A degree in Computer Science or CIS(Computer Information Systems)?

[justscoreda100]

Not bad.

The pay isnt too bad either. I make 60k atm, but in a years time I should be able to pull upwards of 80K+ if I switch jobs.

Thats actually how I got this job. One of my boys from college worked in my exact same position making what I make, then bounced after a year and a half and is now making 85k.

How goes the VOIP industry? are you doing consulting or do you directly manage a VOIP network?

 

[Ruck13]

The pay isnt too bad either. I make 60k atm, but in a years time I should be able to pull upwards of 80K+ if I switch jobs.
Thats actually how I got this job. One of my boys from college worked in my exact same position making what I make, then bounced after a year and a half and is now making 85k.
How goes the VOIP industry? are you doing consulting or do you directly manage a VOIP network?

I'm actually working for a service provider. I'm apart of the VNOC which is basically escalation on any VOIP outages/installs/new product rollout/etc. I have about 2 years total experience working with voice services total. I left a job at a smaller ISP to take this one which is more focused on one platform/technology. My previous job I was basically a field-CO tech,helpdesk for internal I.T/biz customers/residential helpdesk escalation, network admins,etc. It was a ton of stress having to do multiple jobs with a small crew but at the same time I got exposed to VOIP,TDM, Cisco, PONs, RF cable services to name a few.

 

[dakingii]

good advice in here

 

[qtnettles]

B.B.A. in Computer Information Systems

36 hours away from my M.B.A. in Computer Information Systems

Currently a Advanced Software Support Engineer making around 70K....I'm 24 by the way

I went the CIS route opposed to the CS route because I knew the CS route would entail a lot of math and science courses along with some psychics. Seeing as CIS is strictly a business degree and CS is a combination of business and science their are a lot of difference classes you have to take for a CS degree and IMO those science and math classes are way harder then the classes you need to take for a CIS degree. I took mainly Sql and Oracle database classes along with some .net, html, and c-sharp programmimg classes.  Besides that it was just basic business classes and I got my degree. No advanced science or math courses or physics or any of those other classes you have to take for a CS degree that have nothing to do with what I wanted to do in my career, and as you can see I landed a engineering job with a business degree.

Hey I'd go with the CIS degree, I honestly feel with the right company and right entry level position you can get the same jobs no matter which degree you have. You'll likely be competing with other candidates for jobs some who have CS and some who have CIS degree, and your biggest competition won't be who has a CS degree opposed to your CIS degree it will be who has the M.S. degree or M.B.A. opposed your B.B.A. or B.S. degree.

 

[luckyluchiano]

here is my 2 cents.

Right now I`m 24 and I`m a Business Anlyst for an IT company in the Financial Industry


I picked CIS because I was straight on math and science classes.

All in all in the Corporate world, CIS cats are usually the guys who arent the most technical/smartest, but know how to get the job done, and fluff the heck outta stuff CS guys are brilliant but usually arent People persons which hinder them and they often stay programmers forever.

CIS is like the golden ticket degree, I will tell you right now your not gonna learn anything in undergrad that will land you a job, more so you will learn the fundamental stuff so when you get a job you understand the concepts. In CS you learn so many program languages that out the gate you can prob land a job before a CIS grad.

If you go the CIS route the advice I give is find out what you want to do directly and teach yourself on the side. CIS more so shows you everything there is in IT and you learn bits and peices of everything and its up to you to make stuff happen.

Me personally, I`m tech savy, and I like to talk, and I know how to translate technical info into simple terms so me going the Analyst route was a given. My end goal is Project Managment or some sorts before I go into Teaching.

Please dont go into this thinking oh I`m gonna get a job because I have a tech degree, because if you look at the requirments for 80 percent of the tech jobs a bachleors degree wont qualify you. When you see Database Analyst 1 positions asking for 3 years of experience you`ll be like :x

In regards to my background every job I've worked I made sure it was relevant to technology and it helped me get my next job. I worked in my schools IT department for a yr, then worked in Best Buys computer department for a year, then worked in sales at Tmobile, then Verizon , now my current gig.

If I were you I would go straight into an MBA, having 2 bachelors is dumb. GA State has one of the top IS/MBA programs in the country so you cant go wrong. I`m planning on going to Kennesaw State next yr for their Dual Degree MBA/Masters of Sci in Info Sys program. I was looking at Tech and GA State but my company can pretty cover KSU in full and they have a solid program, and I`m not trying to leave the Metro Atlanta area.

 

[hoosierdaddy317]

My 2 cents.

Currently a Junior obtaining my BA In marketing with a minor in IS. I have a paid internship for a mercedes benz dealership as a brand specialist for the smart car segment. Although obviously it isn't database systems, etc. I still use what I learn from my CIS classes even in my field. I hope to eventually land a job at mercedes benz headquarters in NJ, doing marketing and maybe database research or some ****. But CIS is definitely a growing field and I love it. And especially if you're good with software.

 

[Ruck13]

^^ Hope that works out for you bro. I.T in general is a good field, you just have to have a growth pattern lined up for yourself and make it happen. Sometimes you know from the beginning what direction you want to take, other times you may have to stumble upon a opportunity that rolls into a better one and so fourth.

 

[luckyluchiano]

What I see happening is more schools granted they have the funding dividing CIS up, right now CIS covers the entire job world. Literally everything there is to do in the way we live deals with IT, IT is the future literally you could have a CIS university with different majors on the things you can do with the degree. And guys need to realize this isnt the 70s where you get an IT degree and you go into programing, databases, or hardware and thats it. A CIS degree can get you a job in intel with the CIA.

 

[curbsideprophet]

OP, I GO TO GA STATE AND AM A CIS MAJOR 

 small freakin world....

Long story short, I transferred to GSU from another university and was originally an IT major.

CIS is quite different....essentially our curriculum is a blend of Business Analyst and IT knowledge.

Good things:

-the scope of job availability and skills learned opens up alot because of the variety necessary in our training

-even if you were a CS major, at some point (particularly in the corporate world) business knowledge is a necessity, we'll already have a foot in the door

-the curriculum is honestly EASIER in terms of difficulty compared to CS

Bad things:

-They don't teach us the particulars.

-Developing your skillset expertise is pretty much up to you....where's as CS for example, students will come out as programming aficionados 

-The curriculum is ridiculously looooong, like you already know, we take both CS and Bizz classes

Simply put, just like any major, there's the pros and cons. And those pros and cons importance varies for each individual....

HMU if you need to homie, us GSU NTers gotta stick together 

---

 

[az5950]

Well I'll give my two cents also

I graduated with a degree in Computer Science, I feel it all depends on finding your niche with the industry whether you want to work on the back end ie(software testing, mainteneance) or on the front end with programming. The great thing about Computer Science, or anything IT related is that you can be very diverse in what you do...I don't necessarily have a main focus, but I'm pretty thorough @ a decent amount of technologies and softwares ranging from PHP CSS SQL Java, I've done QA testing, and few other things....

try these sites also for different tutorials
w3schools.com
codeacademy.com
youtube also plenty of people that give free tutorials, and you can move @ your own pace

And from other friends in the industry there is a def a need for mobile development, .NET developers, and Cloud Computing will be the next big thing in IT...I'll post some more stuff later if anyone has questions on getting their feet in the door, and correct ways of writing a resume

 

[luckyluchiano]

Well I'll give my two cents also
I graduated with a degree in Computer Science, I feel it all depends on finding your niche with the industry whether you want to work on the back end ie(software testing, mainteneance) or on the front end with programming. The great thing about Computer Science, or anything IT related is that you can be very diverse in what you do...I don't necessarily have a main focus, but I'm pretty thorough @ a decent amount of technologies and softwares ranging from PHP CSS SQL Java, I've done QA testing, and few other things....
try these sites also for different tutorials
w3schools.com
codeacademy.com
youtube also plenty of people that give free tutorials, and you can move @ your own pace
And from other friends in the industry there is a def a need for mobile development, .NET developers, and Cloud Computing will be the next big thing in IT...I'll post some more stuff later if anyone has questions on getting their feet in the door, and correct ways of writing a resume

yup I was teaching myself Objective C but stopped cause I use to be way to tired when I got home from work at my last job. I`m thinking about copping a Nexus 4 and learning Java

 

[az5950]

yup I was teaching myself Objective C but stopped cause I use to be way to tired when I got home from work at my last job. I`m thinking about copping a Nexus 4 and learning Java

I was decent @ Java but I never had a passion for it, I've started to get back into and been fine tuning my SQl DBA's get bread...but as far as these big companies and jobs go I think most are holding off for the election and the end of their fiscal years to check budgets...I've had 6+ interviews in the past 2 months and they've all been for positions opening in 2013...these contracts are for the birds...even though the experience is good, I'm not getting the $ i should be getting

 

[luckyluchiano]

I was decent @ Java but I never had a passion for it, I've started to get back into and been fine tuning my SQl DBA's get bread...but as far as these big companies and jobs go I think most are holding off for the election and the end of their fiscal years to check budgets...I've had 6+ interviews in the past 2 months and they've all been for positions opening in 2013...these contracts are for the birds...even though the experience is good, I'm not getting the $ i should be getting

yea, I cant do the contractor stuff, I mean I hear its good but I just dont like the idea of there being a time where I wont be working so I have to always look for a job. I was interviewing with IBM but when the lady told me the program was a 2 yr program with potential to become a perm employee, I turned down the 2nd interview and accepted my current offer.

