Looking to study again (IT related)

Fury05

Fury05

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Guys need some advice from those already in the IT industry. I'm a qualified Accountant so no formal IT work experience. I do however have a decent grasp of the basics/semi-advanced aspects of hardware and software. When I'm not at work I'm on my PC so it's become a hobby since early childhood.

Firstly, I loathe sitting static all day other than the occasional weekly meeting. I'm figuring that I would not enjoy development work. I've been thinking about going into networking but I don't know the industry at all. Does anyone have advice/experience in the IT networking field i.e are there job opportunities? Is it an interesting field to get into? What's the career growth prospects etc.

NB going to be going the UNISA route or if possible maybe part time through university (I'm based in PE, not sure if NMMU has this).

Thanks in advance all.
 
my 3c
networking got old fast for me
system work too
db also yawny
project management, got old too
dev stayed interesting enough
it is a thankless job (sort off) personal satisfaction is what should drive you. i'm thinking about getting out of the field...bored.
 
groenspookasem said:
my 3c
networking got old fast for me
system work too
db also yawny
project management, got old too
dev stayed interesting enough
it is a thankless job (sort off) personal satisfaction is what should drive you. i'm thinking about getting out of the field...bored.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. What are the interesting aspects of Dev work?
 
Fury05 said:
Guys need some advice from those already in the IT industry. I'm a qualified Accountant so no formal IT work experience. I do however have a decent grasp of the basics/semi-advanced aspects of hardware and software. When I'm not at work I'm on my PC so it's become a hobby since early childhood.

Firstly, I loathe sitting static all day other than the occasional weekly meeting. I'm figuring that I would not enjoy development work. I've been thinking about going into networking but I don't know the industry at all. Does anyone have advice/experience in the IT networking field i.e are there job opportunities? Is it an interesting field to get into? What's the career growth prospects etc.

NB going to be going the UNISA route or if possible maybe part time through university (I'm based in PE, not sure if NMMU has this).

Thanks in advance all.
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Same here, working at an Audit firm, I'm doing a BSc in Computer Science and Informatics through UNISA.
 
Informatics is like a mixture of programming and business management. Whereas full on comp sci is comp sci theory / maths, with a splash of business management (I think there is a module or two) and then programming.
 
mr_norris said:
Informatics is like a mixture of programming and business management. Whereas full on comp sci is comp sci theory / maths, with a splash of business management (I think there is a module or two) and then programming.
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Thanks. What's the maths components like? In terms of difficulty level?
 
The hours are not yours - they are your clients, clients demands are insane sometimes, i really wouldn't advise it and its a thankless job
Become a dentist or physio - the hours are yours! no overtime no weekend work

dont go the IT route...
 
I like the hardware side more than the development side, although I wouldn't mind having basic knowledge of software development etc.
 
Fury05 said:
Thanks. What's the maths components like? In terms of difficulty level?
Click to expand...

I found it difficult because I wasn't interested in doing it at all. Like most things, it should be fine if you put enough time into it. I was unfortunately rather lazy, so I struggled.

Summarized, each year (with the maths modules) went like so:

* Year 1, couldn't find my bearings, barely passed or failed miserably
* Year 2, put more effort in and managed to scrape through because I didn't want to lose money
* Year 3, gave up on trying to understand what I was doing, and just went with knowing how to work out the problems, did well (relatively)

Best advice I can give is to do as well as you can for the assignments. They are pretty much like free year marks. The better you do in those, the less necessary it is to do really well in the exam to pass the year if you feel like you're just going to scrape through.

And if you want to do well in the exams, do tons of past papers. This worked out well for me in third year. But there is a risk of them changing the format. Fortunately (if I recall correctly) things like formal logic and theoretical computer science had pretty much the exact format as the previous years, with some minor alterations to the questions.

I also found that Youtube vids were more helpful than some of the textbooks when it came to explaining concepts.
 
mr_norris said:
I found it difficult because I wasn't interested in doing it at all. Like most things, it should be fine if you put enough time into it. I was unfortunately rather lazy, so I struggled.

Summarized, each year (with the maths modules) went like so:

* Year 1, couldn't find my bearings, barely passed or failed miserably
* Year 2, put more effort in and managed to scrape through because I didn't want to lose money
* Year 3, gave up on trying to understand what I was doing, and just went with knowing how to work out the problems, did well (relatively)

Best advice I can give is to do as well as you can for the assignments. They are pretty much like free year marks. The better you do in those, the less necessary it is to do really well in the exam to pass the year if you feel like you're just going to scrape through.

And if you want to do well in the exams, do tons of past papers. This worked out well for me in third year. But there is a risk of them changing the format. Fortunately (if I recall correctly) things like formal logic and theoretical computer science had pretty much the exact format as the previous years, with some minor alterations to the questions.

