Advice for an idiot looking to going back into majoring in computers - Advice for an idiot who only knows how to install RAM and CCleaner

[c-no]

After seeing the thread by Vinny-chan on advice for a cyber security major, I may as well ask since it's been on my mind while I'm still wondering what else to do with my life: What advice is there for a guy that wants to major in computers? I've been thinking of wanting to go back into computer information systems where I was trying to major in desktop support but now I'm reconsidering something better such as an IT technician. Is there anything I should learn or brush up on?

 

[oldTireWater]

Learn To Blog

 

[DDBCAE CBAADCBE]

Kill yourself?

 

[MrTroll]

I recommend majoring in Afro-Latinx Trans Literature instead.

 

[CrunkLord420]

If you want to go into IT a 4 year degree is overkill. You should get relevant experience and maybe a cheaper/shorter technical diploma specific to the IT work you want to do. Get good at being interviewed, don't worry so much about certificates.

 

[c-no]

Kill yourself?

I tried but the noose keeps breaking.

I recommend majoring in Afro-Latinx Trans Literature instead.

I would take that but who the hell even reads anymore?

If you want to go into IT a 4 year degree is overkill. You should get relevant experience and maybe a cheaper/shorter technical diploma specific to the IT work you want to do. Get good at being interviewed, don't worry so much about certificates.

All the shit post aside, I may as well look into internships and the like and put a piece of paper on a back burner. Wouldn't hurt getting more of that hands-on experience than doing paper test.

 

[Hecate]

good luck, youll need it. unless youre extremely lucky with landing a permanent job your work is going to be relegated to glorified temp jobs. basically cleaning up others messes because they thought they didnt need a full time IT professional

 

[dreamworks face]

I got a masters in cs in about a year and a half. Just find a program kept afloat by the h1b visa.

 

[REGENDarySumanai]

Make sure you get a lot of hands on work. A lot of my studies were book and theory shit, and barely any hands on shit.

 

[Massa's Little Buckie]

1. Get experience.
2. An associate's is more than enough for IT. Anything over that is overkill.
3. Get your A+ certification.

 

[Slowpoke Sonic]

Be an Indian tech scammer

 

[Wingus Dongshire]

Learn PowerShell, BASH, and Python

If you're strong enough at it, you can condense hours of tedious work into a script and spend the rest of your billed time dicking around

 

[Foxxo]

fscanf(fileID,formatSpec,[dimensions]) for MATLab is a terrible function that should never have been created. Your teacher will suggest to you, for the inevitable matrix with numbers in the first column and letters in the second, that your formatSpec should be '%f%c'; however, if the letters are the first column, you should use '%s%f', as having %c first will read the spaces between the letters and numbers and will limit the reading to an obnoxiously-small square. Remember this before you find yourself spend thirty minutes tearing your hair out 60% into this obnoxious fundamental coding class.

 

[dreamworks face]

1. Get experience.
2. An associate's is more than enough for IT. Anything over that is overkill.
3. Get your A+ certification.

It really depends on the IT job you want and what degree you already have.

Do you want a job where you fix people's problems by moving computers around on a cart and going cubical to cubical? Get an associates.

Do you want the kind of job where you get paid over 100k to write two lines of javascript a day and never deal with customers? Already have a degree? Get a masters.

 

[Ghostse]

First piece of advice is don't.
Second piece of advice is if you aren't going to tick some federal diversity checkbox, seriously don't.
Third piece of advice if you feel like ignoring the first two, is get relevant experience. Apply to every internship you see, do not graduate without relevant work experience.

There is only one IT Job that has been in demand for the past 50+ years, and that is embedded systems programmer. If you don't hate yourself, I would recommend networking; but that shit about to under go some serious seismic shifts as SDN starts to take off.

1. Get experience.
2. An associate's is more than enough for IT. Anything over that is overkill.
3. Get your A+ certification.

Experience > Degree, but Degrees do help get you to the top of the pile. Every job I've had but one, everyone had a bachelors. Its also easier to just roll through another two years of school than to stop and start again when you're looking to move up in the world.

College level classes in mathematics help with helping work with numbers, and basic college english will help you learn to write like an adult and convey your points. Its not wasted.

But always experience first.

 

[Some JERK]

Learn PowerShell, BASH, and Python

If you're strong enough at it, you can condense hours of tedious work into a script and spend the rest of your billed time dicking around

Any sysadmin who spends more than 50% of their shift actually working instead of just waiting to be notified of something is doing things horribly, horribly wrong.

 

[xX_rAcE_wAr_420_Xx]

Help desk break fix work is where you put in a bit of time to get familiar with IT office work and build a basic understanding of computer. Your qualifications for this largely include patience and being just less of an idiot than the end user.

From there if you want actual money you'll need to develop skills on your own, ideally while you're staving off alcoholism on L1 support calls. Learning to code is simple to do on your own but takes work, and if you have a portfolio of work to show you don't really need a piece of paper. Sysadmin stuff is basically learning to code but in powershell, and also learning a bit about network infrastructure and other related topics. Get old hardware if possible and build a home lab to toy around with.

Basically, get your foot in the door and only stay in help desk as long as is necessary to learn better stuff. Or just learn to code and make fun of the help desk.

EDIT: and to the above, basic courses in math (especially discrete) and writing can be very useful in life in general.