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If I get a MS in CS will outsourcing not be an issue at all?
Corporations are hiring PhD's in India in CS for $35K/year USD.
That MS will not guarantee you any security.
Been in the industry for over 20 years.
The offshoring started in the mid 90's with customer service and small code fixes to older products.
Fast forward to today and you have entire projects, new projects, being done offshore. R&D is now offshore because the cost of labor is so cheap.
And India and China are graduating Engineers quicker than we are.
Just look at booming Bangalore to see the big name multi-nationals who have offices/labs there.
There will always be the need for some local CS folks, but the good ole days of engineering jobs in the US are well behind us.
There will always be the need for some local CS folks, but the good ole days of engineering jobs in the US are well behind us.
I've been in same industry almost 20 years and see it completely differently, there is still plenty of opportunity and just about every projection on careers shows computer programmer being in demand well into the future.
I was a CS major, worked in IT for a while before going back to school for a different career.
I think outsourcing is a problematic issue for any software engineer, and I believe it is here to stay. However, I believe CS is a financially viable major to study in college. It will get your foot in the door at major corporations, it will give you an advantage on promotions in tech companies (as compared to nontechie business people vying for management spots). The degree allows for some hour flexibility since you can work from home. It is also versatile, as you can work in tech or nontech companies.
Outsourcing is probably the biggest threat to programmers. What you can do from the comfort of your own home, someone in India can also do on the cheap. Thankfully, the time differential makes the logistics of working with India programmers problematic for companies. I forsee a slow migration over there for some work, but there will always be IT jobs here. Defense work can't be outsourced. Plus, some IT work requires the presence of programmers. Also, short term projects may find the longer turnaround of India programmers (due to time differential) to be an issue.
Salary-wise, I always thought it was good. I attended a selective school with a decent engineering program. Most of my friends received jobs in the range of $50-80k (although this was several years ago so it is probably higher now....). Many of them found jobs before graduation. And we all graduated AFTER the dotcom bust. Prior to that, we heard graduates were seeing multiple offers and six figure salaries (which, 7+ years ago, was pretty good). However, I have met people in not so good CS programs that found pretty low paying jobs ($35k range), so I guess it helps to get into good programs.
Anyways, I encourage anyone with an interest to do it. I decided to leave the profession because I always had an interest elsewhere. If you have an interest in coding, designing software or the tech side, it is a worthy endeavor to pursue.
Job security 8/10 (some outsourcing depending on company, but a lot more secure than others) Salary 9/10 (great bang for your buck, in my opinion. Average starting salary for CS majors at my school based on reported jobs was $59-60k. I started in the $60s and I was an IT major which supposedly makes slightly less on average.) Potential for entrepreneurship 10/10 (but I think everyone has an equal chance at this) Use to society 9/10 (computers run the world) Happiness 5/10 (Depends. A lot of the time we're doing trivial programming for the companies we work for. You don't always go home with a sense of accomplishment everyday.)
I was a CS major, worked in IT for a while before going back to school for a different career.
I think outsourcing is a problematic issue for any software engineer, and I believe it is here to stay. However, I believe CS is a financially viable major to study in college. It will get your foot in the door at major corporations, it will give you an advantage on promotions in tech companies (as compared to nontechie business people vying for management spots). The degree allows for some hour flexibility since you can work from home. It is also versatile, as you can work in tech or nontech companies.
Outsourcing is probably the biggest threat to programmers. What you can do from the comfort of your own home, someone in India can also do on the cheap. Thankfully, the time differential makes the logistics of working with India programmers problematic for companies. I forsee a slow migration over there for some work, but there will always be IT jobs here. Defense work can't be outsourced. Plus, some IT work requires the presence of programmers. Also, short term projects may find the longer turnaround of India programmers (due to time differential) to be an issue.
Salary-wise, I always thought it was good. I attended a selective school with a decent engineering program. Most of my friends received jobs in the range of $50-80k (although this was several years ago so it is probably higher now....). Many of them found jobs before graduation. And we all graduated AFTER the dotcom bust. Prior to that, we heard graduates were seeing multiple offers and six figure salaries (which, 7+ years ago, was pretty good). However, I have met people in not so good CS programs that found pretty low paying jobs ($35k range), so I guess it helps to get into good programs.
Anyways, I encourage anyone with an interest to do it. I decided to leave the profession because I always had an interest elsewhere. If you have an interest in coding, designing software or the tech side, it is a worthy endeavor to pursue.
great post, pretty accurate all the way around. I've also decided to go in a different direction for other interests. Just couldn't see myself in that profession any longer and the economy and lack of GREAT jobs anyhow kind of gives me a foot in the behind.
And yeah there are some high paying 100K jobs for sure... they are often concentrated in high COL areas. Just for example 100K in SF would be roughly equivalent to making 60K in Dallas.
I didn't major in computer science, but had some roommates who did. There are some high paying jobs out there but many of them had trouble finding good paying jobs and when they did find jobs, the salaries were not as impressive as I've heard some figures at. They graduated around 2002-2005.
Not that it's a bad job, it's just not the cash cow as it was made out to be in the late 90's. You're going to have to do some work to get the job you want just like most other majors.
What in the world is a degree in IT? Do you mean computer science? Your mention of certs sounds like you might have some bus-stop-newspaper IT degree, is that correct?
Information Technology degree with a core win Windows server administration.
Also have A+, Net+, and MCSA
For gosh sakes man you are replying to a computer science post and you honestly don't know what IT means, REALLY I hope you are joking
Security: 8/10 (risk of outsourcing to India and such)
The key to keeping your job from being outsouced is to always keep your skills up-to-date. That's one thing about technology that people tend to forget, that it's ever changing and you need to be one step ahead of the game, ALWAYS. You need a curious mind and are not afraid to study all the time through reading, self studying, workshops, formal classes, learning from peers, formal certification, etc.
This is not a field in which to get comfortable and settle down.
I heard that good Comp Sci majors can make like 80k starting out. Is that what SE make or programmers?
A good major itself will not fetch you a good salary. To fetch a good salary you not only need a good GPA (3.5 minimum from a good university), but also strong school work and internships from reputable companies.
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