Half-Life Fallout: Being unemployed - Half-Life Fallout

Question for those who are in the know:

I am going to get an Associate Degree in Information Technology with a specialization in Software Engineering this time next year. I will then be moving on to my Bachelor Degree in Software Engineering. This is all coming from a Technical Institute that is accredited by the same association that accredits Brown and Harvard. What are A) My chances of finding a job and B) How much money should I expect to be able to ask for?

EDIT:


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POST 2222?!?!

I graduated UNLV with a BS in Computer Science; I make $55k/yr. A coworker had a similar route by finishing his computer degree at a community college instead of graduating UW-Madison, and he said there was no way he was getting a job. My brother is also a programmer and agrees. Basically you have to convey during the interview that the job doesn't need a degree, and you know why.

In reality what you get depends on what you can contribute to the business. If you have an Assoc. of I.T., it usually implies you have business training and know how departments are to function. In that case they may look for administrative skills almost as much as computer skills.

( sic ), on Jan 5 2009, 10:51 PM, said:

If you have US Citizenship, you're good to go. Degree in Software engineering lands you with an entry level job starting about $50,000/year, which is a lot compared to other professions. There are many job opportunities available to Software/Hardware engineers. But recently the market got very competetive mostly due to the sh*tty state of economy. Considering that it will take you good 5 years from now to get your Bachelor's, thing will be much better then. My only advice is to land an internship while you're in your junior year.

If you fail to find a job 5 years from now in Software engineering (which I doubt, unless you end up with a 2.50 gpa or less or if wall st goes bust), there is always IT consulting to look forward to.

RuSTeD, on Jan 6 2009, 05:12 AM, said:

I barely graduated with a 2.05 gpa and I still got great jobs. The only reason I have gotten great jobs is because of experience and internships that I got during my Uni years. People liked my work and considered me a valuable asset beyond my grades.


Offering myself to perspective employers has gotten easier now that I can easily dismiss my gpa with experience and skills.

suicide_mission, on Jan 5 2009, 11:21 PM, said:

I guess that paid off...I concentrated more on grades and shunned internships which I thought were waste of time (stupid college days). I ended up with a barely 2.9 gpa, but it seems that given my non-US citizenship status, interning with a company was a better option for me. Oh well. My gf should get her citizenship in a year and I'm planning on getting married so I can work for REALS. I'm willing to work at $13/hour provided that its electrical engineering. Had enough of this IT business.

RuSTeD, on Jan 6 2009, 12:12 AM, said:

Actually, the way that my school works is in Trimesters. In a year and half you get your Associates and then another year and a half you get your Bachelors on top of it. You do 6 quarters (10 weeks) for your associates and then another 6 (also 10 weeks) for your Bachelors. The school is really really well known and respected in the area ( It is the New England Institute of Technology ), and they offer a lot of co-ops and internships to students with GPA's 2.9 or higher. I currently finished my second quarter with 2 A's and 2 A-'s. My second quarter on the Deans list.

I'm doing pretty well for myself. Not to mention I am the computer instructor at a local Boys and Girls Club and I have made it known to just about everyone that I care about maintaining the computers and saving the Club money by saving electricity and buying new computers and whatnot, so I may be able to get a letter of recommendation since I have a "He knows what he's doing!" reputation and a "Go to!" reputation that is growing for problems.

I'm in a tech school now for pc support and networking, and we're taking a Cisco class right now. My teacher pretty much said most of these jobs are looking for people with certifications in each area, which can show them that you know the material already, and don't have to be trained.

Tall Mike, on Jan 6 2009, 11:55 AM, said:

I took Cisco in High School and unfortunately for us, the teacher never taught anything. Cisco has a web site over the internet instead of text books, so he would just hand out questions that Cisco provided for him and we were basically on our own. To make a long story short, nobody in my class got their CCNA.

jdowny, on Dec 4 2008, 12:42 PM, said:

If you can't find a job, try some volunteer work. Some volunteer services will at least pay you enough so you can keep yourself. It will give you something to do in the gap year until you can get into college.

Guus345, on Jan 6 2009, 11:03 AM, said:

I was considering taking a Cisco certification class at my college.

What does the class cover exactly?

Crusty Magic, on Jan 27 2009, 12:18 PM, said:

Taking it now and just finished Semester 3.

You do the OSI model, router config, routing protocols, switch configs, VPNs, VTP, Trunking, STP, a little wireless stuff, but I dont know what you do for Sem 4.

So far I really enjoy it. I find the stuff fascinating.

Also there are two different CCNA courses. Discovery and exploration. Exploration is the harder more comprehensive one designed for college students more so then high school students.

Check this link for more info http://www.cisco.com...acad/index.html

Thanks man, I'll look into that.

/me just got offered a job.

No, wait, what's that? Two jobs!?

^Dee^, on Jan 27 2009, 12:41 PM, said:

That's a good point actually, I might look into that. Cheers man.