A little revival. I took my Spring '14 semester off to think about what I wanted to do, and had a rough Fall '13 semester. Ultimately decided on IST and declared my major. Too much math involved to go with a CompSci major. I may throw in a business minor if I get the chance as well. Unfortunately though, I have no idea what I want to study in the IST field. There's cyber forensics, programming and numerous other options, although I still have some time to decide on that.
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IST vs Computer Science
- Thread starter Squilly
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It really doesn't matter. A degree just lets us know that you can complete a task. When you sit down in front of us, we will see if your skills match our job requirements. Typically, CS gives you a better 'rounded' experience to better match you with tech openings. That's just my opinion.
I would hire anyone regardless of degree status if they could code like a standards demon. For me, I need to see some project experience. Personal projects are great! It doesn't have to cure cancer or solve hunger, if it's a cron job that clears all your grandma's [SPAM] it works for me.
I have a BS in CS. At work I run a lab. At home I run a small software development company; just like every other code monkey worth a grain of salt.
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I wanted to study network engineering while pursuing my IST degree, even got my Cisco CCNA certification my senior year. Then 2008 happened and companies were like "Nope, we're not hiring anybody. We're giving away pink slips like Oprah gives away cars." But one company was like "Yep, we'll hire you to be a code monkey, and guess what, our starting salary is a bit higher than what all your friends in your graduating class are making at their entry level jobs!" So I'm all like "****ing sweet" and accepted the offer, and have been at that job ever since and happy with it, even though I don't do squat with networking. Thankfully I already knew some programming before going into college and learned Java in college so I was not completely lost.
I guess the point is, unless you have the time, money and patience to sit around and wait for the perfect job offer after graduating, don't focus too much on one thing because you never know what you'll end up doing. Don't pile up on cyber forensics courses (as interesting as that sounds, wish my uni offered that, but the mid 2000s were a much simpler time, a time before Target credit card breaches and nude celeb photo leaks) and completely skip out on something else. Do a bit of each so you're more well rounded when you graduate. Companies aren't looking for experts out of college, they're just looking for someone whose eyes don't glaze over when basic concepts are discussed.
So why did you choose IST, which I've never heard of, instead of.....anything else?
What are you interested in Squilly?
What are you interested in Squilly?
Do you enjoy CS? Is it strictly the programming side? I would do it but I'm no engineer. I can't get past Algebra II let alone Calc. In IST, I just have to do this class and business Calc then I'm done with math.
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I don't know much of anything when it comes to coding. Currently taking a very basic IST course. The next level introduces programming Java & C++. I'm sorta familiar with the dark side of the internet, not the darknet but I know a few "hackers".
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Information Sciences & Technology. Penn State is one of the only colleges to offer it as a BS degree. I like computers, technology but I don't know a lot about coding. I thoroughly enjoy reading tech articles, but I hate blogging/writing in general so it's not for me. The market is really saturated with these sites too.
BS degree = liberal arts, not doing that.
Take a major for something you're interested in, eh?
Your use of BS = figurative! Mine = literal. I'm not confused.
Yeah, you don't think IST people will be needed in the coming decade? Think it'll all be automated?
I'm not sure how to respond to that. Do you enjoy social studies? Your career will dictate the work, not your degree. I run a mobile forensics lab. Doesn't matter what degree I have. The degree and my experience helped get the interview. My skills won the interview.
I do not do strictly programming. I also oversee device deployments, vacation leave, meetings, new product development testing, ect. Having said that, I do happen to know a fair number of programming languages; from Assembly to Swift. On a daily basis I only use a small subset of those.
Hackers! HAha! You are killing me here.
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I do. There are a variety of options in the IST field. IST is like a base for CompSci, at least at PSU.
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Hypothetical but what if you're just entering the field in an entry level job? How is that experience and skills?
IST is more commonly known as MIS (management and information sciences) at other schools, if that helps clear things up.