"I Love College"

**itwasntme** · Posted On: 11/04/2012 5:01pm

So, after a recent turn of events I have decided it is time to pursue a college degree. As of right now the choices I am looking at are as follows: Computer Networking, Security Systems something or another (sounded like fighting computer hackers and such), and Computer Engineering (repair). I know VERY little about computers but I know it's a constantly advancing field and hopefully will keep my exposure to people at a bare minimum.

On to the point. Does anybody have experience in any of these fields? I'm just looking for some basic information like wages, how hard the classes might be, or anything else you might feel is good to know. I am enrolling for next semester but I am only taking core (academic) classes, so I will have around 8 months from now to decide which of these fields to actually pursue.

:genius:

**It is Fake** · Posted On: 11/04/2012 5:02pm

Now, why would anyone talk about college on a MA website?

**goodlun** · Posted On: 11/04/2012 5:08pm

Well when I started in IT 12 years ago,
I got paid $26/hr to work a help desk now the same job pays $12/hr.
however that being said if you find yourself with the right skill set and the right certificates with the right experience you can make a pretty penny. However to stay on top of the stuff you have to legitimately like computers and be willing to learn about them outside of an academic setting. As the industry changes faster than the academic side does. Also you may find yourself in a high paying specialization that simply goes away and is replaced with something completely different. Its a brutal field with a lot of highs and lows and lots and lost of competition.
This isn't meant to discourage you, but if your not already into computers you may want to look into something else.

**itwasntme** · Posted On: 11/04/2012 5:45pm

Originally Posted by It is Fake

Now, why would anyone talk about college on a MA website?

Originally Posted by Dr. Sleepless

No you dumb piece of ****. This is the off-topic forum. If you apply your shitty logic to this sub forum then let's just nuke this entire sub-forum. **** you you piece of ****.

Originally Posted by goodlun

Well when I started in IT 12 years ago,
I got paid $26/hr to work a help desk now the same job pays $12/hr.
however that being said if you find yourself with the right skill set and the right certificates with the right experience you can make a pretty penny. However to stay on top of the stuff you have to legitimately like computers and be willing to learn about them outside of an academic setting. As the industry changes faster than the academic side does. Also you may find yourself in a high paying specialization that simply goes away and is replaced with something completely different. Its a brutal field with a lot of highs and lows and lots and lost of competition.
This isn't meant to discourage you, but if your not already into computers you may want to look into something else.

Honestly, I can't think of a single thing I would "love" to do outside of things I already have done like manual labor. That's one of the reasons I have decided to take Fake's advice and go back to school. That **** just breaks my body down and I'm far too young to be this old.

I look at it like this, what I like to do is make money and I have heard that especially in Computer Security there can be good money. Plus I don't see computers going anywhere lol. Can you give me some examples of fields you've seen disappear?

**It is Fake** · Posted On: 11/04/2012 5:55pm

Originally Posted by itwasntme

I'm dumb..

Thanks for proving my point.

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Can't argue with this at all. I was only addressing the fact that Sirc is an attention whore and he needs to get over himself. Why drag his Facebook drama onto a MA forum seemingly (to me at least) due to the fact that he's (Sirc) butthurt moose didn't respond to him.

**goodlun** · Posted On: 11/04/2012 6:06pm

Originally Posted by itwasntme

I look at it like this, what I like to do is make money and I have heard that especially in Computer Security there can be good money. Plus I don't see computers going anywhere lol. Can you give me some examples of fields you've seen disappear?

If your good at Computer Security you can make a fortune, this however is like saying if your good at sports or singing you can make a fortune as well.
You are not going to make any money in Computer Security.
Computer Security requires a lot of programing knowledge, you need to understand memory addressing very well and how to protect memory address from being overran.
It is a rapidly changing field that you have to keep up on. Your schooling will give you the very basics, beyond that it will be up to stay on top of whats going on in the world of security.
Read Kevin Mitnick's Ghost in the Wire book.
Its not so much fields that disappear as software/hardware/protocols, your always competing against the new guy that knows the new software better than you who will work for less money than you.
They don't care if you have been a successful Windows NT/2000/2003/2008 Admin they just want to know how much experience you have with a product thats not even out yet.

**bigato** · Posted On: 11/04/2012 6:10pm

Security guys are the first suspects when something happens. Stay away from the field.

**itwasntme** · Posted On: 11/04/2012 6:21pm

Originally Posted by goodlun

If your good at Computer Security you can make a fortune, this however is like saying if your good at sports or singing you can make a fortune as well.
You are not going to make any money in Computer Security.
Computer Security requires a lot of programing knowledge, you need to understand memory addressing very well and how to protect memory address from being overran.
It is a rapidly changing field that you have to keep up on. Your schooling will give you the very basics, beyond that it will be up to stay on top of whats going on in the world of security.
Read Kevin Mitnick's Ghost in the Wire book.
Its not so much fields that disappear as software/hardware/protocols, your always competing against the new guy that knows the new software better than you who will work for less money than you.
They don't care if you have been a successful Windows NT/2000/2003/2008 Admin they just want to know how much experience you have with a product thats not even out yet.

Thanks for your input. I knew I'd have to keep myself up to date on the newest technology, i didn't know it was that competitive of a field though. Do you think I might have better luck with networking or repair?

**goodlun** · Posted On: 11/04/2012 6:28pm

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Thanks for your input. I knew I'd have to keep myself up to date on the newest technology, i didn't know it was that competitive of a field though. Do you think I might have better luck with networking or repair?

Computer repair
http://www1.salary.com/PC-Maintenanc...-I-Salary.html

Network entry level
http://www1.salary.com/Network-Contr...-I-Salary.html

So if your not interested in computers why bother?

If you are interested by all means go for it. But when the UFCW Checker makes as much as you do and has a more secure job then it doesn't make much sense.

**goodlun** · Posted On: 11/04/2012 6:31pm

Here is a screen capture of a packet Analyzer

If you look at this and go wow that looks cool then you may want to proceed, if you look at it and go holy crap I don't want to stare at hexadecimal numbers all day than you may want to find a different direction to head.