Any CompSci guys on here?

Any CompSci guys on here?
Basically, I'm a month into my Mechanical Engineering degree and I want to change over to Computer Science.
Is this a good idea? What are the job prospects like for compsci grads?
Is there much focus on software development, to the point where I could take what I learn and go in depth on my own and perhaps one day start a company?
Thanks peeps

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I just switched over into IT after working 3 years in finance. Here in NJ/NYC there is a huge demand for competent people. I don't even have the full set of skills needed to do my job, but still got hired because the company is willing to train. You will get a job easily around here if you're not a retard.

How much do you make lad? I'm not studying IT but I got a really nice IT at my school's athletic department and I figure the experience alone when I graduate in 3 years, assuming I work all 3 years, will be killer even if I don't have a CIS or CSE degree. Doing Data Analytics

Let me give you some solid advice, as an EE/physics major who graduated last year and now works as a software engineer at a very reputable company.

CS is by far the highest value of any engineering major, unless you want to invest in post college education and get really deep and gritty into a major you are passionate about. Software jobs are by far the easiest to get right out of college. Try to decide if you want to first just get a comfy well paying job, or if you want to do research. I recommend job first, as the experience of first real job (and living by yourself hopefully) really helps you grow and learn what you want.

That being said, even if you want to get a job first, I don't necessarily recommend getting a CS major. I do highly recommend a CS double major if you are up to it, or at least a cs minor. I would only recommend cs as a single major if you already know you want to do more difficult cs things like ai, machine learning, computer vision, etc so you can have time to also take grad level classes.

The reasoning is this. CS is really really easy to learn at the level you need for most jobs even all the way to positions like principle engineer. I didn't really know any CS but landed a sw engineer and taught myself in a month on the job. Of course I'm still learning, but I learned all the basics I needed for an entry level job. There are countless CS majors, but when you major in something else like systems eng, ME, EE...you are more "multidisciplinary" and have fresh perspectives which set you apart. It also indicates you are a quick learner. People love multidisciplinary. If you have other majors alone, many jobs are very specific, more specific than what you learned, so you will just have to learn it all anyway.

final thoughts:
CS can be applied to anything. CS is very accessible, you just need computer and internet. CS is very flexible if you want to switch. Everything is done is software now basically.

I started out majoring in ME but switched to CS after taking a required intro to programming class. ME is a versatile field but so is CS. Switching majors is a good idea depending on your interests and goals but both will give you a variety of career options.

As for job prospects, Im a junior in CS and I already have a full time job working for an engineering company. I get the best of both worlds, hardware and software and I work with alot of electrical engineers who are quite intelligent but not interested in programming so I have alot of room to work my way into a position of indispensability within the company.

There are alot of options in software engineering considering almost every field is integrating software into their business and this intersection is creating a great deal of opportunities for technically competent programmers.

As for your last question, CS by far has the greatest potential for entrepreneurs who have little to no initial starting capital. The guy who created flappy birds did it in 3 days and is a millionaire. Chances are, you wont experience this kind of success but the potential is there if you take the CS route. In fact you honestly dont even need to go to school to be successful, you just need to be able to create a marketable product.

Thanks, and good luck. I already have expirience in front end web development, so im not a complete noob, so i should be alright.
Thanks for the advice brother, but I was thinking of just dropping MechE completely and going into a Bachelors degree in CS. You made it sound really enjoyable so thanks man. Good luck in whatever you're doing :)
Thank you too man, MechE is just so broad, and those with a low aptitude in maths will struggle to keep up. Im not exactly good at maths, but I work hard so that how I was able to pass the first two exams. But the broadness of it all is what I dont like.

This is my first role, doing customer support. I am getting $45k with guaranteed raises depending on meeting certain milestones or getting certifications. Comes with full healthcare, 401k, raise, lots of free food etc.

For comparison, I started at $44k and got a $5k bonus my first year in finance. Was at a small boutique firm though.

As quickly as you can land a job it will be outsourced to Pajeet. That's fine if you don't care and never take on serious debt like a condo mortgage or a new car. Who needs those things anyway they're for old people kek

>As quickly as you can land a job it will be outsourced to Pajeet

Just stop... not true.

