What Did My Degree in Computer Science Do for Me?

In 1998 I was faced with what I should do as a career for the rest of my life. I had some options in schools that had great interest to me. One big dream that I had was to become an engineer in a recording studio. But, that study was a lot of money. Another option was to go back to school, full time, and get my degree in Computer Science. It was an easy choice as it was already a hobby of mine.

The Study

The courses in Computer Science started in February of 1998. There are many subjects that can be majored in when choosing a degree in Computer Science. The subject of my choice was network administration. Including, not only set-up and maintenance, but also the security of the network. This shows how to keep it secure from the threats that the outside world (IE the Internet) can pose on the network.

Internship

There are several ways to get your degree; you can do it either online or in a classroom. The most beneficiary way is to actually have a combination of both classroom study and hands on experience with an internship. For my study, I had the luck to have the combined study. 2 days per week in school and the other 3 days completing the internship at the company you were placed at.

Media Company

My internship was one of the best places to have an internship at a regional TV and Radio station. You will come in contact with all sorts of different types of network infrastructure. Besides the "relatively normal" office network, you have the audio and video networks running beside it. Your studies will not teach you in those specific areas. But the more network structures you learn, the more of an advantage you have later in your professional life. Keep your eyes and ears open while completing your internship. If you are curious about certain aspects ask and learn about them.

After the study

After successfully completing my degree I found that finding my first job would be tough. It was for me. I completed the degree just after the tech bubble bursts. Even with all of the experiences I had gathered, I was unable to continue that growing momentum. This meant that I had to settle in to a help desk function only. While working the helpdesk job I got offered a better position with another company that was not only great paying, but in another country as well. This made it an easy choice for me. I could expand my horizons in many ways. Professionally it was the best choice to make. The company was a start up company and after 8 months in total, the financial backers of the company backed out of the company effectively bankrupting it. Currently I am not able to use my degree. For one, the economy is not that great yet and, the market at the moment is overflowing with IT personnel that are out of a job. The more experience you have the better job opportunities you get.