Samseau said:
UrbanNerd said:
Samseau said:
If I could do it all over again I'd do computer science/programming. My buddy made 60K right out of college, and has been since offered with 110K jobs by Google in New York.
He also sits in a cubicle for 40 hours a week but only works 15 of them. He trades penny stocks all day and reads shit on the internet while waiting for his boss to let him go.
Sounds like me. I have been in software engineering for close to 20 years and have never regretted it. With the right skill-set there is no competition for jobs, you get called be recruiters all day for new jobs and your bosses treat you nice because they know you can leave them.
Just to be even more "secure", I went and allowed my life to be open to the government and now have a security clearance. That comes with $50K/year on top of whatever you made in the private sector.
I cannot recall the last time I worked a full 40 hours.
I'm still young enough to change career paths. Would you recommend it? How should I do something like this?
The key about getting into software engineering is that one really does not need a computer science degree. You just need certain courses of the computer science program to best prepare you. If you are talking college courses, the following can be taken as electives. I was a Math major so it was pretty easy for me to include the following courses:
Introductory Programming I (Java or C++)
Introductory Programming II (Java or C++)
Algorithms
Data Structures
Theory of Programming Languages
Operating Systems
Database Systems
Computer Networks
Computer Security/Information Assurance
Software Engineering
That is about 30 college credits. On top of a degree, one needs to keep their skills sharp which can be done with some I.T. certifications. Now once can try get the knowledge from the above courses only through I.T. certifications with no degree but keep in mind that some promotions and higher-level software positions are still tied to academics. Yes, you can still be employed without the degree but employers can always hold the "no BA/BS degree" over your head and not give you top dollar and/or promotions.