Anyone here who's an IT major in college, or an IT guy: Some questions!

[ravenvii]

(Never mind my posting history here, yes I know I'm all over the place. Humor me please )

Anyone of you who are IT majors in college? What do you think of it? How good are the job prospects for IT graduates? How is the market for IT graduates?

Anyone who are working in IT, how do you like your jobs? And same question as above, what are the job security and prospects like? Do people get hired right and left at graduation like engineers? Or do they have to live like starving artists hoping to luck upon a job?

And what areas are the strong markets for IT in? (I'm hoping California )

Thanks in advance, all.

 

[zayjay]

Hi, I'm from China, so please excuse me for my poor English...

I was an IT for a middle-sized international trading company, and it's

NOT fun, even all the stuff are Apple branded... Here I ll break down some

reasons for u:

1. You gotta be ready 24/7, if the server stopped on the X'mas eve, guess
who's gonna fix it?!

2. You are always the scapegoat, if the boss yelled at somebody, they
probably will say something like "oh, I'm pretty sure I've sent the mail
with the files, maybe it's the mail server was not working right..." now
guess who's gonna be the next one to get yell at?

3. 90% of your working time you need to teach morons how to use their
computers, even on their resumes all said otherwise.

 

[RamblinWreck]

Anyone of you who are IT majors in college? What do you think of it? How good are the job prospects for IT graduates? How is the market for IT graduates?

I was an Information Systems major in college (half IT / half business) and thought that it was a perfect fit for me. I wanted to go IT originally, but decided against it as it made more sense to get exposure to all of the business courses. Yes, IT gives you the technical knowledge, but through the business courses you are able to understand all of the business actions behind an IT process.

Anyone who are working in IT, how do you like your jobs? And same question as above, what are the job security and prospects like? Do people get hired right and left at graduation like engineers? Or do they have to live like starving artists hoping to luck upon a job?

Currently I'm a software developer for a major hardware manufacturer. I like my job overall. Certainly, like the poster above mentions, there are downsides to IT. My list is the opposite of his. As I am on the development end of the spectrum, all 24/7 support is handed off overseas. In that regard, I am lucky that I am never "on-call". As a downside, projects sometime require very long hours, but this is all the same for employees on the business side and IT side. If you get into a major company expect to work mornings and nights as you will be taking calls with both Europe and Asia.

I feel like the prospects are good right now. Certainly pay is much higher than most majors. To find the job you are looking for coming out of school though, be flexible with relocation especially if you pursue a niche specialty. My only advise would be to research a technology/software that is taking off right now, and pursue it. Don't learn anything that might be dying off sometime soon.

And what areas are the strong markets for IT in? (I'm hoping California

CA is good, so no worries there. Austin,TX would be the other current hot spot.

 

[ravenvii]

Awesome answers, thanks!

Currently I'm a software developer for a major hardware manufacturer. I like my job overall.

Just curious about this, how did the connection come about? Thought IT guys don't develop software, that's for the CS guys?

 

[RamblinWreck]

I was using the term developer loosely.

I spend roughly a third of my time with software development, with the rest split between determining/developing data requirements and test management.

My IS major had a specialization which allowed me to get into the position I am in. Yes, it's the CS guys that sit there and program all day. Glad I'm not those guys