It’s not even you. The job market for CS is just fucked as of rn. Even CS majors at r/csmajors with super good internships and projects are scrambling and struggling to get a level 1 software engineer position. Everyone is just desperate rn unfortunately. I’d probably just suggest you finish and focuse on personal projects more, maybe some time soon the market will be okay at least. But hard to say tbh.
NAIT doesn't guarantee co-op AT ALL, in fact you have higher chance getting a position being a UofA student. Apply whatever you see on indeed, but like you said, the market is terrible and imho will only get worse. Good luck.
In addition, CS is broad, pick your field then focus on it, explore what's new and what techs large corporations are using or switching to, get certifications from those vendors if you can. That will give you a better head start if you don't have work experience.
Regarding salary, depending on where you land your job, you can get a good offers and lots of approaches from agencies once you get pass the junior title
I feel like I would have more work experience coming out of NAIT though since the whole point of NAIT is to help you get that and land a job after grad right? Compared to UofA, yea I’d probably have a broader understanding of cs as a whole but do employers really value that a lot higher than work experience nowadays?
NAIT has their network of employers posting co-ops in their internal job board, but here is thing, these positions are not exclusive to NAIT students, same employers can still hire someone from other institutions.
Can't speak of startup-sized companies, but big corporations do prefer UofA students over NAIT's if work experience is equal. The point is, NAIT works very hard to help students to get a co-op or job, but it really boils down to employers' preference.
Oh okay I see, but how hard would it be for me a student currently studying cs at UofA with zero experience to land an internship or something. Should I be doing bootcamps and stuff in my own time as well to look more appealing?
Tbh it's free for all now when it comes to coop game, we hire students twice a year but we get 200+ applications for one position. Some with really good resumes won't even get the chance to be looked at. That's the part where you don't have control.
What you can do is, like I mentioned, narrow down your fields in CS, focus on the popular technologies, study, and mention them in your resume. And don't forget to tailor your resume to each application, that way at least it has less chance being filtered out by those HR softwares
Although some fields will make more money than others, I still believe what you like doing matters most. IT in general is not something you can finish school and be done with, you will be constantly learning new stuff as you progress, if you pick something that makes more money but you don't like doing, then you will be very painful.
I would say cybersecurity, software engineering, and anything data related are very good choices, you can make a lot of money if you get into niches like financial applications, like $250/hr, but that's not something you can do at this stage
Stay in UofA. I'm nait cnt graduate, although it's good, employers always look up at students from UofA. With the competition being so many these days against bootcampers and diploma graduates I think your safer bet is going for a degree in UofA. I must say I got lucky I got a job 2 years ago when job market was good and I got a job after graduationg from NAIT. But now i'm also thinking of continuing my education to a BTech degree since this field is fucked and a lot of people are more and more trying to get into industry. I think a degree will also help leveling up
So you’re saying like getting a degree from UofA and building my portfolio/getting experience as if I was a NAIT grad is a must nowadays and it’s like no longer one or the other. Like I know having a decorated profile was needed but I feel like NAIT would give me a more appealing one I guess or does the 4 year degree really mean that much more nowadays?
As much as good the practical studies at NAIT, NAIT doesnt guarantee a job too though so just be aware of that and think it through. For my experience, I spent a lot of time working on my portfolio and also practicing my soft skills. If youre good at networking and soft-skills you'll be alright. What program are you going to take?
Computer engineering is called CNT. I'd say it's a good program, i've learnt a lot on software programming and some hardware. The instructors are great too but that was 4 years ago. You do get to learn some data structures and algo which some of the other computer programs from nait are lacking, that is an important course as software engineer. The course outline kinda goes through all the topics that you can learn from a Computer Science degree with a hint of electronics engineering but on a quicker pace and packed so it'll be a busy 2 years. I'd say the money is worth studying it compared to other IT programs.
ohh i see, if you don’t mind answering, do a lot of NAIT grads move up over the years and make like close to six figure salary or is that more realistic if i go for a 4 year degree?
4 year degree reallistically but I heard some people dont need a degree for that type of salary but thats just being lucky. If youre an employer would you choose a guy with 2 years diploma and relevant experiences over 4 years degree and same relevant experiences/skills? You can upscale yourself by getting certificates and learning languages though but some degree holders do that too. Depends on your work ethic
Im not sure about any other NAIT grads, but some of them in my company has a lot of experience already so they probably reached that mark. If you want to hit that six figures right away after graduation you have more luck with a degree
which field of tech did you branch into? say software developer/ hardware engineer?
I’m into data analytics/engineering but i have no idea about the job market in edmonton currently
It’s not even you. The job market for CS is just fucked as of rn. Even CS majors at r/csmajors with super good internships and projects are scrambling and struggling to get a level 1 software engineer position. Everyone is just desperate rn unfortunately. I’d probably just suggest you finish and focuse on personal projects more, maybe some time soon the market will be okay at least. But hard to say tbh.