I also found that Youtube vids were more helpful than some of the textbooks when it came to explaining concepts.
Click to expand...

I intend working as hard as possible on the assignments as I noticed my Wife manages to pass that way (she doesn't fare that well with the exams).

As I said in my previous post though I'm more interested in the hardware side although I'm not sure what the career prospects are like in the hardware field as opposed to development work.
 
Could someone more clued up on the various streams available from UNISA IT related, give me a bit of info on the Information Technology Management Stream. I've gone through the brochure but not sure which modules are included

ImageUploadedByMyBroadband1481179732.118865.jpg
 
Fury05 said:
As I said in my previous post though I'm more interested in the hardware side although I'm not sure what the career prospects are like in the hardware field as opposed to development work.
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The thing is, while there is loads of theory in either course, it's just theory. The closest you'll get to hardware is the hardware you use to study with :P Perhaps there is a use for that sort of degree in some sort of hardware related job. I am not sure.

Fury05 said:
Could someone more clued up on the various streams available from UNISA IT related, give me a bit of info on the Information Technology Management Stream. I've gone through the brochure but not sure which modules are included
Click to expand...

Where did you find that snippet? Because that looks old to me. They changed it recently, so there really is only infomatics and computing. There are also other options, but majoring in maths, chemistry, and applied maths. I got that all from here.
 
mr_norris said:
The thing is, while there is loads of theory in either course, it's just theory. The closest you'll get to hardware is the hardware you use to study with :P Perhaps there is a use for that sort of degree in some sort of hardware related job. I am not sure.



Where did you find that snippet? Because that looks old to me. They changed it recently, so there really is only infomatics and computing. There are also other options, but majoring in maths, chemistry, and applied maths. I got that all from here.
Click to expand...

That was on their site. I found it while trying to find the curriculum as the applications page doesn't give it to you. I'm trying to determine what modules would best suit me.
 
$m@Rt@$$ said:
Same here, working at an Audit firm, I'm doing a BSc in Computer Science and Informatics through UNISA.
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Would you be able to tell me what the modules are for Informatics. Still struggling to navigate UNISAs rubbish website.
 
Fury05 said:
Would you be able to tell me what the modules are for Informatics. Still struggling to navigate UNISAs rubbish website.
Click to expand...

Informatics modules
Module Pre-requisite/Co-requisite/Recommendation
Group A. Compulsory
COS1511 - Introduction to Programming I
COS1512 - Introduction to Programming II Pre-requisite: COS1511 (or XOS1511)
COS1521 - Computer Systems: Fundamental Concepts
FAC1502 - Financial Accounting Principles, Concepts and Procedures
INF1505 - Introduction to Business Information Systems
INF1511 - Visual Programming I
INF1520 - Human-Computer Interaction I
MNB1501 - Business Management IA

Module Pre-requisite/Co-requisite/Recommendation
Group A. Compulsory
COS2614 - Programming: Contemporary Concepts Pre-requisite: COS1512 (or XOS1512)
COS2626 - Computer Networks I
ICT2621 - Structured Systems analysis and Design Pre-requisite: ICT1521 (or XCT1521) & ICT1541 (or XCT1541) or INF1505 (or XNF1505) or COS1521 (or XOS1521)
ICT2622 - Object-Oriented analysis Pre-requisite: ICT1521 (or XCT1521) & ICT1541 (or XCT1541) or INF1505 (or XNF1505) or COS1521 (or XOS1521)
INF2603 - Databases I Pre-requisite: INF1505 (or XNF1505)
INF2611 - Visual Programming II Pre-requisite: INF1511 (or XCT1511)
MNB1601 - Business Management IB Pre-requisite: MNB1501 or MNB101D
MNE2601 - Introduction to Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management Pre-requisite: MNB1501 & MNB1601 or MNB101D & MNB102E
MNG2601 - General Management
STA1610 - Introduction to Statistics
Group B. Choose 2 from the following
AUE2602 - Corporate Governance in Accountancy Pre-requisite: FAC1502 or FAC1M2X or ACN101M
COS2611 - Programming: Data Structures Pre-requisite: COS1512 (or XOS1512)
FAC1601 - Financial Accounting Reporting Pre-requisite: FAC1502 (or ACN101M or FAC1M2X). (NOT applicable to NDSCR-NEW)



