Schooling

[24giovanni]

Hi,

I was in the computer field for over 15 years until I was laid off 2 years ago. I was thinking on getting certs in the following courses A+, Network+, Linux+, MCP and MCSA.

My main question is before I go out and spend over $15,000, are there jobs out there. I know the demand is very limited in the field as I have asked around. Should I do it knowing this and does anyone know if the industry plans on picking up in the near future, especially in the Massachusetts area?

 

[raross]

Industry plans for general IT networking etc will probably continue to slow down because of the large number of kids wanting to get into IT. Soon enough no one will be able to find any jobs, and when this happens the market will rebound when everyone realizes that IT is horrible in terms of pay etc. That is my prediction. Right now it is very competitive. You canÂ’t really see it becoming anymore competitive now. Companies are already requiring BS degrees and even with the people with BS degrees it is still competitive amongst that class of people. So you can only imagine how it will become in the future. DonÂ’t quote me on this, but I donÂ’t see the trend slowing down at all.

If you were to get a BS CS degree, I think you would be set in terms of finding a decent job. That way you cover not just networking but a whole slue of possible careers. Now a dayÂ’s not many people are graduating with a CS degree, so that market is predicted to slow down since the internet boom. The statistics from the university that I do research at is incredible the amount of kids dropping out of computer science. I think it is something like 60% of the freshmen drop, then another 30% of sophomore, 10% of juniors etc.

 

[M4A1]

A lot of computer IT jobs (entry level + non specialized) are being sent overseas. It's only the ones that are higher up that will not go away.

Make sure you are marketable and that your skills/what you do cannot be done by someone else in another country for cheaper.

 

[24giovanni]

More opinions welcomed.

 

[wasisnt]

Master things that not the average Joe can do. Become a programming or SQL expert for example. General techs are a dime a dozen and even network admins like me are getting that way too. Im looking for a new job and its tough.