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How lucrative is a career in Computer Science?

mr_fegelien

I'm going to do a Bachelors in CS in a private university for four years. I thought that a journalism degree while great if you become successful, is a really difficult field to break into.

So I'm going for computer science. I know it has a high dropout rate and I'm prepared to do work at home.

Once I graduate, how difficult will it be to find employment? I've seen that the U.S. pays software developers well but I'm very put off by the sociopolitical climate of America and that would be the last place I go to. What about Switzerland, Australia?

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TuringBot47

Oranage2 wrote: »

No need to do a 4 year degree unless you really like it. Try an online course, plenty of free ones, and do a boot camp, usually last 3-6 months, then you're well on your way to being a developer

Rubbish.
Most companies won't even look at your CV without a degree.
Search the adverts on irishjobs.ie for a java developer to see.
They'll either say a degree or X years of experience.

OMM 0000

Oranage2 wrote: »

No need to do a 4 year degree unless you really like it. Try an online course, plenty of free ones, and do a boot camp, usually last 3-6 months, then you're well on your way to being a developer

Usually a crap developer though.

We stopped hiring these bootcamp guys because (a) they only have a superficial understanding of things and (b) the bootcamps brainwash people into thinking they're great, so they end up not realising how little they know.

But I agree with your general point of trying it before commiting to 4 years.

Oranage2

No need to do a 4 year degree unless you really like it. Try an online course, plenty of free ones, and do a boot camp, usually last 3-6 months, then you're well on your way to being a developer

Tij da feen

Just to add here. There's IT jobs out there that aren't Software Dev. DBA, Data engineers, Data Analysts, DevOps, Networking, Systems etc...

The 40k average is definitely off for software dev. I was making 50k in an enterprise tech support role in Cork before I moved to a Business Intelligence role.

Jim2007

bobbyy gee wrote: »

no carreer in Ireland is lucrative you need to go to usa

Rubbish. You can earn better money in Switzerland working less hours for example. In thirty years I've never worked more that 20 hours OT per year and that was normally paid out at 200%.

Irish_rat

mr_fegelien wrote: »

You need enough money not to be on the streets.

Money may not make you 100% happy but being broke can make you 100% miserable.

Disagree 100% on that.

bobbyy gee

no carreer in Ireland is lucrative you need to go to usa

mr_fegelien

Notmything wrote: »

Private university ? Have you won the lotto?

A few months ago you were begging for money off strangers online and looking for medical card

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=114297419

Mummy and Daddy are paying.

mr_fegelien

bobbyy gee wrote: »

It's not about the money

Enjoy the work

You need enough money not to be on the streets.

Money may not make you 100% happy but being broke can make you 100% miserable.

SVI40

A2LUE42 wrote: »

or doing voiceovers

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=114792985

:rolleyes:

Maybe they will get better answers here?

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1008

thomas 123

OP what is the private university your considering? I am looking to up skill in that area myself.

Also from my experience look closer at what you can do with certain languages, CS degrees can be super broad and what you specialize in will be what makes the difference between being paid the average wage and the rockstar day rates.

A2LUE42

Notmything wrote: »

Private university ? Have you won the lotto?

A few months ago you were begging for money off strangers online and looking for medical card

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=114297419

or doing voiceovers

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=114792985

:rolleyes:

colm_c

salonfire wrote: »

That can't be accurate is it?

Hardly worth the effort that a CS degree needs if that is the average pay in Dublin. Software Development is the better paid discipline as well. Others - BA, Sys Admin, etc would probably pay even lower.

Not accurate in my experience.

40k is average for a grad these days.

So maybe if there are a lot of grads it brings the average down.

Anyone with experience and has moved jobs in the last 2 years is getting well paid.

Key here is moving jobs regularly. Every 2-3 years you either need to move up or out.

If you stay at the same company it is likely that your salary will stagnate.

Range of salaries for a software developer in Dublin is 40-150k+

Top end are roles at Google/MS/Facebook/Fintech.

A lot of devs tend to to hit a ceiling at ~100k

bobbyy gee

It's not about the money

Enjoy the work

Notmything

Private university ? Have you won the lotto?

A few months ago you were begging for money off strangers online and looking for medical card

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=114297419

belfe

IT here, agree with the averages mentioned previously. After 5-6 years in DEV, you can get 70k, you can even reach 100k if you're specially good at it and if you are in the right place on the right time.

About Java or what language... this is one of the biggest issues here. I can tell you that today the best idea would be Java and associated frameworks or python, also a bit of cloud (better AWS), but in four years nobody knows. You need to be continuously learning new things, and if you don't, then you're out, that's the reason many people leave after some years.Also we don't know if in 5-6 years AI will overtake our jobs. Google's AI is starting to be very good at programming. So, if you're not truly passionate about computers, think about it twice. It is a very good job if you like playing with new technologies and new ways to do things.

