1. the number of skilled laborers coming into the country is limited.

2. this would be a skilled field

3. there is an NSA certification of some sort for this type of field. You think lots and lots of foreigners will have this certification?

4. this entire field is exploding, as hacks and viruses proliferate. Not only US government, but increasingly all types of private enterprise are being targetted.


This isn't picking fruit, or a call-center type position. While it's certainly possible that some jobs get offshored, this field is growing so rapidly that demand will greatly outpace supply. Besides, are huge U.S. companies really going to offshore THEIR IT SECURITY?!

"Let's ship our IT security jobs to China because we're worried about Chinese hackers!"

It would not surprise me at all if they do that, they are worried more about the bottom line and the shareholders. Plus the foreign schools have a ton of shady certificates and degrees. We will see though, I really hope you are correct.

Sorry to hear that, Rico. Weren't you going to school to be a nurse? I thought that was about as solid a career path as it gets these days. At least as far as job availability and a decent salary floor are concerned.

Here's my worry - when I was in high school everyone was pushing computer science/programming degrees.

And sure, there was some sense to that, but when you're on the cutting edge of a field, you'll spend your entire career looking over your shoulder. The technology sector is terrifying because every 5 years a new brood of employees that are cheaper than you and more fully immersed in the most recent round of technology (the stuff that came AFTER the stuff you were trained on) will be unleashed.

Most of the computer science kids ended up working at Geico manning call centers. Or ended up getting shuffled into apple to work in the mall and poke away at phones all day.

Chasing the 'hot' sector strikes me as a good way to get lost in a morass. In the end, we may be heading towards that socialist utopia either way. It may become more and more difficult to distinguish yourself and as the 'traditional' jobs start to phase out, those time-tested paths to advancement are more and more archaic (y'know, paying dues and working hard).

It looks more and more to me like future success is going to be as much about blind ****ing luck as it will be skill-sets or education.

Wait....really?

Damn man, if you finished up, go be a traveling nurse. That's a six figure income if you're not tied down and you'll get great experience.

Not really sure where you lived 25 years ago, but college wasn't relatively inexpensive back then. That's part of the reason why I never went....well that coupled with the fact that college life just wasn't something I cherished doing.

I've taken college courses along the way, expanded my educational base in my industry and kept myself ahead of the learning curve technologically.

I don't have my degree (and that's nothing I am proud of) but I have made a good living. I have had to bust my butt, and work 2 times as hard as the guy with a degree to prove I am just as capable. But I have been lucky that companies have seen my experience as more a factor than a degree I might have obtained 35 or more years ago.

And in many cases I have had associates on my teams who had advanced degrees who are making at the level you state above just because they have to take "secondary" jobs because the jobs in their fields aren't plentiful.

Oh....and Rico, I feel bad for you man. I see people in your situation all the time. In life the choices that people make, or sometimes circumstances beyond a person's control, put them in positions where they are left with few choices but to take the path you are having to take.

So I shouldn't have went to college?

Where did anyone say that?

Lay off O.City.

He's probably drunk by himself in a closed bar again.

I'm not saying it was cheap in absolute terms, but relative to today, college cost NOTHING back then. For you, you were able to take some classes here and there, didn't get a degree, but you're generally OK. For kids today, if they take a few classes here and there but don't put them to good use, it can set them back a decade financially.

http://inflationdata.com/articles/wp.../education.jpg

I Hate Big College

I think he may be referring to my post....and my answer to him would be the same one I gave my kids. Don't go down the path I did because it's not the easiest way to go and not everyone has the drive to succeed that way.

I thought so too?

And it's a great profession. Lots of jobs everywhere. And you're right, if you can swing a travel gig, even 8-13 weeks somewhere, you'll make amazing money.

Rico?

No one.

I'm not drunk again.