Yeah, I did an internship at GE, they are in the process of moving more and more software development to India. Maybe you shouldn't focus on software. I changed my major to EE from CSE and now I study electromagetics and signals. Wireless systems,RF,antenna engineers are still in plenty demand if you're good. Just in case some people are in school and want to study an engineering field with good job market, it is worth consideration. Also it helps to get jobs with companies whose primary funding is government defense contracts, not much outsourcing there. It is what I am getting into. Good luck.
Computer Careers
- Thread starter MisterT
- Start date
don't forget the 80 hour work week staring at the damn monitor looking at code trying to get impossible amounts of work done before a deadline.MisterT said:
and you need real, rare talent to become a game coder, those guys are the real smart ones (note i didn't mention a thing about degrees and whatnot, these guys are just naturally gifted in programming)
Two comments to add...
First, I may have mentioned this before in a different thread but, there was a story on the local news about a small IT company that was hiring employees at 'offshore' wages. He was paying his employees 40K a year (about what he would have to pay if he outsourced the job) instead of the 80K a typical US engineer would demand... Even with the drastic pay cut, he would get upwards of 300 resumes from a single weekend newspaper advertisement.
The IT field has to wake up and realize that salaries don't always go up. They should be tied to the market. If your product/field is doing well, you should make more, if people stop buying your product, you should make less. It would spawn better ideas throughout the field when people depend upon the success of their job/company/product and when the market drops they can keep their job instead of standing inline at the unemployment office.
My other comment is for people just starting out, or thinking about college. If you like computers, and I'm asuming since you're here you also like cars, do some research on the automotive technician field. There is a very high demand for auto technicians that know their way around the electronics of cars.
Check out this article:
http://bostonworks.boston.com/globe/articles/040404_auto.html
First, I may have mentioned this before in a different thread but, there was a story on the local news about a small IT company that was hiring employees at 'offshore' wages. He was paying his employees 40K a year (about what he would have to pay if he outsourced the job) instead of the 80K a typical US engineer would demand... Even with the drastic pay cut, he would get upwards of 300 resumes from a single weekend newspaper advertisement.
The IT field has to wake up and realize that salaries don't always go up. They should be tied to the market. If your product/field is doing well, you should make more, if people stop buying your product, you should make less. It would spawn better ideas throughout the field when people depend upon the success of their job/company/product and when the market drops they can keep their job instead of standing inline at the unemployment office.
My other comment is for people just starting out, or thinking about college. If you like computers, and I'm asuming since you're here you also like cars, do some research on the automotive technician field. There is a very high demand for auto technicians that know their way around the electronics of cars.
Check out this article:
http://bostonworks.boston.com/globe/articles/040404_auto.html
What sucks too is that I like my present job, but it just doesn't pay enough. I can hardly make a living with it. I am not looking at jobs just for the money, but you have to make enough in order to survive. I asked my boss 3 times already about my position (they are supposed to reclassify it, bumping it up a notch in the pay salary band). Working for the state is great as far as benefits and has good job security for the most part, but the pay sucks! Almost all of us in this position are either in school, work another job (or me work 5 days one week and 6 the next), or are married which helps in that there are two incomes coming in. Pay raises are a joke for the most part. You get a percentage according to performance. The maximum is like 4%. 4% of nothing is nothing! This year we may not get a raise period do to budget constraints.
I have been there for 3 years and have gotten 1 or 2 raises at most do to budget issues.
I have been there for 3 years and have gotten 1 or 2 raises at most do to budget issues.sundevilMP5
Member
like the comment said before government computer jobs won't be outsourced...or at least i hope not...
experience is a big factor in jobs...i'm still a student working towards a bs in cse but i've worked as a developer for honeywell and now i'm moving onto another job with the government...in talking to a lot of different managers they really don't care about schooling that much but more so experience...but of course education is a big factor as well...most big companies i've talked to won't even hire people without a 4 year degree...just something to think about...
my recomendation would be to go for the 4 year degree and find some internships wherever you can...like i said i haven't even graduated yet but the companies that i've worked for have already offered me a full time position when i graduate...
experience is a big factor in jobs...i'm still a student working towards a bs in cse but i've worked as a developer for honeywell and now i'm moving onto another job with the government...in talking to a lot of different managers they really don't care about schooling that much but more so experience...but of course education is a big factor as well...most big companies i've talked to won't even hire people without a 4 year degree...just something to think about...
my recomendation would be to go for the 4 year degree and find some internships wherever you can...like i said i haven't even graduated yet but the companies that i've worked for have already offered me a full time position when i graduate...
I'm not sure if anyone touched on this subject, but what helped me out a whole lot in the IT field was being in a program that offered CO-OP. (School one semester, work another semester, while being paid). This way, you can get your foot in the door, and prove to your managers that you are worth hiring after. The department also helps out with interviews, etc. Anyone else do this?
Northeastern University in Boston is a co-op school. My g/f is graduating from their Counciling Psych Masters program in May. The word around the school is that no one can even get non-paying co-op positions in the IT programs let alone paying ones. Normally the school has great connections to help students find co-op positions. IT Companies are running real tight and they don't want to pay inexperienced employees or interns and they don't want their experienced employees wasting time training others.
