"I studied computer science, not English. I still can’t find a job."

[HumblePie]

<-- Computer Science degree holder here.

My two cents. College level courses for actual computer programming was worthless. I learned more in my high school classes truth be told. It did have a lot of math though as I minored in math. Cal 1, cal 2, cal 3, Diffy Qs, Linear, matrix, and a few other math discipline classes. I could have majored in math with like 3 or 4 more math courses.

I do consider computer science a STEM degree, but it is not a great STEM degree when it comes to finding related work in the industry. It is better than MIS or CIS style degrees which are more business oriented degrees with a bit of computer related info courses thrown in.

I will say that Computer Science should at least get your foot in the door unlike MIS or CIS though in many places, but most companies will know they need to train you up. At least with having a CS degree the companies know that you have the basics and can be trained up.

What is funny though is the last several positions I applied at don't even care I have a degree. They just see that I've been working at various companies doing development work for the last 16 years and that's all they care about.

 

[smackababy]

Even if he had a CS degree, the fact he was bitching about his course work just makes me believe he couldn't pass the technical interview. Plenty of companies are hiring developers and programmers. They just don't want ones that don't know their abstracts from their interfaces. When I was interviewing for jobs about 2 years ago, I had plenty of offers in languages I had never used, because I understood fundamentals of actual development. And, nearly every technical interviewer I talked with complained about how so few people (including those with degrees, which I don't have) couldn't answer the most basic of questions.

Going to college won't get you a job. Actually knowing your shit will. Especially, in the CS field.

 

[rudder]

College is not about learning a job. You go to trade school if you want that.

Very true. Internships are very important. College is the time you study CS, but it is also the time you network and make industry contacts.

The job market ebbs and flows... right now is low tide so knowing someone or having a good reference may be more important than the skill set on the resume.

 

[sze5003]

Even if he had a CS degree, the fact he was bitching about his course work just makes me believe he couldn't pass the technical interview. Plenty of companies are hiring developers and programmers. They just don't want ones that don't know their abstracts from their interfaces. When I was interviewing for jobs about 2 years ago, I had plenty of offers in languages I had never used, because I understood fundamentals of actual development. And, nearly every technical interviewer I talked with complained about how so few people (including those with degrees, which I don't have) couldn't answer the most basic of questions.

Going to college won't get you a job. Actually knowing your shit will. Especially, in the CS field.

Yea a lot of people don't know the basics of say java or a language they are interviewing for. Or they forget because they haven't used it. Still, no excuse there are plenty of interview questions online and book to learn the basics. All of them will ask what's the difference between an abstract and an interface, final vs protected, private, etc. If you can answer the basics and a few more questions they aren't going to ask you to rocket science questions because then you can show you are able to learn the advanced stuff.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Bull fucking shit. My CS degree gave me the absolutely necessary foundations of anything that deals with computers. I can already tell this guy is fucking moron - knowing concepts like multithreading, memory management, design patterns in the critical part, who gives a shit if your assignments were in C or C++ or whatever archaic language.

EDIT: Yup, he's a fucking moron. From the first comment:


CS to MIS is what MD is to Hospital Information Management

Wait wait wait wait.... This dumb fuck is actually an MIS grad claiming to be CS? Oh hell naw, now he's giving my degree bad rep (well sort of, mine is CIS). Just because the measly dumb fuck is too socially inept to realize what the business world is vs. the expectation of being paid 6-figures to sit on your ass being a code monkey all-day.

This piece of shit is why the media is god damn laughable.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I'm all for bashing poor decision making and lack of personal responsibility but that isn't productive in this case. As noted earlier in the thread job prospects for Americans is declining. The path to the middle class is being closed forever for a large segment of the population and this will radically alter our society in a negative way. Are we going to become a stratified class society like India? Will we develop our own sort of aristocracy? What is the the end game? All in all I'm not feeling very optimistic about the future.

Inyet others are saying jobs are coming back to America in the form of technological ways. Instead of factories of lemmings pushing 1 button and moving part A to the next position, we have people that are controlling, programming, repairing, building, and maintaining heavy machinery that is designed to do it all instead of having China equivalent peasant workers.

