B.S. in CIS?

JoeNvidio

i was thinking of going to college to get my four year degree at buff state for computer information systems.

i was wondering if, after i graduate, this will give me plenty of options for good paying jobs??

any comments would be helpful, thanks!

Judd

JoeNvidio wrote:

i was thinking of going to college to get my four year degree at buff state for computer information systems.

i was wondering if, after i graduate, this will give me plenty of options for good paying jobs??

any comments would be helpful, thanks!

Didn't you just recently ask a question similiar to this :

It should give you more options than if you didn't have a degree. Remember, experience is one of the most valuable assets to employers. Sure, you did it on paper, but can you apply it? Better yet, due to the competition within industry...how well did you do it on paper? C's equal degrees doesn't cut it any longer in parts of the industry where the competition is fierce. (Although our president seems to think C's are the new A's )

All important things to consider.

themightydude

This is just my opinion, but I think having a 4 year degree helps you somewhat in getting a job where companies would like some certification.

It helps if you have some certs, but if you don't have all of them, I think having a 4 year degree would help close th deal more, compared to if you didn't have one.

c0mptek

I just wanted to throw my $.02 in on this topic. I got my degree in CIS 4 years ago. Before graduation I thought I was big dog because I was getting 4 yr degree and at that time certs were somewhat still popular. After graduation I never got one job interview in IT. While still in school I got a temp tech position at a call center for a income tax software company. The closest thing to tech support that job had was how to transfer files from the computer to a floppy. Anyways before graduation they had this big job fair with a variety of companies from Enterprise rental, State of California Francise Tax Board (I remember them specifically because they said that they needed CIS grads because of the huge amount of people that were going to retire within the next 2 years.) I gave them my resume - never heard from them since. I even took an exam for the state passed now I get job offers saying that I qualify but never get called in. Oh guess what right after I took the state test for IT they closed it saying that IT is dropping. Needless to say I landed an excellent IT position at a local hospital where I started off as a hardware tech-mostly fixing printers, memory upgrades etc. Keep in mind that I knew DBMS in Oracle, W2KPro/Server, C++/Java programming. I really believe that I got the job because my boss at the time knew the supervisor of the IT department and she introduced me to him. I am really great ful because I now handle servers, wireless, switches etc. I guess what I am really trying to say is that a degress in CIS is good, but I dont believe that it makes that much of an impression on an employer. They want experience. If you dont have it, they may look you over. That is the real world. It sucks but it happens. I remember right before I got the position, I was taking an exam to be a corrections officer because I could not find a job in IT. I think the other part of this is that you have to know people. Start networking with friends of friend that work for a company (not necessary in IT just in a company because they might know the IT workers. I help my uncle at nights as a janitor and one of the buildings that we clean is the IT department so guess what. If things dont turn out well with my current employer I know who I will be talking to.

My Experience

raross

If you do good in your program and people notice you, you will not have any trouble finding a job. Professors get job offers all the time and most of them know people, so all you have to do is work hard and get the grades and usually they will set you up with a decent job.

I think you should go with CS rather then CIS. Most kids pick CIS because the math is very limited and it's 10x easier. But remember, because it's rather easy, there will be a lot of graduates and the market will be tough. So if you go with the CS degree you will be a lot more valuable.

PurdueTom

"If you do good in your program and people notice you, you will not have any trouble finding a job."

Couldn't agree more. I graduated with my B.S. in CIS in May 2003. The job market for IT was really poor. There were only a handful of companies actually hiring, most were at our job fairs merely collecting resumes.

The bottom line at that time was, if you didn't have AT LEAST a 3.0 GPA, the employers didn't even give you a chance for an interview. The job placement for my graduating class was like 20%... those 20% of us had multiple job interviews and offers. Those other 80% were screwed; most of the 80% didn't have the 3.0 avg.

As far as CS vs. CIS... it all depends on what CIS is at your school. If it is run in the business school with a mix of business and some tech classes, I would go with CS. If your CIS is mostly tech with one or two business classes, it would really depend on your interests. My CIS degree had a focus on Networking/Telecommunications with heavy lab work. A CS degree at my school was entirely software development (not my interest).

Hope this helps.

ESOK

I know this is something that many college grads that spent thousands of dollars on their B.S. degree or are in thousands of dollars of debt don't what to hear, but the truth is that a B.S. in CS or CIS is only of limited help.

From my experience and those that I know, companies want the following:

1. Experience

Can you manage a Windows 2000/2003 servers right now??? Can you setup a Cisco router??? Can you create user accounts on Linux??? Can you fix a computer???

If you can't show that you have experience on the computer equipment used by the company that needs people, than usually those companies don't want you.

Its great to know about the theory of how a CPU works, but many companies want to know if you can actually fix their computer. Its great to know something about C++, but companies want to know if you can make or fix programs right now and you can show them your previous successful work.

2. Certifications

If a company puts out a request for a system admin for Windows 2000/2003, the expect that people answering back will have their MCSE or MCSA certification. HR will not bullsh*t with people that put only their college degree on a resume and have no experience and/or no certification. That college grads resume is going into the garbage, unless they can show something else.