You gotta think of it as a business investment, not as a logical program. No one cares about pathetic CS majors in the work environment. They're fucking pussies. I can get some stink-ass monkey to do your work that your bitch-ass wants to do for double or more pay. Get the fuck outta here.

I did IT for a few years as an outaschool job making 50k, I'd stay away from IT if you have better prospects, otherwise IT is fine. Get cisco certs and get into network engineering/security and you can make some good money with no degree.

>I just switched over into IT after working 3 years in finance

Why did you switch careers?

>I did IT for a few years as an outaschool job making 50k, I'd stay away from IT if you have better prospects, otherwise IT is fine.

Why?

>better prospects
Because better prospects.
Also most IT work it not fulfilling, always the same shit every day, rarely anything new, and if it it is new its basically the same shit.
>I hated every second of working IT

Stay with ME. You will earn WAY more and work on things that actually matter.

CS is a very (very) easy path to a bretty gud wage, but it's a soul crushing life, for lazy assholes only. If you want $80k-$100k without putting any effort in, CS is for you.

>without putting any effort in

I heard that you do need above-average mathematical abilities to graduate CS, isn't this true? Like, you can't just "study hard" to pass your math courses, you actually need to have a sufficient degree of talent in math. Have you done CS?

It helps but not necessary in practice. Pass your classes is about all most people need for math.

Isn't GPA important for CS? In accounting, if you work for a firm, they do ask for your GPA. So I dunno how it is in the tech world.

On another note, you said >as an outaschool job

what formal education did you do to get a job in IT? I know you can get a job just with certs, but if going to school helps getting hired, I don't mind.

Said by someone who obviously has never done or managed this type of work. You think some random foreigner can come close to the quality of someone who actually works on site and speaks proper English?

>Why did you switch careers?

I found finance completely soul-sucking. Overtime is not rewarded, it is expected. From what I've seen, people blindly get into finance so they can tell people that they work in finance and because they can say they live/work in the city. There are many more opportunities for me in IT, where my hard work will be rewarded. I still trade a little and am into finance, read a lot of economic history, but as a career it was horrible.

Sounds like you worked for a shitty company. Doesn't mean the whole industry is shit.

Most companies worth their salt don't give a shit about gpa, have some good projects on github or whatever, you'll get hired, they give out CS degrees to people who still cant program for shit, its becoming a meme degree that doesn't mean shit.

I got a CCNA in high school and worked at staples doing the soul crushing retail IT part time while I was in school for computer engineering. I was a remote field guy for a telecom company for 2 years until i finally got an engineering gig. I knew a few people in the company making >200k working from home just doing network engineering cause they kinda ran everything.

>Have you done CS?
Yes.
I smoked weed every single day, almost never went to class, passed most of my classes with a C, learned most of what I actually needed on my own time on the internet. The only classes I remember seriously studying for were Calculus II and some 4th year statistics course. I am one of the darlings of my employer and will never be fired, if you can believe that, most of my co-workers didn't even graduate university. Many of them are dumb as hell, I mean dumber than me if that's even possible. I make $80k and live in the midwest. I've worked with large fortune 500 companies including IBM and Cisco, AT&T, and a very well known medical corporation. Nobody has ever looked into my GPA and my school history was a non-issue anyway after my first job. This is how it is.

What kind of stuff do you do? Don't have to say the company name of course.

basically i manage some systems that service 50k - 100k users per day which they use to do some transactions. I manage some teams which keep these running, and also design how they can be upgraded, expanded or migrated. Also I write code to demonstrate neat stuff people can do with these systems, so more clients buy them.

You have to really like it if you want to dominate and make huge amounts of money. You can probably get an average salary if you are just doing it for the money, but it's the people who really love it who dedicate massive amounts of time to becoming experts.
Additionally, you should select a niche to be an expert in that will allow you to command an even higher income. Machine learning is going to be huge for the next decade. Pick up expertise in that area and learn how to optimize your code as "close to the metal as possible." Learn C. Then build a bunch of projects with it that interest you while you're in college. If you build something great, you'll be sought out.

Web development fucking sucks

Whatever you do get over the "coder" phase as fast you can

>Sounds like you worked for a shitty company. Doesn't mean the whole industry is shit.

