On 16/10/2007, Daniel Lamb <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Experience is almost as important or even more important than degrees, my > advice would be find someone in your area then get some work with them if > you can, easy than it sounds I know you might even need to do it for free > but its good to get experience and then you will know what you want to focus > on. If you want to then work up to getting linux degrees or network with > cisco etc, can help you decide what part of IT you would want to work in as > it is a massive field. > > Or if you like it you can be like some people(myself included) and get into > anything IT related from media players to massive servers. Which is fun, but > obviously pretty hard. > > Regards, > Daniel
I agree with you ... to a point. There are a number of factors to consider Jai: 1) What do you want to do. Research? Analysis? Consulting? Support? 2) Who do you want to work for. IBM / Sun / Yourself / local business / Cap Gemini / a school? 3) Who do you want to work with? IT professionals, leet haxors, your mates? 4) *Do you have the neccessary skills*. Can you explain a technical concept to your mother? Can you go away and write a system given a few months? Have you any proof of your skills? 5) *Do you have the neccessary qualifications* 6) *Do you have the neccessary experience* The important ones I have marked out. A degree in Computer Science will not teach you any of the soft skills. It will not teach you any of the business skills. It will teach you how to code, how to code well and all the underlying knowledge you will need to build any computer system. Hence Computer Science. If it means studying A level maths, study it. I had to and I am pants at maths. Qualifications (like MSCE, Java Certified Engineer) mean jack. Your CV does your talking for you. Experience beats qualifications any day of the week. The exception is a degree. Your degree is more than a piece of paper saying: "I can code in Java" or "I can fix a broken AD tree". What anyone says about a degree being useless is wrong. Sorry. 90% of employers will take the guy with the degree any day (for young people) over someone who doesnt. If ANYTHING join the BCS. TBH anyone who takes themselves seriously in computing is a member of the BCS. Build your skillset now, while you still have a chance. Join the clubs, join the open source mailing lists (employers really dig the OSS stuff), play in bands, do stuff. This will make you a much more rounded individual and you will gain so much experience doing this stuff. Not to mention building up your network. Do not fall into the typical IT trap of thinking your the dogs bollocks. Do not spell Hyper-Text Markup Language wrong on your CV. There will _always_ be something you don't know, or _someone_ who is better than you. If you lie about what you can do, you *will* get found out, and you *will* look like an idiot. Be honest, no-one is expecting you to be perfect, and most employers would rather have someone they can shape up and give new perspectives on things. The most important thing is go with your instintcs. You shouldn't force yourself to do something you will not enjoy for the rest of your life. Likewise no-body is going to force you to do anything: you need to decide what you want to do and go for it. If it doesnt work out, chill, there is plenty of time to sort it out :-) Hope that helps, -- Matthew G Larsen > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
