[nfbcs] Computer Science Career Questions

[John G Heim]

Yeah, you make a good point about working in the cloud. That's something 
you might do on your own time. Get an account on linode or digital ocean 
and set up a server. I've been a little concerned about some of the 
advice in this thread with people suggesting so much specific knowledge 
to get. I think that's a mistake. In an interview, a guy once asked me 
which programming languages I knew. I said I know them all because once 
you know more than 2 you know them all. I said in an afternoon I can be 
productive in a new language and in a week I can be fluent. After the 
interview, the guy said that was the best answer he'd ever heard.

I'd recommend more generalized skills like security and networking. For 
specific skills, I'd suggest web design, linux admin, virtualization 
(probably VMware), and cloud systems.

Having the specific skills they are looking for is great. But if you go 
into a job interview and tell them about how just for the fun of it, you 
got an account on linode, set up a linux server, installed wordpress, 
and created your own blog site, you're going to blow the guy's mind. 
Most interviewers won't care if you've never heard of their programming 
language of choice if you can tell them about stuff like that. And if 
they do care more about whether you know their programming language of 
choice, you don't want to work for them anyway.
On 01/04/2016 07:40 PM, Christopher Chaltain via nfbcs wrote:
> I wouldn't have thought there would be a lot of math in a CS degree. I 
> actually have a Masters in Mathematics with a minor in CS, and all of 
> my CS courses were pretty free of math. Maybe that's because I just 
> got a minor, or I didn't need the math courses due to my major in math.
>
> I will say that if you go into IT then math will be useful. Network 
> addressing with netmasks and all really never made sense to me until I 
> started thinking of them as problems in binary math.
>
> I'd agree Linux is a good choice. The cloud runs on Linux, and a lot 
> of system administration in the cloud can be done via the command 
> line. Working in the cloud will also keep you on the cutting edge and 
> look good on the resume.
>
> For programming languages, I'd say learn a good structural language 
> like C and a good object oriented language like Java. Also scripting 
> languages like Python will come in handy as a system administrator. 
> IMHO, once you grasp a few languages, picking up new languages is a 
> lot easier, and you'll spend a lot of time just figuring out what the 
> various routines are you have available to you.
>
> I'd also agree that the projects you work on are key. Even more than 
> that, I'd say internship experiences are invaluable. When I interview 
> CS grads, I don't focus much on the course work, since that's pretty 
> much the same across the board. I really focus in on any internships 
> the candidate has had.
>
> Also, don't overlook what I call the soft skills. Good communication 
> skills and the ability to work in a team and work with customers is 
> key in today's IT world.
>
> Good luck in whatever you end up doing!
>
> On 04/01/16 18:30, rjaquiss via nfbcs wrote:
>> Hello:
>>
>>       I have a BS degree in Computer Science (1976). It had a lot of 
>> math
>> courses most of which I didn't find very useful. I would suggest you 
>> learn
>> C, C++, Possibly C# and Java. You should also know html,  css and
>> JavaScript. For sure learn Linux and Windows programming. It wouldn't 
>> hurt
>> to learn about developing IOS applications for iPhones. I would try 
>> and take
>> some robotics courses if possible. When it came time for me to 
>> interview for
>> jobs, the thing most interesting to potential employers were the various
>> projects I did. I wrote a cross assembler for the Zilog Z80 
>> microprocessor
>> and also a cross compiler. The knowledge and experience you gain from 
>> doing
>> projects is invaluable. Hope this helps.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Robert
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nfbcs mailing list
>> nfbcs at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbcs_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>> nfbcs:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbcs_nfbnet.org/chaltain%40gmail.com
>>
>