Hardware or Software Major?

fa1uzure asks: "Recently, there have been many articles on Slashdot about the lack of people enrolling in IT courses in post-secondary, as well as the need for more people in these areas. Being a Computer Science student, this is great news for me, meaning I may be in demand in the future. But CS at WLU is essentially a software-only course, as it is in many other universities around the world. In most of these articles, it generally says that the IT industry is loosing the new graduates, but it does not specify which area of IT is most at risk. As I move into my second year, I would like to know, are hardware people going to be far more in demand than the software people, or would software still be a better choice than a hardware-centred degree? I could easily transfer to a hardware oriented program but would like to know in which direction the future is moving before I make any choices."

Comments

What's in demand?

[alecks]

What if you tried doing what you enjoy and have a passion for, rather than what's in demand. That's why IT so saturated right now.

Re:What's in demand?

[Anonymous Coward]

MOD PARENT UP.

If you're getting a degree to make money, you're going to suck ass and there are enough people in the market right now who suck ass because of this attitude.

And believe me, as the current market in the US seems to indicate, if you suck ass, it doesn't matter what degree you had, you will have a hard time finding a job eventually. Do what you love, and you will kick ass and take names and regardless of how thin the market gets, you will find yourself in demand. That's the key. Anyone who tells you otherwise hasn't figured life out yet.

Re:What's in demand?

[Anonymous Coward]

Actualy, pick the second thing that you have a passion for rather than THE thing that you have a passion for so that when you go home at night you will have something that you enjoy, as opposed to something that you USED to enjoy but are too burnt out of to want to bother...

Re:What's in demand?

[rw2]

That's total bullshit. I know lots of people who do good work in IT as a day job and are happy to be computer free the rest of their lives. They do IT as a job because music, art, flying model planes, camping or whatever their passion really is doesn't pay.

Now that said, *if* someone has no ability to work on things which aren't interesting to them then they will suck at IT. But there are literally millions of people doing jobs they don't particularly enjoy with a high degree of skill becuase they can make a living at those jobs and fund their real passion.

Re:What's in demand?

[dustinbarbour]

I can attest to this. I'm graduating with a degree in CS in two weeks. What ahve I learned over the passed 4 years? Only that I enjoy computers as a hobby, but they frustrate the shit out of me otherwise.

Wrong criteria

[Anonymous Coward]

You shouldn't be basing your study and career on what might or might not be most in demand in 3 years time. You should just do what you enjoy.

Change majors or double major

[cdrudge]

there have been many articles on Slashdot about the lack of people enrolling in IT courses in post-secondary, as well as the need for more people in these areas. Being a Computer Science student, this is great news for me, meaning I may be in demand in the future.

Hahaha. That's funny. Demand for more people in these areas. In case you haven't heard the news, your future job is being outsourced to India. The dotcom bubble popped a few years back. IT is still in need, but not in the same way that it was once. What companies are looking for is people who know how to use a computer, not necessarily people who know computer.

Seriouly, do yourself and your career a favor. Double major in another field, such as business, marketing, etc. It will probably pay off more then a degree in CS. I know I wish I would have had someone tell me that before I graduated a few years ago. Unless that is you want to stay in the academic or research field.

A Different Guise.

[FalconZero]

Maybe its because my degree was software engineering, but it seems to me that the level of skill you develop in IT/Software during software focused degree, if transferred to IT/Hardware comes under the guise of a different degree : electronics. (or microelectronics or control systems etc...).

I think its important to differentiate between :

• Saying IT/Hardware and meaning 'Hey, I can buy components and build a computer'
  (which IMO) is something you can easily do without a degree - How many 'PC World' backroom employees do you think have one?

• Saying IT/Hardware and meaning 'electronics/pcb design/embedded systems', which like I've already pointed out is more 'electronics' than CS.
  

<Before someone states the obvious /> Yes, I know there are crossover areas, like emedded systems/robitics, but he did say CS from an X persepcive, not X with CS in mind.