* I'm talking about DEV because it was my choice and I don't really know that much about other areas, but in QA (automated) you've got similar salaries and similar issues, with the difference that, for some reason, there are more DEV hating their jobs than QA doing the same. I'd never recommend sys admin because all the programmers hate sys admins (joke, but the reality is that I wouldn't recommend sys admin, less pay, continuously on-call...)

Once I graduate, how difficult will it be to find employment?

You mentioned Switzerland, there is plenty of IT jobs there, and also in Germany/Netherlands. But moving abroad without experience could be an issue, the first IT job is the hardest to find. It would be better to start 6-12 months in Ireland, that BTW is the EU country where is easier to find an IT job. After that, basically you can move to any country.

beauf

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

I was going to reply with some other information that I thought might be helpful but then I saw who the OP was and left it at this.

How does his account information show zero threads started when he started this one.

youcancallmeal

salonfire wrote: »

That can't be accurate is it?

Hardly worth the effort that a CS degree needs if that is the average pay in Dublin. Software Development is the better paid discipline as well. Others - BA, Sys Admin, etc would probably pay even lower.

Other sites have the average even lower, dunno where they are getting their data from though. The average matches with my experience as a Software Dev but it's been nearly 10 year since I worked in a role like that.

[Deleted User]

I was going to reply with some other information that I thought might be helpful but then I saw who the OP was and left it at this.

[Deleted User]

youcancallmeal wrote: »

Look at glassdoor to get an idea of average salaries, for example Software Developer is 45k average in Dublin.

That can't be accurate is it?

Hardly worth the effort that a CS degree needs if that is the average pay in Dublin. Software Development is the better paid discipline as well. Others - BA, Sys Admin, etc would probably pay even lower.

OMM 0000

The people who do computer science for the job opportunities tend to hate it and wished they were doing something else.

You only get one life, so spending most of it doing something you aren't good at or dislike is hell.

I love computer science and I've been in this industry for over 20 years.

It's a HUGE area and your employability depends on what your skillset it.

For example, a C programmer who does embedded stuff, although this is some of the hardest work it's one of the lower paid and there are fewer opportunities. On the other hand a full stack javascript guy, which is not difficult and full of bull****ters, is probably the most in demand and the money is good. I work in senior management but I still do full stack javascript stuff on the side as I can earn about EUR 200 per hour.

Programming isn't for most people (they can't do it and they hate it) so there's the world of networking and security. These jobs tends to be a bit more sociable and they're "easier" although (for example) the security world is so large and so continuously evolving that you need to constantly learn and adapt.

And that's a "problem" with the computer science world in general. Remember I told you I have over 20 years experience? I still read a few computer science books every month. There is continuous learning. You cannot just do a degree and that's it. You have to keep buying books and keep reading them. Right now I'm reading a C network programming book and a risk analysis book. Up next is a reverse engineering book and a linux API book. It is never ending. I like this stuff so it's fine, but imagine if you hated it?

Be really sure computer science is for you.

Look into product manager (business analyst) and project manager roles. They may suit you.

nedkelly123

c# , react , mvc , they are working in sharepoint and dynamics 365

mr_fegelien

nedkelly123 wrote: »

its very lucrative.. if you are good and talented ,engage in community etc ,you could expect 70 k after 5 years
more if you go contracting .. i have friends getting 450 per day .. with no shortage of work
im daily rate in a place the last 7 years on 370 per day..prob could get more elsewhere but i like it here

What do your friends do? I'm learning Java at the moment.

nedkelly123

its very lucrative.. if you are good and talented ,engage in community etc ,you could expect 70 k after 5 years
more if you go contracting .. i have friends getting 450 per day .. with no shortage of work
im daily rate in a place the last 7 years on 370 per day..prob could get more elsewhere but i like it here

Rikand

If you're good at coding it's extremely lucrative.

If you're rubbish at it, does the idea of a career in the civil service sound appealing to you ?

[Deleted User]

mr_fegelien wrote: »

I'm going to do a Bachelors in CS in a private university for four years. I thought that a journalism degree while great if you become successful, is a really difficult field to break into.

So I'm going for computer science. I know it has a high dropout rate and I'm prepared to do work at home.

Once I graduate, how difficult will it be to find employment? I've seen that the U.S. pays software developers well but I'm very put off by the sociopolitical climate of America and that would be the last place I go to. What about Switzerland, Australia?

Have you a genuine interest in computers? Have you done any programming?

I know people who breezed through CS but they had quite a bit of experience already. I didn't do CS, but I wrote my first program in C at the age of 14.

If you've not done any programming yet, I suggest you do some code academy courses and check do you actually like it

youcancallmeal

Look at glassdoor to get an idea of average salaries, for example Software Developer is 45k average in Dublin. That's just one role you might get into after completing a Computer Science degree. I couldn't tell you how difficult it is to find employment as a graduate, I'm way past that stage of my career. As for work abroad it's a very general question and there's no telling what the job market in Switzerland or Australia will be like by the time you've got a degree and built up enough experience. One thing that should probably go without saying is don't bother with Computer Science unless you have an interest in it. This is why the dropout rate is high and even if you did struggle through it you will find it hard to keep up with the ever evolving tech industry.