Worth going to Uni for IT Qual or look for Job in IT?

BoomAM said:
The thing with IT, and a challenge anyone to disagree with this:
Is that to get the good IT jobs, its a catch22 situation.
You need experiance to get the jobs. You need the jobs to get the experiance.
You just have to be in the right place in the right time to get your initial job and thus, foot on the ladder.

.
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I agree completely mate
 
Well, i can only speak for myself but i did a degree in Software Engineer. I lived at home and worked at Tesco to help out with money. But i had the time of my life, made lots friends and some friends for life. I only left this May, walked straight into a job on 18k a year and now 7 months later on 21k already. Uni was awesome, love my job and having seen my mates with out degrees working twice as hard for less money than me I would definitely go to uni.

Uni is about that education and the only time Un isn't worth the cost is if you do a pointless degree like History or English or some other rubbish
 
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BoomAM said:
Several things that i allways note:

The thing with IT, and a challenge anyone to disagree with this:
Is that to get the good IT jobs, its a catch22 situation.
You need experiance to get the jobs. You need the jobs to get the experiance.
You just have to be in the right place in the right time to get your initial job and thus, foot on the ladder.

:).
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Sandwich Degree?
 
BoomAM said:
The thing with IT, and a challenge anyone to disagree with this:
Is that to get the good IT jobs, its a catch22 situation.
You need experiance to get the jobs. You need the jobs to get the experiance.
You just have to be in the right place in the right time to get your initial job and thus, foot on the ladder.

:).
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You say to get the "good" jobs, which covers your back quite a bit, but i would challenge that. Im at Southampton Uni, which is predominantly a computing university and so the careers fairs have been rather decent for IT students. There are plenty of graduates opportunities, which i would call "good" jobs. They expect graduates to have little experience, but obviously require a 2:1 or better. I'm in the process of applying for jobs, and currently applying for IBM and an engineering firm in the Midlands, for which the graduate salaries are very respectable. Almost as competitive as investment banks, which i made the decision not to join because i dont really want to go to London.
 
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I'm in my first year of a CompSci with Artificial intelligence course.
I wish id asked myself the question you're asking a long time ago, even though I'm probably going to stay, the little bit of doubt in my mind is making it so difficult to stay here. I feel like its a bit futile atm.

I would say that if you do go make sure you look at what they're going to teach you. I'm being taught some right rubbish where I am and feel my time would be better spent elsewhere; either out in the world working or at another uni like southampton getting a proper degree.





pitchfork said:
Do what I did, I knew a fair few people at my uni, kipped on floors and in my car.

Which free'd up the rest of my money for booze, fags, drugs and food + water when i needed it.
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:confused: priorities?
 
chesterstu said:
Sandwich Degree?
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Wouldnt that be covered in a cooking degree of some sorts? ;) :p.

gord said:
You say to get the "good" jobs, which covers your back quite a bit, but i would challenge that. Im at Southampton Uni, which is predominantly a computing university and so the careers fairs have been rather decent for IT students. There are plenty of graduates opportunities, which i would call "good" jobs.
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But what are you studying and what are they offering at these fairs?
If your going into web design, programming, computer sciences, etc; then yes, a degree would be better imo.

But the actual adminstration/technical side of IT, like technicians, network managers, administrators, etc; you would be far better off with the experiance imo.
There are things in those sorts of jobs that cant be taught from a degree. Its literally a 'what do you do if' situation.
Thats just my individual viewpoint though.

As mentioned by another poster, everyone thinks their chosen path is the best one to go for, and will argue blind down that route. :p.

But my original point stands, IT jobs, as in technician/administrator IT jobs, are catch22 scenarios.
:).
 
I'll say a couple of points about this...

Firstly I never did a degree and I have a senior technical position (infrastucture architect) at a major ISP. It never restricted me that I didn't do a degree and I've never regretted it. The point made about the social side is valid but I got round that pretty easily. I have a good friend who left uni with a law degree and he's working for a magic circle law firm now, he makes half what I do and is exactly the same age.

But, in the least arrogant way possible, I'm exceptionally talented and fantastic at what I do. I've got a lot of qualifications and I work pretty hard doing a pretty stressful job.

I also interview people for technical roles from time to time, and whether they have a degree isn't something that figures for me. It's often a disappointment when they do to be honest, they have a degree in network technology or something and can't work out a subnet mask. Makes you wonder what they studied and if any of it will ever be relevent.