Re:There are 3 things to consider in a degree...

[matt_king]

As someone who switched from EE to CS, take my advice: do what you enjoy. I could have easily(relatively speaking) gotten my EE degree, but I didn't enjoy that type of work as much as I do designing software. You only live once; so do something you enjoy rather than something that is going to pay you more money.

You want fries with that?

[Anonymous Coward]

Please.

Software guys get to run the register. Hardware guys are stuck on the fryer.

If you really want to have a future in computers..

[nganju]

You should major in Hindi.

Re:There are 3 things to consider in a degree...

[Nos.]

Ignore the grandparent and mod the parent of this post up. Don't go to school for something that will be in demand in three or four years (presumably when you graduate). Things can change faster than you can complete schooling. Decide what you *want* to do for a living (within reason) and get educated for that. Certain areas of the world are in demand for almost every profession. If you're willing to relocate, you'll find a job.

I really liked working with computers and ended up taking a generic CS course (there were't a lot of "specialty" degrees in the early 90s. I spent most of my time in school learning system and network administration. Now I spend more of my time doing software development because I enjoy it a lot more. You'll enjoy life and your job a lot more if you enjoy the work. Salary is not everything. On more than one occasion I've moved to lower paying jobs because the work would be more enjoyable.

Re:There are 3 things to consider in a degree...

[RailGunner]

Or, take a Computer Science and Engineering degree like I did. Currently, I develop software, but if I needed to go into hardware I have the educational background that I could do it if necessary.

Plus, knowing how the underlying hardware works will allow you to write much more efficient code.

Re:Agreed.

[PooR_IndiaN]

I was not so interested in the sorts of semi-skilled professions of coding and systems administrations.

Come Again ?!?

Re:Agreed.

[philwx]

When I was at Stanford, I had the same decision to make. I wanted a dual major in Physics and something useful, so I had to make a choice: EE or CS? In the end, I found that the challenges of EE were better suited to my interests and that I could learn as much CS as I'd ever need on my own. I was more interested in the sort of high end problem domains you see in processor design and such. I was not so interested in the sorts of semi-skilled professions of coding and systems administrations. I wanted to unlock the secrets of the universe! I still haven't gotten around to that part, but I am doing work in the field I love and that's what's important.

Are you for real? Computer science is no more "semi-skilled coding" than Electrical Engineering is "I can make my own PC from parts I buy online."

That was a pretty ignorant statement. The skillsets overlap too, a lot of mathematical theory is used in both, and much of it is identical.

I can summarize this whole thread, coneheaded EE people will say EE, coneheaded CS people with say CS, and the smartest ones have already said do what *you* like.

bad question

[uncadonna]

I dislike the question intensely. Let me give the boomer answer, since nobody else has.

Study what you are interested in. Do what will make you happy. If money is the thing that will make you happy pick a third option like sales or bank management or plastic surgery.

If you are making a strategy in quest of money by being an IT professional for some foolish reason, you will likely be abused, and likely disappointed too.

If you don't love some aspect of computing for itself, you will probably not succeed in it. Certainly there are easier and more reliable ways to make more money.

Figure out what you can do for the world and set out to do it. If you're smart enough to get into a CS or EE program you are smart enough to avoid starving while doing what you want to do. If that's CS or EE or boatbuilding or macrame or whatever, just do that, and figure out how to get paid for it as you go.

If you don't know what you like, drop out for a year or two and figure it out.

A hundred years of prosperity and we get slave mentality questions like this. Dammit, in the standards of human history you'll be a rich bastard if you manage to get a job at the Quickie Mart.

Relax, do the right thing, pull your weight in the world, and stop being so hung up on money.

Life is the cake, money is just icing, and far too many people end up with too much icing and not enough cake.

Re:VERY TRUE!

[Glonoinha]

Be happy you aren't a gynocologist.