Computer Industry Help

[Nehkara]

Hello CP!

I was wondering if folks on CP involved on the computer industry could give me some insight into its status?

I have always wanted to go into computers and I am looking at starting at SAIT next fall and I just wanted to hear how the industry is going, how many jobs are available, what wages are like and what the industry is trending towards.

Thanks in advance!!!

[metal_geek]

I'm in the "computer industry"... Been good to me, was tough 10 years ago when there were 1000's of new graduates seemingly every week around the time of the dot com boom... Been getting better since then, and now it seems to be back at a decent ratio of jobs to people..

There are lots of fields but people always need different kinds of computer skills, thats not going away.. If I had to give one piece of advice now, is combine your computers with some kinda of finiancial/ accounting knowledge and you're basically set... Comming outta said, in the calgary market depeding on your skill set I would think high 30's to low 40's would be a fair median...
________
Vaporizer guide

[cSpooge]

Originally Posted by Nehkara

Hello CP!

I was wondering if folks on CP involved on the computer industry could give me some insight into its status?

I have always wanted to go into computers and I am looking at starting at SAIT next fall and I just wanted to hear how the industry is going, how many jobs are available, what wages are like and what the industry is trending towards.

Thanks in advance!!!

It really depends on what you mean by "computer industry" what type of things are you looking for?

There are some places where there is a desperate need while there are other places where there is no need at all so it really depends on what you're looking at taking.

[arsenal]

**NOTE**** This is all based on my current experience inside of a company not a development shop**
It all really depends on what you want to focus on.
With all companies there are usually a number of different types of jobs all in the IT domain.

For instance:

Server admin: Basically you deal with servers and security. You monitor server usage, logs, set them up, patch them, etc. There are also Windows / *NIX / Solaris / Citrix / VM type servers.

Help Desk: Name says itself.

Deskside: Basically you are a computer tech and you go around fixing problems with peoples computers.

Programming: This is broken into a number of different aspects.

Application programming: Depending on the company you work for this can mean a number of things.

If you get in with a business development shop, then you will most likely be exposed to OOAD, UML, agile, scrums etc. Most likely going to be using a language like .NET languages, Java, J2EE, PHP possibly Ruby (I am teaching myself this right now, very cool language).

If you get on with a company like Critical Mass, then you will need to know things like SEO, HTML, web technologies, javascript, java, J2EE, ASP.NET, ASP, JSP, Java Beans.

If you get a programming job with a company who is not a in the business of application development (IE Utility company, Oil and Gas, etc), they will probably have their own in house shop, assinged to business units. Depending on the business unit you are assigned to, you could be using anything from ASP classic for web apps, to an off the shelf application like Peoplesoft or SAP.

If you get on with a company that does a lot of theoretical or science development, then you will need to know C/C++. Those languages are still king in this domain.

The best advice I can give you is this. Figure out what domain you want to be in, and try to excel at that. Then you wont have any problem finding people who want you. There are lots of jobs out there. but being fresh out of school in a year or 2, you will need to prove to the company that you are worth the time to get up to spead.

Those are just my thoughts, hope that helps.

[psicodude]

If possible, try to specialize in something. There are a million guys out there that can fix computers or install Windows. Those are the guys that end up working at Geek Squad. (No offense to anyone)

Take a look on any of the job websites and you will see that most places are looking for someone very specific.

[arsenal]

If you want to be at the top of the pay scale for the rest of your life. Find a company that is willing to pay for SAP training. Consultants routinely charge out at $200+ / hour and companies pay for it.

[Nehkara]

Thankfully I am sufficiently well versed at this point just by teaching myself that I know tons about Windows, and fixing/building computers and installing any/every program I've ever encountered.

I am looking at moving into computers professionally, after going to school, and am looking for some guidance as to where to specialize. I already have a bit of an inclination towards hardware but I really like software work as well.

Thanks for your help already and any further you can give!

[Nehkara]

It is also worth noting that it has always been my dream to be a game designer or be involved with the gaming industry in some more significant way than as a gamer. I know it is hard living in Calgary and doing this but if anyone has any thoughts on it, it would be greatly appreciated.

[llama64]

Get some experience with a UNIX/Linux varient. Most of the world runs on these platforms and training in them is strangly lacking in most recent grads. Having a solid understanding of a *NIX will help differentiate yourself from all the MSCE's and Devry clones.

Best way is to teach yourself. Grab a spare PC and install Ubuntu on it. Learn the environment and it's commands. Set it up as an Apache webserver with a MySQL database on it. Once you've got that down, redo it all again with something more basic like Gentoo. By the time you're done, you'll have a great understanding of the lower levels of a PC.

