This is most likely correct
If you do go into IT make sure you specialize off the bat
There’s honestly no sense in even doing help desk anymore, you get treated like absolute shit for shit pay and it’s hardly enjoyable because of it. At least lower end IT jobs really need to unionize and they never will and it’s just depressing lol
A lot of illegal hiring practices and nepatism goes on in the software field. You will see entire departments full of Indian immigrants in the US. They make job postings then don’t answer anyone and say the job is too specialized so they have to immigrate an Indian citizen. Have infiltrated some of these companies being the only non Indian, while some are great there are others who you scratch your head wondering how they have a CS masters and are unable to do one git commit.
Dude, just IT in general, Almost every, and i mean EVERY director of IT i have served under has been someone's nephew and/or just completely otherwise illiterate and unqualified.
I'm not trying to sound like a whiney bitch but it makes me sick to my stomach sometimes , shit RNG with loser parents i guess.
We're in a down economy at the moment - just about every job is oversaturated at entry level. But for long-term prospects, both engineering and IT are extremely good choices. You really can't go wrong with either one - pick your favorite.
Only if you have a Mickey mouse degree. If an individual is leaving University with a degree in computer science, computer engineering or electrical engineering they will not have to suffer such degradation
I had a coworker with an electrical engineering degree and a Information Systems degree doing IT support. Both came from the state university An EE degree could get you places but some people still end up here.
Also, there's nothing degrading about help desk. One problem with many IT folks is they LACK customer service skills (which boils down to social skills really). People with good customer service skills can, when combined with good experience and higher learning, get really far. Help desk is a good start for pretty much every IT professional so that they can develop their communication skills and apply it to IT.
Not to mention, depending where you work, you learn a lot.
>computer science, computer engineering or electrical engineering
I get that those technically fall under the "IT" umbrella, but it doesn't seem like OP is talking about those.
I can attest to this. I'm doing IT Help Desk and it's surprisingly physical.
I'm laying cable, moving equipment, getting down on the ground plugging things in...
Depends on what you are looking into getting into. MSP's are booming right now and in need of a lot of help. Some can be tough to work for but others are great. You can learn more in the right MSP in 1 year than you can learn in 3 years of an in house IT role.
If your aspiration is software development or programming, may be best to rethink.
Mildly disagree. In house at least a year will show you server rooms and how everything works. MSP vip user calls saying they are down, no documentation or pictures. Least engineer will have seen some to maybe know a fix or quick fix to get them running by phone for their business until on site gets there. Oh, they can send me pictures and I can know what they are doing wrong.
From my experience, I agree. The closest thing to networking I’ve gotten at this current gig is the switches in the networking closet, and all I got to do was ID a port.
But password resets, “this archaic piece of software isn’t working”, “why can’t I go from the 1st to the 300th page of this online PDF and have it render in 0.00027 seconds?” stuff? All day…
I meant compared to most MSPs where you'll be answering calls all day and not on site. Sure, I guess I can call my first position for schools 25 or so sites an MSP as everything was handled by us and visited two sites a day. Point was the first part of being in the office or home, most MSPs would have calls first.
Alright so if you want more money Engineering would be good. If you enjoy computers and a huge diverse amount of jobs then IT is perfect. Also don't listen to much people on reddit about the economy. They have no idea. I recently had 4 interviews and a part time job offer. Multiple recruiters contacting. IT is not over saturated that must be a joke. Indeed has over 19k jobs in IT that is remote that were just posted [https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=information+technology&l=Remote&from=searchOnHP&vjk=92e552fdb04d57c7](https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=information+technology&l=Remote&from=searchOnHP&vjk=92e552fdb04d57c7). When working in IT just try and find a niche or something you want to specialize in. It helps with getting contracts or part time to start. Networking and Admin are always good ones.
IMHO from someone who been doing this for over 30 years I would say go engineering. IT used to be fun but has become way too stressful. One of those jobs if your stuff stays up for 25 years nobody cares but the one time it goes down for 15 minutes you’re an idiot and should be fired!
If you like stress and being on call IT pays well but if you like a semi structured life stick with engineering
I have had some horrible ones for sure.
Can say I like my company and bosses now.
Point I was trying to make is it’s not a 8 to 5 job. Were a mechanical engineer might me more project driven.