Third level

Module Pre-requisite/Co-requisite/Recommendation
Group A. Compulsory
INF3703 - Databases II Pre-requisite: ICT2621 or ICT2622 or INF2603
INF3705 - Advanced Systems Development Pre-requisite: ICT2621 & ICT2622
INF3707 - Database Design and Implementation Pre-requisite: ICT2621 or ICT2622 or INF2603
INF3708 - Software Project Management
INF3720 - Human-Computer Interaction II Co-requisite: INF1520 ( or XNF1520)
MNE3701 - Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management Pre-requisite: MNE2601 or MNE202V
MNE3702 - Corporate Entrepreneurship Pre-requisite: MNE2601 or MNE202V
MNG3701 - Strategic Planning IIIA Pre-requisite: MNG2601 or MNG2016 (Not applicable to BTCMR, BTCRM, BTCOR, BTEXP, BTLGF, BTLOG, BTMAN, BTSMN, BTTOU, BTAGM & 98235)
MNG3702 - Strategic Implementation and Control IIIB Co-requisite: MNG3701
Group B. Choose 1 from the following
AUI3702 - The Internal Audit Process: Test of Controls Pre-requisite: AUE2602 or AUE202M
COS3711 - Advanced Programming Pre-requisite: COS2611 & COS2614
MNI3701 - Global Business Environment Pre-requisite: MNG2601
 
DanDango said:
Informatics modules
ModulePre-requisite/Co-requisite/Recommendation
Group A. Compulsory
COS1511 - Introduction to Programming I
COS1512 - Introduction to Programming IIPre-requisite: COS1511 (or XOS1511)
COS1521 - Computer Systems: Fundamental Concepts
FAC1502 - Financial Accounting Principles, Concepts and Procedures
INF1505 - Introduction to Business Information Systems
INF1511 - Visual Programming I
INF1520 - Human-Computer Interaction I
MNB1501 - Business Management IA

ModulePre-requisite/Co-requisite/Recommendation
Group A. Compulsory
COS2614 - Programming: Contemporary ConceptsPre-requisite: COS1512 (or XOS1512)
COS2626 - Computer Networks I
ICT2621 - Structured Systems analysis and DesignPre-requisite: ICT1521 (or XCT1521) & ICT1541 (or XCT1541) or INF1505 (or XNF1505) or COS1521 (or XOS1521)
ICT2622 - Object-Oriented analysisPre-requisite: ICT1521 (or XCT1521) & ICT1541 (or XCT1541) or INF1505 (or XNF1505) or COS1521 (or XOS1521)
INF2603 - Databases IPre-requisite: INF1505 (or XNF1505)
INF2611 - Visual Programming IIPre-requisite: INF1511 (or XCT1511)
MNB1601 - Business Management IBPre-requisite: MNB1501 or MNB101D
MNE2601 - Introduction to Entrepreneurship and Small Business ManagementPre-requisite: MNB1501 & MNB1601 or MNB101D & MNB102E
MNG2601 - General Management
STA1610 - Introduction to Statistics
Group B. Choose 2 from the following
AUE2602 - Corporate Governance in AccountancyPre-requisite: FAC1502 or FAC1M2X or ACN101M
COS2611 - Programming: Data StructuresPre-requisite: COS1512 (or XOS1512)
FAC1601 - Financial Accounting ReportingPre-requisite: FAC1502 (or ACN101M or FAC1M2X). (NOT applicable to NDSCR-NEW)



Third level

ModulePre-requisite/Co-requisite/Recommendation
Group A. Compulsory
INF3703 - Databases IIPre-requisite: ICT2621 or ICT2622 or INF2603
INF3705 - Advanced Systems DevelopmentPre-requisite: ICT2621 & ICT2622
INF3707 - Database Design and ImplementationPre-requisite: ICT2621 or ICT2622 or INF2603
INF3708 - Software Project Management
INF3720 - Human-Computer Interaction IICo-requisite: INF1520 ( or XNF1520)
MNE3701 - Entrepreneurship and Small Business ManagementPre-requisite: MNE2601 or MNE202V
MNE3702 - Corporate EntrepreneurshipPre-requisite: MNE2601 or MNE202V
MNG3701 - Strategic Planning IIIAPre-requisite: MNG2601 or MNG2016 (Not applicable to BTCMR, BTCRM, BTCOR, BTEXP, BTLGF, BTLOG, BTMAN, BTSMN, BTTOU, BTAGM & 98235)
MNG3702 - Strategic Implementation and Control IIIBCo-requisite: MNG3701
Group B. Choose 1 from the following
AUI3702 - The Internal Audit Process: Test of ControlsPre-requisite: AUE2602 or AUE202M
COS3711 - Advanced ProgrammingPre-requisite: COS2611 & COS2614
MNI3701 - Global Business EnvironmentPre-requisite: MNG2601
Click to expand...

Thanks a million. This sounds like a business orientated field. I've done Business management, ethics and corporate governance, as well as accounting in my Bcom General Accounting degree. I wonder if I will receive credits for those?
 
Fury05 said:
Thanks a million. This sounds like a business orientated field. I've done Business management, ethics and corporate governance, as well as accounting in my Bcom General Accounting degree. I wonder if I will receive credits for those?
Click to expand...

From what I remember, you have to apply for credits when registration happens. It doesn't just happen automatically.
 
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