BTW, SAIT is probably the best place to start out with your education in this area. Devry offers a bloated waste for the money they charge while the UofC continues to advertise a high level math program as a computer related degree. If you want to do the University route, look at doing an Engineering degree focusing in Software Design. You'll learn much more then doing a traditional Computer Science degree.

[arsenal]

If you want to do games development, suck it up and go to UofC or some other University (waterloo) and get your comp sci degreee. A masters in Comp Sci would be good too. Unless you can prove to a games company that you have the understand, and have made multiple games on your own, the best advice I can give is a Comp Sci degree.

SAIT wont give you the exposure to the technology used in games development.

That is assuming you want to create console/PC games. if you want to work for a mobile (phone) games comany, learn java, and the game sdk's available for the mobile devices. I think photon can help you out in that area.

[Kerplunk]

Alright, I'll throw my 2 cents into the ring here.

I was at SAIT years ago in the Computer Technology program. It gave a good overview of the major technologies (at the time), and was aimed more at business applications (design, team communication, etc.).

My bro did the UofC with the concentration in games development. The technology they used tended to be a little out of date, but they went further in depth with stuff like math, but didn't really touch stuff like business communication.

Both had major projects, with the UofC program doing a game, and my SAIT course a database application.

That being said, neither really cover much of the stuff that you should know for video game development. C++ and C# were skipped in both (may have changed now) and that is still the standard for the industry (as far as I know, anyway). What does that mean? Do your own projects, buy books, and learn code tricks online. Moving to a city that has decent development studios help too.

Maybe we can get a CP company going for game development, eh? Seems like there could be enough people for it.

[arsenal]

I don't think C# is quite fast enough for games dev yet. And the UofC Comp Sci course isn't that good from what I hear. Waterloo is the top school in canada for comp sci students (from what I understand).

Check out xna from microsoft. It's their new games dev platform.
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/xna/default.aspx

This seems like a good site too:
http://www.xnadevelopment.com/index.shtml

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by arsenal

I don't think C# is quite fast enough for games dev yet. And the UofC Comp Sci course isn't that good from what I hear. Waterloo is the top school in canada for comp sci students (from what I understand).

Check out xna from microsoft. It's their new games dev platform.
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/xna/default.aspx

This seems like a good site too:
http://www.xnadevelopment.com/index.shtml

Waterloo as absolutely huge in Math/Comp Sci/Engineering

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Nehkara

It is also worth noting that it has always been my dream to be a game designer or be involved with the gaming industry in some more significant way than as a gamer. I know it is hard living in Calgary and doing this but if anyone has any thoughts on it, it would be greatly appreciated.

Talk to Photon.

IIRC he does some game designer type work.

[Kerplunk]

Ya, I know C# isn't as fast as C++, but I'm not sure if the 360 uses pure C# with the CLR (like the XNA), or if the system handles binary compiles from C++ as well.

Ah hell, just start will C++. That's a good base for most programming these days.

Look up GameDev.net as well. It has tons of articles, forum links, book reviews, and stuff to get you started on your own.

[arsenal]

I am hoping that soon the CLR will run natively on hardware, so that C# will be just as fast as C++.

[Nehkara]

Originally Posted by llama64

Get some experience with a UNIX/Linux varient. Most of the world runs on these platforms and training in them is strangly lacking in most recent grads. Having a solid understanding of a *NIX will help differentiate yourself from all the MSCE's and Devry clones.

Best way is to teach yourself. Grab a spare PC and install Ubuntu on it. Learn the environment and it's commands. Set it up as an Apache webserver with a MySQL database on it. Once you've got that down, redo it all again with something more basic like Gentoo. By the time you're done, you'll have a great understanding of the lower levels of a PC.

BTW, SAIT is probably the best place to start out with your education in this area. Devry offers a bloated waste for the money they charge while the UofC continues to advertise a high level math program as a computer related degree. If you want to do the University route, look at doing an Engineering degree focusing in Software Design. You'll learn much more then doing a traditional Computer Science degree.

I love SAIT and will absolutely be attending there.

I do have some experience in UNIX and I will take your advice and learn more about it.

Thanks everybody for your help, I will look into all that you have advised.

I would love to get into games but I really really love Calgary so if I ever get into games it will probably involve me starting my own company here.

In the meantime I will explore my options further and make a decision on a major.

[cSpooge]

as for UofC's comp sci department... it really depends what you want to do in CS.... their security concentration is tops in the country as well as their math department is world renowned.