Career Advice

[Slick]

Allright lads n lasses I'm looking for a bit of career advice here and as many of you are IT professionals thought you could help.

Currently I'm in my 2nd year doing a 4 yr joint honours Msc course in Computer Science and Management Science. I chose this course with the idea of going into an IT consultancy type of career.

I'm not enjoying the computer science though, I'm finding it overly complex, really difficult and boring tbh, I could probably stick with it and get an ok mark at the end of it all.

I'm thinking of changing my degree to an MA in Business Studies, which I feel I might be better at. The computer science we're doing and would appear to be doing for the rest of my degree does not relate to anything which would be practically useful in a consultancy job. It would only be useful if you were a programmer or something similar. My question is, what would be the best move for my career?

[davidstone28]

What did you do for your undergrad degree?

[Swafe]

CS + management i think

[TiG]

Slick,

There is only one thing to say here, and thats do what you enjoy, I know far too many people from my uni days who did what they did what they thought would get them the best job, for most of them it hasn't worked out that way. If you can't enjoy a subject, you get to interview and that spark for a subject is lacking.

In my view chosing something that you enjoy is best first and foremost, you'll have to start at the bottom of the ladder before you get to consultancy type of roles anyway, business document writing and things like this supporting top level consultants doing the work is where i'd see you starting.

I'm not exactly sure where Business studies would help you here, But don't just ask us, Universities have a great deal of support for this type of question, go speak with the careers advisor or any of the tutors etc, they will have links to industry and be a wealth of knowledge.

Hope that helps
TiG

[davidstone28]

I sort of echo the sentiments of Tig above. It is important to do what you really want to do rather than doing stuff because of parental influences or influences from the media/society. I mean, how many people signed up to a IT course during the dot com boom? (I'm not suggesting that this was you of course).

Try asking yourself why you chose CS / management in the first place and what your motivations were for doing so. Was it because you thought it was well paid, prestigious, high status, rather than whether you would actually enjoy doing it? What do you hate about it, and what things do you love (or think you love) about it?

Some artiicles here to get you thinking:-
http://www.thisisawar.com/PurposeYou.htm
http://www.thisisawar.com/PurposeWork.htm

I would also suggest that it might be worth you doing an MBTI to see where you preferences lie, with the results properly interpreted.

If you hate CS, it may be because you don't naturally enjoy data work, abstract concepts etc. That's not to say that you can't do it, or do it well, it's just that you'll do it kicking and screaming and will it drain you of energy, all because its not naturally you.

I went into legal career for all the wrong reasons (money, prestige, status, profession, parents etc) rather than because I really wanted to do it (although I wasn't actually aware of this at the time), and hated about 90% of it. Iit wasn't until I was 30, that I decided to try something else. So I switched into a Business Analyst/IT development role which is far less pressurised but 10 times more boring. I can't say that I've figured it all out yet, but least I know that there are 2 areas of work that I don't want to be working in.

I will also say this - the older you get, the harder it is to flip careers, so if you're going to do something about it, it will be easier for you to do it now.

[DsW]

The computer science we're doing and would appear to be doing for the rest of my degree does not relate to anything which would be practically useful in a consultancy job. It would only be useful if you were a programmer or something similar. My question is, what would be the best move for my career?

How can you possibly say that what you're learning wont' be practically useful in an IT consultancy job?

Pretty much everything I learned in my CS degree has benefitted me directly/indirectly throughout my career as a software developer.

'Consultancy' is one of these over-used and abused terms that can mean not very much at all. I used to live with a couple of guys whose title was 'Consultant' but for all intents and purposes they were programmers.

As has been said above, you don't just walk into a true IT Consultant's position - you start at the bottom i.e. programmer and work up. After all - how can you properly consult on something you don't have experience of? Just look at Management consultants..

By the sounds of things, coding isn't your bag so yeah, I would think seriously about switching degree courses if I were in your shoes.

Bear in mind, though, that the purpose of a degree is to learn about a particular subject (or subjects) in depth and to prove that you can apply yourself. Once you've been working for a few years you can look back on things that you learned during your degree and decide whether they were of any practical use

cheers,
dave

[Butuz]

Well, i went to uni, did a horrible computing degree that i hated, became demoralised over it all and then quit. Overall it was a waste of 3 years. Got a job, now have 3-4 years experience which is IMHO more valuable than a piece of paper.

Now, ive been offered day release so i effectiveley will be getting paid (not an altogether bad wage!) to do my degree, and i am gonna make damn sure that the degree i start in Sept 2005 is one that i will enjoy and make the most of.

Didn't think to be honest i'd ever get the chance to go back and finish what i started!

Butuz

[Slick]

Cheers guys you all gave me things to think about and made me confirm my choice to change. I'm now registered to officially change course at the end of the year and I've changed my courses for next semester. Thanks for all the advice