After losing my job of 18 years, I was thinking about going back to school for computer networking and security, but from what people that I used to work with have been telling me that alot of the jobs now are being outsourced.
How is the computer software enginnering field? Where would I start if I wanted to get into this? Thanks for the help.

 

Don't goto a for profit university.
Plenty of Indians out of college willing to work for less.

 

Did you just suggest him to move to India?

 

So you were a programmer and now you want to step up and be a software engineer? I know that programmers can be outsourced, but you can't really outsource software engineers.

Also, I don't know how networking and security can be outsourced because companies need people on site to manage their network and security. Correct me if I'm wrong. Because I imagine those people need to physically manage and maintain the routers and switches.

I took a software engineering class and believe me, it is almost like a whole new world. Aside from programming, there is so much to know regarding software engineering. You have to design models, manage your team, communicate with clients, type up reports, the whole shabang. Whereas programmers just basically program.

 

Programming pays more than network engineering. I would like to say that there are more "paper-certified" network engineers than software developers, which means the true quality of work is better in development.

However, software development is more artistic than networking. Not only do you need to know the techniques, but you need to know how and when to use them. That takes a lot of time with a lot of mistakes along the way.

The job market may be pretty hard for a junior programmer. You could probably find work at a small business as the sole programmer. Take the time and built up your skill. Move to a larger company with a team of developers and steal (I mean learn) all the techniques and skills the others have. Repeat a couple more times.

If you are good about learning and applying good technique, you can be a senior developer in 5 years or so and make some decent money. When you know your stuff and can prove it in interviews, jobs aren't a problem.

A couple final notes. Don't go to a college/university for programming. Also, don't go to a trade school like ITT Tech. Go to a place that trains for certification. If you want to go the Microsoft route, you can look at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/default.aspx.

Finally, become a specialist - one of the reasons I say don't go to college. Choose one technology/language and know everything you can about it. It's easier to be a specialist and apply your skills to other technologies in which you are not strong than to be a general programmer and try to write a really complex program well.

Hope this helps.

 

I was in the computer software industry for 29 years, retiring after a project cutback in September of '09. I started out as an entry-level programmer, of course, then on to programmer analyst, and finally in the last two-thirds of my career a software engineer. Very often terms and titles get mixed up in the mire and what you wind up doing is what needs to be/get done on a project regardless of your title. As a software engineer, you are expected to have greater knowledge and experience than a programmer or programmer analyst (not sure if that title is still in use), but you may also be expected to perform as a lead, in maintenance, and development.

Down here in the metropolitcan Washington DC area, there are quite a few openings in most all ares of the software field and if you have a security clearance, you are gold. And networking/security is in need down here as well. Have you considered a move to another geographical area? Is so, checkout today's Washington Compost (that's the Washington Post for those who don't catch the cynicism). They are having a "Mega Employment section" today which might be worth your while to see if you are willing to relocate.