Information Technology (IT)

I tell most people.. Internships.. I didnt have the best gpa but most people want experience.. a couple companies will pick up the 3.8+ GPA's for status quo though.

My GPA was about 3.8, but my degree program was a joke.
 
My GPA was about 3.8, but my degree program was a joke.
ouch.. that sucks.. my program was "okay" it could have been more career driven and hands on but they were too "theory" like for me.. so even though i learned things courses alone wouldnt have prepped me for the "real world". but at my school companies would pick the highest gpa guys train them and give them HIGH paying jobs for status quo.
 
@dtb00201  I think most CS programs are jokes my program was, but having the degree and knowing programming principles is enough to make it.

Like my dad always says, it really doesn't matter where the degree comes from. As long as you got it. (CS/IT degrees)

@Jay Patt  don't be scared to ask questions, race doesn't matter. I'm black I ask questions all the time, you have to ask to learn.
 
ouch.. that sucks.. my program was "okay" it could have been more career driven and hands on but they were too "theory" like for me.. so even though i learned things courses alone wouldnt have prepped me for the "real world". but at my school companies would pick the highest gpa guys train them and give them HIGH paying jobs for status quo.

We did some hands on, but 99% of the time we were just quizzed on definitions and if you could memorize them. I went in with very basic knowledge and left maybe slightly better than when I started. Like I said it was my fault for not digging deeper into it while in school, though. BTW does anyone have any good resources for teaching yourself active directory? I'm looking for some help desk jobs and haven't really done anything with AD other than brief overviews a few years ago. I'd like to brush up before getting a new job.
 
We did some hands on, but 99% of the time we were just quizzed on definitions and if you could memorize them. I went in with very basic knowledge and left maybe slightly better than when I started. Like I said it was my fault for not digging deeper into it while in school, though. BTW does anyone have any good resources for teaching yourself active directory? I'm looking for some help desk jobs and haven't really done anything with AD other than brief overviews a few years ago. I'd like to brush up before getting a new job.
Yep.. Sounds like good ole college right there.. They want you to remember every page in the book and in the real world, you work as a team. You ask for help.. You build things with others.. its teamwork not bookwork..lol

AD is simple.. if you want to brush up just set a virtual lab on some VM's and set things up.. Most jobs dont have a hardcore Server Envirornment so if you know how to build login scrips and print servers and they havent done that.. youll be the man..lol I havent touched the new stuff though in Server 2010 tho.. except running remote apps.
 
 
60K is more than enough. Most people get an apartment with roommates or live with their parents for the first few years. With a roomate you wouldn't be paying more than $500-$600/month on rent. There are places to live outside of DC seems like people forget that lol. Your commute also depends on where you live. I drive 30mins to work and 45mins home after work with traffic.
still too much for me.. i have people there.. F that traffic and that HYPED up Cost of Living..
 
 
3 weeks of being a BI reporting developer. Enjoying it so far 
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Man I missed doing BOXi Soo much.. that was the easiest crap ever... Do people still use that or is everyone 100% crystal now?
 
 
still too much for me.. i have people there.. F that traffic and that HYPED up Cost of Living..
$500 a month is too much? Thats nothing. IMO to make a lot money you have to be near a major city no way around it. 

How much is rent is your area? 
 
 I need time to schedule the CASP test . Anyone here have a security backround?
 
I took the exam recently and failed. But I didn't prepare properly. Had the cert before and let it expire foolishly.

Best advice is brush up on the labs. I want to say the Sybex books have labs to help.
 
 
$500 a month is too much? Thats nothing. IMO to make a lot money you have to be near a major city no way around it. 

How much is rent is your area? 
men should be aiming to live alone.. not go to a town making 60k and cant afford the 1.5k apartments (key word apartments).. average cost for rent here ranges from 600-1000 and thats the super rich uppity areas
 
 
men should be aiming to live alone.. not go to a town making 60k and cant afford the 1.5k apartments (key word apartments).. average cost for rent here ranges from 600-1000 and thats the super rich uppity areas
Nothing wrong with having a roommate when you are 22. If you are aiming to live alone you have to start somewhere and save.

You are just generalizing the area not all apartments cost that much, and not everyone is making 60K straight out . With rent that low it can't be a big city unless its in the south.

Edit : All I'm saying is that relocating is a good thing and if that means you have to have a roommate so be it. Too many CS degrees going to waste, because the job market where people are from is not good. This is directed towards recent grads. Goodluck everybody !
 
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I've been working in D.C for 2 years but live in Baltimore:{, been trying to get into the web development field, mostly front-end,
and back-end, I'm focusing on ruby. I was thinking about taking this boot-camp in Baltimore but they wanted 4300 or so and I
needed to buy a mac book air which is no problem but, I wasn't sure about their track record. Most boot-camps cost 10 times
more.

