How much time does it take to train/create and IT/software pro that makes the big buks?

Justtocheck

Justtocheck

Galen Legrand Huss in kf
True & Honest Fan
kiwifarms.net
Joined
Oct 6, 2019
I was wondering, if someone relatively smart and willing has decided to start a career in IT, software engineering, etc... how long would it take 'till he's good and he's qualified for work to gain the big bucks that IT offers. Years in Uni? Plus training? Basically how much time and effort would it take to get the bucks at a big IT job.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Software engineering is a tricky title because it doesn't tell you what they actually want. For that you'd have to look at what their actual requirements are for any given job offering. They might want someone with a 4 year degree in CS or computer engineering, or they might want a code monkey who was self-taught C. An IT position with the government is the former and will require a degree for certification, or at least a substantial amount of postsecondary education in combination with prior experience in the field. Private sector jobs can pick whatever certifications they want and may often have none. This is true for most technical fields, not just IT. Be forewarned though that especially for no certifications, it's going to be a long time before you make the big buks. Even right out of college you're not going to be making a lot.

Contrary to what a lot of anti-intellectuals will tell you, a degree in that field can be a useful investment. A lot of employers have hard requirements of a degree for more advanced and high paying positions, and without one you will hit a brick wall in your career. The people like Bill Gates who dropped out of college and went on to form multibilliion dollar companies are the exception to this, not the rule. You might as well be planning to win the lottery if that's how you think things will work out for you. That being said, if you're content where you are without a degree, then there's no reason to get one. Everybody's different in that regard. Some people like the idea of doing a job where they do the same thing every day for the rest of their life, and if that's what you want, go for it. But hindsight might bite you in the ass there, because your priorities today are not going to be the same in 10 years, or 20 years, and it's only going to get harder to go to back to school as you get older. For every 25 year old out there that got a degree and wishes they hadn't, there's a 45 year old who wishes they had. Having a degree will open a lot of avenues for you, but it's up to you whether those are avenues you want to take.

If you think going to college is a good idea for you, do it. If you don't think it's a good idea for you, don't do it. And don't listen to people who say that everyone should go to college, or nobody should go to college. Those are people who like sniffing their own farts. Most importantly if you do it, don't get suckered. You don't need to dig yourself 150k into debt to get a degree.
 
  • Like
  • Informative
Reactions: Agent Abe Caprine and themasterlurker
Upvote 4 Downvote
How you play the job market is going to dictate your path to the big bucks. Think very seriously about avoiding the gaming industry. It's a toxic environment where you're easily replaced. Graduates are churned out of university far faster than the industry can take them in. The net result is an industry of people loaded with debt chasing the dream of working in the gaming industry because they are misguided and think that making games is comparable levels of fun to playing games. There is always someone willing to work harder for less. The only path to success in this market is to have your own studio, a very unique and interesting product, and to get lucky.

For general software development, there are two routes to go down. University education opening you to working for traditional large corporations. This is a highly structured route with a very clear path. You'll have lots of classes, you'll have to maintain your CV, you will go into a lot of debt for University (but there are realistic ways to keep that cost down), and at the end of the day once you're in the job market you aren't going to hit serious money very quickly. In the short/mid term you'll be one small cog in a much larger machine and you may find yourself unfulfilled working on the same tiny part of a larger project. But the reward is a fairly reliable, respectable, clear route to a fine middle class career.

The alternative path is self taught skills and a portfolio. You won't get past the first stage of the online application process for large corporations, but a well maintained portfolio website and a well connected and active LinkedIn will have recruiters, headhunters and small business owners coming to you offering you employment. You'll likely be doing much more of what you actually want, will be in a great place to earn more money faster if you're in the right place at the right time, and will have to deal with far less corporate BS (pointless meetings, HR departments, diversity / inclusion training etc), but this path is riskier.

Look at your own life and what you would prefer. If you're risk averse in most of your decisions, passive in groups of people and generally prefer having people tell you what to do, university is probably the better choice. If you're a risk taker and highly self motivated, going your own way is probably the better choice.

Also take a look at the job market. Look at the companies near you. Who is hiring? How big are they? Do they have a hard requirement for formal education? Are you going to have to relocate to get to your university? Is there a specific organisation you want to work for? If so, what do they look for in candidates and how can you make yourself attractive to them?
 
Upvote 3 Downvote
generally, a degree in computer science or computer engineering is the starting point. also do internships with tech companies at the same time to pad your resume.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
What you put into education is what you get out of it. There are people who are purely self-taught, some with 2 year credentials, some with proper bachelor's degrees, and some with advanced graduate degrees. As you go up the ladder in credentials, their average pay will increase, but it will depend very heavily on the individual and what they actually do. The short answer in this case is probably: just go to university, that's your best bet, so 4-6 years for most people.
 
  • Like
  • Informative
Reactions: Bland Crumbs and themasterlurker
Upvote 2 Downvote
I've worked in IT for quite some time and, honestly, "bring the big bucks" is totally subjective. I've met people with big shiny majors under their belt with deadend careers and script kiddies who found a way to make a decent amount. Now, If you're talking on how much time you need to educate yourself to become a full stack or a dev, it's all about how interested you are. You can really pull yourself at uni and after +5 years try for a big corporate position or you can start right after high school, fooling around with code and bring something fresh and profitable to the world.

TL;DR: it's up to you.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
Doing something simply because the money is good will often lead to dissatisfaction in life. Better make sure you enjoy spending hours hammering away at code, QA, and the other assorted bullshit in tech.

Take it from someone who has done both sides of the equation: Before you invest time and money you better be sure you like being involved in the work because you are going to have to do a lot of it for little before you start getting better offers unless you go out on your own which is also just tons of work(though more rewarding in a lot of ways).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
If you want to make a lot of money go learn a trade or something. There's no shame in working a blue collar job, A lot of old farts are retiring and companies are desperate to get new people on board. I found myself liking machining so much that I decided to go back to college to learn Mechanical Engineering and I never thought I would go back to college.

My biggest advice, since I assume your young, is don't expect a realistic time frame. Life happens, I thought I would graduate my first time, find a good job, cash out, and have wolf of wall street orgies to the end of my days. Instead I became a Kiwi farms user lol.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Justtocheck
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back