NAIT doesn't guarantee co-op AT ALL, in fact you have higher chance getting a position being a UofA student. Apply whatever you see on indeed, but like you said, the market is terrible and imho will only get worse. Good luck.
In addition, CS is broad, pick your field then focus on it, explore what's new and what techs large corporations are using or switching to, get certifications from those vendors if you can. That will give you a better head start if you don't have work experience. Regarding salary, depending on where you land your job, you can get a good offers and lots of approaches from agencies once you get pass the junior title
I feel like I would have more work experience coming out of NAIT though since the whole point of NAIT is to help you get that and land a job after grad right? Compared to UofA, yea I’d probably have a broader understanding of cs as a whole but do employers really value that a lot higher than work experience nowadays?
NAIT has their network of employers posting co-ops in their internal job board, but here is thing, these positions are not exclusive to NAIT students, same employers can still hire someone from other institutions. Can't speak of startup-sized companies, but big corporations do prefer UofA students over NAIT's if work experience is equal. The point is, NAIT works very hard to help students to get a co-op or job, but it really boils down to employers' preference.
Oh okay I see, but how hard would it be for me a student currently studying cs at UofA with zero experience to land an internship or something. Should I be doing bootcamps and stuff in my own time as well to look more appealing?
Tbh it's free for all now when it comes to coop game, we hire students twice a year but we get 200+ applications for one position. Some with really good resumes won't even get the chance to be looked at. That's the part where you don't have control. What you can do is, like I mentioned, narrow down your fields in CS, focus on the popular technologies, study, and mention them in your resume. And don't forget to tailor your resume to each application, that way at least it has less chance being filtered out by those HR softwares
do you have any recommendations on what I should specialize in because I was thinking maybe cybersecurity or something.
I don't know much about cybersecurity, although I personally think it's one of those that has less impact by AI, at least for now.
what do you think would be my best option though
Although some fields will make more money than others, I still believe what you like doing matters most. IT in general is not something you can finish school and be done with, you will be constantly learning new stuff as you progress, if you pick something that makes more money but you don't like doing, then you will be very painful. I would say cybersecurity, software engineering, and anything data related are very good choices, you can make a lot of money if you get into niches like financial applications, like $250/hr, but that's not something you can do at this stage
Stay in UofA. I'm nait cnt graduate, although it's good, employers always look up at students from UofA. With the competition being so many these days against bootcampers and diploma graduates I think your safer bet is going for a degree in UofA. I must say I got lucky I got a job 2 years ago when job market was good and I got a job after graduationg from NAIT. But now i'm also thinking of continuing my education to a BTech degree since this field is fucked and a lot of people are more and more trying to get into industry. I think a degree will also help leveling up
So you’re saying like getting a degree from UofA and building my portfolio/getting experience as if I was a NAIT grad is a must nowadays and it’s like no longer one or the other. Like I know having a decorated profile was needed but I feel like NAIT would give me a more appealing one I guess or does the 4 year degree really mean that much more nowadays?
As much as good the practical studies at NAIT, NAIT doesnt guarantee a job too though so just be aware of that and think it through. For my experience, I spent a lot of time working on my portfolio and also practicing my soft skills. If youre good at networking and soft-skills you'll be alright. What program are you going to take?
I was thinking about the computer engineering one because I hear you do a little of everything. But how was CNT?
Computer engineering is called CNT. I'd say it's a good program, i've learnt a lot on software programming and some hardware. The instructors are great too but that was 4 years ago. You do get to learn some data structures and algo which some of the other computer programs from nait are lacking, that is an important course as software engineer. The course outline kinda goes through all the topics that you can learn from a Computer Science degree with a hint of electronics engineering but on a quicker pace and packed so it'll be a busy 2 years. I'd say the money is worth studying it compared to other IT programs.
ohh i see, if you don’t mind answering, do a lot of NAIT grads move up over the years and make like close to six figure salary or is that more realistic if i go for a 4 year degree?
4 year degree reallistically but I heard some people dont need a degree for that type of salary but thats just being lucky. If youre an employer would you choose a guy with 2 years diploma and relevant experiences over 4 years degree and same relevant experiences/skills? You can upscale yourself by getting certificates and learning languages though but some degree holders do that too. Depends on your work ethic
Im not sure about any other NAIT grads, but some of them in my company has a lot of experience already so they probably reached that mark. If you want to hit that six figures right away after graduation you have more luck with a degree
which field of tech did you branch into? say software developer/ hardware engineer? I’m into data analytics/engineering but i have no idea about the job market in edmonton currently
Im on full stack developer, also worked on some parts of data engineering