 

[wrightone86]

Some good information in here. I guess I will contribute my little tidbit as well...

I am 25, and have a BS in Information Technology (Web Development concentration) from George Mason Univ and currently been in the field for 5 years. My current title...Systems Administrator/Engineer, lol

I started off as a Computer Engineer major purely because my pops was an Electrical Engineer and I liked computers, so I did CE. Ended up hating real deal coding, even though I aced all my coding classes (Java & PHP mainly). Back in '05 there were only 3 options...Network/Security, Web Dev, or Database at my school. It was cool, learned the basics like most do, and like what you would have to do...building OS's from scratch, various Linux distros (Fedora, Ubuntu, CentOS, etc), learning basic networking protocols and models, basic security of systems, and some scripting/coding (HTML, JavaScript, CSS, VB scripts, Power Shell).

I will say the key is to learn as much as you can, interview well, and in some cases, have some luck. I lucked out and got into an internship program my junior year that allowed me to work whenever I was on break as long as I was enrolled, so I had a guaranteed 2 years experience out the door with my degree. During my last semester (2 classes), I left for another internship that granted a basic DoD clearance (tons of jobs require this in the DMV area). Once I got my degree, they brought me on FT and I stayed there for 3 years and just left May '11. Just like everyone has said, during those times, I learned all I could, and did every project that was brought forward to me (virtual system design, DB scripting and admin, system builds, datacenter management, systems architecture, linux admin & integration, etc.). On top of that, I also was lucky enough to be sent to multiple training courses and got the certs after going to them all (MCITP [5 certs], VMware vSphere, ITIL 3.0, SAN Management, Security+).

I can speak from experience in regards to contracting....I would not do another one. I took it primarily for the money and it was more (about 13k more than what I was at), but I was ballsy and took one with NO BENEFITS (no leave, 401k, health insurance, etc)...basically, if I didn't work or work extra during the pay period, I got no money. I did a 6 month temp-to-perm position and like stated, would NOT advise going that route. I love my job now, but I would've taken a little less and gotten the benefits. I was just being greedy, lol.

Main things to consider...
- Go in trying all various IT fields (network, DB, developer, systems, or security). I do not list helpdesk because if you go systems more than likely, they will place you there first. I lucked out and since I already had a clearance and experience, never touched the helpdesk. It should be a natural progression to move on from that help desk anyways.

- Get some entry level certs. Ones that can be self-taught and easily able to get study material for.

- Maybe see if at your school some of the CIS and CS courses overlap. Maybe take those first will decide which way to go just so you aren't wasting too much time. I would recommend to get the quickest one first, just because you already have one degree under your belt. To me once you get in the door, it is more about certs and experience on the job than anything else.

- DO NOT take a temp contracting position, lol. Other contracts are fine (say a company won a contract to perform work for the gov't for 4 years). Again, being in the DMV area, DoD contracts are all over the place and these are common. I know some still prefer to work for a corporate IT department, financial firm, medical field, etc. but to each their own. That is something you woud have to determine for yourself and what you are comfortable with.

Hope some of this helps you or someone else out with making some decisions going forward, and sorry that it ended up so long. Did not plan on it being like this, lol.

 

[az5950]

yea, I cant do the contractor stuff, I mean I hear its good but I just dont like the idea of there being a time where I wont be working so I have to always look for a job. I was interviewing with IBM but when the lady told me the program was a 2 yr program with potential to become a perm employee, I turned down the 2nd interview and accepted my current offer.

Contracting is for the birds....lol, but I have gotten ample professional experience, and has opened more doors for me interview wise...just hoping I can land something permanent by the first quarter of 2013

 

[luckyluchiano]

Contracting is for the birds....lol, but I have gotten ample professional experience, and has opened more doors for me interview wise...just hoping I can land something permanent by the first quarter of 2013

best of luck bro.

one thing I say is don't be discouraged because everything happens for a reason

 

[az5950]

best of luck bro.
one thing I say is don't be discouraged because everything happens for a reason

I learned that years ago fam...patience is def the key, so I'm just waiting for my time, everything should play out in my favor in the end

 

[justscoreda100]

Private sector contracting is most definitely not what’s up. My first job out of college was as a contractor for a fortune 500.. I hated it. Office politics were unavoidable, they treated you like second rate employees, and the environment was just toxic. Plus I had to PTO at that job which sucked. They announced an IT restructuring plan a while ago and the same day as that announcement, all the contractors in my department were let go with no warning. Me included.