I don't see how there is meaningful work to be had in IT, as compared to CS or something.

>most of my co-workers didn't even graduate university

Wut
What are their job titles? Hell, I would love to find a 40k job working with computers without a degree.

mech engineering is really fkn cool. the companies that you can work for, the kind of stuff you can do is really rewarding. also, your salary will be higher 100%. mech engineering is also way harder, but you'll basically be a god in the engineering world

How is electrical engineering, and how do the amount of jobs compare?

I'm going for EE in the fall, mostly because I don't like Mech E, but if the prospects are better I would consider it.

>this

there are 1003 poos in india finishing their Phd in CS.

how many poos are finishing their ME?

But: Better a CS degree than leave without anything when ME is too hard to finish

Currently undertaking my final first year computer science exams. I'm finding the algorithms/programming and the networks subjects relatively easy but the core maths unit is absolutely fucking difficult as fuck. In high school I did the maths that you could use a calculator and notes book to complete the exam and so coming from that straight into the compsci/eng maths is super super difficult. I have the maths exam in a few days and I'm super nervous.

In short, I'd recommend doing it only if you're really competent at maths and are mathematically minded.

Thanks for the advice, to be honest I think that unless you're taking women's studies, you have the chance to become really successful no matter what you do, like you said, its the people that really love it.
meh
Im shit at maths but ace all the exams because I work hard.

Web dev is dropping off due to the increase in CMS' available, but the tech industry is still ripe.

Web Dev is not dropping off at all. Maybe 'freelance' or 'start your own generic web dev shop'. But a lot of companies have in house developers for their web apps, which are replacing desktop applications.

I swear no one on Veeky Forums actually works.

I studied computer science and have been working in Boston for a few years now. If you are a pretty good software engineer, you can fold your resume into a paper airplane, throw it off the roof of a building, and somebody will catch it and hire you before it hits the ground.

Web dev is by FAR the largest area of computer science right now. Web dev occupies probably like 95% or more of software engineering jobs... and still doesn't have enough competent engineers. I don't think any area of CS is growing anywhere close to as fast as web dev other than possibly machine learning.

>good projects on github
What kind of projects would be considered good? Hell what kind of projects should are worth displaying in general?

>and still doesn't have enough competent engineers

yeah, because management tells CS graduates to fuck around with CSS all day.

It's not that there aren't any competent engineers, it's that 99% of all CS grads are underutilized.

anything open source is good. algorithms and utilities are very good. drivers are excellent.

> IBM
>AT&T
nothing to be proud of.
Otherwise well done

I outsourced some job to curry niggers one time, and being a comp sci student myself, it was the worst, messy and least maintainable software I have ever seen.

would getting a degree apprenticeship at j.p morgan be good for my career?

>mech E is also way harder
Spoken like a true mech E student. You'll learn that ME and EE core concepts are pretty much analogous in one of your classes soon lad.

What is the least pain-in-the-ass IT job (even if they allegedly all suck) that can be obtained just with a certification, without having to go to college?

How do you get into IBM?

Literally my end goal

I do web dev, actual software, and in the process of teaching myself VHDL to program the FPGAs at work when my coworker leave for vacation.

Wut that's easy peasy

Just have a decent personal project portfolio of at least 3 projects, one of which should be 2k LOC minimum.

> Apply
> Interview
> ???
> Job

The fuck do you mean how do you get in? Learn to interview and be competent.

Any networking or help desk bullshit.
COMP TIA A+ or MS cert.

Find lower level position postings and lie on resume until you make it.... That's what normal people do.

I have an EE degree from a large university. It depends on the market. Make sure you get internships after your second year and have a good gpa or you'll be fucked working shit non-engineering jobs.

I guess I should have worded that better.

What does IBM typically look for in applicants? I dont want to be that guy that's applied 200 times.

Its typically team work, yea?
Is it the place you show up to the interview in a suit?

I live next to a Philips center but they mainly work on hardware, I want to work on crazy software solutions.

I'm 30min from a Lockheed but they do mostly semiconductors there, and i know I can't design CPUs and chips.

For some reason my end goal in life is working for IBM or NASA.