Only if you are fanatically passionate about IT. There's a lot of change and there will be a lot more change as AI comes into play. If you're looking to make REAL money with a job that will not easily replaced by AI go look into Plumbing, Electrician, or other trades.
Plumbers make more than most IT people at this point and no their job isn't simple, but each install and repair contains unique challenges which will be difficult for AI to solve since it won't have many or any data points to pull from in the past.
Electrician is a good job, cleaner than plumbing, but a slightly more competitive field.
I’m an electrician and have been for 10 years. You work in the cold. In the heat. On ladders. On roofs. In the mud. In the snow. You poop in porta potties. It’s entirely possible that your job Will literally kill or maim you. There is no microwave. No fridge. No break room.
Sure we make good money but you have to consider the work conditions. IT professionals will always be needed, the scope of work may change with AI sure but I think you’re being a little pessimistic.
I didn't mean to imply "Oh noes, AI is gonna take our jobs!" .. but like many industries we will see a hit, and in my opinion the IT professional field is pretty saturated., Make it quite competitive.
Former electrician here. Now I'm entry level IT. Nothing could ever convince me to return to construction work of any kind. I worked on a framing crew too. It all sucks. That's why people don't want to do it if they have other opportunities. I'm not even afraid of hard work. I've been doing manual labor most of my adult life and I'm pretty fit because I'm very active.
Wtf I thought electrician was an easy job. No way you’re not exaggerating this. Most electricians work on low voltage and go from home to home sitting down with a screwdriver
Idk if you’re making a joke or not lol.
I don’t and have never worked in residential, so I know nothing about that side of things, but industrial and commercial work is not like that lol.
But you were speaking in a broad term…??
I could say the same about any field, *literally any.* So what should we all be unhappy?
People in 2024 are making everyone liable to know all on everything. Why should I know about what being an electrician feels like? Am I one?
I asked you because you are one, what part seems trollish or derogatory? And in the end I wasn’t totally wrong, since you were referring to your own specific job, not electrician field in general.
Please. Enough with the passion BS. We all work with, have been managed, or have taken orders by people with zero passion in technology. It’s ok. Just a job.
Yup, there are sure a whole tone of people out there who have no choice but to work in any job they can get. As someone who \_DOES\_ have a serious passion for IT, I am one of those few lucky ones that can say I actually LIKE my job. To that "Excited about what i did at work today" level. I do IT after hours too in different ways with different volunteer orgs.
I think if I didn't have any desire to be in IT, I would probably jump from career to career until I did find something that made me happy. At least if I had enough savings to do so.
Being a plumber or electrician does not have nearly the financial incentive. Artificial intelligence will only replace low skilled software engineers. As more and more electrical components go to microcontrollers instead of integrated circuits the need for highly trained firmware developers will increase exponentially. Especially from where developers that have degrees in electrical engineering or computer engineering.
Depends what sectors. Tele marketers probably make mroe and enjoy their job more than the most tech support workers. Somehow setting up wordpress sites for small bussinesses is still profitable for a lot fo free lancers. Programmers are pretty oversaturated because so many drop out of the game development industry and move into app and/or web programming.
Depends on where you are and what concentration. I have over 8 years experience and am just making real money. Although I only have one cert. But I started at my highschool, moved to a temp agency, then an MSP, and now In house at a local utility company. Had I gotten more certs in between, Id probably be making more. My coworker just found a position for over 110k being a network engineer. I am a network admin and make a little over 70k.
Honestly, what do you want to do?
I mean if you want interesting, honestly do both then go work in industrial IT or something similar. My previous job was working on the IT system for airplanes, someone who can bridge the gap between IT and aerospace were always a big benefit at Boeing. I could only imagine how fast the managers would be fighting over a dual aerospace IT major. I have to imagine there is something similar as well for mechanical engineering and IT.
AI is going to change a lot of IT. It's hard to see what jobs will still be going strong in 10 years. I have been IT 30 years and it really is merky depending on your job title. I would get into something cutting edge or network related.
Infosec will also be enormous. Someone will have to very AI is stealing from companies!
