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Graduating?

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by noel_myidol

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Hi
I'm just starting Senior year at Purdue University, Indiana completing my B.S. in Computer Engineering. Frankly, I have no clue what kind of job this kind of degree will get me? With all the different wars that are happening, god alone knows if the job market will improve by Jan 2005 (when i graduate)?
I like working with hardware....even though my experience and knowledge in that field is low...i.e. I'm into the whole building-my-computer thing. But i want to take it further, and maybe work in Networking and other hardware.

What kind of jobs should i looking at? and what companies? I have 1 more summer that i can intern in....What kind of positions should i look at and how shoudl i prepare to be accepted for them? i.e. any literature i shud read up on before i can claim a valid job hunt?

I really hope someone can give me solid advice.

4 replies

by oz_media

I'm really sorry to be a bummer but, isn't this a question you should ask BEFORE taking the course?
Do they offer no job placement ideas?
if you want to get into networking, take a networking course. IE, MCSE (there's 60 million MSCE's so it's kind if a dead end market though, low paying and highly competitive.) I took Novel Netware's CNA, CNE and MCNE courses because Netware is MUCH more secure than Microsoft products (less work for me) and the jobs are more secure becuase CNE's aren't adime a dozen. You will probably find that you get paid more because CNE's aren't knocking down everyone's door looking for work. When someone is willing to work for $40,000 year, why pay them $75,000?

Good luck with your career,
OM

by davidpmartin

You're into building computers and you think that might lead you to a good career? Well, I have some bad news - these days with PnP motherboards and PnP operating systems (MS 2000, Microsoft XP, the newest versions of Linux and Solaris are all PnP), EVERYONE thinks they can build computers. That translates into a very, limited market for hardware technicans. Unless you are into going on to your MS in Electical or Computer Engineering (so you can design circuits for the next generation microchips), the career paths in hardware are limited - PCs are commodities.
I have done very well in the IT and computer field because I have focused on what the job market needs - programmers, system and network administrators and engineers, and back-end web services. I have done all that work, and without a Computer Science degree.
The money is to be found in software services, not hardware. That means system/ network admin, web services, database admin or design, or network design. I did this all through the certification path (I have over 9 different certs). I have college degrees that are all non-technical, and while it helped to show that I could communicate well, I think it was all my certs that opened up the doors. So even though you are getting that Computer Science degree, think very hard about getting some certifications. If I had to hire someone out of college today, the candidate who would immediately rise to the top would be that grad who had top notch grades, hadspend his/her summer interning as a sys admin or programmer, and someone who thought enough of their career to go out and get a couple of system or network certifications. Also, if you don't show your persective employer that you have a passion for IT, your chances to land the job as a new college grad will be slim, because the reality is that there are too many IT workers chasing too few jobs.

Hope this helps.

by ghstinshll

I tell college kids all the time that while they are in school they need to push beyond the work load and apss certifications at the same time while in college. This will give thema whole heck of a lot better chance of really finding a job out of college than just merely entering the "pool" of grads with comptuer science and COBOL degrees... I know college curriculae is getting better, this this is mostly still true. You come out of college knowing a lot about UNIX, COBOL, and programming - mostly because colleges have to teach the underlying fundamentals. This essentially prepares the student to go into large corporations where antiquated databases and communications are still in use. In order to show an employer that you have any sort ofhands on in the environment they're trying to find a fit for, you will need certifications, whether it's Certified Internet Webmaster, MCSA, MCSE, SCJP, MCSD, Security+, MCSE+Security or whatever... these stats, not your GPA, will give the employer the sense of comfort they need with their decision to hire you based on your technical merit and possible leadership capabilities (from y our degree) that they need. Start out simple with the A+. With a couple of hours a night reading, you can pass that in a month. This will prove your hardware skills. Like OZ said though, don't expect to work in hardware. Hardware is something we in the field take for granted and support on our own. You won't make enough money in hardware to pay your Purdue degree back either! Start thinking about Servers, Inter-Network, Database or Programming... Which did you like the most in college? CDid you prefer a combination of Servers and Programming? Become an MCSD. Prefer Windows 2000 and Exchange? Go after MCSE. Did you really get off on Java programming? Go for SCJP.

Good Luck

by ghstinshll

This is the exact thought process that will get you stepping in the right direction to be able to get into the job you think you want. Take a look at the extra-curricular courses and non-credit courses Purdue probably has for these certifications...They'll loan you the $ for them, it'll push back your grad date, but it will help you get on the right road and have good instructors to help you get there (if they have any that really know the subject and haven't just picked it up along the way through their boring academic lives... A lot of schools offer this, but just don't offer credit for it. They can't turn down the revenue, it's worth a LOT of money to them!

Good Luck

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