Anyone have a degree in Computer Science?

[supert0nes]

I'm a software engineer (it's a computer science degree). Right now, I work for a company that develops embedded system solutions for monitoring assets and facilities using cloud managed platforms. It's good work. Challenging and fun.

 

Pretty similar to me.  HVAC System controllers talk to our aws environment through http. Java apps parse and dump into Vertica database.

[digiblur]

I agree with Digi. I am not in development (I sell it) but one of our best developers does not have a degree.  He is self taught and started his first job right out of high school.  He has told me just because you earn a degree or self taught in this field does not mean you are finished.  Technology changes almost everyday. You have to stay ahead of the game.

 

Just have to work your way up the ranks as I've done just about everything under the sun it seems from grocery store management, instrumentation work offshore, running fiber, data/voice backhaul from ship to shore, programming, dba, etc.  Sometimes get to do some cool stuff too:

 

Might recognize a name in here...

http://www.informationbuilders.com/pdf/new/magazine/v21-2/ibmagsummit2012_ldcfs.pdf

 

http://screen.yahoo.com/fighting-welfare-fraud-louisiana-234200501.html

 

http://www.ksla.com/story/15955474/la-tracks-food-stamp-fraud-closely

[Bob Newhart]

Don't sit behind a computer all day........ it sucks!       

 

You're young enough to make a good choice.

 

People will always need medical care, you always hear about those poor Doctors/Anyone/Anything driving their beemers living in the big house etc.

Remember, enough money is never enough, so ignore it when people tell you that.

 

Choose a career that you'll enjoy, your life will be so much better.

[kojitsari]

Don't sit behind a computer all day........ it sucks!

 

You're young enough to make a good choice.

 

People will always need medical care, you always hear about those poor Doctors/Anyone/Anything driving their beemers living in the big house etc.

Remember, enough money is never enough, so ignore it when people tell you that.

 

Choose a career that you'll enjoy, your life will be so much better.

Some of us are oddballs who enjoy looking at computer screens for 12+ hours a day . I personally have pulled a straight week of gaming before (mini fridges stocked with food In room and only the occasional bathroom breaks...man that was one interesting week of being snowed in), it was loads of fun for my friends and I.

[kojitsari]

Just have to work your way up the ranks as I've done just about everything under the sun it seems from grocery store management, instrumentation work offshore, running fiber, data/voice backhaul from ship to shore, programming, dba, etc. Sometimes get to do some cool stuff too:

 

Might recognize a name in here...

http://www.informationbuilders.com/pdf/new/magazine/v21-2/ibmagsummit2012_ldcfs.pdf

 

http://screen.yahoo.com/fighting-welfare-fraud-louisiana-234200501.html

 

http://www.ksla.com/story/15955474/la-tracks-food-stamp-fraud-closely

Thanks for the links Digi, those were interesting reads.

[z250kid]

im trying to go to school but my current job wont let me.  Witch is bs.

[JimBob]

im trying to go to school but my current job wont let me.  Witch is bs.

How do they stop you.

[CAREND]

im trying to go to school but my current job wont let me.  Witch is bs.

 

How do they stop you.

 

They put a spell on him.

 

If you want to go to school, you need to decide what works best for you.  If you work 50+ plus hours, it might be time for a change.  I work 40+ hours a week and do school 3 nights a week.  That's what weekends are for.

[kojitsari]

Also for everyone advising real work experience over/in addition to extra schooling, three of the 4 schools I'm currently looking at offer what they call "ways to pay" for school. Essentially you work at campus facilities doing work applicable to the degree you're pursuing and they pay you around 15$ an hour in addition to gaining hands on experience. The examples they give are maintaining the campus network, website, and various computer systems(plus I'm a huge fan of internships, so I figured over the summer I would try to get In a few places. I'm really hoping for the Riot Games office in STL, I have one inside connection).

[CAREND]

I say, if you don't have to pay for school, do the cheapest route possible.  If i were offered free schooling at a young age, i would have taken that no matter the degree. 

Also remember, it will come down to not what you know but who you know.  What you know will help as much as who you know, but knowing people will get you further ahead.  Ask politicians.

[kojitsari]

I say, if you don't have to pay for school, do the cheapest route possible. If i were offered free schooling at a young age, i would have taken that no matter the degree.

 

Also remember, it will come down to not what you know but who you know. What you know will help as much as who you know, but knowing people will get you further ahead. Ask politicians.

Well I have yet to see how much I'll get from any of the comp sci schools, but my favorite one so far is from 15-20k a year depending on the rooming situation, and is actually about the same cost as med school(the schooling after your bachelor's degree), if I get zero scholarships there.

[z250kid]

How do they stop you.

my hours are garbage im on call so i basically dedicate me life to this job.  I need to switch positions to go.

[shawn_kc]

Have you looked into Big Data?  The basis of it is storing masses of unstructured data (text, email, facebook posts, twitter,etc) in cheap hardware.  Once the data is there Data Scientists (heavy statistics) try to pull valuable information from the data.  

 

A google search is using Big Data technologies to quickly return results.  If you think about how much data a search goes through and how quickly it returns, it's really pretty amazing.

