delSol97: i happen to have one of those "fun web jobs", and i have no graphics design training or experience at all, so they do exist. i don't do graphic design... that's a job for *graphic designers*. our graphic designers don't code... that's a job for *programmers* (me). i'm not saying you're wrong, in fact, you're probably dead on. but companies hiring graphics design people to do programming need to have their HR people shot. i do agree with you about the management stuff though, and i think IT people should get some mangerial experience. that way, at very least we'd have some guys who actually know something about technology managing technology companies (do
i sound bitter?
). people getting into IT just because they think they can take some 10 month course and then make piles of cash are in it for the wrong reasons. hopefully those people will choose other careers and the US economy will recover, so we can get back to having a shortage of skilled workers again. i wouldn't say it's a go-nowhere field, but it is depressing meeting people who do things like drive a truck, or work in a mill, and make twice what i do. going into management just isn't an option, because it means having to listen to and deal with people's problems instead of playing with computers.
reXem: there's no denying that C# is a complete Java ripoff
. i'm just saying that with all these pro-Microsoft companies, they'll be more likely to use it over Java (which is unfortunate). and i agree about the schools... i should hope they'd be teaching you the fundamentals of programming instead of worrying about specifics of a certain language... but how can they expect their students to graduate and say to potential employers "well, no, i don't know XYZ language... but i'll learn it!"? most schools don't teach anything about coding in a group, office politics, truncated design schedules, having little or no time for testing, etc.