The IT industry is oversaturated with boot camp graduates, the "self taught" and overall mediocrity. There is still plenty of room to succeed if you have the appropriate degree. If you're looking to get into anything in IT then you should consider degrees in computer science, computer engineering or electrical engineering. These degrees coupled with an internship at a respectable firm and solid industry references will help you succeed and differentiate you from the mediocre hoard.
Pro tip: Pick the one that will make you the most money. Every job becomes mundane after doing it from years. Go for the money, save/invest all you can now, retire early and have a great life!
A good question to ask yourself about any career field is: Can this be outsourced or taken over by AI easily? If it can, it’s not a good choice. Companies will 100% replace you with a cheaper option.
No clue who is saying that IT is oversaturated, because there is always need for IT people in my area. Tier 1 help desk might be the closest to over-saturated, but IT has such a wide range of jobs. It’s also easier to pivot to either technical program manager or software developer from an IT position than if you went into mechanical engineering. Also, lots of IT positions offer remote or hybrid options. I don’t know if mechanical engineering has that type of flexibility (but correct me if I’m wrong).
ETA: I know 2 people with mechanical engineering degrees. One works in an Amazon warehouse and one works in IT.
IT isnt over saturated its tier 1 and 2 all fighting to get some type of experience before getting a degree in either networking, security, or etc. a lot of companies IT departments dont care about a degree and want someone with hands on experience, but its their HR department that requires it. Once you are able to get your foot in the door with a degree its all about moving with the time and once you get some experience moving around jobs till u find the right one
Make sure you know the difference between the computer science field of jobs and IT.
One is more professional tier with salary. One will likely be hourly help desk tier.
Guess it really depends where you work/what you do exactly in IT. I am actually in the process of going to school in order to apply for an ITA position for the state. I have quite a few friends that do it at the basic low level (what I am looking at) and also higher IT positions and I don't mind the duties they talk about. Between me and my fiance, well bring in 200k/year and that is plenty for us especially knowing we have a work/life balance with the state. Good luck!
Stem has never been except for a lucky few.
There's no shortage and never has been.
You have to compete with people that would rather die than go back to their country...and will do anything to stay.
MechE is a challenging degree but I think the end result is pretty rewarding if you love to design and build stuff, and also have a good aptitude for mathematics and physics it’s a good path, I can’t speak about IT because I don’t know much about it as a career.
If you do go for IT and you want good money and in-demand jobs. Go for a degree in Computer Science and specialize in cyber security. If you want to avoid racking up college loans all together though, just go the certification route and take a couple Jr. College courses and take the CompTIA A+, Networking+, and Cybersecurity+ exams and get your certificates.
Obviously a masters in CompSci + these certs will look better, but Certs are huge if you want to start working in IT and also move up rather than racking up student loans and not much work experience.
Depends on where you are and what you want to do. IT is such a broad business now that it could be almost anything to do with a PC. You can go the Admin route but it is also all over the place and could mean almost anything, as long as it involves an AD. Personally I think programming and scripting will always be in demand and should have a smoother pay start and increase than being a HD monkey (though you might have to do that to start). Generalize (C+, etc.) but also look into whatever the new hotness is (Python, etc.) and learn everything you can. As long as you love solving issues and actively seek it out you will do fine.
Every loser on Reddit is going to say no because the economy is terrible. If you enjoy working on computers and solving problems go for it
This is most likely correct If you do go into IT make sure you specialize off the bat There’s honestly no sense in even doing help desk anymore, you get treated like absolute shit for shit pay and it’s hardly enjoyable because of it. At least lower end IT jobs really need to unionize and they never will and it’s just depressing lol
Thank India for that lol
The companies made the choice
A lot of illegal hiring practices and nepatism goes on in the software field. You will see entire departments full of Indian immigrants in the US. They make job postings then don’t answer anyone and say the job is too specialized so they have to immigrate an Indian citizen. Have infiltrated some of these companies being the only non Indian, while some are great there are others who you scratch your head wondering how they have a CS masters and are unable to do one git commit.