 

From a coding perspective, there is something called MapReduce, which is a way to interact with the data.  Data Scientists use something like R code to analyze the data.  These are the people who are in high demand.  Someone who knows statics, but also can do programming is valuable.  There are languages to load, query, and analyze the data. Pthyon, Pig, Scoop are a few.

 

I'm not a Big Data programmer so if someone else has more information to add or correct, feel free.  I saw one post mentioning Vertica which can fall into the Big Data appliance area.

 

If you want more information give http://bigdatauniversity.com/ a look.  There are some free quick training course to give you more information around Big Data.

 

Predictive modeling is a lot of times the end goal with Big Data.  Imagine if you could compile a bunch of crime information, like time of day, day of week, temp, type, full moon, location, etc. Then based on that information, you find a pattern to predict when and where a crime might happen.  The police department could then have a patrol car drive through the areas during the times that a crime is likely to happen.  This could prevent the crime from occurring.  

 

That is just an example.  There are many out there.

 

There is a Regional User group meeting in Kansas City.  STL might have something similar.  

 

Here is a link to the KC group:  http://www.meetup.com/Kansas-City-Big-Data-Projects-Group/

[S4GRU]

I'm not supposed to be looking at a computer screen 12 hours a day? Damn. No wonder I'm getting nearsighted.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

[Nickel]

I don't want to thread hijack, but I'm getting my associate's in IT with a networking focus, would it be worth it to get a bachelor's or what?

[kojitsari]

I don't want to thread hijack, but I'm getting my associate's in IT with a networking focus, would it be worth it to get a bachelor's or what?

The way I see it is that you at least need a bachelors nowadays (too many experienced older workers and people with higher level degrees these days taking all the jobs lol).

[Nickel]

The way I see it is that you at least need a bachelors nowadays (too many experienced older workers and people with higher level degrees these days taking all the jobs lol).

Well that kinda sucks, but isn't surprising. I can probably find some local job and start that while I do my bachelors. Sigh, more school.

[richy]

Well that kinda sucks, but isn't surprising. I can probably find some local job and start that while I do my bachelors. Sigh, more school.

I would suggest trying to balance your education with your experience. To much education without experience can be a disadvantage as employers can discount you because they believe you will move on to quickly from an entry level position but aren't experienced enough for a higher level position. I'm not suggesting you don't get a batchellors,  I'd suggest you get a masters, but only if you are picking up real world experience along the way. 

[Nickel]

I would suggest trying to balance your education with your experience. To much education without experience can be a disadvantage as employers can discount you because they believe you will move on to quickly from an entry level position but aren't experienced enough for a higher level position. I'm not suggesting you don't get a batchellors,  I'd suggest you get a masters, but only if you are picking up real world experience along the way. 

A masters? but that means more school:

[richy]

A masters? but that means more school:

Lol true but a Masters with experience is a much better bet. I can't say much about associates degrees as we don't have them in the UK and I've not really hired people with them but by and large a bsc says you can learn at a high level and commit to something for 3-4 years. A masters says all that and you can problem solve at an even higher level (a bsc doesn't really require novel thought).  A PhD says you can innovate and provide novel solutions to complicated problems. The more jaded suggest that a Bachelors is just proof you can stay sober for 4 weeks a year. They also suggest that if it isn't a science is just basket weaving (an honorable exception is made for the Math degrees which are awarded as arts degrees).

 

All in,  if you want money,  get a Masters and experience to match. 

 

(The blow it off and go be a photographer).

[Nickel]

Lol true but a Masters with experience is a much better bet. I can't say much about associates degrees as we don't have them in the UK and I've not really hired people with them but by and large a bsc says you can learn at a high level and commit to something for 3-4 years. A masters says all that and you can problem solve at an even higher level (a bsc doesn't really require novel thought).  A PhD says you can innovate and provide novel solutions to complicated problems. The more jaded suggest that a Bachelors is just proof you can stay sober for 4 weeks a year. They also suggest that if it isn't a science is just basket weaving (an honorable exception is made for the Math degrees which are awarded as arts degrees).

 

All in,  if you want money,  get a Masters and experience to match. 

 

(The blow it off and go be a photographer).

 But I thought you live in Hawaii and not the UK?

[richy]

 But I thought you live in Hawaii and not the UK?

 

I moved

[Nickel]

I moved

Oh neat, are you originally from the UK?

[kojitsari]

I moved

Lucky duck, you can get a skyline. I mean you can get one legally lol .

[richy]

Oh neat, are you originally from the UK?

Yessir!

 

Lucky duck, you can get a skyline. I mean you can get one legally lol .

I could before I moved,  but it's the wrong number of wheels for me plus I'm to old for those kind of shenanigans ! I didn't know they didn't sell it here, you could probably import one as a 1500 mile a year limit showcar (Thank you Mr Leno!). Frankly over 200mph is scary,  over 150 is bad enough. On Island there's nowhere safe to go fast,  120ish is about the max up to Kula but the popo know this and wait for you. Better and cheaper to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow