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Computer Science - SE

Started by GravtyKlz Feb 26, 2003 at 11:20 PM 2 replies 250+ views

Original Post

Feb 26, 2003 at 11:20 PM

I posted this in general programing, but I thought maybe it would be more appropriate here, so please forgive me for the double post. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Im a senior in high school and I plan on majoring in computer science in college. My goal is to start my own software contracting business and perhaps later on ill do game development as well. Of course first ill try just landing a job. The reason im posting this is because ide like to get some insight from those already in the trade. First off is this a practical goal? I dont wanna seem like the guy who says he wants to make this an this and that and then bails out in the end. Any idea what a guy fresh out of computer science would generally make on average. The school ill be going to mainly concentrates on oracle database, C++ programing(and other languages if desired), and networking. And perhaps its greatest aspect is its math courses. I think its the #4 school in the state of virginia as far as math goes. So theres an idea of what skills ill have upon graduation. One last question... Will jobs actually look at work I do outside of college, like game development, and I have a goal to make some IRC services for windows as a win32 API using a SQL database. Those will probly be by biggest projects besides college.

Shannon Barber

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368

Shannon Barber

Feb 28, 2003 at 3:00 AM

It depends on the type of company you apply to. If you go for a company like Compuware or IBM that routines hires fresh graduates, you''ll know they have reasonable expectations of you, but thier compensation for those positions is weak - sometimes below $40k.

If you look for a smaller company, they will want to see that you can actually do something. Having a completed project (like an IRC server) will be reasonably impressive. Many graduate without ever writing a program that actually does something useful. They tend to pay higher initially and issue raises according to your value to the company.

core

Feb 28, 2003 at 7:31 PM

I don''t wish to hijack this thread, but I have a question for Magmai Kai Holmlor. How do you feel a college GPA comes into play when trying to find a job?

Shannon Barber

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368

Shannon Barber

Feb 28, 2003 at 9:43 PM

I''d say it''s only really relevant if you have no work experience and there''s more than one candidate for the job. It''s probably more important to another university if you go into graduate work. If you''re over 3.0 there''s no cause for concern, but if you''re below 2.5 you might want to try to move it up - retake a class or evaluating using the university’s "amnesty" policy if they have one. If you have experience and a lower GPA, I wouldn''t even list on your resume - having the degree is usually good enough.

So the same situation applies as before. If you apply to a large company, they may "sort" by GPA to fill their entry positions. With a smaller company, you might need to demonstrate your skill if the interviewer has concerns about your academic qualifications.

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