October 19, 2007 at 6:34 am
Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Studies (read: commercial flying), with a minor in Computer Science.
Also hold a license for flying fixed wing aircraft, all but ATP rating and floats....
I always wanted to fly, but knowing how easy it is to be suddenly disqualified from getting a medical, I thought it would be important to have a degree to fall back upon. I have not been PIC of an aircraft since the day I graduated, so I guess it was a good thing I did.
October 19, 2007 at 6:37 am
Bachelor of Music Education here...but computers have been my goal for a while. I did an support center internship while in college, and I've been knowledgeable in computers for a while. I've beefed up my knowledge by taking various courses and also participating in community forums and mail lists. Here's one musician who isn't starving...
October 19, 2007 at 6:39 am
chris webster (10/19/2007)
However I am told now that a lot of universities in the UK now have multiple Computing degrees ranging from the theoretical Computer Science to more vocational varities that I would probably have preferred.
Chris
When I started college in '98, I entered the Computer Science and Engineering program. After 2 years of theory, I was getting bored to tears of reading and labs and not really doing anything practical enough for me. I switched to the more vocational Computer Science and Engineering Technology, and it was the best move I made. I was getting more hands-on and less heavy theory - which was much more up my alley. I graduated in 2002 with my Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Engineering Technology.
That Brewery Science idea would be neat - I have a few friends who are into beer brewing and could get into that 😀
If I were to go back, I'd probably come out with either a music performance degree or a sociology degree - both topics were extremely interesting to me at some point in my life. And since I'm getting back into my musical roots, music performance isn't that crazy of an idea.
October 19, 2007 at 6:40 am
Well let's see, I started off with 2.5 years attempting a Sound Engineering Degree (The goal was to go work for Skywalker sound out on the Ranch) then I lost about 60% of the hearing in my left ear... If you can't hear, you can't work in that biz, so I enlisted in the USMC for a few years. While there I picked up some training on PC repair and basically taught myself everything else I really needed to know from the network stack up.
These days I work as a DBA for a small state agency and am taking a few classes towards an Associates to use up some left over GIBill money.
October 19, 2007 at 6:48 am
Bachelor's in psychology ('74), only marketable skill was being comfortable with card punch and computer. Later got advanced degree in finance and was university professor. After getting squeezed out on tenure issue, was able to get db/development job from experience with financial databases. I have found my training in theory of finance really helps me with CS literature.
October 19, 2007 at 6:56 am
I started as a forestry major and after a year and a half of that decided I wanted a job in the future... So I switched to a BS in Computer Information Systems. Don't let the degree fool you. The main focus was on programming with a few other general CIS classes. The only db experience i had was two classes... one on PL-SQL and one on writing VB to Oracle. Somehow after graduating and very green I landed a job supporting several hundred databases with one other person. Not bad for a newb.
Over the course of three years i have learned TONS and been fast tracking. I love what I do as a DBA because I actually interface with a lot of people too (i know... i should still in my cube and enjoy silence of the keyboard... NO I REFUSE - Sorry inner dialogue)
The person who I worked with when i started had a masters degree in Fisheries Biology. He was phenominal... then again a data freak. He had a phenology db that he accessed from his cell phone while walking the dog to keep track of everything.
Another person I have worked with although he wasn't on the db side of the house was brilliant. His only education at the time was that he was in high school (and home schooled on top of it.) Kid was brilliant. He had more knowledge about computers and break fix than people who had been working with them for years. Now if only we could break his silence and get him to know sarcasm... after a few years he was as crass as the rest of us...
A degree shows committment in many cases. In some it shows that Mommy and Daddy were willing to support your @$$ as long as it took for you to party until the school said.... "here is a degree now get out" and in other cases you work your butt off for the degree whether you or your parents paid for it.
I think an applied science field directly relates to IT as both focus heavily on problem solving, break fix and troubleshooting. And really how often do we see the same problems. If a problem is reoccuring we can be proactive and avoid it often.
... love what you live and live what you love.
October 19, 2007 at 7:06 am
I have a BS in Computer Science. It was long enough ago that it consisted of Pascal, C and even one horrible class in Fortran.
Along the way I have worked with people who have had Electrical Engineering, Math and Business degrees. I have also worked with people who had no formal training. Usually, it had little bearing on how well they could do the job.
Recently, I have been considering working toward a Business degree.
Scott
October 19, 2007 at 7:06 am
In 1988 I graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science with a math minor. This helped me with programming jobs in the 1980s and 1990s, but the DBA work I do now comes mainly from my work experience.