In the end it depends on you whether you should do a degree or not. If you're very talented and pick things up quickly then get into the industry now but if not then you risk getting stuck in helpdesk work
 
[TW]Fox;10592619 said:
Well its far from the norm, most people will not qualify for this regardless of their academic acheivement. How did you get a grant? I thought the government wouldnt give grants to anyone whose parents earnt more than £20k PA or something?
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http://www.studentfinancedirect.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=53,1262849&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

Says £829pa for £32k earnings.

"Maintenance grant
New full-time students from lower income households will be eligible to receive a new (non-repayable) Maintenance Grant which is worth up to £2,835 a year. The actual amount you will be entitled to receive will depend upon your household income.
  • Household residual income of £25,000 or less: student receives full grant
  • Household residual income of £25,000 - £60,005: student receives part of the grant
  • Household residual income of more than £60,006: student receives no grant
This grant will be paid in three instalments, one at the start of each term, just like your student loan. "

http://www.lancs.ac.uk/ugfinance/academic.htm

"
All UK students who put Lancaster University down as their firm choice and who achieve the grades required to receive a Lancaster University Academic Scholarship (which will be higher than the grades required for admission to the degree scheme concerned) will automatically receive an Academic Scholarship of £1000 per year towards maintenance support. Academic Scholarships are available in every subject."

Seems fairly normal to me.

There are also other grants for high academic achievement, eg achieving a 1st class degree and grants for people studying certain subjects.
 
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Not sure really, if you go into IT straight out of school you'll be at the lower end of the scale and have to work your way up, but will gain a lot of experience over those years and may be at a much higher level by the time you reach the age you would've left uni. Ive been lucky enough to come out of uni and land a £20k+ job doing second line/imac with little 'business world' experience, however a degree doesnt actually guarantee you anything and you may end up starting where you would've done straight out of college. Personally i'd say go to uni for the experience, but dont assume you'll land a top job as a result because its becoming less and less likely as more people do degrees.
 
You know you could do a degree and, with a year out in industry combined with internships and suchlike in your summer holidays, still emerge with around 1.5 to 2 years of relevant work experience. Throw in part-time jobs during term time if you felt like you were slacking and I think you wouldn't take too much of a hit financially. Companies would also lap you up if you showed that kind of dedication during your studies (and still managed a 2.2 or higher...yes, amazingly not all graduate schemes demand a 2.1+).

Of course that all runs contrary to the normal advice of go to uni to experience the whole endless ****-up style of living.
 
Do not live at home, you will regret it. Uni isn't just about the academic learning, it's about the lifestyle, and growing into a more rounded individual, living at home will hold you back here.

I recommend doing a sandwich degree, and make the most of that year in industry, don't settle for a job in a local PC shop, aim high, work for a top company and get some top experience. It will pay off, as long as you make the most of it, you'll have an edge over others when applying for jobs after you've finished uni and can expect to start on a least 25k
 
Dude, go to uni while you can. Youre young so youve got the necessary energy/steam to study and then go job hunting afterwards. To be straight with you, when you leave it wont be easy to walk into a job, you will have to "start" somewhere.

While I was at uni I worked for a notorious high street electrical chain. Upon graduation I started work in their customer support call centre. I worked for a pittance and was living in one of the worst parts of Nottingham on my tod, but I did it to get experience.

I was like a lot of people moaning about catch22 situations. What a lot of people dont realise is that "sometimes" you have to start at the bottom and fight your way up. A few jobs later and after a good few lines of experience had been added to my CV, I now work for a top law firm in the midlands and Im happy with my salary and for the first time I am happy with my job and the people I work with. Im 28 now and have been working for the firm for the last two years.

There is a lot of internal promotions, secondments and theyre recruiting for their helpdesk for anyone looking for a first step onto the ladder ;)
 
Wow thanks for the advice everyone been a pleasure to read.

I would love the Uni experience but going out there and trying to make a good go at it is more appealing to me.

A. Because I will have more cash and can start to enjoy more things in life rather than having next to no cash at all
B. I think I could make a good go at it with the qualification set I already have?

What sort of Pay/Role could I expect to walk into after college and what should I look out for, if people list some up I can start to look around.

EDIT : Just to clarify I would be happy starting on something like 13-16k and could live quite comfortably on that.
 
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