# Thinking about a career in computers, but advice.



## Big Will1 (Jun 16, 2010)

I'm kind of new here and I just recently graduated from high school and have been trying to think about what to do for the rest of my life. Anyway I tried to think of things that interest me, and besides video games the only other thing that really interest me is computers. So I thought about a career involving computers. So my question to you guys is where is a good place to start. There is a technical college less than a mile from my house that offers associate degrees in CIS Website Design, CIS Computer Support Specialist, and CIS Computer Networking Specialist. 

The reason I was looking at that school is because of the fact that it is so close to home and it's fairly inexpensive. With financial aid I'd be going there for close to nothing. So would one of those degrees be a good idea? If so what kind of job could I get with them? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.


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## tim19889 (Jan 24, 2010)

Well first decide what you want to do exactly, networking, pc repair/helpdesk, or web design? What you choose will affect the route you'll want to take. As far as the college if you can go there for real cheap I'd deff. recommend doing it, a degree always looks good to an employer . With that being said I've opted out of going to school because my dad makes too much money apparently and it would cost me about $40,000 for an associates degree. So if you don't want to go to school you could think about doing what I'm doing which is getting A+ certified (just passed the test today lol), then trying to get into a pc repair job for 1-2 years while earning an MCTS:Configuring Windows 7, and CompTIA Network+ certification. So...hopefully in two years I'll have two years of experience, A+ cert, Network+ cert, and MCTS windows 7. That should (hopefully) be able to land me a decent paying job at the help desk for like $20+ an hour. So yeah if you can get a degree, plus certs in whatever you're doing, plus some sort of experience, you'll be in great shape.


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## blackbeagle (Aug 8, 2008)

Big Willy1 said:


> I'm kind of new here and I just recently graduated from high school and have been trying to think about what to do for the rest of my life. Anyway I tried to think of things that interest me, and besides video games the only other thing that really interest me is computers. So I thought about a career involving computers. So my question to you guys is where is a good place to start. There is a technical college less than a mile from my house that offers associate degrees in CIS Website Design, CIS Computer Support Specialist, and CIS Computer Networking Specialist.
> 
> The reason I was looking at that school is because of the fact that it is so close to home and it's fairly inexpensive. With financial aid I'd be going there for close to nothing. So would one of those degrees be a good idea? If so what kind of job could I get with them? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.


Congratulations on your graduation. I've worked in IT recruiting for over 10 years. Here's what I would recommend:

Go with the latter two (CSS or CNS). There's no demand for website design. I don't know the content of that degree, but if it's just website design, you're wasting your time. You need to answer two basic questions: Do I want to work with software for a living or do I want to work with hardware? 

Software jobs are programmers, software engineers, DB administrators, software architect, etc. Hardware jobs are PC technician, network administrators, Network technician, etc. 

If all things are equal, software guys (programmers) tend to make more money to start out. Why? Because not everyone has the skill to make it as a programmer. It's very difficult and requires you to be very analytical and logical. If you aced Calculus in school, that's an indication you should take the software route. If you were good in Shop 101, go the hardware route. 

Get your AAS at that college, then transfer to an accredited 4 years university and get your BS degree. By then, you'll know what you want. I would hold off on certification for now. I had suggested this to Tim as well. Certs is not a substitute for a degree. No one will touch you if you don't have a degree, experience, and have just a cert. Certs are a dime a dozen. 

If I were you, I would get the AAS degree in CNS. Once you're done, beg for any type of entry level job. Even if it's working for Home Depot or Best Buy selling cell phones. This will give you not only customer service skills but sales skills as well. These will be very valuable in the IT market. 

Good luck. :wave:


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## Big Will1 (Jun 16, 2010)

Thanks for the advice guys you don't know how much it helps me. I'm taking it all into consideration when I try to decide what to do over the next year or two. I have heard from other people that the degree in website design is not that helpful either. So I'm pretty much going to cut that out of the equation. Plus to be kind of honest the thought of being a website designer didn't seem that thrilling to me either. But really thanks for the advice it really helps.


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## blackbeagle (Aug 8, 2008)

Big Willy1 said:


> Thanks for the advice guys you don't know how much it helps me. I'm taking it all into consideration when I try to decide what to do over the next year or two. I have heard from other people that the degree in website design is not that helpful either. So I'm pretty much going to cut that out of the equation. Plus to be kind of honest the thought of being a website designer didn't seem that thrilling to me either. But really thanks for the advice it really helps.


I wouldn't totally rule out going that route. When people say, "I'm taking a course in Web Design", that's not really being that specific. Are you learning how to program HTML? Are you learning how to create a website? If so, then you're right, stay away from that. Your grandmother could design a "Knitting Website" if she wanted to. 

Now on the other hand, if you're using different language to make a website run, that's a different story. Being that everything is web based these days, if you could master that area, you're going to hit the jackpot. 

Have you ever heard of the language call Python? It was used to create Facebook. Think those guys aren't doing well? How about people that have used 'search technology' to design web e commerce sites? Demand is huge. Based on one product you bought on that site gives a whole list of things they can market to you (Ebay, Career Builder, and Amazon) just to name a few. These guys are integrated marketing right into a web site. Pretty cool I think. 

So talk to the school and ask them questions about these courses before you sign up for them.


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## Mars30 (Feb 23, 2010)

I completely agree with Blackbeagle. Web designing is not a great option to consider.


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## Eva2010 (Jul 13, 2010)

i think it's a good career..


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## SeRCH4 (Jul 29, 2010)

Web design I think is a not a good degree to go with. If i were you I would try to go with CIS degree. Something with programming. It will be very difficult buy well worth it. Web design could be good, but you have to learn many different types of website code. Also if you like networking go with that. I know its a flooded with people trying to get jobs, but if you get a little experience somewhere, learn SQL database, and more techncial side of it, you will be very good hands. After getting a degree deff get some cert. and you will be getting a job. YEah seems like a lot but if you want to do what intrests you it will have to put some time into it. goood luck


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