Now I work as a federal contractor. The environment is chill, I get benefits plus PTO, paid holidays, and the lines between feds and contractors are not too distinct. This depends entirely on management though. Other departments don’t have the same atmosphere mine does.

Bottom line is, if you are just entering IT industry, chances are you will have to do some contracting work. This is why internships are the name of the game. Building relationships with companies and experience in the field will give you better chances to get hired as a fulltime employee. Don’t be afraid of doing unpaid internships either. Just make sure that you’re working no more than 20 hours a week. While I was in school, I worked fulltime overnights in retail during breaks, and did my internship during the day. It wasn’t easy, but I’m reaping the benefits now.

The paradigm for hiring employees has changed for the most part. Full time employees are considered risky to more and more employers, so a lot of companies will only make mid to high level positions full employees. Lower positions are usually held by contractors. It benefits companies because it’s cheaper and it mitigates risk. If a company hires an employee who is incompetent, the process of firing that employee can take months. Don’t like a contractor? Call his contracting company and tell him they don’t need his services anymore. Boom. You’re gone just like that.

So I wouldn’t say avoid all contracting jobs, but all contracting jobs are not created equal. Bare minimum you need accruable PTO and Medical, Dental, and Eye benefits. Paid holidays and tuition reimbursement are other things that you should look for as well.

 

[justscoreda100]

Contracting is for the birds....lol, but I have gotten ample professional experience, and has opened more doors for me interview wise...just hoping I can land something permanent by the first quarter of 2013

I can most definitely relate to this. My next job has to be a direct hire with good tuition reimbursement. I really want to start my masters, but do not want to face the brunt of the costs. I’ll probably be looking to make a move Q1 of 2014.

Good luck. Hope you find something soon.

 

[legreyfoxx]

I too plan on going into CS any NT'ers that can help with my question: how much and which types of math is included in the course of study? open for PM's btw, also I can't stand math, is the math involved overwhelming or can be tolerated with i suppose discipline.

 

[youngheadjenks5]

I'm going to school for CIS as well i dont know how its going to be since i'm a freshman but it seems fun I want to create video games not the story part but the technical side (coding etc...)

 

[retro23j]

CIS is quite different....essentially our curriculum is a blend of Business Analyst and IT knowledge.

Good things:

-the scope of job availability and skills learned opens up alot because of the variety necessary in our training

-even if you were a CS major, at some point (particularly in the corporate world) business knowledge is a necessity, we'll already have a foot in the door

-the curriculum is honestly EASIER in terms of difficulty compared to CS

Bad things:

-They don't teach us the particulars.

-Developing your skillset expertise is pretty much up to you....where's as CS for example, students will come out as programming aficionados 

-The curriculum is ridiculously looooong, like you already know, we take both CS and Bizz classes

---

The bolded is very true. I got my degree in CIS in 09 and took more business courses than actual programming ones. However that actually works well because of how well rounded you'll be if you decide to continue pursuing programming skills. You won't be one dimensional and have knowledge of business aspects such as marketing, accounting and strategic management. I'm deciding now between 3 computer science masters programs to start next year.

 

[justscoreda100]

I too plan on going into CS any NT'ers that can help with my question: how much and which types of math is included in the course of study? open for PM's btw, also I can't stand math, is the math involved overwhelming or can be tolerated with i suppose discipline.

I lucked out and was able to do CS IS which only required basic sciences and calc 2 as the highest level of math.

My university changed the programm while I still attended for new incoming students though. They added physics and discrete math as a requirement for all CS students.

But dont shy away from a CS degree just because of the math. There are alternate routes you can take that lead to the same goal. For instance, you can take all your math classes at near by community colleges and transfer your credits over. Most CC's have easier teachers, and only credits transfer not grades. It may be difficult to find CC's that offer those higher level classes though. You can also take summer classes. Sometimes the professors who teach summer classes are more lax due to the condensed nature of the course.

I'm going to school for CIS as well i dont know how its going to be since i'm a freshman but it seems fun I want to create video games not the story part but the technical side (coding etc...)

Do some more research. The "I want to make video games" line screams that you have completely looked into what you want to do. I said the same thing when I was your age.

CIS is not going to cut it if you want to code video games. Maybe if you're creating games for mobile apps.

If you really want to make video games, prepare for high level math and rigorous coding classes..

 

[jesusshuttlesworth34]

Governent Contracting is on point. Most of the clients you work for will try to convert you over to a Government employee within the first 2-3 years.

If you enjoy the extra money and flexibility keep working at a Contractor.

If you want better benefits, job stability, and paid training/education.....go Government.

 

[dtb00201]

Any advice as far as a resume with no work experience?