 

[smackababy]

Yea a lot of people don't know the basics of say java or a language they are interviewing for. Or they forget because they haven't used it. Still, no excuse there are plenty of interview questions online and book to learn the basics. All of them will ask what's the difference between an abstract and an interface, final vs protected, private, etc. If you can answer the basics and a few more questions they aren't going to ask you to rocket science questions because then you can show you are able to learn the advanced stuff.

But, that is entirely my point. Him claiming to be a recent grad and learned obsolete technology is pretty stupid. If he didn't learn OO and the principles around it, sure, but I hardly think that was the case. He wasn't taking COBOL courses. It is far more likely he didn't learn his fundamentals and couldn't get a job based on that alone.

Inyet others are saying jobs are coming back to America in the form of technological ways. Instead of factories of lemmings pushing 1 button and moving part A to the next position, we have people that are controlling, programming, repairing, building, and maintaining heavy machinery that is designed to do it all instead of having China equivalent peasant workers.

From everything I've seen, development jobs are moving from outsourced to America. Because, in the long run, it is actually cheaper. An in house team, while the workers are paid more, generally take less time and have to do less rewrites than outsourced code. At least, that is what I've been told. There is no shortage of programming jobs for good developers, the problem is most aren't good developers.

 

[sze5003]

What's funny is he is an MIS major applying for a programming job without knowledge of any programming. My company has developers with biology and other degrees so you don't neccesarily need a CS degree to work as a developer but you do need to know what's expected for such jobs.

 

[SP33Demon]

Slightly off-topic question: Does anyone here HONESTLY consider CS a STEM degree? Really?

Either my sarcasm meter is broken today or this is one of the dumbest comments I've ever read. If it was a troll, nicely done.

 

[Hugo Drax]

If you look at his linkedin profile, he studied Management Information Systems. That is NOT computer science. It looks like a business degree. So he studied business and doesn't have a job. Who's surprised?

The problem is meeting attenders and power point presenters are dime a dozen.

To top it off he got his degree at one of the top party schools.

 

[purbeast0]

But, that is entirely my point. Him claiming to be a recent grad and learned obsolete technology is pretty stupid. If he didn't learn OO and the principles around it, sure, but I hardly think that was the case. He wasn't taking COBOL courses. It is far more likely he didn't learn his fundamentals and couldn't get a job based on that alone.



From everything I've seen, development jobs are moving from outsourced to America. Because, in the long run, it is actually cheaper. An in house team, while the workers are paid more, generally take less time and have to do less rewrites than outsourced code. At least, that is what I've been told. There is no shortage of programming jobs for good developers, the problem is most aren't good developers.

winner winner chicken dinner!

i've been working at this company for 2 years now and they've CONSTANTLY had like 10+ developer positions open, only they can't get them filled fast enough before new ones open back up, due to the lack of talent.

 

[bignateyk]

The problem is meeting attenders and power point presenters are dime a dozen.

To top it off he got his degree at one of the top party schools.

Programmers are also a dime a dozen. 90% of my job is programming, but that's the easiest part. The hard part is all the engineering work that goes into the programs we write. That's why we hire engineers, not programmers. Engineers are expected to know how to program.

Also, I went to Penn State and got an engineering degree, and had no issue finding a job. My roommate and his friends were all IST grads, and they had no issue finding jobs. I think this guy is just a whiny idiot.

 

[purbeast0]

My company actually actively recruits at penn state. The kid I used to share an office was a fresh graduate actually.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

What's funny is he is an MIS major applying for a programming job without knowledge of any programming. My company has developers with biology and other degrees so you don't neccesarily need a CS degree to work as a developer but you do need to know what's expected for such jobs.

You really don't. My past job was being a code monkey for VBA data manipulation in a business world... and I'm a CIS major that doesn't want to be a code monkey

 

[sze5003]

My company has meetings 80% of the time. The development work once it needs to be coded, only takes about a day or so..sometimes less. Understanding what to code is the hardest part because of all the stupid meetings. Half the time I can barely stay awake through discussions that involve the business.

