Planning a career...

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Im 17 years old and im just about to sit my AS level exams, im taking ICT, Maths, Photography and Chemistry. I am certain to drop maths after this year as i cant grasp any of the concepts. Im aiming at finishing A2 with the grades ABB, with the A in ICT.

Up until recently ive been considering graphic/web design courses at uni and then of course going into that field of work, however ive looked on numerous sites and found that the salaries for graphic/web design are considerably lower than other ICT related jobs, and although the job salary doesn't mean everything, it means quite alot.

So my question is, which ICT related jobs would pay the best salaries and could anyone recommend any university courses that i should look at for the specific career?

Thanks in advance

 

Im not so sure anymore. Multimedia, Software development anything along those lines really.

 

Ive looked lots of different universities course for software development and found that they state maths is required at GCSE level. Not found any saying you need an A level in maths.

Also before i choose a university course i want to know that there isn't a different course that i could have taken which would allow me to get a job with a much larger salary.

 

If you are interested in money why not study money ?

Salary survey's are not hard to find in the age of the internet.

http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/salary.htm

Theres lot of well paying professions, IT is nowhere near the top, Maths is not mandatory for a Computer Science degree although I would highly reccomend it can help lead to top paying positions.

 

I'm very unsure about what is the "going rate" for graduates with no real-life experience.
But with experience perhaps 50-60k although I haven't got my heart set on a particular salary.

 

I know lol, i meant that salary would be at the peak of my career!

 

Colleges will normally advise as to employment prospects and salary expectations for graduates.

Its highly unlikey that you would get anywhere near that, use google, do some research, you might as well get in the habbit !

The average graduate salary is around £22k. You could potentially earn £50k with a good PHd but you'd be still have to be lucky to be honest and work in the right sector, if you find A-level maths hard its doubtful a valid path for you.

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/Show...e_average_graduate_starting_salary_/p!eaLXbeX

 

I can sympathise on the A level maths front dude
I did Further maths at A level but didnt finish my studying in the end mainly due to incorrect priorities, I considered myself to be quite apt mathmatically and at GCSE it was one of the few lessons i enjoyed, eventually gaining an A, at A level i struggled with the ideas as you say, its really weird concepts to grasp, like i say i had priority issues at that point which coupled with doing the modules at a faster rate than straight A level i really doomed myself.

 

http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/default.aspx?page=1&sortby=5&orderby=1&q=&id=0&lid=2618

Ive found this site and according to that, the average wage for a number of jobs is near the 50k mark. If i wanted to become a developer, what sort of degree would i need to take?

 

A Computer Science (BSc) is the standard path to becomming a professional programmer but there are many possible routes, generally the most important attributes are ability and commitment. Be aware those salaries are for people with 6+ years experience, probably a degree also and the average can be skewed by high salaries in major cities and industries.

http://www.joslinrowe.com/salary-survey-results/?countryID=1&sectorID=6

Quants are some of the best paid people in the country, however a Maths PHd helps ! ;)

Once you get into hign end business positions there are no standard salaries, CEO's can take home 7 figure packages, as can some lawyers, investment bankers, as well as your celebs and footballers...

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=429134&in_page_id=2
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/what-britain-earns-509669.html

 

Thanks for that post, it was really helpful. Thats what i was looking for, the degree's that will get me towards the careers.

Baring in mind im aiming for ABB with A in ICT what universities should i be looking at ?

 

I'm not aware what colleges are good anymore, talk to a good careers advisor. The best college depends on the subject and the course you want to take, Oxford and Cambridge are the top two in general. Red brick universisties tend to have a better reputation but i'm not sure how true this is anymore, seems to be a bit of a lottery.

http://topratings.wordpress.com/2007/07/16/top-20-uk-universities-computer-science/

Like i said do some research !

 

Just as a counterweight to the comments here - I am a programmer and consider myself fairly successful. I only got to that figure quoted a few years ago.

Maths is essential to be a good programmer - many areas of programming demand good knowledge of various mathematical fields.

And the main point of my post - other than A levels I have no 'qualifications' at all! Certainly in my department a computing degree will push your CV towards the top of the pile. But relevant experience will put that CV right at the top of the pile!

Finally - be careful of looking at possible salary figures for some some point years ahead. £50k looked impossible to me when I started programming, but inflation has changed that! But costs have risen as well, so what sounded like riches then is less so now.

Harry.

 

Yes i understand that the 50k salaries come after a good few years experience.

And about the maths Im not terrible at it, i got a B at GCSE, its just i'm much stronger in my other 3 subjects and they would get me a larger amount of UCAS points.

 

What sort of programming do you do?

And do you enjoy your job ?

 

All sorts. Currently I do billing related programming involving a variety of languages - shell, Perl, C and SQL. In the past I have written software to check Tachographs, maintained and improved support software for a Mortgage provider, network level support software for a distributed database for a shopping center and have written several terminal emulators.

Very much so. And this is key. It is no good, in my book anyway, trying to do a job I don't enjoy.

Harry.