Help me decide my future

johnnay

Ok, I was happily surfing the internet casually trying to find the course code for computer programing in gmit.
I was quite happy with my choice content with the knowlege that my future was relatively assured. Until i stumbled upon a thread here in relation to programmers salary's not as much as i expected but do-able, next the proceeding line of people describing the problems getting jobs and STILL being in that low wage bracket scared me.
Now i am lost. To put it plainly folks i want money, plain and simple. I am not going to go through collage and learn programming to come out of it with a nice hobby. I only chose programming because i have an overall flair with computers (probably a tired line but how and ever...) and always wanted to learn how to program to avoid searching and downloading obscure programs to do my tasks. now the decision is up to you wise people who have been here before me. What is a lucrative computer area to get into. I will be entering my courses into c.a.o in about a month and now am back at square one. please please help me. I understand the basis of HTML 4 and I understand windows in almost all forms that I can manage (except networking) and I want to progress fast. The way the economy is turning (economists say and i am awful skeptical about) within the next four years their will be a boom in required computing jobs. which i home to ride to an early retirement.

any suggestions.

Tom Dunne

johnnay wrote:

any suggestions.

A degree will give you a broad understanding in a subject area. If you choose a subject area you do not like, you will be miserable for life.

If, however, you choose a subject that you have a flair for, and an interest in, you will do quite well. You will find an area that you would like to specialise in and speciality means more money.

There are many areas in computers, there are many areas in computer programming. You could be a web programmer, an embedded systems programmer, a database programmer, an applications programmer - you get the picture.

You say you have a like of Windows - there's good money to be made in Windows system administration. Have you tried Linux yet, there is arguably more money in Unix systems admin.

TBH, the one piece of advice I would give is that if you like a particular area, go for it. It is very difficult to put your heart and soul into a subject you don't like. If you can't put your heart and soul into something, you won't succeed at it.

Timmy_d

johnnay wrote:

Ok, I was happily surfing the internet casually trying to find the course code for computer programing in gmit.
I was quite happy with my choice content with the knowlege that my future was relatively assured. Until i stumbled upon a thread here in relation to programmers salary's not as much as i expected but do-able, next the proceeding line of people describing the problems getting jobs and STILL being in that low wage bracket scared me.
Now i am lost. To put it plainly folks i want money, plain and simple. I am not going to go through collage and learn programming to come out of it with a nice hobby. I only chose programming because i have an overall flair with computers (probably a tired line but how and ever...) and always wanted to learn how to program to avoid searching and downloading obscure programs to do my tasks. now the decision is up to you wise people who have been here before me. What is a lucrative computer area to get into. I will be entering my courses into c.a.o in about a month and now am back at square one. please please help me. I understand the basis of HTML 4 and I understand windows in almost all forms that I can manage (except networking) and I want to progress fast. The way the economy is turning (economists say and i am awful skeptical about) within the next four years their will be a boom in required computing jobs. which i home to ride to an early retirement.

any suggestions.

within the next four years their will be a boom in required computing jobs.

Anyone think this will actually happen:)

BostonB

Timmy_d wrote:

within the next four years their will be a boom in required computing jobs.

Anyone think this will actually happen:)

No. However there are decent paid roles for people with the right skills and experience, and can prove they have both. But because competition is high you'll have to be at the top of your game.

BostonB

johnnay wrote:

...
Now i am lost. To put it plainly folks i want money, plain and simple. I am not going to go through collage and learn programming to come out of it with a nice hobby. ...

Programming is only part of IT. Look at salary surveys for people like experienced business analysts and technical pre-sales guys.

Nehpets

So IT is still a good area to go into?

seamus

Nehpets wrote:

So IT is still a good area to go into?

Absolutely. If you're interested, you'll do fine. The only problem really is at entry level where you have a whole pile of people with no real interest (or skill) in I.T. and are just hacking away at first level support. You'll have to compete with these people for the jobs.

There's no such thing as a job straight out of college which pays a lot of money. Even the courses that require 600 points don't pay that well initially, you have to put in a hell of a lot of work, and *then* you get the money. I.T. is no different.

If you're interested in a lot of money, get into SAP. Get into a big company that uses SAP, and convince them to send you on SAP courses. If you enjoy programming, push towards ABAP programming. You'll still have to work hard for a few years, but the rewards for good people are big.

If you go into SAP though, it can be tough to maintain any semblance of I.T. experience. People who know SAP tend to know little about anything else.