Remote entry level job?

I am starting an online degree program this fall and will have my Associate's in IT in 2 semesters and then I am aiming to go to WGU for Software Development. Mobile applications and possibly VMware and virtual reality are my ultimate goals. I have always taken care of the computer for my family and friends and I also take care of managing any issues with a local junkyard and a gas station. I don't have to do much there, though. Maybe 5 hours a year.

My question is this:

I want to start building my experience now - what is the best way to go about this? Would I be better off finding a help desk job or building some mobile apps and releasing them? It would have to be a remote position because I live nearly 2 hours from the nearest electronics store.

Thanks!

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techfiend

If you're aiming for software development, a portfolio of work often helps. Telecommuting in dev positions is common. Virtualization specialist positions are often onsite at enterprises and datacenters. Places like support.com are remote help desk jobs. I don't know if a general it help desk position is a step towards development unless you're working for a software company and looking to move up.

TheFORCE

I don't want to shoot down your dreams but taking care of a family computer and working 5 hours a year for a local gas station doesn't necessarily mean you are suited for software development.
You want to build your experience, but have you worked on your own trying to learn any programming languages? How familiar are you with VMware? When I was in school people that really liked software development they lived and breathed programming! Do you have that same drive? You want to do application development and mobile apps but are you familiar with any of the sdks and api's for mobile apps? Start with a programming language, and see if you really like it. Also an Associate in IT won't necessarily cut it, how good are you with calculus, with algorithms and with statistics? Those are some of the courses and advanced courses you will have to take in order to be a good programmer and develop sound applications. Do research before you commit yourself to something.
A lot of people want to do a lot of things, but not everyone is suited for everything. Just trying to be realistic here.

lunarian

Thanks, techfiend. I may just focus more on building my portfolio of apps and programs than getting a help desk job then.

TheFORCE - I understand. Would be better to warn someone before going through school only to find it isn't my cup of tea. As for the Associate's in IT I am only going for that in order to satisfy the requirement for WGU. They said unless I have 3 years of experience and an IT cert then I won't be eligible for admission.

I have went through every course that Codecademy offers and am working on several courses being offered through Udemy that go into the more advanced programming. I took Calculus in high school - but it was at the college level and I have taken Calc III and Differential Equations and had no problem whatsoever.

For 6 years I also ran a gaming website that used PHP. I learned PHP by looking at the coding and modifying it to do what I wanted and then I started taking some extra programming classes in college when I was a Chemical Engineering and Physics major. Only reason I left those behind is I became more interested in the medical field at the time. At the time I was allowing my parents to dictate my career choices and though I like what I do, I love sitting down and spending hours writing code and watching it become a usable app.

As for VMware, it is just something I have fooled around with a little and could see myself working with decently happily. Pretty much anything software I love but the hardware part bores me.

TheFORCE

lunarian wrote: »

Thanks, techfiend. I may just focus more on building my portfolio of apps and programs than getting a help desk job then.

I have went through every course that Codecademy offers and am working on several courses being offered through Udemy that go into the more advanced programming. I took Calculus in high school - but it was at the college level and I have taken Calc III and Differential Equations and had no problem whatsoever.

For 6 years I also ran a gaming website that used PHP. I learned PHP by looking at the coding and modifying it to do what I wanted and then I started taking some extra programming classes in college when I was a Chemical Engineering and Physics major. Only reason I left those behind is I became more interested in the medical field at the time. At the time I was allowing my parents to dictate my career choices and though I like what I do, I love sitting down and spending hours writing code and watching it become a usable app.

As for VMware, it is just something I have fooled around with a little and could see myself working with decently happily. Pretty much anything software I love but the hardware part bores me.

philz1982 posted this link https://www.elance.com/r/jobs/cat-it-programming/q-data%20science?mpid=cj_10777892_6146957 on another thread. If you feel strongly about programming, you might want to start getting involved with the projects posted there, you would be getting paid and getting experience.

lunarian

Thanks!! I will definitely check that out!

techfiend

If I was pursuing software development I wouldn't attend WGU but instead go for a computer science degree, it's the most sought after education in the field. WGU will be some unrelated certs, a lot of codecademy and java certs at the top. Of the few software devs I know, none have certs and all but one has a computer science degree, that one doesn't have a degree. Comp sci and demonstrating the ability to program will take you a long way, certs don't seem to be very common.

lunarian

Any recommendations as far as online degrees go? I was choosing WGU because the cost of tuition was so incredibly low compared to the other colleges. I had not even considered the Computer Science degree, to be quite honest. But if the degree won't help me with my career then that is money wasted. I did find Grantham University as an affordable alternative. Ever heard of them?

Would you still recommend I pursue the Associate's in IT at my local community college?

techfiend

Have you finished all your generals and programming courses in your associates degree? If yes and you know for sure you'll stick with college a few more years to get your bachelor's I'd look for comp sci degrees to avoid doing irrelevant course work. Otherwise I would finish the Associates degree to check that box. In most cases it's more cost effective to finish an associates degree before pursuing a bachelors.

I don't know about Grantham University and have never looked at computer science degrees as my focus has been networks and servers. WGU is very inexpensive, for me it's cheaper than tech school was considering the pace at which you can work, 40 credits in one term for under $3000. I wouldn't say their software development degree won't help but I think a comp sci degree would have a much better impression on potential employers looking for a software developer or architect. Math is a large portion of programming and you should get much more exposure in a comp sci degree then you would at wgu.

lunarian

I looked closer at Grantham and it seems to also be a match for me... more so than my local community college because the tuition is only a difference of $5/semester hour due to the local classes costing an extra $60/hr to be RODP plus the books each semester are $1000 because of the access codes REQUIRED.

