Careers in computer programming/IT worth pursuing???

[Kansoku]

I even started my degree in computer science before I learned about how so many programming jobs were being shipped overseas.

I read some people saying that it's a myth.

[califmerchant]

i do PHP/MySQL programming for websites, its a great and in demand field

for example, my company runs this site below ... very successful

Job Search | CBCJobs

[FinkieMcGee]

Originally Posted by Kansoku

I read some people saying that it's a myth.

Jobs that are low-skilled development work are getting outsourced, and depending on how it's done it can be a massive pain in the ass. Work that requires more skill/direction isn't really getting outsourced though.

[caldercay]

Originally Posted by FinkieMcGee

Work that requires more skill/direction isn't really getting outsourced though.

The reality is that high-skilled development efforts are
being off-shored. Example: I know someone working IT
for a very large O&G corporation where very large project
efforts are developed off-shore, in countries where
English is a second language.

[FinkieMcGee]

Originally Posted by caldercay

The reality is that high-skilled development efforts are
being off-shored. Example: I know someone working IT
for a very large O&G corporation where very large project
efforts are developed off-shore, in countries where
English is a second language.

Yes, but a couple points:

Someone here still needs to be responsible for said effort. There will need to be individuals to gather requirements, code review and architect the effort. When I'm referring to high skilled work I'm referring to these individuals, not code monkeys being given a requirements documents and coding directly to a spec. Unfortunately, it's usually the code monkeys who gain experience and move up into those roles, so we'll see how those roles end up getting filled over time.

This hasn't been going on for very long, so the success of those efforts is still difficult to gauge.

I mean I've stepped into situations where they killed their outsourced team off and brought it back on-shore because whatever was written previously was a mess, over budget, off deadline. I am dealing with this in a satellite office as well and the effort isn't going very smoothly. Outsourcing is not very easy and has the ability to be more costly than doing things in house.

[DennyCrane]

Speaking as someone who's been in IT for the last 10 years and hasn't seen his job outsourced, allow me to comment. First, unless you're fresh out of school and have very little experience, don't waste your time on certifications. You might impress people who have no clue what those letters mean, but the people in the field who hire you won't care. What they value most is your experience. Second, outsourcing is something you should be concerned about, but I also think it's something that's vastly overstated. I've worked with companies who've learned the hard way that the cost savings aren't worth it. Managing distributed development is a pain and quality almost always suffers. Even bringing in contractors isn't always preferred. Almost every job I've had was one where I came in and cleaned up the mess left behind by some contractor.