I make about 67k and still feel broke, I had to lower my 401k payments temporary to adjust my cost of living to see what's
costing me so much money. Oddly enough it's going out eating and drinking in Baltimore/D.C that's crazy expensive. I'm
lucky on rent at the present time.

Anyone have any experience with 12 week web development boot-camps? I'm really trying to get out of my current field
and into the web development work.
 
I've been working in D.C for 2 years but live in Baltimore:{, been trying to get into the web development field, mostly front-end,
and back-end, I'm focusing on ruby. I was thinking about taking this boot-camp in Baltimore but they wanted 4300 or so and I
needed to buy a mac book air which is no problem but, I wasn't sure about their track record. Most boot-camps cost 10 times
more.

I make about 67k and still feel broke, I had to lower my 401k payments temporary to adjust my cost of living to see what's
costing me so much money. Oddly enough it's going out eating and drinking in Baltimore/D.C that's crazy expensive. I'm
lucky on rent at the present time.

Anyone have any experience with 12 week web development boot-camps? I'm really trying to get out of my current field
and into the web development work.

You ever think about moving closer to DC? I know that commute has to be brutal. I'm in Largo and it's about a 30 minute metro ride.
 
 
Nothing wrong with having a roommate when you are 22. If you are aiming to live alone you have to start somewhere and save.

You are just generalizing the area not all apartments cost that much, and not everyone is making 60K straight out I'm making close to 75K. With rent that low it can't be a big city unless its in the south.

Edit : All I'm saying is that relocating is a good thing and if that means you have to have a roommate so be it. Too many CS degrees going to waste, because the job market where people are from is not good. This is directed towards recent grads. Goodluck everybody !
roomates are great when you know the person.. however even your best friend may or may not be as financially responsible as you all.. thats my only 0.02's but i agree.. CS degrees dont hold weight unless u got certs and know people.. most people now just want people to make them apps like they are gonna make a million dollars in the first year or something..lol
 
You ever think about moving closer to DC? I know that commute has to be brutal. I'm in Largo and it's about a 30 minute metro ride.
DMV commutes are INSANE!!!... HOV (now HOT lanes).. and its a million cars on the road from the hours of 6-9am and 4-8pm..N to the O can do.
 
You ever think about moving closer to DC? I know that commute has to be brutal. I'm in Largo and it's about a 30 minute metro ride.

Been thinking about it, but I currently live in a house by myself and living in D.C means living with somebody I don't even know.
Plus i completely hate my current job, and would hate to have to pay rent and depend of this job 100% if I moved closer. I made
goal to learn ruby/javascript/java in 6 months so I'll see where I stand by then if I can deal with this traffic.
 
I am on the outskirts of "NoVA " and I commute in to Quantico. My wife rides the commuter van and works in Tyson's Corner. Straight out of college, if you and some friends or GF/Fiance/etc aren't splitting a place, then if you are trying to live in the city, your only other real option is to live at home if they are in the area.

Ain't no kid 21/22 making 50-65k living up there on their own. I graduated from GMU and had plenty of friends there with roommates or still at home due to this. It was like a 1BR apartment in Fairfax, near the metro stations would be like $1400-$2000 depending on location and newness
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Hell there is a girl at my job now who pays $1400 a month for a 1BR in Stafford now, so who knows what the NoVA prices are now.

It is all your preference and what you are willing to accept to me at the end of the day.

You want to live closer (in the city) and either have a roommate or be more strapped for cash, or.....

You want to live further from the city and commute/drive in to go to work or to hang out with friends and stuff.

I am a country boy by nature, so I choose to live further away with lower costs and drive to work. I am older now and my wife has gotten a better job, so we have thought about moving a little closer just to save on the commute some, but we still not moving all way into the city.
 
Location is killing me right now.
Nothing wrong with having a roommate when you are 22. If you are aiming to live alone you have to start somewhere and save.

You are just generalizing the area not all apartments cost that much, and not everyone is making 60K straight out I'm making close to 75K. With rent that low it can't be a big city unless its in the south.

Edit : All I'm saying is that relocating is a good thing and if that means you have to have a roommate so be it. Too many CS degrees going to waste, because the job market where people are from is not good. This is directed towards recent grads. Goodluck everybody !
This is me. Job market here is trash for recent grads (SC) & my location in SC makes it worse. :x :{
I'm trying to hold out before applying to better markets like ATL & Charlotte. My uncle is always telling me about the DC market & saying come live with him. Didn't know they were eating like that though.
 
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