<p>I'm just curious as to what sort of offers people are receiving, considering the current economy. I think it would be useful information for both current and prospective students, as well as current job-hunters. Feel free to exclude any sensitive information or be intentionally vague. If you could, post your major, general job title/industry, compensation/bonus/base/etc. range, and anything else you'd like to include. If this thread has any interest, I'll post general information about my own offer(s), but I don't want to seem arrogant or anything like that. I'm purely curious.</p>
<p>Also, if this sort of thread is frowned upon, let me know. I'm hoping to keep any flaming out of this thread.</p>
<p>I think this survey should be taken from the school itself so it can reach more people. Could you write a letter to Career department to do this survey?</p>
<p>The school of LSA’s career office is a joke. It is high time the University invests some serious resources to creating a strong LSA career office. Engineering and Ross already publiush relatively good employment and salary information.</p>
<p>I doubt I can influence them. The University must invest millions of dollars in the development of a strong career office for the school of LSA.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure these companies are looking for someone specifically with a degree in CS; one may learn how to program on one’s own, but it’s harder to learn about the fundamentals of CS without good teachers (certainly possible, but most of the self-taught people I’ve met only know how to program, and their code is pretty awful; that being said, the by far best/smartest CS-person I know is self-taught).</p>
<p>The easiest path is probably acquiring a CS degree.</p>
<p>Ken, I have two suggestions for you. The first is to try out payscale (.com) to see if its info is remotely on target…sometimes it can be. Alternately, google a contingency-fee IT recruiter, phone them, and ask them what kind of numbers they’ve seen.
I haven’t seen the job description in question, but do have pals in Oakland area I could query. But you may not wish to post information that explicit…so I am betting #2 is your best bet ;)</p>
<p>EDIT: CHANGED MY MIND, NOT POSTING because my incoming class is very small and I don’t want to violate my non-disclosure clause on my offer letter and have my future employer find out about it</p>
<p>kmccrindle, I’ve tried payscale, but its numbers also seems pretty low - even lower than what the ECRC reports. However, I understand that they probably include a lot of different jobs in various locations (and so salaries aren’t directly comparable), so I’m not surprised. I’ll try phoning an IT recruiter, though, thanks.</p>
<p>bearcats, I understand; that’s why I’ve been pretty vague with my information. If you want to send a PM, feel free to.</p>
<p>Yes. It’s also possible to teach yourself everything you need to know. It’s just much harder, IMO. There is a lot more than knowing a programming language that goes into creating systems.</p>
<p>Is it possible to get all the textbooks that CS majors use and then prove that you know them by teaching it on YouTube? Could you ask this question to the recruiter who gave you offer for 150k?</p>
<p>^Tentai, you’re starting to be ridiculous here. KenLewis will hurt his credibility if he asks a recruiter that question, IMHO. Unless you’ve written some stunning stuff by now as a DIY, why would a top company select you over someone who has invested the time, money, commitment and effort to master the field in a measurable way among peers? If you’re good enough to get a masters without the undergrad, that’s another matter, and go for it. But “teaching” on youtube is no indication of someone’s capacity to solve problems/engage in the forensic/troubleshooting process/or write elegant code.</p>
<p>That said, my own husband taught himself programming over the years (after the rudiments of Fortran and engineering and trial-ballooning AutoDesk’s first version of Cadcam) and can wrestle just about any language to the ground. Even with his deep experience as a DIY open source guy, he’d still select the trained CS major over another DIY unless same had authored something fabulous and marketable by age 20 ;)</p>