IT Career vs. Programming (BCIS) Career

This is a great thread. I'm really not happy with my career in finance and I want to move into something technology related. If you guys don't mind, I will have to tap into your wisdom, as well.

What I've learned thus far:

An associates is pointless.

A bachelor in BCIS is hardly useful. If you have the knowledge and know how and some experience, someone will hire you.

You can learn a ton of stuff online for free.

After you get done with the free online courses you need to develop some stuff on your own, like websites and have a portfolio.

After that, if you somehow land a junior position, you need to be given some deadlines and a bunch of red bull so you can really see what it's like in a coding job, no matter what language.

The first things I've decided to learn are:
Programming Logic. I will take a course on that for sure.

After that is Python, SQL, CSS, Java.

www.codeacademy.com is amazing and I will later check out Coursera as well for courses.

www.codingdojo.com as well. Plenty of others.

Great article here: http://www.diygenius.com/learn-to-code-online/

This is just the beginning.

What kind of computer would you guys recommend for someone who's looking to complete a free online coding course? Laptop or desk top? Mac or windows or chrome? Any input is appreciated.

First thing I would recommend is to look at all the course requirements and descriptions for all the courses required in that degree. This will give you an idea of what you will have to study to complete a specific degree.

I am not familiar with what BCIS is but I suspect it probably stands for Bachelor's in Computer Information Science. If that is the case then it most likely is not the same as a Computer Science degree. I'm not one to fuss over names or titles but with the college degrees and certificates you have to pay attention because they can make a big difference.

A true Computer Science degree will involve taking some higher level mathematics courses so if you don't like math it's probably not the best path for you.

Most important is that you get into a field that you enjoy. Otherwise you will most likely end up hating your job.

I'm getting split answers of

A) You don't need school to find a job, B) you need a BS in Computer Science to get a job minimum plus experience.

Geepers, thats another 3 years of school and 10-20k in debt, going full time...

Hmm...

I personally wouldn't suggest getting a degree. If you're going to invest in any education at all I'd go for various courses targeted at certain certifications. Certifications weigh far more than degrees in the tech industry...unless you want to eventually get into management. For the people doing hands on actual work, experience and certifications are the key. After a certain level of experience even certs don't matter much but they are always good way to show you keep your skills updated so it makes you more marketable when searching for jobs.

And also be prepared for the way the tech field hires employees...Contract vs. Standard Full-time Permanent but that's a completely different thing whenever you get to that.

It sounds like IT may be the way to go then. Sounds like I would need less school for IT. My brother and cousin and friends are in IT, it seems enjoyable from what I've seen.

You can always switch later if you want to. You will work with people in other fields and make friends. I'm actually considering adding a second field to my repertoire at the moment (changing from straight development to UX design/Information Architect), and I already have a transfer lined up if I want it even though I have very little formal experience or training in UX.

What's a good field of IT to get into? Looks like right now, Network Security is top dog. I can certainly see this being a viable future. Which certification should I shoot for in order to have a good career in IT/security?

What's a good field of IT to get into? Looks like right now, Network Security is top dog. I can certainly see this being a viable future. Which certification should I shoot for in order to have a good career in IT/security? Originally Posted by wickeder

to start:
Network + (need to understand how networks operate)
Security +

SANs.org

CISSP is a high level certification which covers a lot of topics. you need to be in the industry though for several years to qualify and you will ultimately need another CISSP to sponsor/vouch for you.

Not apples to apples but...

Another valid option is to look at going the DevOps engineer route. It's like a great combination of the two. You're responsible for systems management, and also do programming-related tasks such as developing methods of automating deployments and configuration management practices.

I'd say formal education for that would be primarily focused on IT/systems management and then spend your own time figuring out how to write small scripts/applications to accomplish some of the same tasks your classes are having you do manually. There's a huge demand for good DevOps folks right now.

As far as education vs experience: I have spent 20 years building industry experience with no formal education and have been responsible for making IT hiring decisions for a fortune 100 technology company. As long as you can do the job, that's what matters. Your resume shows how much experience you've had to supplement education. A good hiring manager can level you and set their expectations appropriately from that alone.

With that being said, do NOT pad your resume with experience you don't really have. It will definitely come out in the interview process.

Hope that helps. Good luck to you!

I've been reading a lot about DevOps, actually. Where do I begin with that route?

Either stay on course for Security Certifications such as Checkpoint, Cisco, Juniper, CISSP and get you PMI Certification. With this you should not be unemployed very long.

Send me a PM and we can walk through it.

I'm getting split answers of

A) You don't need school to find a job, B) you need a BS in Computer Science to get a job minimum plus experience.

Geepers, thats another 3 years of school and 10-20k in debt, going full time...

Hmm... Originally Posted by slims099

If you want become a programmer, realise that not having a degree in Computer Science will be a non starter. The days that they would hire someone that learned on their own but have no experience on their resume are long gone. True, if you have 5+ years of resume experience, you will be hired. But it is a catch 22.

I will hire a college graduate from computer science with zero experience depending on his / hers knowledge. I will not hire a tinkerer with zero experience. And i know a lot of software executives that think like me.

But dont trust a bunch of Johns on a hooker board; go get advice on the right place: college. You can get started and make the decision a little later. You will never regret going to college.