So who works in the tech-industry?
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Closing out my first decade in tech; the money is good, the work environments generally non-burnout types, and best of all I get to help people by solving problems.
I made the "sophies choice" back in the day to pick being a nerd or an LEO, I'm glad I chose being a nerd. I get to apply an evolving skillset in whatever work environment I'm employed at. Hopefully withtin the next couple years as I gain more skills & certifications, I'll cross over into the $100k salary range. I'm making double what I did 4 years ago, did not study computers in college @ all, and I'm self taught.
I made the "sophies choice" back in the day to pick being a nerd or an LEO, I'm glad I chose being a nerd. I get to apply an evolving skillset in whatever work environment I'm employed at. Hopefully withtin the next couple years as I gain more skills & certifications, I'll cross over into the $100k salary range. I'm making double what I did 4 years ago, did not study computers in college @ all, and I'm self taught.
If you are in school, this may suck, but get an internship, job, whatever in a techinal area NOW!
I thought after graduating, I would be making $55-60k like my buddies in the same major, but they all had 2-3 years experience, where I had less than 1 year.
When I was looking for a job, I needed that one extra year to bump me up to that ~55-65k range.
Tech jobs are really broad, find out what you love to do and stick to that.
I thought after graduating, I would be making $55-60k like my buddies in the same major, but they all had 2-3 years experience, where I had less than 1 year.
When I was looking for a job, I needed that one extra year to bump me up to that ~55-65k range.
Tech jobs are really broad, find out what you love to do and stick to that.
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I'd be down to see about getting something together, but with the company budget like it is now I wouldn't expect much support.
I'm on an indoor soccer team at Off the Wall in Santa Clara that's sponsored by HP, could get you a spot there for next season if you're interested. Only pay yearly registration and chip in for the jerseys and equipment.
Personally I was a Hardware engineer (worked on circuit boards), then a Support engineer (more IT-ish) at Cisco and now I'm kind of chillin' before I go back to school.
I have a big piece of advice for you: start your career at a well known large company - as such you're on the right track at HP.
The reason being, your first job where you spend 2-6+ years is like your foundation. It's the rock solid base upon which your career is built on, and all future interviewers will look at it.
Working for a no-name vs. a Google/HP/Microsoft/Cisco/etc. is kind of like going to a community college vs. entering a four-year university out of high school. Obviously people like Steve Jobs who had community college experience, and Bill Gates who was a dropout didn't need their university degree to become awesome, but people will nonetheless look at your resume and make an assumption based on your first job.
The term "tech industry" is so broad, though. It's hard to get perspectives - you are a marketing guy which is going to be much different than an engineer, or an accountant, or any other number of personnel at a tech company.
In general, tech companies pay better than their non-tech counterparts. I mean if you're a software guy for example and get a bachelor's, you'll land $85-90k at a Google/Cisco/Microsoft right now out of college, but go to work as a software developer for say a bank or a small software contractor and you'll probably get $55-60k.
It really always changes though. Like 5 years ago most CS/EE types in the Silicon Valley were getting $60k-ish at entry level roles, and then for some reason salaries have just REALLY shot up. Speaking from personal experience, at Cisco the college graduate default entry salary from '05-'09 shot up from $64k, to $76k, to $85k. And add $8-10k for people with Masters'
But in any case it's not about the money (since firefighters and cops and many contractors make just as much $$dough$$ after 4 years of training as you will) - being at a well known corporation is about learning how things are done from a macroscopic level, and gaining an understanding of the orthodox methodology for business processes. As opposed to say working for a non-funded startup or SMB where "who knows if these guys really know how to run a company? Am I learning the right things? They might be noobs!"
I have a big piece of advice for you: start your career at a well known large company - as such you're on the right track at HP.
The reason being, your first job where you spend 2-6+ years is like your foundation. It's the rock solid base upon which your career is built on, and all future interviewers will look at it.
Working for a no-name vs. a Google/HP/Microsoft/Cisco/etc. is kind of like going to a community college vs. entering a four-year university out of high school. Obviously people like Steve Jobs who had community college experience, and Bill Gates who was a dropout didn't need their university degree to become awesome, but people will nonetheless look at your resume and make an assumption based on your first job.
The term "tech industry" is so broad, though. It's hard to get perspectives - you are a marketing guy which is going to be much different than an engineer, or an accountant, or any other number of personnel at a tech company.
In general, tech companies pay better than their non-tech counterparts. I mean if you're a software guy for example and get a bachelor's, you'll land $85-90k at a Google/Cisco/Microsoft right now out of college, but go to work as a software developer for say a bank or a small software contractor and you'll probably get $55-60k.
It really always changes though. Like 5 years ago most CS/EE types in the Silicon Valley were getting $60k-ish at entry level roles, and then for some reason salaries have just REALLY shot up. Speaking from personal experience, at Cisco the college graduate default entry salary from '05-'09 shot up from $64k, to $76k, to $85k. And add $8-10k for people with Masters'
But in any case it's not about the money (since firefighters and cops and many contractors make just as much $$dough$$ after 4 years of training as you will) - being at a well known corporation is about learning how things are done from a macroscopic level, and gaining an understanding of the orthodox methodology for business processes. As opposed to say working for a non-funded startup or SMB where "who knows if these guys really know how to run a company? Am I learning the right things? They might be noobs!"