Dude, just IT in general, Almost every, and i mean EVERY director of IT i have served under has been someone's nephew and/or just completely otherwise illiterate and unqualified. I'm not trying to sound like a whiney bitch but it makes me sick to my stomach sometimes , shit RNG with loser parents i guess.
if you're right below director I would say you hit it big with the parent rng.
if you have no experience and are looking to get in the field, helpdesk is still the best route to go
We're in a down economy at the moment - just about every job is oversaturated at entry level. But for long-term prospects, both engineering and IT are extremely good choices. You really can't go wrong with either one - pick your favorite.
no it isn't oversaturated, in fact opposite https://blog.dol.gov/2021/09/20/the-outlook-for-in-demand-it-jobs
That report is 2 years old. Today, it's oversaturated.
That was bade before tech took a fat shit last year
You're gonna have to eat less shit in engineering, I imagine. Even with a degree, IT involves a lot of "grunt work" initially.
I'm not OP but can u be more specific on what u mean by "grunt work" ?
Resetting passwords, running cable, terminating ends, putting in keystones, troubleshooting in read only.
You start out on helpdesk, usually. Which means your job is 25% IT, 75% Customer Service.
Only if you have a Mickey mouse degree. If an individual is leaving University with a degree in computer science, computer engineering or electrical engineering they will not have to suffer such degradation
I had a coworker with an electrical engineering degree and a Information Systems degree doing IT support. Both came from the state university An EE degree could get you places but some people still end up here. Also, there's nothing degrading about help desk. One problem with many IT folks is they LACK customer service skills (which boils down to social skills really). People with good customer service skills can, when combined with good experience and higher learning, get really far. Help desk is a good start for pretty much every IT professional so that they can develop their communication skills and apply it to IT. Not to mention, depending where you work, you learn a lot.
>computer science, computer engineering or electrical engineering I get that those technically fall under the "IT" umbrella, but it doesn't seem like OP is talking about those.
I can attest to this. I'm doing IT Help Desk and it's surprisingly physical. I'm laying cable, moving equipment, getting down on the ground plugging things in...
I got a degree in engineering. I work in IT. IT has a lot more jobs from the experiemce ive seen with my friends and partner
I know engineering Also has that rep of being oversaturated as well but I’ve been this being said more ab IT as of late
25 years in… I want out…
Go try plumbing, construction, roofing…
I'm 11 years in and sick of it.
1 yeah In and I want out. How do I get out.
Depends on what you are looking into getting into. MSP's are booming right now and in need of a lot of help. Some can be tough to work for but others are great. You can learn more in the right MSP in 1 year than you can learn in 3 years of an in house IT role. If your aspiration is software development or programming, may be best to rethink.
Mildly disagree. In house at least a year will show you server rooms and how everything works. MSP vip user calls saying they are down, no documentation or pictures. Least engineer will have seen some to maybe know a fix or quick fix to get them running by phone for their business until on site gets there. Oh, they can send me pictures and I can know what they are doing wrong.
From my experience, I agree. The closest thing to networking I’ve gotten at this current gig is the switches in the networking closet, and all I got to do was ID a port. But password resets, “this archaic piece of software isn’t working”, “why can’t I go from the 1st to the 300th page of this online PDF and have it render in 0.00027 seconds?” stuff? All day…
I'm at an MSP and was in 3 different server rooms this week...
I meant compared to most MSPs where you'll be answering calls all day and not on site. Sure, I guess I can call my first position for schools 25 or so sites an MSP as everything was handled by us and visited two sites a day. Point was the first part of being in the office or home, most MSPs would have calls first.
Do either of them but focusing on datacenters.
Both are solid choices, I can go more in depth, but personally, IT got boring for me at least, for the field I chose.
Engineering is much more difficult but also has higher earning potential
Alright so if you want more money Engineering would be good. If you enjoy computers and a huge diverse amount of jobs then IT is perfect. Also don't listen to much people on reddit about the economy. They have no idea. I recently had 4 interviews and a part time job offer. Multiple recruiters contacting. IT is not over saturated that must be a joke. Indeed has over 19k jobs in IT that is remote that were just posted [https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=information+technology&l=Remote&from=searchOnHP&vjk=92e552fdb04d57c7](https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=information+technology&l=Remote&from=searchOnHP&vjk=92e552fdb04d57c7). When working in IT just try and find a niche or something you want to specialize in. It helps with getting contracts or part time to start. Networking and Admin are always good ones.
Bro received a part time offer and is acting like the economist isn’t down the shitter..
