Right.. what to do for Uni and where?

[Whiternoise]

Much as i hate directing people away from Hexus, i've found some of the best advice regarding Uni's from The Student Room forums - they'll definitely be able to give you a hand. (www.thestudentroom.co.uk)

[staffsMike]

I wen't to uni with fairly limited programming experience (visual basic mainly) and thinking I would enjoy it. Boy oh boy was I wrong.

Started out on software engineering.. decided that was OK but I wanted to specialise..so I moved to Games Programming which was the biggest mistake of my life. It is the most boring area of programming i've come across to date. Lots of stastics programming which is an utter bore and quite difficult at times so my advice to anyone thinking games programming will be fun..think again.

I'm now on Computing Science (not computer lol) which offers me the choice of pretty much any computing module the uni has to offer and I find it really good.

In my experieince most computing courses entail at least A Level standard maths and in most cases more advanced stuff which has always been good for me because i've never got less than 100% on them

I'm on my final year now, just kicking off my Final Year Project which should be really good. Simple code, lots of HCI (and maths ) ,quite a complicated idea.. I like a challenge

Oh and it's already been said but programming is far more about the way you think than being good with code. You need to be a very good problem solver.

Stafford Uni btw. it's pretty good for computing, they have solid contacts in the industry with people like IBM and Cisco so don't count them out just because they come low on the tables.

I got in to much better universities but chose to go to stafford.

[htid]

Much as i hate directing people away from Hexus, i've found some of the best advice regarding Uni's from The Student Room forums - they'll definitely be able to give you a hand. (www.thestudentroom.co.uk)

Seconded, my girlfriend has used that site extensively this summer whilst researching unis and stuff. You can also post your Personal Statement there and they will give you advice on how to make it better (confidential of course). She did that quite often and they were generally helpful - thank god she's finally sent finished and everything is in, reading over her PS 2million times started to get boring

[Saracen]

My advice to you, XA04, would be to do a bit of lateral thinking and to consider approaching this question from another direction.

I may be a bit out of touch, but my generic opinion is that there are two types of post-Uni career out there. The first is where your degree course is very relevant, and perhaps necessary, to the career you're opting for. A good example might be medical careers, or scientific careers, where the degree and the knowledge gained in it will be directly relevant to the job.

But the second is where the actual subject matter of the degree doesn't really matter to the career you opt for. For instance, in my intake (a number of years ago) to train as a Chartered Accountant, we had a few people with accountancy-oriented degrees, but we also had those with maths, sciences, engineering, geography, history, law, economics, literature .... and so on.

My question is, therefore ..... do you know what potential employers expect and/or prefer their new recruits to have a degree in?

It certainly used to be the case (though I'm out of touch so it may have changed) that many computing employers preferred recruits to NOT have computing degrees. Why? Because the academic approach to computing was oriented very differently to the rigours and expertise required in the commercial world. Often, employers preferred recruits that they could train themselves in both disciplines and subjects that they needed.

Does that still apply? I don't know. But I'd advise you to find out before picking a degree based on what you think employers will prefer.


But there's another angle too.

Will you having a degree in something other than a computing discipline harm your career options when you leave? If so, then it might be necessary to go down the computing route. But, when you pick your degree subject, you're committing yourself to three years of pretty hard work and three years of intensive study of that subject. There are certainly a proportion of people that find they can't stick that, or that they lose interest or motivation. If, on the other hand, you pick a subject in which you have an interest, it may well be that you will have much more interest in putting in the extra study work because you are interested in and enjoy the subject. That could well pay back in terms of the degree result.

So .... you may face a choice of spending three years gaining a degree in a computing subject and end up with a 2:2, compared to picking a subject that interests your (for argument's sake, law) and ending up with a 1st. Which will go down better with an employer?

If, of course, you're looking at a career in computing because that is already what interests you, then that may be the best subject to do the degree in, even if you subsequently end up with a career in something else.

Hence my suggestion for lateral thinking and a different angle of approach. I'd suggest two thinks :-

1) Look through a few computer-oriented recruitment magazines/newspaper sections/websites, and get on the phone. Ask a few recruitment consultants how relevant a computing degree is, and if you can find a few major corporates (banks, insurance companies, whatever) try to get through to their personnel management (and not just a clerical worker in the office) and ask them.

The worst than can happen is that you get nowhere if you can't get through. But .... you may get advice that alters your perspective. And if you get REALLY lucky, you might get a personnel manager that thinks "well, that approach shows initiative, I'll keep an eye on this youngster 'cos he's a good potential candidate when he's finished his degree". You just MIGHT make a useful contact or two.


2) If it turns out that a computing degree isn't necessary for a career in computing, think about what subjects really interest you, and what you might enjoy studying in depth. Firstly, you may well have a lot more fun during the degree, secondly it may well leave you with a better result and thirdly, it MIGHT end up leading to a career that you hadn't even thought of.


Just don't assume, if indeed you have, that because you want a computing career that you necessarily need a computing degree, because it may well not be the case. If you spend a couple of hours reading, researching and on the phone, you may well find out.