Conversion course Computer Science H Dip

david4791

Thinking of doing this conversion course in DIT, it starts on March 5th and runs for ten months, thereafter the college offer six months paid placement.

The course is level 8 H Dip in computer science. I'm from a civil engineering background and wondering is this a good conversion course.

Is it worthwhile leaving a engineering career with 15 hrs experience under my belt, any advice out there in terms of the value of this course and job prospects?

http://www.dit.ie/news/archive2012/graduateskillsconversioncoursehigherdiplomaincomputing/

djk1000

I'm an accountant and I have an interview tomorrow for a Hdip Computing. From talking to staff in the college,, it seems that there are jobs available in the internship companies, the 6 month internship is like an extended interview.

conor.hogan.2

david4791 wrote: »

Is it worthwhile leaving a engineering career with 15 hrs experience under my belt, any advice out there in terms of the value of this course and job prospects?

I would look at it as bringing the 15 years experience with you. Plus there is lots of jobs available after you qualify not just with the places where they place you on work experience.

david4791

Well that's very true, I have many years project Mgmt experience which is common among the different work sectors

david4791

How do professionals from non computing backgrounds who do this conversion course compete with 22 year olds with a four yr computer degree?

Surely they would have much more education in this field! Are they all in employment?

conor.hogan.2

It depends purely on how much work you do in your degree, all things considered the same yes a 4 year Bsc would be better than a 10-15 month conversion course but I would not see that as a bad thing.

Having another degree or having several years work experience is also valuable.

quietriot

An adult with experience in other areas, maturity and proven drive (your initial degree followed by your drive to do the conversion course), will be on an equal or greater footing when looking for work after college than the 22 year old who has been through the 3/4 year BSc.

It's as much about what you do outside the college as you do inside it, so when you go to do the conversion, learn other IT skills that aren't taught on the course.

Job prospects will be good, pay will be very low compared to the good years for engineers here but there's seemingly good long term prospects and security available now, here and elsewhere (UK, US).

david4791

Is there long term work in Eire with all the FDI companies?

I can get job security as an engineer overseas on a good salary, I was hoping the ICT sector would enable me to stay in this country due to kids and schooling etc

conor.hogan.2

If you work hard and know your stuff you should get a good secure job. (I had to do a lot of interviews before an offer with a level 9 conversion though)

fergalr

david4791 wrote: »

Is there long term work in Eire with all the FDI companies?

Its impossible to say.

In one way, the answer seems like a big 'yes' - there are lots of great reasons to continue to base your foreign company in Ireland.

But - if the Irish corporation tax rates were to be raised a lot, through some sort of european 'harmonisation' scheme, that could all change, so fast.

I think it is still the case that many of the large FDI companies are not doing their critical R&D here; they could leave.

It seems to me, that there is a sense, in which there are no 'secure' jobs in tech; at least not in the traditional sense.

CaraWebDesign

I am currently in a four year course for Computing at DkIT. I have had interaction with students from the HDip Course in Computing and have sat in on a few of their classes. Their capabilities in terms of being a programmer will not be on par with what the people coming out of the four year course by a long stretch. We get 3 years solid programming instruction with maybe a year's worth of Maths and other courses. However, the degree is worth the same (Level 8) so if you want to go on to some sort of Masters it could be a good stepping stone. If you go straight into work after completing the HDip you will need to do a lot of extra curricular learning to get your skills up to par. The internship process was a real eye opener regarding how little you actually learn in college. Initially, your wage will probably go down (~30k) but in the long run you will likely earn more (~80k+). I think a recession is a good time to go to college as the rest of your costs are down. Good luck with it.

david4791

Yes Cara, that's what I guessed regarding the programming end of things. The problem for me really is the going back onto a salary I was onto 10 years ago, that's fine without commitments, however, I now have mortgages and kids.

REFLINE1

Anyone know if this course is running again in 2013?

david_oc

A bit of a warning

I am coming to the end of this course currently.
This course is being run at a number of institutions across Ireland.
This means that the throughput of graduates is fairly large.
Currently in my course and I believe this is the case in most of these courses the majority of students have found it impossible to find a placement for the internship portion.

This is despite the support of industry partners.
You must also take into account that there are a number of other similar courses which will also be looking to place students who have similar qualifications.

Because of industry involvement these courses are based around microsoft technologies so you will more than likely be looking at microsoft or thier partners.
Microsoft themselves have not replied to one applicant from our course.
Due to a lack of opportunities it is likely we will have to revert to jobbridge internships. Have a look at jobbridge to ascertain if the advertised internships are what you expect.

My advice would be to look at doing the full degree from scratch or look elsewhere.
the full degree is 3 years, hdip plus masters is 2-3years depending on the scheduling of the courses.

murphy90

Hi David

I was just wondering roughly how many people, if any, secured internships without jobbridge? And what happens to those who secure no work placement? What qualification is available then.

And overall did you find the course useful? I was considering a similiar one starting in another it or the hdip in maynooth.

eoinp11

murphy90 wrote: »

Hi David

I was just wondering roughly how many people, if any, secured internships without jobbridge? And what happens to those who secure no work placement? What qualification is available then.

And overall did you find the course useful? I was considering a similiar one starting in another it or the hdip in maynooth.

I am also wondering the same... anyone with experience have any advice on this? Trying to choose between DIT and NCI for Hdip..

Thanks!