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by tom_b
6214 days ago
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Just to insert my 2 cents - you are doing "real" computer work. I have a friend (neighbor actually) who has degrees in geology, but is clearly a top notch developer. He runs a very successful small software shop (doing custom development for small to medium businesses, usually on the Microsoft stack) - when you mentioned the 90% social, "pin down what should be done" angle, I immediately thought of what this guy does. His customers could care less that he doesn't have a CS degree. What he does that really sets him apart (in my view) is that he sits down with the people who are doing the work in these small to medium size businesses and then designs the tools that he feels would make him most productive if he had to do the job of that person. BTW, I have a MS in CS and spend my days hacking SQL. I really enjoyed getting both my BS and MS in comp sci. Having them was pretty key in kick-starting my career. I started at a huge IT company and the degrees mattered there. They have mattered much less since leaving that company. Don't worry so much about having the magic credentials to actually do "real" computer work, I think of the credentials as being door openers mostly. |
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I wouldn't necessarily be happy getting a high-powered hard-core ultra-geek development job. I don't want to have to move to the Big City (tm) and ignore my family.
Going "deep" would be fun... but strategically, going "wide" would be just as good.
As a developer, I'm irritated with my dependence on cranky and unsympathetic sysadmin types. The Unix Admin Cert here:
http://www.oreillyschool.com/certificates/
... would let me pin down a side of the business I'm less comfortable with... give me a cheap platform to run my own apps on... give me the skills to try a Unix solution when I want to try that as a Guerilla solution... and... maybe open the door to a different sort of job in a location that would be a better fit for me. Maybe.
So... not a better hat... just more hats.... "IT Guys" are always generalists anyway. Why try to be something I'm not when I have a perfectly good career (even if it's a little dull.)