Career Questions

[Akman]

Hey Guys,

I hope this is the right place to put this thread, if not I apologize.

I've been a member of this forum for less than a month, and it has truly opened up doors for me. I am thrilled to be able to read up on all the latest tech news, while also learning (and a little helping) about how others use their computers to the fullest.

Here's my question. I'm getting ready for college and I'm looking to reach a career where I can work with computers on a daily basis. I want to be more of an IT manager than a software engineer. For a future career I would like to be able to be in some form of a computer management career. I have a teacher who runs our school's tech department. He runs 3-4 servers, manages all the wireless internet, orders any new parts, etc. I want do something along those lines, but not necessarily in a school. I'm wondering if I could get some advice on what to expect approaching a career like this, and if Computer Science is still the degree I want to pursue in college. I hope this make sense, ask any questions if needed. Thanks!

 

[eon]

that sounds more like a system adminsitrator lead than a manager

 

[Whatsisname]

Being a manager means you work with people and not computers.

 

[leSLIe]

Being a manager means you work with people and not computers.

unless you think of computers as "people"

 

[eon]

Being a manager means you work with people and not computers.

thats atleast how it is where I work. Here managers are "supervisors" who worked their way up totem pole in an area (dba, sys admin, app development, web development, network, tech support, etc).
Can you clarify the type of job you are looking into?

 

[ameoba]

Sounds like you want to go into system/network administration. I suggest you start here.

 

[Akman]

Sorry for the confusion...

I would like to be able to work with people as well as computers, not just computers. My advisor thinks I'm great with people, so management is what I'd like to pursue.

 

[eon]

I guess maybe look into some kind of Information Systems degree, I think those have you take business management courses. However this is a dime a dozen route to go where you'll be drowning in a sea of ppl who took IS because they couldnt handle CS. I cant imagine places just handing out IT management jobs to IS grads.

if youre hardcore you can do something like major in CS, then go to Business Grad School and get your MBA

 

[Cyrilix]

thats atleast how it is where I work. Here managers are "supervisors" who worked their way up totem pole in an area (dba, sys admin, app development, web development, network, tech support, etc).
Can you clarify the type of job you are looking into?

Not necessarily. People get hired as managers very often. You don't just turn a perfectly good and productive developer into a manager, unless they will succeed in that position.

 

[mikeblas]

You don't just turn a perfectly good and productive developer into a manager, unless they will succeed in that position.

Ideally, you're right. In the real world, people get Peter principled all too often.

 

[webdes03]

Not necessarily. People get hired as managers very often. You don't just turn a perfectly good and productive developer into a manager, unless they will succeed in that position.

My company operates much like Eon suggested. My immediate manager is a former tech lead for our Intel server group. Our CIO is also a former tech lead and first line manager who has moved up the ladder. That said, we're a much older company with some of those "good old boy" clicks. A lot of our managers were made managers because they moved up the ladder--based on time and commitment to the company more than ability to manage.

Our issue is that in the IT world, you're providing a service to the rest of your users, and technical people turned managers aren't necessarily the best people to plan strategic direction or interface with the customer--though our younger generation of employees is finally driving change on that front.

Based on what the OP has said, I'd think you would want more of a MIS program than a CS program. That said, it will also depend on where you want to work and what you want to do. In a large coporate environment like ours we have teams dedicated to network, intel servers, unix servers, telco, collaboration, desktop services, etc. If you want to fix computers you'd want a technical degree and go into the desktop services group; if you want to manage servers you'd want to go into the intel group, etc. Our company doesn't much care what your degree is in--I work with a person with an english degree, and I myself have an International Business degree. When I think CS I think software, which doesn't seem like what you want to me, but what degree you have tends to be less relevant the larger the company gets--most big corporations just want to you have a degree in something, they want to mold your talents around their processes and way of operating.

 

[Akman]

That said, it will also depend on where you want to work and what you want to do. In a large coporate environment like ours we have teams dedicated to network, intel servers, unix servers, telco, collaboration, desktop services, etc. If you want to fix computers you'd want a technical degree and go into the desktop services group; if you want to manage servers you'd want to go into the intel group, etc. Our company doesn't much care what your degree is in--I work with a person with an english degree, and I myself have an International Business degree. When I think CS I think software, which doesn't seem like what you want to me, but what degree you have tends to be less relevant the larger the company gets--most big corporations just want to you have a degree in something, they want to mold your talents around their processes and way of operating.

This is very helpful. Thanks for all the info everyone!

 

[Tawnos]

Sounds more like you're interested in an MIS (Managing Information Systems) degree than computer science. MIS is a subset of Business in most universities. Computer Science will have you doing software engineering. If that's not what you want, I'd avoid the CS degree.