Best IT Career?

I'm biased because it's what I do, but front end web development is a really cool career. There's something very fulfilling about working on stuff that customers constantly use and providing them with engaging experiences, contributing so heavily to your employer's bottom line and constantly working with creatives.

Every new project is its own puzzle - you have to work out how to implement designs and what a good approach would be for scroll-based animation and/or data structures. And if you can get a remote job with a US company, even better.

It's also a field where qualifications mean literally nothing. Either you're good at this sort of thing or you aren't. I earn quite a lot, benefits are great, my hours are good, I get a bunch of international trips a year, I work with amazing people and I absolutely love what I do every day. There's never a dull moment and you get a lot of acknowledgement from your colleagues for good work because it affects so much of the company.

A metric ton of people call themselves web developers, but a very, very small percentage can actually do it worth a damn. There is huge demand for good web developers. Become a GreenSock and JavaScript wizard and you'll open many doors for yourself.
 
Bryn said:
I'm biased because it's what I do, but front end web development is a really cool career. There's something very fulfilling about working on stuff that customers constantly use and providing them with engaging experiences, contributing so heavily to your employer's bottom line and constantly working with creatives.

Every new project is its own puzzle - you have to work out how to implement designs and what a good approach would be for scroll-based animation and/or data structures. And if you can get a remote job with a US company, even better.

It's also a field where qualifications mean literally nothing. Either you're good at this sort of thing or you aren't. I earn quite a lot, benefits are great, my hours are good, I get a bunch of international trips a year, I work with amazing people and I absolutely love what I do every day. There's never a dull moment and you get a lot of acknowledgement from your colleagues for good work because it affects so much of the company.

A metric ton of people call themselves web developers, but a very, very small percentage can actually do it worth a damn. There is huge demand for good web developers. Become a GreenSock and JavaScript wizard and you'll open many doors for yourself.
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This is an example of someone who actually likes their job and found their niche.
I guarantee you there are loads of guys who are front end devs who would tell you how much their jobs suck.

This will be the difference between picking a job for money and one you enjoy
 
21yearoldinvestor said:
less time interacting with people, as I am introverted (INTP personality)
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Look I'm just going to do you a favour real quick:

1. I'm introverted, you are anti social.
2. MBTI is the the horoscope equivalent of psychology.
3. Horoscopes are bullshit

Now that we've established you should never put the letters INTP next to or close to your name ever again, we can continue.

4. You're welcome :giggle:

---

Pick General Computer Science, get a job and work hard for three or four years, don't buy fancy cars or houses, save your money and emigrate.

Let's not beat around the bush - if money and comfort is your thing you're going to want to leave the country at some point.
 
Hamster said:
Look I'm just going to do you a favour real quick:

1. I'm introverted, you are anti social.
2. MBTI is the the horoscope equivalent of psychology.
3. Horoscopes are bullshit

Now that we've established you should never put the letters INTP next to or close to your name ever again, we can continue.

4. You're welcome :giggle:

---

Pick General Computer Science, get a job and work hard for three or four years, don't buy fancy cars or houses, save your money and emigrate.

Let's not beat around the bush - if money and comfort is your thing you're going to want to leave the country at some point.
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Thank you for the reply. I was just reading this as my power went off
 
Hamster said:
Look I'm just going to do you a favour real quick:

1. I'm introverted, you are anti social.
2. MBTI is the the horoscope equivalent of psychology.
3. Horoscopes are bullshit

Now that we've established you should never put the letters INTP next to or close to your name ever again, we can continue.

4. You're welcome :giggle:

---

Pick General Computer Science, get a job and work hard for three or four years, don't buy fancy cars or houses, save your money and emigrate.

Let's not beat around the bush - if money and comfort is your thing you're going to want to leave the country at some point.
Click to expand...

Is that the Myers Briggs bullshit of completely made up pseudo science that companies still pay stupid money for being “consulted” on?
 
You can make large amounts of money off almost anything if you work hard at it, and if you become the best at it.

Just remember, don't bother "chasing your passion". That's a myth. You don't need a passion, you just need to pick a direction and stick with it for a while. Every year or so, readjust course to make sure you are still going to hit your goals.

There are extremely few career choices that pay well and also require very little human interaction. Knowing a little bit about how to get humans to like you helps get ahead.
 
KleinBoontjie said:
Companies? I thought it was only grade 7 parents, that pays for that kak.
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ikr? I've had to sit through this 'evaluation' three times in academia, with some weird over-emphasis in my final Uni year which, naturally had no bearing at all, and an internship.

I really feel sorry for those that get influenced in their work / prospect circles via this nu-horoscope.
 
Ancalagon said:
You can make large amounts of money off almost anything if you work hard at it, and if you become the best at it.

