Work in IT? Help me choose a major.

Those subject areas all pretty much overlap.

Web-based systems: Web developer, software engineer

Information Systems: Network admin, manager, business analyst

Software Engineering: Programmer/software engineer (including web development), business analyst

Network Engineering: Network admin, network engineer (planning/designing networks)

There could be more than what I've mentioned, that's just what popped into my head.

Of course the main reason for going to school is to work afterwards, so here are some suggestions:

Check and see what the employment trends are in the area. Here in the US, that's the Business 2.0 magazine and publications like it. They're not perfect about predictions (cloudy crystal ball, I suppose), but it's an angle on things.

Also, go to www.salary.com and look up these jobs to see exactly what they all entail. If you don't like making presentations, then you don't want to become a business analyst. If you don't enjoy interpreting data, you don't want to be a data analyst, etc. That website also shows salaries and you can do comparisons. Again, it's for the US only but it's a point to start from, at least the comparisons of who makes more can be helpful.

Check out the local employment pages (online stuff from your local newspapers), big employment websites (something like the equivalent of Monster or Dice.com, I don't know what you have there) and the posted job openings at maybe 2 dozen companies where you think you might want to work. What are they looking for? Which jobs are listed a lot? Which aren't listed at all? You may find that a job listed a lot is out there because no one wants it, or that might be because it takes a lot of difficult training.

i.t.
in my (few) job changes , i've always found that it helps to be able to talk to someone "on the inside" .
join an organization of I.T. professionals , go to meetings , strike up a conversation somewhere ... it helps to read magazines , ads ... but in the end i've always found talking to someone , getting a referral for an interview is quite helpful .
you also need to know what your own strenght and weaknesses are , what would you really like to do (and if , possible , enjoy ) .
you'll likely be doing your job for some years , so better make sure that you won't absolutely hate what you are doing .
good luck - luck always helps , i've found out . hbg

I just remembered one more: DBA (Database Administrator). A software engineering degree would you point you in that direction but most DBAs also have extensive training and certifications for a particular database, like oracle.

I am a programmer/software engineer designing web-based applications (I guess that means I am "on the inside"). Still, I am unclear what the job areas you posted would mean. Actually I think I know what "network engineering" is, and this seems different than the other three options.

Can you give us a list of classes for each of these programs? This would the contents of each major a lot clearer.

If they won't give you a course list, there must be a synopsis of each area, no?

Two other points (off the top of my head)...

With the exception of network engineer (which is a specific area unto itself) I imagine that the other three are similar enough to be interchangeable when you look for your first IT job.

I am a firm believer in putting your own passion first. What interests you should be more important than any other consideration-- especially since there is a good job market in any of these fields.

But, I am very interested to see the course list for each...

http://www.csu.edu.au/handbook/handbook06/ug/U5_31.htm

all the info

Re: Work in IT? Help me choose a major.


Personally I'd define each like this:

Online and Web-based Systems: The same as IS below but with a focus on Web-Based applications.

Information Systems: Generally these are the people that interface between non-IT people and the rest of the IT department. They define the user's needs and outline strategies for implementing IT systems to meet them.

Software Engineering: These are usually the people that take what the the people above desogn/spec out and create the actual automated tools (i.e. programs/applications).

Network Engineering: Chooses the hardware and software that allows users to access and utilize the network. That would include server admin, routers, switches, wiring, etc.. as well as establishing network security, back up , disater recovery, etc...

The 1st 2 of these are the most likely to be dealing with non-IT people and have to be able to take non-IT needs and translate them into techie-speak. The last 2 usually have little direct customer interfacing - in some cases that translates to very little glory.

Every organization is different of course so in some there are no distinctions. In some groups there are no software engineers and in others "Information Systems" are all network engineering types. In my prior job in the Telco industry probably 70% of the people were in the network engineering section and there were almost no software engineers. In my current job in the software development industry the company I work for is 30% software engineers and 70% business analysts (Information Systems Types)

After looking at the course lists, I still think the same. The question is what interests you. I think that the first three courses are basically the same as far as your career prospects.

I like writing programs, so my personal preference would be software engineering which has a couple of more in depth programming courses than the other options (i.e. the C++ stuff).

However the web track gives valuable experience with web page design, and the IT track is good too with client-server stuff and distributive databases (which are very common now).

But of course whatever you pick, you will be able to pick up the skills you missed outside of school... so don't worry too much.

Pick what interests you.

Finished my last first year subject today. I'll be taking a leave of absence for second semester (to get married), so I've got some months to think about my choices now.