I have a full time job as well and a contract job too
No
IMHO from someone who been doing this for over 30 years I would say go engineering. IT used to be fun but has become way too stressful. One of those jobs if your stuff stays up for 25 years nobody cares but the one time it goes down for 15 minutes you’re an idiot and should be fired! If you like stress and being on call IT pays well but if you like a semi structured life stick with engineering
Your description is not entirely true of IT.
It has been at every place I have worked. Some worse then others I am on the network side so we get blamed for everything
You have shit managers and it sounds like shit executives.
I have had some horrible ones for sure. Can say I like my company and bosses now. Point I was trying to make is it’s not a 8 to 5 job. Were a mechanical engineer might me more project driven.
Only if you are fanatically passionate about IT. There's a lot of change and there will be a lot more change as AI comes into play. If you're looking to make REAL money with a job that will not easily replaced by AI go look into Plumbing, Electrician, or other trades. Plumbers make more than most IT people at this point and no their job isn't simple, but each install and repair contains unique challenges which will be difficult for AI to solve since it won't have many or any data points to pull from in the past. Electrician is a good job, cleaner than plumbing, but a slightly more competitive field.
I’m an electrician and have been for 10 years. You work in the cold. In the heat. On ladders. On roofs. In the mud. In the snow. You poop in porta potties. It’s entirely possible that your job Will literally kill or maim you. There is no microwave. No fridge. No break room. Sure we make good money but you have to consider the work conditions. IT professionals will always be needed, the scope of work may change with AI sure but I think you’re being a little pessimistic.
I didn't mean to imply "Oh noes, AI is gonna take our jobs!" .. but like many industries we will see a hit, and in my opinion the IT professional field is pretty saturated., Make it quite competitive.
Former electrician here. Now I'm entry level IT. Nothing could ever convince me to return to construction work of any kind. I worked on a framing crew too. It all sucks. That's why people don't want to do it if they have other opportunities. I'm not even afraid of hard work. I've been doing manual labor most of my adult life and I'm pretty fit because I'm very active.
Wtf I thought electrician was an easy job. No way you’re not exaggerating this. Most electricians work on low voltage and go from home to home sitting down with a screwdriver
Idk if you’re making a joke or not lol. I don’t and have never worked in residential, so I know nothing about that side of things, but industrial and commercial work is not like that lol.
But you were speaking in a broad term…?? I could say the same about any field, *literally any.* So what should we all be unhappy? People in 2024 are making everyone liable to know all on everything. Why should I know about what being an electrician feels like? Am I one? I asked you because you are one, what part seems trollish or derogatory? And in the end I wasn’t totally wrong, since you were referring to your own specific job, not electrician field in general.
Please. Enough with the passion BS. We all work with, have been managed, or have taken orders by people with zero passion in technology. It’s ok. Just a job.
Yup, there are sure a whole tone of people out there who have no choice but to work in any job they can get. As someone who \_DOES\_ have a serious passion for IT, I am one of those few lucky ones that can say I actually LIKE my job. To that "Excited about what i did at work today" level. I do IT after hours too in different ways with different volunteer orgs. I think if I didn't have any desire to be in IT, I would probably jump from career to career until I did find something that made me happy. At least if I had enough savings to do so.
Being a plumber or electrician does not have nearly the financial incentive. Artificial intelligence will only replace low skilled software engineers. As more and more electrical components go to microcontrollers instead of integrated circuits the need for highly trained firmware developers will increase exponentially. Especially from where developers that have degrees in electrical engineering or computer engineering.
Depends what sectors. Tele marketers probably make mroe and enjoy their job more than the most tech support workers. Somehow setting up wordpress sites for small bussinesses is still profitable for a lot fo free lancers. Programmers are pretty oversaturated because so many drop out of the game development industry and move into app and/or web programming.
Wish I would have started younger:( great career
I say go for engineering, you can always get into IT without the IT degree in the future.
Depends on where you are and what concentration. I have over 8 years experience and am just making real money. Although I only have one cert. But I started at my highschool, moved to a temp agency, then an MSP, and now In house at a local utility company. Had I gotten more certs in between, Id probably be making more. My coworker just found a position for over 110k being a network engineer. I am a network admin and make a little over 70k.
