Career Advice

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S1ght

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Right so I'm in my final year, busy with my BSc Honours in IT at UJ, and now my dad is already pressuring me to think about jobs for next year. He reckons I should try get into the Telephony world and try get work at like Dimension Data. I know Dimension Data isn't a bad company but to me going that route sounds very stagnant? I mean it sounds like you learn to configure the hardware and then you become a glorified Technician? (no offence to anyone here who does that) But I have worked at a Telephony company before and that's all it was, set up and maintain the hardware/software, which if I'm honest sounds as interesting as a friend asking me to help fix their pc. My ideas for next year were more starting off a job in Software Development or even travelling to the US for a bit as a camp councillor just to experience life a bit before I settle into a job.

What do the members of MyBB recommend? Is it worth it to start working straight out of university? Especially if it's at a place like Dimension Data? or is the "gap year" a worthwhile year between university and starting work?

Thanks in advance,
S1ght
 
I can't give you advice about taking a gap year or working at DD, but I can tell you if you work as a developer you can also encounter
stagnation just as a technician can, although it depends on how the company operates and what job you get.
 
Gap years are a fantastic idea and I recommend it! Go to the USA and work on the ski slopes, go to Greece and work in a bar on the islands...I wish I had. Can anyone comprehend how amazing that must be. I say pack a suitcase, a bunch of condoms and just bugger off.

There are a bunch of people who work at us that come straight out of varsity and I actually feel sorry for them. 21/22 years old and already in the trenches, bitching and stressing. Next thing they know, they will be edging 50 and so what? They got a 1 year head start on you...

Once you have that out of your system, come back home and be a little more serious.

As for the job front...I am in IT but from a IT Risk, Governance and Security perspective. Whats great about it as opposed to being a developer is that I function on a strategic role, not an operational one. From my experience you become a more versatile professionally and interact with senior management from all over the enterprise which is great for networking and future prospects. Thats my preference though...I know a bunch of people who love putting on headphones and developing.
 
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Telecoms is an awesome sector to work in and there is a LOT of growth in it if you are prepared to travel. I don't know about IT degrees but as an engineer you get to work with network design, optimization, deployment and then also the software side of things such as network management(ok admin), analysis, billing and mediation, regulation, business intelligence(this is across sectors and is a growing trend as analysis of business data leads to greater efficiency and profit) etc. It really is the most dynamic fast paced sector you can get and i don't think it will slow down for a few more years(especially if you prepared to travel). The really cool thing about telecoms it changes so often and if you are with a great mno you can move around the globe meeting new cultures all while you deploy the technology to connect the communities. <-- personally i find that and all of the above the most satisfying hence i went back to university to finish off with telecoms.

But getting a job in the sector is a mission unless you plan ahead, make all the right contacts. As suggested above, take a gap year, maybe work a few months too just to get to know a few potential future employers etc. It was only when i had a gap that i realized what i really wanted to do so i'd say it is kind of important. Development work can be cool if you work with the cutting edge things and on a product that everyone uses but in most cases(in Sa) it will be business related and it gets boring fast. I can code well but its like watching grass grow after cutting it, annoys me as i am more of a pragmatic person who needs to be out there sometimes. hehe.
 
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Do postgrad, publish a lot of papers at international conferences, see the world at the university's expense, work on the side to get experience at the same time. Working out pretty well for me :) I would recommend it.
 
UnUnOctium said:
Do postgrad, publish a lot of papers at international conferences, see the world at the university's expense, work on the side to get experience at the same time. Working out pretty well for me :) I would recommend it.
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I wont even tell you how many postgrad students at UCT do this. Italy, Greece, Silicon Valley... some even spend a semester at UCLA or UC/Berkley just for kicks. so envious of them
 
Hmmm.. gap year? What do you need it for? I often feel that people take gap years with the aim of discovering something new about themselves or suddenly finding the 'direction' which they always searched for... the reality is this - there is no time like now :) Take that which ever way you want, but for me, it means seize the moment, seize the day and seize the opportunity... not sure if this will help you, but look deeper into where you see yourself in 5 years and what effect you want to have on your choice of industry... Passion is the key, hard work is the catalyst, and peserverence will help you concur all :) As for DD and telecoms - rocking choices. DD were just acquired by NTT (Japan) and telecoms in SA is a warzone like investment banking was years ago. Good luck with your search.
 
CrazYmonkeY159 said:
I wont even tell you how many postgrad students at UCT do this. Italy, Greece, Silicon Valley... some even spend a semester at UCLA or UC/Berkley just for kicks. so envious of them
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yeah, I'm part of that club :D I must say, they've paid far more for my travels than I've paid in fees :D but then again, they get R80k from the government every time I get a paper published.

I was going to spend a semester in Italy but started working instead. Fun times. Postgrad is definitely the life.
 
Take the gap year and travel a bit... I know it's a cliche but it doesn't mean it's not true.
 
Thanks for the replies so far guys :) Can't say I'm a fan of research hey, much more of a practical guy than a read a million articles and journals. I mean we do small 10-15 page research assignments this year and even those on their own were a real push to try get through, just from the fact that I wasn't really interested :p Which led to my idea of the gap year, haven't really had a proper holiday in years. Having gone straight into uni from school, you get pretty tired of constantly having things due (regardless of how big or small the assignment) and going straight into work from that will just continue to add due dates to get things done I imagine...
 
Wait till you join a proper development or eng job.. then you have to write all sorts of documents. I suffered like hell at uct because i hate project management and writing documents and at the end of eng u have to write a thesis hahahahhahaahah. Ironically last year was great, did a lot of project dev work and kinda forced to write analysis, design, interface, fat/test, deploy docs etc and when you reading and creating the stuff you get use to it fast. It's weird at university i could never manage it but nowadays i just don't see how businesses don't have these docs and schedules. Guess i needed the whole work pressure and responsibility.

But yah.. reading docs, writing docs.. no escaping that :P
 
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