Companies have specific technical requirements and needs that HR departments try to match with people that have the right certifications.

Linux? Linux+, RHCE, etc... Windows? MCSE, MCSA, etc... Cisco routers? CCNA, CCNP, etc... Its that simple.

Just like if you were going to a dentist, you don't want to hear that he does not have his licenses and certification to do the job.

Many HR people know that a lot of a B.S. degree in CS or CIS has NOTHING to do with computers (like Biology classes for instance) or nothing to do with the software and equipment that a company needs to have deployed and managed.

Management

This is where having your college degree can help, but you have to put yourself in the position to get there first.

The main reason college can help, is that many CEOs, VPs, etc... went to college and they often have a bit of a bias towards a college education. They are often not comfortable with "uber technical" types that talk "geek" to them. They want simple language, simple PowerPoint presentation, and to talk about things they can understand like MONEY. Some top executives will also just plain feel more comfortable around pretentious and elitist snobs that think they are better than everybody else because their parents paid $150,000 dollars to send their kid to college.

AFTER you have experience, after you get some certifications, then people will be interested if you have a college degree. People that have all 3 ( experience, certification, college) are very interesting to HR.

But even here, college is not the end all. A non-college person can get certs like PMP (Project Management Professional), take leadership and management courses, or work their way through a company. Many companies hire their managers from WITHIN and not necessarily someone from the outside.

I would suggest getting your college degree AND your certifications.

jaeusm

To be fair, a degree in CS will give you a solid foundation for software development, not systems administration. If your interest is in managing "a Windows 2000/2003 server" or setting up a Cisco router, CS is probably not for you.

Many HR people know that a lot of a B.S. degree in CS or CIS has NOTHING to do with computers (like Biology classes for instance)

I think nearly all HR people know that. Those extra classes tend to make students a bit more well rounded and knowledgeable about things other than their major field of study. It is a good thing.

ESOK

jaeusm wrote:

To be fair, a degree in CS will give you a solid foundation for software development, not systems administration. If your interest is in managing "a Windows 2000/2003 server" or setting up a Cisco router, CS is probably not for you.

Many HR people know that a lot of a B.S. degree in CS or CIS has NOTHING to do with computers (like Biology classes for instance)

I think nearly all HR people know that. Those extra classes tend to make students a bit more well rounded and knowledgeable about things other than their major field of study. It is a good thing.

The funny thing about software development, is that you don't necessarily need a degree in this area too. You can be one hell of a C#, C++, etc...programmer or Database Admin, and have never gone to college. There are all kinds of certs to cover programming and databases.

The problem with a person with just a degree in CS or CIS, is for them to take advantage of it they need to position themselves for management positions. But what and who are you managing??? Such a person will be managing Windows boxes/Linux boxes, Cisco routers, Oracle databases, Website development projects, etc...

How do you manage something you know very little to NOTHING about???

Either the person with the degree in CS or CIS goes and get some certifications "in order to get a clue about what is going on" in the IT department or they learn to be really good at "office politics" and "faking that they know something".

When the Exchange Server (e-mail) crashes, everybody is freaking out about needing e-mail, and "you are in charge", how do you fake it then???

Either, as the supervisor/IT management, you know how to handle the situation or you HIDE behind your techs. If you "hide behind your techs", they will eventually "rat you out" to higher management or the techs will get angry with their supervisor for not knowing anything.

A supervisor/manager still has to know about the equipment and capabilities of what they are working with. The supervisor/manager may not be specifically handling backups everyday, but he damn sure better know if its being done, if it is being done properly, and HOW its being done. Certifications, are what teach supervisor/managers and technicians about the limitations and capabilities of the equipment or software they are using.

This is why I would recommend any person holding or planning to get their BS in CS or CIS to also get some relevant certifications, so that they have a clue to what is going on IF they ever become managers and so that they can even get an IT job in the first place.

jaeusm

The problem with a person with just a degree in CS or CIS, is for them to take advantage of it they need to position themselves for management positions.

?????
I have an MS in computer science, and I work as a software engineer. I have no interest in management, nor do I need to position myself for management. Why do you say this?

Either the person with the degree in CS or CIS goes and get some certifications "in order to get a clue about what is going on" in the IT department or they learn to be really good at "office politics" and "faking that they know something".

I guess you don't know much about software development.

When the Exchange Server (e-mail) crashes, everybody is freaking out about needing e-mail, and "you are in charge", how do you fake it then???

I'm a software engineer. I apply the engineering design process to creating client/server software, web services for embedded devices, and software for embedded systems. When the Exchange server crashes, we call a tech in the IT department.

This is why I would recommend any person holding or planning to get their BS in CS or CIS to also get some relevant certifications, so that they have a clue to what is going on IF they ever become managers and so that they can even get an IT job in the first place.

Not all IT jobs are support roles. Some companies consider software development an IT position.

As I said in my previous post, a degree in CS will provide a solid foundation for a career in software development, not systems administration.