Worried about choosing a computer career

Prittstick1

all through secondary school i've always been very sporty, made friends quite easily and had quite a party-loving lifestyle. However i would like to pursue a course in computing after school and i'm worried as to what sort of people i would be dealing with. I have no problem with the stereotypical computer lovers or so called 'nerds' but i would like to have people with my interests working with me. My question is simple really... is the computing industry only for people for whom computers are their lives.. or would it suit someone who is computer savvy but does not live their life through one?

Eviledna

Prittstick1 wrote: »

all through secondary school i've always been very sporty, made friends quite easily and had quite a party-loving lifestyle.

As you age your priorities might change. Party loving isn't a desirable attribute of an employee for any industry, except perhaps party planning.

However i would like to pursue a course in computing after school and i'm worried as to what sort of people i would be dealing with. I have no problem with the stereotypical computer lovers or so called 'nerds' but i would like to have people with my interests working with me.

you almost never get to control what type of people work with you, in any job. In my experience ( 5 yrs in IT) the ratio is 30% hard-core-live-their-lives-through-a-computer type folks, and the rest are "this is only my job, I have other interests too". Also, about similar ratio female to male too, which is unrelated.

My question is simple really... is the computing industry only for people for whom computers are their lives.. or would it suit someone who is computer savvy but does not live their life through one?

No, it's not just for the die-hard enthusiasts, many people of all types work in IT. It can be a sedentary job sitting on your ass all day, so a healthy interest in extra curricular sport will add years to your life! But honestly, I find that those who enjoy e.g. Coding in their spare time tend to do better in their career overall as a developer etc. No more than anything else, practice is the key to becoming an expert. So if you want to excel, you need to enjoy it. I had friends drop out in 1st year in college because they found it damn boring, so an interest of some sort is needed to get you through IMO.

Tom Dunne

Prittstick1 wrote: »

My question is simple really... is the computing industry only for people for whom computers are their lives

Absolutely not.

In my 15 years of IT Industry experience, I would say about 5% of people I have worked with could be as you describe above.

djpbarry

Any idea what it is you want to do OP? I know it's difficult to be specific, but what would you like to be doing on a day-to-day basis? Have you ever had a go at doing a bit of programming, web development, etc.?

danish pasterys

Hahaha i love boards.. So glad to see this i wouldn't if had the balls to ask but glad to hear its not only for nerds because I'm doing an IT networking course and not one person i can talk to about football it bugs me when I'm walking down the hall and see bubbly arts students, an I'm surrounded by mostly nerdy people

sheesh

God no and as for all the sporty stuff, you will find plenty of people into their sports people in office jobs usually love the outdoors there will be soccer leagues and hiking clubs in the larger companies. surfing would be another regular IT type activity.

I worked in a company and one of the IT support staff was into body building he did the shows and everything.
IT has its peaks and troughs as an industry so people come into sometimes later in life so you get a mix

harney

Prittstick1 wrote: »

all through secondary school i've always been very sporty, made friends quite easily and had quite a party-loving lifestyle. However i would like to pursue a course in computing after school and i'm worried as to what sort of people i would be dealing with. I have no problem with the stereotypical computer lovers or so called 'nerds' but i would like to have people with my interests working with me. My question is simple really... is the computing industry only for people for whom computers are their lives.. or would it suit someone who is computer savvy but does not live their life through one?

Some of the guys I worked with in the UK were into this http://toughmudder.co.uk/

Others were just into the Ironman stuff.

Downlinz

Don't mean to be patronising but that's well and truly a kids problem, you won't give a crap about that kind of thing when you're in your mid twenties and thinking seriously about work. Most important things are that you enjoy it and that there's a market for it.
On the stereotype I never really found it, I knew a lot of people in my college course and at work who were into sport but very few into video games.

Most companies you'll work for will have IT as only one of many departments, it's a support profession for the most part so its not like carpentry or something where you'd be spending most of your time working with other carpenters and only carpenters. (this might be a bad example but you get what I mean).

eipi

I have not done computer science in college but I am doing a degree in mathematical science, which I think would be generally regarded to be high up in the echelons of nerdiness. However we do spend a considerable amount of time programming, and also there were a handful of people from computer science in a few of my modules in first year. I think I would fit the general stereotype of being 'nerdy', I spend much of my spare time programming, especially project euler - this website is like cocaine for anyone with an interest in mathematically oriented programming.
I entered college expecting a large proportion of the the people in my course to have similar interests as myself. I was wrong. I found that the majority of the people in my course are the antithesis of 'nerdy' and show little interest in maths or related subjects. While you can't be sure who will end up in your classes, perhaps most will be nerdy, however in the larger colleges there are an overwhelming amount of clubs and societies which you can choose to join. Your not going to have to worry about a lack of parties etc. as you will probably need to invest in a diesel powered industrial shredder for all of the leaflets for themed binges from the local nightclubs.

Atomicjuicer

Prittstick1 wrote: »

My question is simple really... is the computing industry only for people for whom computers are their lives.. or would it suit someone who is computer savvy but does not live their life through one?

No
Yes.
Good luck

danish pasterys

Guys i need help with a college decision I dont know which course to choose here if anyone in the industry could have a brief look at bout links and give me some advice. I feel i would rather NCI but also feel DIT offer a better course with career prospects

http://courses.ncirl.ie/index.cfm/page/course/courseId/98

http://www.dit.ie/study/undergraduate/programmes/dt080/