Last edited by verc; Aug 27, 2009 at 11:45 PM.
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Personally I was a Hardware engineer (worked on circuit boards), then a Support engineer (more IT-ish) at Cisco and now I'm kind of chillin' before I go back to school.
I have a big piece of advice for you: start your career at a well known large company - as such you're on the right track at HP.
The reason being, your first job where you spend 2-6+ years is like your foundation. It's the rock solid base upon which your career is built on, and all future interviewers will look at it.
Working for a no-name vs. a Google/HP/Microsoft/Cisco/etc. is kind of like going to a community college vs. entering a four-year university out of high school. Obviously people like Steve Jobs who had community college experience, and Bill Gates who was a dropout didn't need their university degree to become awesome, but people will nonetheless look at your resume and make an assumption based on your first job.
The term "tech industry" is so broad, though. It's hard to get perspectives - you are a marketing guy which is going to be much different than an engineer, or an accountant, or any other number of personnel at a tech company.
In general, tech companies pay better than their non-tech counterparts. I mean if you're a software guy for example and get a bachelor's, you'll land $85-90k at a Google/Cisco/Microsoft right now out of college, but go to work as a software developer for say a bank or a small software contractor and you'll probably get $55-60k.
It really always changes though. Like 5 years ago most CS/EE types in the Silicon Valley were getting $60k-ish at entry level roles, and then for some reason salaries have just REALLY shot up. Speaking from personal experience, at Cisco the college graduate default entry salary from '05-'09 shot up from $64k, to $76k, to $85k. And add $8-10k for people with Masters'
But in any case it's not about the money (since firefighters and cops and many contractors make just as much $$dough$$ after 4 years of training as you will) - being at a well known corporation is about learning how things are done from a macroscopic level, and gaining an understanding of the orthodox methodology for business processes. As opposed to say working for a non-funded startup or SMB where "who knows if these guys really know how to run a company? Am I learning the right things? They might be noobs!"
I have a big piece of advice for you: start your career at a well known large company - as such you're on the right track at HP.
The reason being, your first job where you spend 2-6+ years is like your foundation. It's the rock solid base upon which your career is built on, and all future interviewers will look at it.
Working for a no-name vs. a Google/HP/Microsoft/Cisco/etc. is kind of like going to a community college vs. entering a four-year university out of high school. Obviously people like Steve Jobs who had community college experience, and Bill Gates who was a dropout didn't need their university degree to become awesome, but people will nonetheless look at your resume and make an assumption based on your first job.
The term "tech industry" is so broad, though. It's hard to get perspectives - you are a marketing guy which is going to be much different than an engineer, or an accountant, or any other number of personnel at a tech company.
In general, tech companies pay better than their non-tech counterparts. I mean if you're a software guy for example and get a bachelor's, you'll land $85-90k at a Google/Cisco/Microsoft right now out of college, but go to work as a software developer for say a bank or a small software contractor and you'll probably get $55-60k.
It really always changes though. Like 5 years ago most CS/EE types in the Silicon Valley were getting $60k-ish at entry level roles, and then for some reason salaries have just REALLY shot up. Speaking from personal experience, at Cisco the college graduate default entry salary from '05-'09 shot up from $64k, to $76k, to $85k. And add $8-10k for people with Masters'
But in any case it's not about the money (since firefighters and cops and many contractors make just as much $$dough$$ after 4 years of training as you will) - being at a well known corporation is about learning how things are done from a macroscopic level, and gaining an understanding of the orthodox methodology for business processes. As opposed to say working for a non-funded startup or SMB where "who knows if these guys really know how to run a company? Am I learning the right things? They might be noobs!"
I think I'm on the bottom floor, because my hiring manager interviewed me at her cubicle on the bottom floor
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I started as a java/javascript/perl programmer at SGI in building 2 in 1995, entered IT/Ops at Cirrus Logic in 1998, and at the same company began my career as a UNIX systems administrator in 1999. I enjoy being a UNIX sysadmin, but I miss the stability of the pre-2000 tech sector.
I'm lucky enough to be able to do what I love, and get paid for it. The way I see it, companies pay me to play around with expensive toys and new technology.
I'm lucky enough to be able to do what I love, and get paid for it. The way I see it, companies pay me to play around with expensive toys and new technology.
Last edited by saqwarrior; Aug 29, 2009 at 08:52 AM.
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I've been an intern at a small international business called ARM doing what sys admins do for the past year and a half.. and I'm lovin it! I was pretty much self taught and shadowed my coworker who is also a sys admin. As of now, I'm mainly working with the windows platform but hope to cross over to the unix side eventually.
Any tips for people that just got their foot inn the door? Certificates? I'm an MIS major at sjsu also..
Any tips for people that just got their foot inn the door? Certificates? I'm an MIS major at sjsu also..
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