Ladies and Gentlemen , this week I'm going to discuss with you a popular yet prestigious career - Architecture. I'm going to elaborate a bit about the following aspects:
1. What do actually architects do ?
2. What does it take to be an architect?
3. What are advantages of a career in architecture?
4. What are the disadvantages of a career in architecture?
What do actually architects do
So what does it actually mean "to be an architect":
1. Realizing the customer's requirements in a professional design i.e the customer details the requirements or the vision for the house or flat to be built, and the architect translates those requirements to a thorough set of designs and specifications.
2. Inventing the creative idea of a structure (a house, a chapel, a mall, a school etc.). By that I refer to the esthetic realization of a structure: taking the requirements for a structure and adding creativity and esthetics to it in order to make the structure qualitative for a decent use and not only a bunch of blocks structured together.
3. Supervising the implementation of the design at the construction site - making sure that the design actually gets implemented physically at the construction process, which means that the architect needs to make sure that the construction manager doesn't defy the design and the construction license given to the project.
What does it take to be an architect?
So, what does it take to be a good architect, one that survives in this career for decades without being totally burnt-out and contemplating about a career change every other week? In my opinion, a proper architect should have the following:
1. A genuine attraction to the construction industry i.e. a person that while walking the street, can't help himself looking on new buildings or on special structures. A person that given the choice to watch an architecture show or a comedy show, would choose the first one.
2. A clear tendency to the design and esthetics world. One can't be an architect with a mind of an accountant. It takes a certain personality to fit this niche, as most people wouldn't find special interest in how a building is built or how the interior of an apartment is designed.
3. Capability and desire to study long years of undergraduate studies (about 5 years) and then start working in relatively low wages compare to engineering fields. This career is for long range runners and not for sprinters. An architect reaches maturity after about 20 years of work, but then he/she may work until the age of 70 (at least).
What are advantages of a career in architecture?
1. Independent work - architecture is one of the most independent and self reliant careers. The architect can be self employed more or less from the beginning of the career, a fact which is very rare in academic (including technical) professions.
2. Combination between art and practice - this is one of the few careers that makes profit from art. Making a living out of painting or sculpture is usually difficult, while practicing architecture opens a variety of job prospects and sometimes a fine level of wages.
3. Relevant to other occupational fields - architecture has much in common with neighboring such as: interior design and product design. This means that the architect may widen the career by moving partially to engage in such fields, which increases the job security and earning prospects.
What are the disadvantages of a career in architecture?
1. This is a field either you're very good at or you hardly survive. No middle way. The talent needed for it combined with the long years of experience needed to become really professional as an architect take a heavy toll which few people can bear. Thus this career is for people who "were born architects", somewhat like a career in medicine.
2. Long and bothersome studies - 5 years of study heavy in hands on technical training (about 45 hours combined a week at class + at home) are not for everyone. Thus you need to be sure that you're capable of putting in such workload for a long period of time.
3. Low wages compared to other academic technical fields, at least in the first 4-5 years. The learning curve in architecture is slower than in other technical fields thus the wages tend to grow up slowly in the first years of the career.
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Why Study Computer Science?
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my weekly article. This time I'm going to think again about the career choice I took and answer a few questions:
1. What is actually Computer Science?
2. Why most young people refrain from taking this academic track?
3. What makes young people take this track anyway?
4. What are the main advantages of this career?
5. What are the main disadvantages of this career?
What is actually Computer Science
This term itself is problematic because the field doesn't deal with computers as objects and is not a standard exact science. Let's put it clear: a science deals with theory while engineering deals with finding practical solutions. So by this definition Computer Science is mostly an engineering. Moreover, This field deals with the principles and methods of software development and not with the structure of computer. So The proper name for this field would be "Software Engineering", as it has been started to be called.
So studying Computer Science you will be educated about the several aspects of the software world: algorithms, data structures , operating systems , logics , machine languages, modern languages and software engineering courses. This academic track should teach you the proper state of mind for engaging in software development. After graduation you should be ready to deal by yourself with extensive self learning of languages ,development environments and algorithms.
Why most young people refrain from taking this academic track
1. Women - constitute a minority among Computer Science student (about 20%). This may be attributed the general reluctance of women from technical career. In addition, the field's image as a masculine one deters many women from entering it.
2. Geek oriented - this filed is widely perceived as suitable mainly for socially inept males, who can't deal with interpersonal jobs and retreat to a solitary career. Many prospect students ditch this career path due to this problematic issue.
3. Offshoring - it's widely perceived that software jobs have been leaking to developing countries like India, thus the future of professionals in the software industry seems blurred.
4. Age bias - it's widely believed that software professionals work till the age of 40, then they're usually fired without being able to find any further employment.
5. Boredom - the field is depicted in public as extremely boring and as one that people engage in just for the good wages it brings.
What makes young people take this track anyway?
1. The mouse generation effect - most of the 1990's born generation has been raised as computer and cellphone addicts. They have known these instrument as their best friend from age 4-5 and have spent thousands of hours using them. Thus a certain percentage of them view the possibility of computing as a career as a natural career path.
2. The big money - many young people are attracted to this field due to the relatively high salaries it offers. Software engineers in the US might earn $100,000 a year after 5-10 years of experience as the average annual salary is about $45,000, which means that good professionals in the software industry earn about 2 times the average salary.
3. High job prospects - young people who tend to study technical courses are often attracted to the high number of jobs the software industry offers compared to other technical field like: Construction, Mechanical or chemical engineering fields.
4. Entrepreneurship prospects - the software industry is perceived as offering wide prospects of working as a self employed professional or as an entrepreneur. We all have been hearing about the success story of Facebook or Twitter which were initiated basically by a single person and have become world wide phenomena.
