deanfamily said:
Thanks you much Teddy! Really appreciate you to take the time and explain the process in detail, but also tell me about your personal experiences with the field. I haven't been able to sleep or eat these past two months since I started trying to
seriously think and go about my major, but with your post I feel much relieved..
The engineering calculus and engineering statistics classes really turned me off from going this path of Computer Science. I've read and heard from many programmers admitting that these are absolutely unnecessary when it comes to "real life" programming, unless of course 3D design, where at most college algebra and statistics would be needed (which I don't have as much trouble with when compared to Calculus or Differential Equations.) I also notice that some of the classes overlap with one another, leaving breathing room should I change my degree program to Computer Science down the road. I think I'll take up that Computer Science minor, or once I get into school and "get a feel for the environment," as they say, I could switch into Computer Science or look into their MS-IT program
Certifications shouldn't be too much of a problem, as a friend I met gave me some PDF books (TIA N+, CWNA, Networking Essentials) which I can study temporarily, and my community college has courses in advanced certifications with GNU Linux based servers and what-not.
I'll definitely start building my resume by getting a support-desk or local computer shop job, this way I won't be crap-out-of-luck once I graduate! This will not only look attractive to an employer, it's good experience for when I do enter my real field of choice (and some spending money so I can get off living on bread and peanut butter, ha ha).
Thank you a ton, now life feels a little more certain! Also, since you're also pursuing some Networking certifications.. I was wondering if you'd like to share these books. I'll send you a PM to explain further.
This post made my day. Seriously. I'm really glad that I was able to help.
Another thing that you may want to consider when getting out of school (or even beforehand if you can handle a full time workload), try applying with a contractor such as my employer, Robert Half Technologies. They are the ones that picked up my resume and really got me a head start in my current position. A lot of IT firms will hire on contractors as a sort of "trial run" to see if you know your stuff or not, then hire you on permanently. This is what's happening with me right now. The hospital I work for is going to be hiring me on full time here after my contract is up. The advantage is that you get the backing of a big name and their endorsement along with that, rather than going out yourself and trying for interviews, etc. AND, you don't have to bank on an interview to prove that you're capable of doing the job, you PROVE it.
You should also take some time to decide what you'd like to specialize in. IT is a very big field and has a lot of smaller subdivisions that you can really dig into. I myself am very big into network administration. Switches, Routers, Domains, Protocols, Security, etc are the things I like to deal with (which is why I'm going for my Cisco certs presently). Do not fret, you will, in the course of your studies and personal experience, figure this out naturally. Something in the field will catch your (increased) interest. That is what you should focus on. There isn't usually a specialization that you can choose in IT studies but
some colleges and universities do offer this ability (usually something like "MIS with specialization/emphasis on InfoSec, Networking Administration, etc").
It is true, real-world CS jobs do not require a lot of mathematics to do well. However, the coursework in college is rigorous and difficult. A lot of people get "burned out" by the time they get through a couple of their math courses and change major to MIS (I can't tell you how many of my friends did this, but I'd say at least 50% of my "nerd" friends).
Another thing, when looking for a tech job, DO YOUR RESEARCH about the company you are applying to. There are a lot of companies out there that take advantage of entry-level IT guys like us and send them out to do jobs and never pay them. Google every single company you apply to before you go to their "interview" and make sure they're legit. I can't tell you how many times I applied to what seemed to be a legit company to find out that they are based in Columbia, the CEO is a jerk, and techs get paid 10-12 weeks after they do a job, if at all (this is what I get for job-hunting on Craig's List). Your best bet is to get on-board with a well-respected, established company for hourly pay. Don't do per-job contracting, you can get burned, badly. One last tip, if there's not a face-to-face interview, it's probably a scam or a bad company. I've never landed a job without at least one (if not two or more) face-to-face interviews before starting.
I'm sorry for throwing all of these random factoids at you, but I know how rough it was for me to learn all of these lessons on my own so I thought that I'd share them here so you don't have to