I think the degree helps if it is recent. Also, I don't have any college classes to support my DBA career. I tend to push my attendance at technology events, week long training classes, and conventions (like PASS) to show my continual learning desire.
October 19, 2007 at 7:06 am
Luke L (10/19/2007)
Well let's see, I started off with 2.5 years attempting a Sound Engineering Degree (The goal was to go work for Skywalker sound out on the Ranch) then I lost about 60% of the hearing in my left ear... If you can't hear, you can't work in that biz, so I enlisted in the USMC for a few years. While there I picked up some training on PC repair and basically taught myself everything else I really needed to know from the network stack up.These days I work as a DBA for a small state agency and am taking a few classes towards an Associates to use up some left over GIBill money.
Almost forgot, the idea now is to do what I do for as long as it takes for me to perfect my craft and then open a brewery. And Yes, I do really want to find someplace that will give me a Masters in Brewing Sciences... So Far it looks like UC Davis has the best opportunities, although I currently live on the wrong coast...
October 19, 2007 at 7:08 am
Luke L (10/19/2007)
Luke L (10/19/2007)
Well let's see, I started off with 2.5 years attempting a Sound Engineering Degree (The goal was to go work for Skywalker sound out on the Ranch) then I lost about 60% of the hearing in my left ear... If you can't hear, you can't work in that biz, so I enlisted in the USMC for a few years. While there I picked up some training on PC repair and basically taught myself everything else I really needed to know from the network stack up.These days I work as a DBA for a small state agency and am taking a few classes towards an Associates to use up some left over GIBill money.
Almost forgot, the idea now is to do what I do for as long as it takes for me to perfect my craft and then open a brewery. And Yes, I do really want to find someplace that will give me a Masters in Brewing Sciences... So Far it looks like UC Davis has the best opportunities, although I currently live on the wrong coast...
I volunteer to work in the QA department.
I brew my own too, but I couldn't see making a career out of it. If nothing else, I'd get WAY too fat.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning
October 19, 2007 at 7:10 am
October 19, 2007 at 7:20 am
As to the main topic - did my degree in Computer Science in two swipes.
Cut my teeth on Pascal, Ansi C, Prolog/Lisp in the GNU/EMACS ENIAC environment the first time around, with some forays into building state machines and expert systems for independent projects. Took a break to pay down those debts, and came back to finish, and got a little exposure to Java/Perl/C++ the second time around (since my prerequisites were "too old").
FWIW - my "brewery science" comments were playing off of someone in the other editorial thread who HAD graduated with a brewery science degree.
Luke - since you already have a QA department in Grant - I'll take care of disposing of all the failed experiments:)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?
October 19, 2007 at 7:25 am
I have a degree in Physical Education, found out I can't stand children and ended up working with Developmentally Disabled adults for 4 years. My best friend from high school got a C.S. degree from Dartmouth and was the Software Dev. Manager at the local Pulp and Paper mill. He needed staff and he knew I could learn it so he hired me. That was 8 years ago and it was the best move I ever made. I wish I had a better background in theory and try to pick it up as I can, but I do get the job down. I have attended several MS classes and spend time online at SSC and other sites to try to keep up.
Not having a great theoretical background has cost me 1 job, but I have always had options.
Jack Corbett
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October 19, 2007 at 7:26 am
Some interesting backgrounds! I started college in 1969 as a physics major with an interest in astronomy. Programming was included -- Fortran on punch cards! By 1972 I realized that no one was hiring astonomers from the University of Idaho 😀 so I dropped out to revitalize my bank account and fell into a job on a construction survey crew. This led to full time employment and a wife. It also led to using PC's before hard drives -- two 5 1/4" floppies -- one for data, one for the program! I'm mostly self taught, though I was fortunate to spend nearly four weeks of training with the Progress database that was taught by the lead developer of the database engine team -- that is where I learned how databases really work. Now I'm working in SQL server and enjoying it!
October 19, 2007 at 7:28 am
Steve Jones - Editor (10/18/2007)
Comments posted to this topic are about the itemI decided that this might make a nice Friday poll. So...
What type of degree(s) do you have? Or what degree would you want?
I have a BA in English. If I had it to do over again, I would pursue a degree in engineering (probably civil or mechanical).
webrunner
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A SQL query walks into a bar and sees two tables. He walks up to them and asks, "Can I join you?"
Ref.: http://tkyte.blogspot.com/2009/02/sql-joke.html
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