First of all I'd like to thank all of you that stuck with me on this ride.
CST 300 Pro Sem lecture has come to an end and we must all ruminate over what we covered.
I got through my technical presentation without any major snags, and i guess that was our last class meeting.
The last lecture i attended was an exciting one. We had an industry panel and pizza!
The panel consisted of four indivduals well placed in their companies. They came to talk to us about their fields of work.
Andres Ornelas is a Google Docs developer.
Erik Eldridge is a yahoo evangelist
Sridar Kandaswamy works at Csco on routers
Sue Higgins works at NPS and met grace Hopper!
Together they shared many great chestnuts of wisdom:
With a computer science education, the goal is not any particular skill, it is the ability to learn new things quickly. The only thing that stays the same is that everything changes constantly!
Skills build on core knowledge, build your core knowledge!
Work towards what interests you.
New products are constantly being introduced, but the technology moves slower.
Study a company you like and their job description to guide your choices.
The computer science market is shielded from the rest of the world, so no recession there.
Jobs with the federal government pay retirement, pension and health care.
New graduates are desireable because they are not set in their ways.
On the job training is not as good as a degree. A degree is a stepping stone to the real interesting stuff.
Tech companies need all positions, not just computer science. They require a blend. (Graphic designers?)
Have passion for what you do!
Most tech company employees work from anywhere, they all love working from home or abroad.
Research your field.
20% time at google is allowed to work on personal projects.
Tech work can be artwork that challenges you back
Advice for students: listen to your professor. Time management, do something different to you.
Homework, spend time on it, ask questions.
Passion! What are you drawn to?
proper email skills, labels and folders, are reccomended.
Start projects as early as possible.
NPS has a S.M.A.R.T. masters scholarship program.
learn something by yourself.
Internships - meet your future employers.
How do you get your foot in the door? It's who you know. Networking gets 80% of the jobs at Google - personal references from employees.
Favorite part of job?
Sue: people
Sridar: learning every day
Erik: people
Andres: getting code approved
That's it professor, thank you and I'll see you in the Spring!
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