Thanks a lot, BA! (What should I study?)

Cthulhu Calamari

I've got a BA in English (& Humanities), and I've been teaching in Japan and in private schools in Canada for a while now, but when I was going to apply to get my actual teaching accreditation in Ontario I found out that over 60% of their teachers are unemployed (as teachers, at any rate) & it would be nice to have qualifications for something that can actually pay for the qualification process...

If I were going to drop money (& time) on a technical school for computer sciences, what should I study? I'm not computer illiterate, but I don't know any coding languages, so I'm essentially starting from scratch. I'm thinking in terms, not only of employ-ability, but also of job satisfaction. My girlfriend works for a film effects company and they are constantly looking for people with very specific qualifications, just to work as a runner. I'm down with spending a couple years on getting properly qualified, but only if I know that it's something that is going to actually get my ass working at the end (and not just taking an endless chain of "valuable" unpaid internships).

Thoughts?

dexter

If you're interested in comp science look at all of the universities close to you and check out their programs in computer science and see what each program entails. Since you already have a BA they might tell you you don't need to do any electives but if you have no science background the programs still might take 3 years since you'll need all of the first year prereq's for the second year units and all the second year prereq's for the third year units. The only advantage of having the BA and not having to do electives is you'll only maybe have 2-3 units very semester rather than 4.

I have a BSc in physics so I'm only speculating on what might be the case. Some comp science programs require some math and maybe even some physics too, so you should think about whether you're interested in that too. Hopefully someone better informed can help you out, all I can do is suggest you have a look at the courses available to you in near by universities, contact some of the professors and ask if you can get any units exempted since you already have a BA and then see how long each program will take.

I could be wrong but it sounds like you don't know much about comp science, in which case you should research what the field is about and where it can take you. Good luck!

gavindel

At least in the United States, compsci has a fantastic economic projection right now. However, there are caveats. (Keep in mind that I'm still in college for my compsci degree, so take this with a grain of salt.) There is a split in the type of work and credentials between the designers and developers and the IT guys. Software developer is a fantastic job in terms of salary, but its not automatic. Both of my friends with CS degrees work middling management office type jobs, paid by the hour. So the degree itself can get you A job, but you're gonna have to bear the responsibility to become the kind of hotshot who can get THE job.

The field has some stable spots and some really ugly ones. Game programming is horrendous. Software development is projected to be one of the most job-needing areas. Data management and databases saw some contraction during the recession, but should be recovering now. However, all my research has been for the US, so there may be some hidden potholes or gold mines up north.

As far as compsci itself, I would advise learning a language right now. Like Python. Python is a very forgiving language, its free, and it can let you sit down and actually try your hand at basic programming. If two hours with Python makes you see red or fall asleep with boredom, I'm not sure I can recommend the field to you. (I spent the last three nights rewriting the same code because I had the wrong word on line #55 and I didn't catch it.)

http://www.python.org/getit/
http://greenteapress.com/thinkpython/
http://codingbat.com/python
http://cscircles.cemc.uwaterloo.ca/

Great Scott

You should first learn a computer programming language. Because 1) That will give you a hint of what Programming is all about, and 2) If you do decide for more advanced training / a second degree, it will help you comprehend what your tutor is saying.

Keep in mind that computing is really a bunch of related but separate fields so try to keep your mind open and decide what you enjoy / are best at.

I started out in a CompSci degree myself but after being a "fix someone else's undocumented code all summer" intern I discovered Networking and made a career of that.

dexter

Maybe have a look at this too, you can read the introduction to get an idea of what you might be in for for a different language:

http://www.learncpp.com/

Cthulhu Calamari

Thanks a lot, everyone. My movie plans for tonight fell through, so instead I'm going to look through the links posted, and dick around with Python for a start.
I was thinking about networking, but any office work with nerds would be totes my style. (My current co-workers arw alright, but I want to talk about how awesome some colossal Eve battle was, etc.)

Question regarding this self-teaching bit: Should I be doing this on my old (i.e. expendable) laptop, or is it safe to play around on my main computer?

gavindel

As long as you're working in the Python IDE, you're gonna have to work pretty hard to crash a computer. Still, nothing wrong with doing it on the old laptop. Beginner programming could literally be run off your phone in terms of power.

k-maps

Take a look at Project Euler. Programming is a mode of expression, usually a mapping from a problem to a solution. To truly get into programming you need to focus on interesting problems. Preferably, a personal project, but the link above is a pretty good standby.

Cthulhu Calamari

Alright. Thanks, everyone, for the advice. I'll grind on these for a while whilst thinking about the future.

Cheers!