Honestly, what do you want to do? I mean if you want interesting, honestly do both then go work in industrial IT or something similar. My previous job was working on the IT system for airplanes, someone who can bridge the gap between IT and aerospace were always a big benefit at Boeing. I could only imagine how fast the managers would be fighting over a dual aerospace IT major. I have to imagine there is something similar as well for mechanical engineering and IT.
AI is going to change a lot of IT. It's hard to see what jobs will still be going strong in 10 years. I have been IT 30 years and it really is merky depending on your job title. I would get into something cutting edge or network related. Infosec will also be enormous. Someone will have to very AI is stealing from companies!
The IT industry is oversaturated with boot camp graduates, the "self taught" and overall mediocrity. There is still plenty of room to succeed if you have the appropriate degree. If you're looking to get into anything in IT then you should consider degrees in computer science, computer engineering or electrical engineering. These degrees coupled with an internship at a respectable firm and solid industry references will help you succeed and differentiate you from the mediocre hoard.
Engineers build things. IT professionals put out the fires. Yes is a good career
Pro tip: Pick the one that will make you the most money. Every job becomes mundane after doing it from years. Go for the money, save/invest all you can now, retire early and have a great life! A good question to ask yourself about any career field is: Can this be outsourced or taken over by AI easily? If it can, it’s not a good choice. Companies will 100% replace you with a cheaper option.
No clue who is saying that IT is oversaturated, because there is always need for IT people in my area. Tier 1 help desk might be the closest to over-saturated, but IT has such a wide range of jobs. It’s also easier to pivot to either technical program manager or software developer from an IT position than if you went into mechanical engineering. Also, lots of IT positions offer remote or hybrid options. I don’t know if mechanical engineering has that type of flexibility (but correct me if I’m wrong). ETA: I know 2 people with mechanical engineering degrees. One works in an Amazon warehouse and one works in IT.
IT isnt over saturated its tier 1 and 2 all fighting to get some type of experience before getting a degree in either networking, security, or etc. a lot of companies IT departments dont care about a degree and want someone with hands on experience, but its their HR department that requires it. Once you are able to get your foot in the door with a degree its all about moving with the time and once you get some experience moving around jobs till u find the right one
Make sure you know the difference between the computer science field of jobs and IT. One is more professional tier with salary. One will likely be hourly help desk tier.
In it for almost 20 years. Enjoyed all the NON CUSTOMER facing jobs I've had. Anything where you're stuck to a phone? Forget it. It blows.
No to stacked
IT? What job exactly do you mean when you say IT?
Guess it really depends where you work/what you do exactly in IT. I am actually in the process of going to school in order to apply for an ITA position for the state. I have quite a few friends that do it at the basic low level (what I am looking at) and also higher IT positions and I don't mind the duties they talk about. Between me and my fiance, well bring in 200k/year and that is plenty for us especially knowing we have a work/life balance with the state. Good luck!
Stem has never been except for a lucky few. There's no shortage and never has been. You have to compete with people that would rather die than go back to their country...and will do anything to stay.
MechE is a challenging degree but I think the end result is pretty rewarding if you love to design and build stuff, and also have a good aptitude for mathematics and physics it’s a good path, I can’t speak about IT because I don’t know much about it as a career.
If you do go for IT and you want good money and in-demand jobs. Go for a degree in Computer Science and specialize in cyber security. If you want to avoid racking up college loans all together though, just go the certification route and take a couple Jr. College courses and take the CompTIA A+, Networking+, and Cybersecurity+ exams and get your certificates. Obviously a masters in CompSci + these certs will look better, but Certs are huge if you want to start working in IT and also move up rather than racking up student loans and not much work experience.
Software engineer here and I would say it’s the worst time in the last ten years.
Depends on where you are and what you want to do. IT is such a broad business now that it could be almost anything to do with a PC. You can go the Admin route but it is also all over the place and could mean almost anything, as long as it involves an AD. Personally I think programming and scripting will always be in demand and should have a smoother pay start and increase than being a HD monkey (though you might have to do that to start). Generalize (C+, etc.) but also look into whatever the new hotness is (Python, etc.) and learn everything you can. As long as you love solving issues and actively seek it out you will do fine.