This yeah

I work hard too but with maths some of it just makes no sense to me no matter how many videos I watch or how many times someone explains it to me. I'm also not good with basic math fundamentals and they teach the course assuming you completed the highest standard of maths in HS which not everyone did.

SaaS?

>replacing desktop applications
True!

>I swear no one on Veeky Forums actually works.
Also true! lol

> What does IBM typically look for in applicants?
They look for people that meet their requirements. Read a job posting. Do you have those skills?

> I dont want to be that guy that's applied 200 times.
Who the fuck cares? Most of the time they have so many different teams/departments that it doesn't matter.

> Its typically team work, yea?
Sure. Every job requires some sort of team work. That's like saying you have MS Word skills. Everyone should have them at this point. Just don't be a fucking aspie in the interview.

> Is it the place you show up to the interview in a suit?
Yes, IBM interview attire would more than likely be a suit. If you're worried about being overdressed, you're stupid as fuck. If you're still worried about being overdressed, when an HR rep or whoever contacts you back, you can always ask a question about the type of attire to wear to the interview. Or ask what people normally wear. You can look this up online on how to ask it properly.

>I live next to a Philips center but they mainly work on hardware, I want to work on crazy software solutions.
You're more than likely not going to get to work on something you really want to. Hate it break it to you. Most projects are extremely dull and mundane.

> I'm 30min from a Lockheed but they do mostly semiconductors there, and i know I can't design CPUs and chips.
Lockheed definitely has software engineers there. Embedded systems is a lot of fun if you want to code for ARM or whatever they're currently using. This would be more fun than boring CRUD websites.

> Searching interview questions, first result
glassdoor.com/Interview/IBM-Software-Engineer-Interview-Questions-EI_IE354.0,3_KO4,21.htm

How important is your GPA after you get your first job? I mean once you starting applying for a second job. Also while I'm still in university what should I do so that I can improve my likelihood of getting a job?

Then learn the math? dumbass excuse

>How important is your GPA after you get your first job?
Totally unimportant

>while I'm still in university what should I do so that I can improve my likelihood of getting a job?
Work literally anywhere. Internship should be the goal, but if you are a first or second year that might not happen, so try to work on campus or literally anywhere you can. Third year and beyond internship.

Hows bad is it if I fail a unit or two?

Also will again me failing one or two units matter after my first job?

Making 300k a year doing CS.

AMA

Friend got a dope 80k yr gig right after college at a fortune 500. NO INTERNSHIP just a kickass GPA and he nailed the interview.

What do you do? specific title

How much pussy does it get you?

What do you do and why is it data analytics?

>autist
>getting pussy
Money doesn't really change anything when you have a mental disability. Unless you're talking about hookers.

This depends on the follwing things:
1. The country you study in:
Europeans (or least germans) start straight off with an introduction to real and complex analysis, as well as number theory, while americans start off with calculus I (which is something germans already learn in "high school"). So its just a little bit (but not far) easier in america.

2. The topic you specialize in:
a) Things like applied CS (just programming) and data bases are relatively easy.
b)Things like machine learning and software engineering are a little tougher.
c)But if you want to go big in things like algorithms, theoretical CS and graph theory, it can get devastatingly hard.

Also wanted to add:
One of hardest problems in the world is a algorithms problem (P vs NP). Also you can make a million by solving it.

Salty

>Is it the place you show up to the interview in a suit?
What the fuck. Shouldn't you show up in a suit to every job, regardless of what it is? I'd show up in a suit to a job at fucking Burger King, I don't give a fuck what the job is.

Where or what should I be looking at if I don't have an internship, it doesn't seem like there's an exceedingly large amount of research that I'd be any help with at my university.

I swapped from Engineering to ComSci and never regretted it.

One thing i will say, is that you need to be really competent. Simply getting a degree isn't going to make you good.

If you want a good career, you need to be doing personal projects, contributing to public github projects, etc etc.

You need to be GOOD at what you do, more than most other fields.

A lot of people come out of ComSci as complete shitbags who know very little.

Penetration Testing. Don't even try say it's the same shit every day.

It's honestly impressive that there are a nontrivial number of graduates that can't even fizz buzz let alone anything more advanced.

thanks for the advice

Machine Learning or Information Security?