You want good experience, work for a small company first because then you will see how quick you learn to code something and by yourself. I've been working at my company so long I don't even know what to put on my resume anymore.

 

[Gunslinger08]

I think that some people have forgotten that getting a job is more about who you know than what you know. This is especially true with finding your first job out of college. You need to build relationships with a large network of people that both like you and know you're good at what you do. If you don't know anybody in the industry and nobody that you know does either, you're going to have a tough time. Try to get an internship EVERY summer. Even if it's something unpaid that you do on the side of a normal summer job. Any people you meet and experience that you can demonstrate will only help your chances of landing a job after graduation.

As an aside, whoever said CS isn't a STEM degree doesn't know what they're talking about.

 

[bignateyk]

I think that some people have forgotten that getting a job is more about who you know than what you know. This is especially true with finding your first job out of college. You need to build relationships with a large network of people that both like you and know you're good at what you do. If you don't know anybody in the industry and nobody that you know does either, you're going to have a tough time. Try to get an internship EVERY summer. Even if it's something unpaid that you do on the side of a normal summer job. Any people you meet and experience that you can demonstrate will only help your chances of landing a job after graduation.

As an aside, whoever said CS isn't a STEM degree doesn't know what they're talking about.

CS is a STEM degree, but it's kind of like when people call golf a sport.

IST/CIS/MIS are definitely not STEM degrees.

 

[mikegg]

Lol @ the author thinking that an MIS is the same as computer science. They are nothing a like besides both being college majors.

 

[brianmanahan]

The job market ebbs and flows... right now is low tide so knowing someone or having a good reference may be more important than the skill set on the resume.

not if you know what you are doing. i just switched jobs and it was easy. didn't know anyone at the company i went to, but i know how to actually develop software.

EDIT: lol, 2 seconds after i posted this, i got a "Java Developer Position" email asking if i wanted to apply for a position somewhere.

 

[HumblePie]

not if you know what you are doing. i just switched jobs and it was easy. didn't know anyone at the company i went to, but i know how to actually develop software.

EDIT: lol, 2 seconds after i posted this, i got a "Java Developer Position" email asking if i wanted to apply for a position somewhere.

haha I got like 20 of those a day from my old monster resume I set to private over a year ago. I update and report when I go to look for a new job, but get updates constantly even when not looking from various headhunters

 

[Hacp]

CS is a STEM degree, but it's kind of like when people call golf a sport.

IST/CIS/MIS are definitely not STEM degrees.

Stem is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Computer science qualifies as Technology.

Looks like the article FINALLY go the title right.

 

[purbeast0]

not if you know what you are doing. i just switched jobs and it was easy. didn't know anyone at the company i went to, but i know how to actually develop software.

EDIT: lol, 2 seconds after i posted this, i got a "Java Developer Position" email asking if i wanted to apply for a position somewhere.

yeah, i found a new job making 25% more than my first job out of school + better benefits, right in the middle of the economical crash in 2009. then about 18 months after that, i landed a new job that was more than double my salary of my first job.

if you know wtf you are doing, there is plenty of money to be made out there.

 

[Imp]

Stem is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Computer science qualifies as Technology.

Looks like the article FINALLY go the title right.

lol...

I studied business and programming, not English. I still can&#8217;t find a job.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Degrees just help you meet minimum qualifications to get a job. If you know people, you don't even need that to land your first job. I think the biggest problem with future graduates is they don't push hard enough to get internships and boost real-world experience. Most Universities give you those options because employers want to cultivate a workforce by taking the path of least resistance. Teaching young folks and paying them $12/hour is a win/win....

Those who buckle down and try to graduate without getting that experience find themselves with no contacts at the back of the line.

Personally, I was fortunate enough to start work at the age of 19 and land my first career job at 22. A lot can be said for career planning, having the right personality, and knowing how to network.

 

[Sonikku]

The problem with kids today is that millenials are so lazy they struggle to get their foot in the door in trades with actually relevant degrees. Back in the 50's people made a Liberal Arts degree work.