RE: [aclug-L] UNIX RELATED EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

[Carl D Cravens <raven@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, 23 Jun 1999, Cory T. Lamb wrote:

> Thanks man that's good to hear for someone who is ready to quit the books
> and start working.

I'll second the "stay in school" advice.  I'm thirty, and just finished my
degree last year.  I'm finally in a job I like *and* making enough money.
(I liked working for SouthWind, but it just wasn't enough.)  

I hated school a lot of the time... I always enjoyed my electives more
than I did my CS classes.  (Heck, I liked American Politics infinitely
better than Calculus, Discrete Structures, or Algorithms II.)  My study
habits for things like math sucked and I just didn't do very well.  But I
stuck with it, and I now have a job better than anything I've had before,
in a position that wasn't open to non-degreed individuals with less than
six years of experience.  

Another thing to keep in mind.. the market's hot right now.  You can
probably get a good job without a degree.  But in the future, when the
market turns cold again (which it always will) that degree is often a
deciding point for hiring managers... sometimes the first cut is to simply
throw away every resume that doesn't list a degree, regardless of other
qualifications.  It's just an easy way to pare down the prospects without
a lot of thought. 

As far as what I learned, I don't think the degree was worth over four
years of my life.  But as far as the *doors* that it can open, it was
worth it.  

--
Carl (raven@xxxxxxxxxxx)