I really appreciate your advice. Even if it has flipped all my plans upside down LOL. I feel better about this track even if it will take me 4 years instead of the 2 years originally planned. At least now I haven't wasted two years on a useless Bachelor's!

I may look at WGU for Masters, though.

I am going to contact Grantham tomorrow and

techfiend

My pleasure, I looked at Grantham and it costs quite a bit more than WGU but still offers accelerated courses and focuses more on math than WGU does. WGU only has college algebra as a general, there's no math courses in the major. The only general I had to take at wgu was very easy and took me 25-30 hours to complete. They recently overhauled most of their IT programs, for the better I think, but still has a lot of room for improvement. The software program wasn't overhauled and it definitely could use it, maybe that's next.

I'd look at what you have left in your associates degree and see if they can transfer into Grantham, then decide from there. Any degree is better than 'some college' to employers even if it's totally unrelated.

Personally I don't think I'll pursue a masters at WGU, not because I don't think it's beneficial but because I think there's a lot of bias about where you get your masters from in the workforce. It's kind of a show me degree when it's not required in the field, for example a lot of people attach masters and doctorates to their names, they rarely do that with bachelors. More than likely pursue it from a well known state school, if at all. There's one possibility where I will pursue WGU and that's if I don't reach my goal of completing my bachelors in 1 year and just fall short. A 6 month term has to be paid for and I'd hate to pay $3000 for 1-2 courses, apparently you can accelerate and take masters classes in the same term you finish your bachelors.

lunarian

Hmmm that's a good point.

I did the math with my community college and Grantham.... I can't believe it. The cost is nearly identical! My local college charges $59/hr more for online... and the textbooks each semester are $1000... the entire 4 years at Grantham I can get the textbooks for $1050! I am on the live chat right now to get my transcripts evaluated. Thanks!

Danielm7

Grantham doesn't seem to be regionally accredited, I might have missed it, but that is a very big deal.

techfiend

It's nationally accredited but I see reports that some colleges won't take their credits. I'd call a state school and see if they'd transfer from Grantham University, just a quick google shows quite a few bad reviews of Grantham.

Danielm7

Correct, regional is the one you want.

lunarian

Wow... I pulled this from their site:

Grantham University is nationally accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC).

So... does this mean the degree is useless? I honestly have no intentions of switching schools once I started - I would stick with the same university... but if the University's degrees are not viable in the workforce it is useless...

I have never had to worry about the accreditation before because I have always dealt with local colleges. Recommendation?

techfiend

The biggest and probably only risk is credits may not transfer to regionally accredited schools. If you plan on a masters this is a big deal.

Computer Science (BS) | Dakota State University has been mentioned on this forum a few times.

lunarian

I will definitely check them out. I am quite unsure if I will ever pursue a Master's but I would rather not limit myself in such a way to save a few thousand $$$.

I told Grantham I can't attend. I will look into DSU for sure.

Now I wonder if I should go to the local community college for the Associate's in IT. The universities won't say if the degree will count for much because of legality issues or something (like if the transfer policy changes).

Anybody have any experience with A.S. IT > B.S. CS?

Danielm7

lunarian wrote: »

Anybody have any experience with A.S. IT > B.S. CS?

It all depends on the company. Some places have a firm BS requirement, silly or not. It doesn't even have to be in CS for a lot of places, but it's more of an HR checkbox. There are lots of stories of people who rose up through the ranks without filling any of the HR requirements but I'd rather stack the odds in my favor.

lunarian

Well I have applied to DSU and have spoken to some admissions advisers. My AAS in Cardiopulmonary Science will knock out most of the gen ed and a couple critical thinking courses. I won't even have to retake my Calculus! I am just waiting on acceptance and then will start in Fall. I could have started this summer but I want to take the summer off of work to spend with family and study ahead of time.

Anybody ever went to DSU for the online Computer Science degree? I am getting super excited about it and am about to go do a refresher over on Khan Academy! Also going through courses listed on a blog by aGupieWare and some on Coursera. Just thinking about all the high level work gives me the goosebumps. I can't wait!!

techfiend

That was quick, DSU must have blown you away! There are some on here that attend(ed) DSU and I've read good things, good luck with it!

lunarian

Just wanted to post an update:

DSU said I did not qualify for admission based on something or other. I never got a straight answer and tried to find out for nearly a month before I gave up... I started at Grantham June 3 for Associate's in Computer Science and will then transfer to WGU for my BS in IT - Software Emphasis or BS Software Development. I was disappointed in not getting into DSU. That's the only school I have ever not gotten into besides WGU (which was because of a lack of a degree or official experience). I should be graduating from Grantham May of 2016 and then I will start at WGU July. I have been working on developing a mobile app and have also been talking to the IT department at my hospitals to see if I can get my foot in the door there for some experience in some form that will truly count. My year as Resident Easy Tech at Staples wouldn't be enough for something like what I want to do ha! I would love to go into the gaming sector but I don't see that ever being remote though I am not as opposed to moving as I was before... Though I would want to do something I could eventually make remote so I could move back to my hometown.

Anyways, thanks for the help! I am looking forward to graduating from my program with a 4.0 and moving into an accelerated WGU ( 1 term goal! ).