I am also a student; however, I work in a variety of areas in the computing industry: Media (Print, Web, 3d) Programming (PHP, RPG, LotusScript, C etc) Networking (Firewalls, Switches, fiber optics, packet shapers, windows, linux, mac etc) Training (START - www.lsu.edu/start)
I think that you should focus more on knowing a little about a lot and then tweeking your knowledge as you go. When you say that BR companies seem so specialized it is because they usually want someone that has experience and not necessarily tunnel vision on one field. I would advise against learning a lot about a little. I am not certified and none of my (currently 5, yes 5) employers asked if I was certified or suggested that I become certified. If you know your sh*t, they dont care. Check out TigerTrak @ LSU A guy I work with is in that class and he is doing his internship over the summer? I dont know how much this may help you but if you want I can get his professors name and you can go from there. One thing I have learned in college (that not many professors or others understand) is that without money I cant go to school. So when a professor tells me that I should spend more time on class and less time working, I ask them if they are going to fit the bill for my education. Without a decent paying job and mom and pop fitting the bill, you cant go to school. Without school, most would say, that you wont make any money (I disagree). I would recommend that you learn as much as you can (and can apply to a job first). I wouldn't switch your full time position to a lower paying one. Work somewhere part time and get experience, then you can negotiate or be offered a better full time salary where you want to be. Good luck, Jeff On Mar 28, 2005, at 11:53 PM, michael dolan wrote: > A few things: > 1. Classes - I'm at LSU, and I'm set to graduate in a little over a > year. I'm actually an English major, but I don't know if that will > have any effect on my job prospects. I've taken the first computer > science class (which is just basics and MS office applications), and > I'm taking two ISDS classes right now. I'm set to take another ISDS > class on network security this summer. I would really like to take > some interesting computer science classes, there is one on e-commerce, > 2 on networks, etc. To take the interesting classes, you have to take > more programming classes than I have time to take before I graduate. > I don't really want to take any more programming classes, but I don't > know if that will have any affect on my job prospects either. > 2. Certs - I'm thinking about both A+ and Network+ to start, but > maybe MS certs would get me a better job. Or, should I not waste my > time and money and jump straight to something harder? > 3. BR - I think I might be in this area for awhile, just what is the > job market here like? I've done a little browsing on monster, and > there are some jobs, but they seem so specialized. > 4. Internship - one of the classes you can take at LSU in ISDS is > basically an internship class, which I would like to do, but A) I work > full time during the day and B) I wouldn't know where to find a local > company that might use linux, would want an intern, and would want an > intern at night. > 5. Money - Right now I have a full time job at LSU that has nothing > to do with what I want to end up doing. I don't make very good money > (about 28+), but I'm worried I might move down the pay scale if I got > a job on the bottom rung of a field. > > Basically, if you were in my position, what would you do? If you had > to do your pre-job education over, what would you do differently? > > I would really appreciate any help any of you could give me, because > honestly I'm kind of worried about this. > > Michael > > > _______________________________________________ > General mailing list > [email protected] > http://brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net