What are the main advantages of this career
1. Prestigous - no matter where you go, being computer programmer is highly respectable, sometimes one of the most respected careers: North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Latin America or India. Being respectable and engaging in a well respected career is important to many people.
2. Twenty years of grace - software professionals enjoy a steady prospects of employment for about 20 years after graduation, as most Computer Science graduates enter the job market at about 23 years of age. It's rare to see a software professional unemployed for long periods of time, at least until the age of 45.
3. Self employment prospects - It's feasible to work as a freelancer or as an entrepreneur, a luxury a few academic occupations enjoy. For people who can't find proper employment or wish to be their own bosses, this feature is highly important.
4. Work from everywhere - this field lets you work from every place on this planet almost without any significance to your physical location. This enables the possibilities to work for a remote client without leaving your room.
What are the main disadvantages of this career?
1. All day in front of the computer - there are people who are suitable for such a daily routine but many would get frustrated from sitting 45 hours a week in front of a small screen. So taking this aspect into consideration would be prudent.
2. Limited social interaction - again, there are people who would crave such working conditions and people that would climb the walls after a month in this atmosphere. Though software professionals interact during work, interpersonal relations surely can't be defined as the title of this career.
3. Age bias - in this field 40 years old worker is considered quite old, though the average age in the industry has increased during the last 2 decades, due to the fact that the field got popular mainly since the 1990's, so obviously the average age can't be over 35 years of age.
Summary
In this article I've shared with you my understanding of the various aspects of choosing Computer Science as a career: its advantages, disadvantages and why people opt for or refrain from this field.
You're more than welcome to comment this article with your insights.
1. What is actually Computer Science?
2. Why most young people refrain from taking this academic track?
3. What makes young people take this track anyway?
4. What are the main advantages of this career?
5. What are the main disadvantages of this career?
What is actually Computer Science
This term itself is problematic because the field doesn't deal with computers as objects and is not a standard exact science. Let's put it clear: a science deals with theory while engineering deals with finding practical solutions. So by this definition Computer Science is mostly an engineering. Moreover, This field deals with the principles and methods of software development and not with the structure of computer. So The proper name for this field would be "Software Engineering", as it has been started to be called.
So studying Computer Science you will be educated about the several aspects of the software world: algorithms, data structures , operating systems , logics , machine languages, modern languages and software engineering courses. This academic track should teach you the proper state of mind for engaging in software development. After graduation you should be ready to deal by yourself with extensive self learning of languages ,development environments and algorithms.
Why most young people refrain from taking this academic track
1. Women - constitute a minority among Computer Science student (about 20%). This may be attributed the general reluctance of women from technical career. In addition, the field's image as a masculine one deters many women from entering it.
2. Geek oriented - this filed is widely perceived as suitable mainly for socially inept males, who can't deal with interpersonal jobs and retreat to a solitary career. Many prospect students ditch this career path due to this problematic issue.
3. Offshoring - it's widely perceived that software jobs have been leaking to developing countries like India, thus the future of professionals in the software industry seems blurred.
4. Age bias - it's widely believed that software professionals work till the age of 40, then they're usually fired without being able to find any further employment.
5. Boredom - the field is depicted in public as extremely boring and as one that people engage in just for the good wages it brings.
What makes young people take this track anyway?
1. The mouse generation effect - most of the 1990's born generation has been raised as computer and cellphone addicts. They have known these instrument as their best friend from age 4-5 and have spent thousands of hours using them. Thus a certain percentage of them view the possibility of computing as a career as a natural career path.
2. The big money - many young people are attracted to this field due to the relatively high salaries it offers. Software engineers in the US might earn $100,000 a year after 5-10 years of experience as the average annual salary is about $45,000, which means that good professionals in the software industry earn about 2 times the average salary.
3. High job prospects - young people who tend to study technical courses are often attracted to the high number of jobs the software industry offers compared to other technical field like: Construction, Mechanical or chemical engineering fields.
4. Entrepreneurship prospects - the software industry is perceived as offering wide prospects of working as a self employed professional or as an entrepreneur. We all have been hearing about the success story of Facebook or Twitter which were initiated basically by a single person and have become world wide phenomena.
What are the main advantages of this career
1. Prestigous - no matter where you go, being computer programmer is highly respectable, sometimes one of the most respected careers: North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Latin America or India. Being respectable and engaging in a well respected career is important to many people.
2. Twenty years of grace - software professionals enjoy a steady prospects of employment for about 20 years after graduation, as most Computer Science graduates enter the job market at about 23 years of age. It's rare to see a software professional unemployed for long periods of time, at least until the age of 45.
3. Self employment prospects - It's feasible to work as a freelancer or as an entrepreneur, a luxury a few academic occupations enjoy. For people who can't find proper employment or wish to be their own bosses, this feature is highly important.
4. Work from everywhere - this field lets you work from every place on this planet almost without any significance to your physical location. This enables the possibilities to work for a remote client without leaving your room.
What are the main disadvantages of this career?
1. All day in front of the computer - there are people who are suitable for such a daily routine but many would get frustrated from sitting 45 hours a week in front of a small screen. So taking this aspect into consideration would be prudent.
2. Limited social interaction - again, there are people who would crave such working conditions and people that would climb the walls after a month in this atmosphere. Though software professionals interact during work, interpersonal relations surely can't be defined as the title of this career.
3. Age bias - in this field 40 years old worker is considered quite old, though the average age in the industry has increased during the last 2 decades, due to the fact that the field got popular mainly since the 1990's, so obviously the average age can't be over 35 years of age.
Summary
In this article I've shared with you my understanding of the various aspects of choosing Computer Science as a career: its advantages, disadvantages and why people opt for or refrain from this field.
You're more than welcome to comment this article with your insights.
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