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Alright, so I'm currently doing courses for MySQL, Java, & HTML 5 (I don't know if HTML 5 is useful). I'm in my senior year of high school with no work experience in programming or data administration. Will these courses help me in my job hunt or am I wasting my time? If not, what other courses should I take, or is this a good combination? I heard C/C++ was useful too, so I might learn it. I'm hoping to get some answers, my other threads didn't do too well.
Also, I don't plan on going to college, because I think it's a huge waste of time and money. Thanks for any help.
You're about 15 years too late to cash in on the computers-with-no-degree thing. Even then people who accomplished it would have had work experience. Do you have any theoretical backing at all -- the AP Comp Sci curriculum, for instance?
An MBA degree with Oracle (Oracle SQL) certification. Got to speak business and programming. Pure HTML alone is not that useful IMHO as 4GL languages write most of it now I think. Other than that look into C as an embedded systems engineer.
You had me at Sql... until the part about college. Sql alone can pay for your college
Wow, didn't know this.... I really like database administration so I'm going to stick with it. But, I don't like the feeling of putting that money into college, when I'm already making enough.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nybbler
You're about 15 years too late to cash in on the computers-with-no-degree thing. Even then people who accomplished it would have had work experience. Do you have any theoretical backing at all -- the AP Comp Sci curriculum, for instance?
Nope, but I'll look into it if it's necessary.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nomadicus
An MBA degree with Oracle (Oracle SQL) certification. Got to speak business and programming. Pure HTML alone is not that useful IMHO as 4GL languages write most of it now I think. Other than that look into C as an embedded systems engineer.
Sounds cool thanks. I kinda wanna add game development (HTML 5 and Flash) and app development (iOS and Android) to my resume, will these tools help with that?
What exactly does "doing courses" mean in the context here? OP is a high schooler? Worried that college may be a "huge waste of time & money" but not having ANY experience getting paid (or even volunteering...) with programming or data base administration makes too big a risk for 99.44% of all potential employers...
If you maybe are some kind of prodigy at some special school for technically talented students with a rare teacher that emphasizes theoretical design considerations and has connections to industry there is some slim chance you might get somebody to hire you but unless you are lucky enough to start your own company or have the chops to work your entire carareer as "hired gun" be prepared to have people that went to college get paid more than you...
I don't know what the market is now but at one time a BS in computer science with gaming language "MFC rings an old bell" started in the 90k range out of college. By now competition will be stiff in any computer field. For job security down the road Network Security is a more secure field than some. Anything that is not easily off-shored to someone with a PhD that will work for 30k a year and live like a king. Talent, Attitude, & Aptitude are all essential not matter what. Even being LINUX certified with MySQL for Apache Server is not shabby. Start planning now on not only the sheepskin but work toward the best engineering university you can get into. Work to finish in the top 5% of your class to both in HS and College. HTH.
BTW, This site is using Apache Server running MySQL for the underlying database.
What exactly does "doing courses" mean in the context here? OP is a high schooler? Worried that college may be a "huge waste of time & money" but not having ANY experience getting paid (or even volunteering...) with programming or data base administration makes too big a risk for 99.44% of all potential employers...
If you maybe are some kind of prodigy at some special school for technically talented students with a rare teacher that emphasizes theoretical design considerations and has connections to industry there is some slim chance you might get somebody to hire you but unless you are lucky enough to start your own company or have the chops to work your entire carareer as "hired gun" be prepared to have people that went to college get paid more than you...
I was going for a "show your work" type thing. I heard of a lot of success stories that way, but if it really comes down to it I'll go to college or start a startup.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nomadicus
I don't know what the market is now but at one time a BS in computer science with gaming language "MFC rings an old bell" started in the 90k range out of college. By now competition will be stiff in any computer field. For job security down the road Network Security is a more secure field than some. Anything that is not easily off-shored to someone with a PhD that will work for 30k a year and live like a king. Talent, Attitude, & Aptitude are all essential not matter what. Even being LINUX certified with MySQL for Apache Server is not shabby. Start planning now on not only the sheepskin but work toward the best engineering university you can get into. Work to finish in the top 5% of your class to both in HS and College. HTH.
BTW, This site is using Apache Server running MySQL for the underlying database.
That's really good advice and it gave me something to think about.
I was going for a "show your work" type thing. I heard of a lot of success stories that way, but if it really comes down to it I'll go to college.
That's really good advice and it gave me something to think about.
Every paternal male in my family either is employed or retired from the world of computers. All with different skills. The day of no degree is over. Even Degree with military service is a big plus. I personally know that serving in Military Intelligence is a plus with a degree in Cyber Security. As I was told the job offers were sinfully high salaried. One more thing. The world of graphic artists on computers is saturated. Even with degrees check the markets. A good place to look is each year unless it has changed there is a jobs forecast published in a book called "What Color is Your Parachute". Your HS school library should have a copy. Also investigate getting a Siggy Test. It's an Aptitude test. No pass or fail just a guideline as to what you would like doing. Finding a niche that is needed and can't easily be off-shored is the key. Not to many years ago people with Doctorate degrees in generic computer science were driving taxi cabs.
I'd stick with programming if you have the skills. Try to get a professional job and use that as your fallback while you work on what you love, whatever that is many years from now
I also came from an IT family. All 8 siblings are in IT (inspired by dad) and everyone is making very good money. Most of us work for our hobbies. Motorsports is my thing and it keeps me going
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