Programming vs Networking Career - Your experience?

Travelguy

Hi

I am considering further study, both networking and programming appeal to me .To help me decide which course to study I would be interested to hear from people

- What is your job title
- What sort of daily tasks do you do in your role
- What study did you do to get there?
-What is the sort of pay for your role

Thanks in advance for your answers

phantasm

You're comparing apples to oranges and filing them under peaches.

That's two completely separate career fields, as a result the differences will be drastic. For a programming career you need a degree in Computer Science. Some people in the networking field have CS degrees, but not all of them. However I've never met a programmer without a CS degree. But as you wish:

Job title: Network Analyst III
Daily tasks: Support Tier I and Tier II technicians
Study: A.S. in CIS - B.S. in Technical Management - CCENT - CCNA - Working on CCNP
Pay: Varies by state/county/city

If you enjoy programming and can make a career of it, go for it. The financial return is bigger in the long run. With a CS degree you can clear $40k out of school. In the networking field you'll start out at the bottom, right around $30k if that.

rogue2shadow

This may be of use

http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/16350-job-salary-updates.html

I don't think there are a lot of programmers in that thread but it shows you the salary of a lot of network engineers, net sec analysts, sys admins etc on this forum.

earweed

There aren't many pure programmers here as they probably wouldn't be caught dead at a computer after coding all day.

veritas_libertas

earweed wrote: »

There aren't many pure programmers here as they probably wouldn't be caught dead at a computer after coding all day.

I think it has more to do with the fact that for a programmer, a certification doesn't hold anywhere near as much weight as experience.

@OP: Why not go 50/50 so you experience a mixture of the two. Then you can decide what you really want to do.

it_consultant

phantasm wrote: »

You're comparing apples to oranges and filing them under peaches.

That's two completely separate career fields, as a result the differences will be drastic. For a programming career you need a degree in Computer Science. Some people in the networking field have CS degrees, but not all of them. However I've never met a programmer without a CS degree. But as you wish:

Job title: Network Analyst III
Daily tasks: Support Tier I and Tier II technicians
Study: A.S. in CIS - B.S. in Technical Management - CCENT - CCNA - Working on CCNP
Pay: Varies by state/county/city

If you enjoy programming and can make a career of it, go for it. The financial return is bigger in the long run. With a CS degree you can clear $40k out of school. In the networking field you'll start out at the bottom, right around $30k if that.

I agree with Phantasm, the real money is in software development. Over the long run you will get paid much more depending on where your programming projects take you, whereas in networking you will hit a glass ceiling. At that point you need to get an MBA and get into management.

BradleyHU

how about software engineering??? its more involved than just plain old programming. but yeah, for programmer/developer/software engineer, usually they hold a CSC degree, but i know some who have CIS degrees, depending on the school and how they set up the degree requirements. I took alot of the same CSC classes that CSC majors had to take, including Software Design and Development 1 & 2.


but yeah, Programming & Networking are on the opposite sides of the spectrum.

joey74055

Programming is very analytical (parts of networking are too) and very abstract. You will ususally work alone and at your computer all day. Programming is one of those things that you either love it or you absolutely hate it. My advice is for you to do some programming first (maybe a college course) before you decide that its for you. Programming jobs do usually pay more but thats because no body would do that kind of work for anything less, lol. Programming is one of those things that you would not want to do 8-10 hours a day if you didn't like it.

phantasm

joey74055 wrote: »

Programming is very analytical (parts of networking are too) and very abstract. You will ususally work alone and at your computer all day. Programming is one of those things that you either love it or you absolutely hate it. My advice is for you to do some programming first (maybe a college course) before you decide that its for you. Programming jobs do usually pay more but thats because no body would do that kind of work for anything less, lol. Programming is one of those things that you would not want to do 8-10 hours a day if you didn't like it.

I have to agree. I wanted to be a programmer once upon a time, I studied VB, C++, Visual C++, Pascal and even a little Fortran including a course on Data Structures. Out of all that I decided I hated coding, I took my first Cisco class and haven't gone back.

Be sure you like it, because a career is a long time.

mikej412

earweed wrote: »

There aren't many pure programmers here as they probably wouldn't be caught dead at a computer after coding all day.

They're not here because they are still coding.

I started as a UNIX Programmer -- but that was back in the days where you had to program your own network stack.

alucheni

phantasm wrote: »

You're comparing apples to oranges and filing them under peaches.

That's two completely separate career fields, as a result the differences will be drastic. For a programming career you need a degree in Computer Science. Some people in the networking field have CS degrees, but not all of them. However I've never met a programmer without a CS degree. But as you wish:

Programming is a bit harder and a bit better paying than networking. The CS degree is useful but if you're talented you can certainly get a job via connections and portfolio (I've met plenty of senior level programmers without CS degrees). Networking is a little more people oriented, sometimes requires a bit of physical labor, and pays a little less. Networking seems to max out at around $70k, while programming maxes out at around $80-90k. I find that there are more intellectual types in the programming profession though this isn't a hard and fast rule.

