CS Majors out there

[fingal]

Hmm interesting debate. I'm an information professional, and I agree that outsourcing is a threat. A lot of library, information related posts have gone that way because it appears to be cheaper. Actually I don't think that's always so, but I won't get into that.

Graduates often have unrealistic expectations about how much they'll earn when they leave university. I disagree with doing courses just because of their earning potential. It's certainly a factor, but I feel that people should study whatever interests them ... within reason. No point in studying stamp collections or toenail clippings etc. (unless you're an art student). A third of all UK graduates don't work in graduate jobs.

Personally, I got a shock when I graduated because it took me ages to get work in a field related to my degree. Having said that, I studied alongside future IT professionals and while many of them got well paid jobs, they didn't stay put and tended to move around every few years. Work experience is invaluable for many students.

[carlosponti]

the outsourcing was a big trend in the last few years but the hoopla has died off. for starters dell had most of its help desk staff cut and moved to India however since the Indians taking the calls spoke such poor English it made it difficult to use them for talking to English speaking Americans. as time goes on the people who got CS degrees for the money will retrain and switch careers leaving those of us who feel like we are getting paid for our hobby with jobs that will pay decently well. the market will fluctuate but in time it will balance out because no company can rely one hundred percent on an IT shop in another country. most like to have their staff in the building to get easy access to them when they are needed. Companies are starting to see the downside to outsourcing but it has made IT people more humble so that they need not make outrageous amounts of money. I got lucky mainly because I didn't have a degree at the time I got my job but they needed people that could program but after I got experience and a degree my income grew. I started at the bottom and worked my way up a bit.

[Juliusn]

Thats a good point. Why hire a programmer, if their is a cheaper way to it(steal). The market for programmers is s bit full at the moment, something really unique is needed to make a hit in that area. think I will go into programming for a personal thing and rather enter the IT world in a Different area. RF engineer might be a good inda. Anyway where can I Get a really good Perl tutorial from on the net?????

[techieMoe]

Thats a good point. Why hire a programmer, if their is a cheaper way to it(steal). The market for programmers is s bit full at the moment, something really unique is needed to make a hit in that area. think I will go into programming for a personal thing and rather enter the IT world in a Different area. RF engineer might be a good inda. Anyway where can I Get a really good Perl tutorial from on the net?????

All "the sky is falling" arguments aside, do what you enjoy. If you like to program, do it and don't let anyone tell you it's a bad idea. You'll be better off when you finally do get a job because you'll be doing what you like to do. It will feel less like a job and more like you're getting paid to play with things. Don't ever let anyone convince you not to follow a career in what you want to do.

That being said, if programming is just a hobby to you and you're actually more interested in, for instance, being an RF engineer, more power to you. Do what you think you're going to enjoy. Lord knows there's enough people out there who got jobs because there was "a future in it" or "that's where the money is" and end up miserable corporate slaves.

[Juliusn]

Hell thats a very true fact. Will always keep that in mind.........I have a very broad spectrum of interests in the IT world....from java to spectrum analyser .....suppose I will move around and get a taste of everything , regardless of what the surroundings dictate.

[fingal]

All "the sky is falling" arguments aside, do what you enjoy. If you like to program, do it and don't let anyone tell you it's a bad idea. You'll be better off when you finally do get a job because you'll be doing what you like to do. It will feel less like a job and more like you're getting paid to play with things. Don't ever let anyone convince you not to follow a career in what you want to do.

That being said, if programming is just a hobby to you and you're actually more interested in, for instance, being an RF engineer, more power to you. Do what you think you're going to enjoy. Lord knows there's enough people out there who got jobs because there was "a future in it" or "that's where the money is" and end up miserable corporate slaves.

Well said dude ... That's good advice for anyone. I think a lot of people try to follow the money, but if you hate your job you'll be unhappy. We all spend too much time at work to allow that to happen.

[Thrillhouse]

Anyway where can I Get a really good Perl tutorial from on the net?????

There's a very good one right on this site. Only 5 of 10 lessons have been posted, though.

http://www.linuxforums.org/programming/