Administration

Hi, /prog/. Long time lurker, first time poster.

Basically, I'm starting college soon for computer science, and I wanted to know what you thought about it? What I mean is, I've programmed for awhile now and have built databases in the past, and I think I would like to do Database Administration for a job after graduation. Is this alright, or am I naive of the field? Also, do you think I should be worried at all about all that offshoring stuff I hear so much about? Or is there still enough work available out there that as long as I'm actually competent and can do that work, I won't really need to worry?

Thanks for the advice.

>>8

Appreciate the advice, although most I already knew.

Masters still puts me a bit above the BS's that everyone seems to already have; it may just make the difference. I also have the opportunity to double major in something like Electrical Engineering, would that look better for future employment, even in something like DBA?

I looked at the ICPC thing. I believe I'm a pretty good programmer, and I understand a decent amount of abstraction and how to do algorithms, but damn, MIT? How the fuck am I going to stand up against motherfuckin' MIT?! I'm a decent programmer but I'm hardly a genius. My main facets that I'm hoping will propel me through my career are my ``soft"-er skills. I'm great with communication (and breaking down abstract ideas for people who don't understand them as well, such as [eventually] management), I have good social skills as well as being great at maintaining a professional persona, and the real kicker: I can actually write. I hoping that plus my above-average level of programming and abstraction ability (Read: I can currently program in C, Java, and Python, and know my way around a few of the different Linux OS's as well as Solaris systems, and have been programming since I was 15. Not a genius, but I do know my fair share. I guess SQL too, but SQL is exactly hard) will allow me to be successful, since from what I hear many people in the IT profession don't possess both (i.e. if they're technical geniuses they are socially retarded, or vice-versa).

I know my competition also has a BS. But many people (even in the private schools like WPI) come from Java Schools, and even more couldn't code their way out of a SegFault. The college I'm going to teaches C and C++ before moving on to more specialized things that you can choose later on. All that ``abstract bullshite" should help me in the future, even if I'm only a DBA, right? Also, this is why I have considered a M.Sc., the double major in EE, or perhaps both (just because double majoring here mostly just waives over a few of the frills courses and kills a bunch of Gen Ed's in favor of EE, so its fairly easy to pull off)

That was kinda long, srry :(