I wouldn't get too involved in the "software engineer" vs. "programmer" debate. When programs get really big, and when there are business processes to consider, you need to think in a way that accommodates these challenges. Some people like to say that this is a job for "software engineers" , but I just think it's called being a good programmer.

(this is the opinion of my father, 20 years software development at IBM)

boobobobobob

I have to disagree with people saying Networking makes less money. I think both professions are very similar in pay scale. Both professions can reach 150k+ so don't let pay factor too much into your decision.

Software engineering is completely a 100% desk job. Network engineering (depending on where you work) often times requires alot of field work. This personally appeals to me much more, i hate being stuck in my office all day i rather go on-site somewhere break something.

ITcognito

Whenever the topic of programming comes up, somebody always mentions how it is becoming increasingly outsourced. Surprisingly, it hasn't been brought up in this topic yet.

Master Of Puppets

I'm going to bring something else up that a lot of senior programmers have told me - many people don't make it their career forever. In other words, you get very burnt out and it is often the case to switch to something else after X number of years. Like others have mentioned it can get very dull coding all day, not moving at all. In networking you have more diversity when it comes to job duties. I have friends who are developers/programmers and they do the same thing all day, every day. Of course not everyone are like that but in my experience this seems to be the norm.

NetworkVeteran

Like others have mentioned it can get very dull coding all day, not moving at all.

Many here are describing programing as "coding" all day. I have been paid well before as a software engineer, and that never was the reality for me. I spent less than 50% of a day coding. I spend more time gathering requirements, brainstorming, designing, writing functional specifications, troubleshooting, etc. I did my best brainstorming hiking on trails. So if you are considering this path, realize if you build a solid foundation in design patterns and data structure and algorithms which a good degree can provide, you may find your designs have a elegant simplicity that allows you to spend much less time in the coding stage than the self-taught.

My beef was, I couldn't find fun programming jobs that paid as well as networking.

I do agree networking gets you out from behind a desk more often!

NetworkVeteran

Both professions can reach 150k+ so don't let pay factor too much into your decision.

This is an accurate reflection of the salaries available to good network and software engineers.

Master Of Puppets

That's good because I have always been under the impression that programmers have a tendency to get payed a little more. Also, I think programmers and developers are more in demand and they will continue to be. Not that there aren't gigs for network guys but it seems to me that there is at least a slightly greater need for programmers.

boobobobobob

I also want to add that as you move up in your career in either path there are tons of possibilities that open up for you. A familiy member of mine is a software engineer and when she first started out coded all day long. But now that she's more experienced she works as a software architect a roll where she doesn't even code anymore. She sits in on design meetings all day which she loves. She got burnt out doing coding all day and her position and experience pretty much let her choose what she wanted to do. Similarly in network engineering, lots of poeple get burnt out from doing field work and become solutions architects.

What i'm saying is if you have the skills and determination, in either field you will find a job and suits you. Whether that's a desk job, design, engineering, or whatever if your skills are sharp both professions have a broad range of roles - all of which can pay very well.

halaakajan

Do what you enjoy.

NetworkVeteran

Master Of Puppets wrote: »

That's good because I have always been under the impression that programmers have a tendency to get payed a little more.

True. According to Glassdoor, the national average is for software engineers to make $5,000 more than network engineers, according to salary sites. I propose there may be a simple explanation. A higher percentage of programmers have a four-year B.S. degree (surveys hover between 68% and 75% for programmers), often a CS degree. I've observed before that most network engineers I know (quite a few) in my area have a CS/EE degree and employers pay more for it. It's thus not shocking that (again according to Glassdoor) network engineers in my area actually make $5,000 more than software engineers, on average.

Either way, a difference of $145,000 vs. $150,000 is small enough, that I would encourage pursuing one's passion rather than allowing salary to be an overriding concern in your decision. When you do what you love, it's easier to put in the time to excel.

ptilsen

I have to second halaakajan's sentiment here. This is an old thread, but it still bears repeating for those who stumble across this.

Whether software developers or network engineers or infrastructure professionals in general make more money is inconsequential, frankly. Maybe a few areas here and there make a lot more money, but we're talking about the potential to make over $150K almost anywhere in the country, over $200K or even $300K in parts of the country. Does it really matter? I mean, I get it, more money is good, but if you can live a comfortable middle-to-upper-middle class life and easily support your family, does another 10% or 20% really matter? The salary differences surely are no greater than that, at the high end, if they are different at all. I will concede that they are probably much higher for programmers on the low end and thus on average, but it also takes a lot more to get in on the low end.

On that note, I make just shy of six figures myself as a predominantly-Microsoft systems engineer, perhaps over six if you consider the stock purchase plan and tuition reimbursement. If I were interested in and motivated to stay on this track, I would have more certifications and possibly make even more, and would hit $150-$200K within five years. Instead, I'm finishing computer science and hoping to transition to something in a software engineering field or at least involving writing code in compiled languages. It is hard to imagine I won't take a pay cut, maybe even a really big one. It will be worth it. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed my career and the money that comes with it, but it's hard to imagine I wouldn't have done better going into a CS degree right out of high school.

Choose carefully, if you can. It should be about what you enjoy, not the money. There's money all over this field. It will certainly cost more if you have to switch later.