With all the offshoring, is it worth the $$$ to go for my bachelors in IT?

[Deja Q]

Especially as I'm in debt counseling and probably can't get a loan anyway?


I've thought photojournalism or graphic design instead, but I can't think of many fields that can't be offshored.

Plumbing, perhaps?

[matcom]

1. do you have the crack for plumbing?

:D

[Deja Q]

2. No, but I've had compliments on my pipe...

:D

[matcom]

3. that's one sexy elbow!

:bounce:

[Deja Q]

4. That's not my elbow... but if you've seen the size of my elbow,

it's still a compliment. :woohoo:

[billyskank]

5. Can't be bad to know a trade, for sure

but is the programming market really as bad as it gets made out to be? :hi:

[Deja Q]

6. I can manipulate code and come up with novel and functional ideas...

and have proved others wrong by showing my ideas could be done (and still get no recognition)...

But to create the code from scratch, that's where my problem lies.

I know the theories. I have the creative ideas whereas my coworkers have never seemed to care to take the time... and did the code, but other factors kept the implementation longer.

[billyskank]

7. It's just practice

Genius and inspiration are definitely Good Things to have, but the rest is all experience. And there are plenty of corporate programmers out there (most of us, honestly) who have little or no genius, but just keep cranking out serviceable code to spec. I see programmers as skilled craftsmen, just like carpenters or blacksmiths. We're not engineers and we're certainly not artists, although I know many hackers who think they are.

[Deja Q]

8. I see new applications that automatically generate code.

I see new applications that render the need for programmers less important.

I've seen both coming in at work.

Yet we're told we're all valuable and will still have jobs for a long time.

[billyskank]

9. Code autogeneration is often a good thing

It reduces the scope for human error, and relives some of the drudgery out of programming. It could go either way. It might not make programmers redundant but change the nature of their work; after all, somebody still needs to be in charge. I think we are a long way from being able to feed user requirements into a computer and have it generate a useable system. On the other hand, it could have the same effect as the mass industrialisation of farming, which threw hundreds of thousands of farm labourers off the land. It's difficult to say.

I would say, if you want a secure future in programming, get involved in a popular open source project. In the open source world, people really do want you for what you know. The trouble with the corporate world (in all fields) is that they see employees as just another commodity, and if they can buy that commodity cheaper elsewhere, they see no reason why they should not.

[LoZoccolo]

10. That trick never works though.

I work on an application that's been around for years and clients still want to tweak it all sorts of ways and come to us with these must-have requests to change things or make them work.

[AllegroRondo]

11. Depends on what you want to do in IT

if you want to write code - forget it. Far too easy and cheap to offshore this function.

web design - OK. There will always be demand from small businesses that want well designed sites, and prefer to interact with someone locally. But dont expect to get hired by a major corporation.

PC repair - good. Lots of people have them and have no idea what they are doing. Doesnt pay incredibly well, but decent.

Networking - good. Lots of companies have local networks that need to be kept up. Hard to hire someone in India to maintain your LAN in the US.

If you really want to work in IT, look for areas that cannot be moved overseas. Things like working directly with hardware that people use every day cannot be offshored.