2:47 AM	#2
kurifu Expert Programmer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada) Posts: 784 Rep Power: 5	Gah... I hate Java.. I think there are many more commonly used web applications in my personal experiences aside from Java for web development. __________________ Clifford Matthew Roche <geek@cliffordroche.com> Web Hosting: http://www.crd-hosting.com Consulting: http://www.crdev-consulting.com

Feb 5th, 2005, 8:03 AM	#4
Dizzutch Professional Programmer Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Worcester, MA Posts: 441 Rep Power: 4	I don't like Java either, but from a business standpoint, aka someone who gives you loads of money, sets dumb demands, cuz he doesn't know all that well, it's a great solution. Cross platform, and developed by a company that has a name, Sun, and not by Zend.org who no one has heard of, yet. Java is a good skill to have, whether you like the language or not. And honostly, java 1.5 has some pretty cool stuff. __________________ naked pictures of you \| PFO F@H stats

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