Going to Uni still worth it?

Tifosi1990

Tifosi1990

Tifosi1990

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6 May 2012
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I am thinking about going to University to study CS in software engineering, but I am not really sure if that is a good idea. Obviously its becoming quite expensive now with the 9k a year cost and reading various forums and comments about how IT career sucks and that there are no jobs for it out there, everything is getting outsourced to other countries etc. After you hit 40+ nobody would want to hire you etc.

All of that had put doubt in my mind if it is actually worth going to uni. Nothing worse than getting into all this debt and then not having a job at the end of it.

I am 22 years old and currently working in a factory for £7 p/h. Never had a job in IT, so I don't really know what the working environment is like and don't know if all the horror stories are true. :(

The University that I am planning to go to is Newcastle University, which seems to be a decent Uni.

Would really appreciate some feedback on what it really is like to work in software development and what the job market is like for IT?

Thx
 
Yes it is worth it.
You won't be paying anything back until you earn over 21,000. You have probably missed the boat for this year though.
It's still worth it, some IT jobs are going down the pan but there are lots of decent programming jobs still going.
 
When you say planning to go to? Is that the one you'd like to go to or the one that you have grades/offers etc.. for?

It definitely depends on your industry now a days I'd say. Do you want to work in Software Engineering lots, and can you work in software engineering without a degree in it? Or is the degree worth it in some way..

Also, interesting first post...

kd
 
Personally I wouldn't worry about the debt/cost, the reality is a student loan ends up just feeling like an extra tax and it doesn't effect your ability to borrow etc.

In terms of the job market, yeah its pretty poor right now across most sectors including I.T

I don't have much experience with software engineering but I am a web developer which i guess has some similarities and I love it so perhaps not all of the horror stories are true.

Edit - I should say that I didn't go to uni because I had taught myself most of the skills i needed to get my first job and it made more sense to work in the industry for 4 years rather than get a degree and look like everyone else. That worked really really well for me but i wouldn't recommend that path to everyone.
 
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If you can self train, you can get jobs in IT without a degree. Finding the first job is the hardest, and could well land you in a call centre nightmare, but just getting a degree doesn't mean you have the same issues. As long as you know where you want to be and focus getting there, you'll be fine.

Lots of people struggle to self train without a base to work from, so it depends on you. You'll probably need to accept a pathetic wage to get your first decent role, based on a lack of experience and qualifications. Going forward all depends on you personally.

Nowt stopping you from applying for both jobs, and the degree though.
 
No need to go to Uni to learn programming, do a private course if need be there's plenty of them but like Aln says, learn yourself would be better. I found myself needing a passion for that kind of thing. I like to mod games occasionally but to do so I really need to believe in the project I am working on. So the right attitude is a must.

You are lucky enough to have a job at the moment and £7 p/h is not bad, so you have security right now. Take some time out of each day and learn, buy some books as well. If you can do and show off what your possible employer wants from you, those bits of paper you got from Uni don't matter. They aren't free tickets to getting a job.
 
Software engineering isn't IT, its Computer Science. There's still a lot of jobs still over here. Software engineering you'll be creating systems which can be a lot of fun if you enjoy it. Also a degree in it can get you into Banks and large software houses which should pay quite well. Banks generally pay between 25-40k for industrial placement/grad schemes and they're still hiring.
 
nope waste of time imo i just finished uni (well last june) for a course totally unrelated to programming and that what I do now for social games so 10k in debt for nothing , just build a good portfolio at home and try your luck
 
In my experience the major key to employment after university comes down to the industry experience that you are able to get during your time studying through voluntary work/work experience. Fail to give this enough attention when you are studying and you will find it very difficult to gain relevant employment when your studies end. Personally I would say go for it but pay extra attention as to what will set you apart from other graduates (i.e. experience).
 
Software engineering and IT are completely different things.

It is worth going to uni to do a degree that involves software engineering. There are jobs out there, especially for small businesses and financial firms.

You will get a divided opinion on this forum.
 
Only worth going if you do well at a half decent uni and use it to get a career. If your going to go to a rubbish uni and get a 2:2 then not even want to work in that area then, no its not worth it.
 
IT is not very good, especially IT teaching,
Computer Science is Software Engineer and etc.
Thanks
Bakht
 
Don't take too much notice about the "lack of programming jobs in this country" whilst it is true they are being more outsourced to countries like India there are plenty still available in this country. Besides if you're good at a particular language then you'll get paid for your skills.
 
IT != Computer Science for starters, no CS/CompEng grad is gonna go into ICT (well its very unlikely).

Theres plenty of CompEng jobs across the country and the pay is decent (though **** compared to other engineering roles, in this country anyway). The tuition fee change is a non-issue, it's a higher repayment threshold anyway I bet if you work out how much you actually pay the difference between the 3k & 9k systems is tiny.
 
If you are doing Software Engineering there are loads of Development jobs about. The trickiest bit will be getting the first job but once you get one it a good area (technology-wise) then from experience there are loads of well paid jobs about. In fact my company is struggling to find decent developers at the moment, we have been taking on a lot of contractors, most of them in there 50s, wealthy and could easily retire :)
 
RomanNose said:
Yes it is worth it.
You won't be paying anything back until you earn over 21,000. You have probably missed the boat for this year though.
It's still worth it, some IT jobs are going down the pan but there are lots of decent programming jobs still going.
Click to expand...

Are you sure about the £21k? 3 years ago, I was just scraping the £15k mark, and my payslip said that I was paying back £1 for the student loan. I know that £1 is a meagre amount, but it does imply that £15k is the threshold. I'm on £13k now and not paying anything back.

Not sure if uni was worth it for me. It's good in the sense that you learn how to live by yourself, but career-wise, I should have went straight to work after my A levels as none of my jobs have been relevant to my degree course.
 
King Damager said:
When you say planning to go to? Is that the one you'd like to go to or the one that you have grades/offers etc.. for?

It definitely depends on your industry now a days I'd say. Do you want to work in Software Engineering lots, and can you work in software engineering without a degree in it? Or is the degree worth it in some way..

Also, interesting first post...

kd
Click to expand...

I already have an unconditional offer from Newcastle University for CS Software Engineering with 1 year industrial placement, so a 4 year course, but you're are working for 1 year (If you can find a job that is).
 
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