Just remember, don't bother "chasing your passion". That's a myth. You don't need a passion, you just need to pick a direction and stick with it for a while. Every year or so, readjust course to make sure you are still going to hit your goals.

There are extremely few career choices that pay well and also require very little human interaction. Knowing a little bit about how to get humans to like you helps get ahead.
Click to expand...

I used to think I was introverted and chose engineering / programming because I thought it something where I don't have to work with people. Later I found out that working with people on requirements, design etc is something I really enjoy.

Even if that isn't what you want to do, you won't progress very far if you are a complete introvert. Around mid level on the engineering track at our company, the job spec begins to include things like "contributes meaningfully in meetings", " collaborates with other teams" and "shares knowledge company-wide."
I had to mentor a guy who wasn't even mid level yet, but due to his not speaking up, his performance reviews found him lacking because management didn't know how he thought about problems and how he contributed.
 
Hamster said:
Look I'm just going to do you a favour real quick:

1. I'm introverted, you are anti social.
2. MBTI is the the horoscope equivalent of psychology.
3. Horoscopes are bullshit

Now that we've established you should never put the letters INTP next to or close to your name ever again, we can continue.

4. You're welcome :giggle:

---

Pick General Computer Science, get a job and work hard for three or four years, don't buy fancy cars or houses, save your money and emigrate.

Let's not beat around the bush - if money and comfort is your thing you're going to want to leave the country at some point.
Click to expand...

Well, I once worked at a company where we tested all 20 or so of the developers. About 17 were INTJ/P, then the last 3 with some other variations in there, in general it's a great fit with becoming a developer.

But having said that, it's not usually used as a measured psychometric test, or even as a non-psychometric. They all rather focus on language, math, personality, work ethic, culture etc. as a predictor of successful placement as a candidate.
 
Barbarian Conan said:
I used to think I was introverted and chose engineering / programming because I thought it something where I don't have to work with people. Later I found out that working with people on requirements, design etc is something I really enjoy.

Even if that isn't what you want to do, you won't progress very far if you are a complete introvert. Around mid level on the engineering track at our company, the job spec begins to include things like "contributes meaningfully in meetings", " collaborates with other teams" and "shares knowledge company-wide."
I had to mentor a guy who wasn't even mid level yet, but due to his not speaking up, his performance reviews found him lacking because management didn't know how he thought about problems and how he contributed.
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Also remember that most people change over time. For example as a 25-year old you might be introverted and not nearly as confident as you're going to be at 35 or 45. You'll probably remain introverted, and yet feel completely at ease talking about subjects in which you are very knowledgeable, even in groups or in front of people.
 
All I need to add, is if you want to get into IT to avoid people, you are barking up the wrong tree. Most developer roles in IT, you life is gone. You belong to the company 24/7.
 
Drifter said:
All I need to add, is if you want to get into IT to avoid people, you are barking up the wrong tree. Most developer roles in IT, you life is gone. You belong to the company 24/7.
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Not all, and these days companies seem to put more value in work life balance. If I work after hours, its by my own choice. It's been 4 years since I've been asked to work overtime, and even then it was made clear that we would not be allowed to work overtime for more than 2 weeks.
On call after hours? Only if agreed upon ahead of time for special circumstances.
 
Barbarian Conan said:
Not all, and these days companies seem to put more value in work life balance. If I work after hours, its by my own choice. It's been 4 years since I've been asked to work overtime, and even then it was made clear that we would not be allowed to work overtime for more than 2 weeks.
On call after hours? Only if agreed upon ahead of time for special circumstances.
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Yes, it does depend on where you work and what kind off project you are busy with. Oh, and it's never overtime, paygrade is too high to claim overtime.
 
Drifter said:
Yes, it does depend on where you work and what kind off project you are busy with. Oh, and it's never overtime, paygrade is too high to claim overtime.
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Well, unpaid overtime is the norm in the industry I think.
Although the last time I was asked to work overtime it was leave days in lieu of overtime pay, which suits me fine.
 
Those salary figures certainly look appealing but they are a bit misleading. Pay in the IT field is very variable and depends on a lot of factors. You get developers who make R1500 a month and then you get others that make close to R80000 p/m it really depends on the type of company.

Also i hate to break the bad news to you but there is unfortunately no way to hide away from face to face interactions in the real world. Interactions with work colleagues and team work in general is very common in engineering/IT companies.

Reality is that if you get a degree in IT and you're straight out of varsity you can expect to earn somewhere between R20-R25k p/m on average and that figure is on the high end already.

Regarding your question about CS major's it depends where your interests lie. I personally studied electrical and computer engineering which exposed me to both hardware and software design principles. I would say if your only interested in software sure go do CS but if building circuits also interests you then definately look into engineering.
 
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