Computing course

Hi allA bit of help required please. I am intending to pursue a career in computing. I am currently studying at a local college for a level 3 qualification. I am unsure whether to take the option of what my college are suggesting of studying the level 4 and 5 at the college for 2 years and then the final year at a university as a top up... Or do I study the whole course for 3 years at a uni..My parents have their own thoughts on what is the best way but I wont say on here. Thanks alot in anticipation.

Reply 1

winterscoming

There's no single 'best' way to get into a career in computing - it depends as much on your personal preferences and your strengths/aptitudes as well as your goals.

Your employment prospects for a technical career depends more heavily on your technical skills than your education background; that's not to say that employers don't value graduates with a good degree from a good university, but employers hiring junior engineers into IT jobs are looking at your technical, analytical and problem solving skills above all else, as well as "soft" skills such as being able to work well in a team and written/verbal communication skills. Overall, employers prefer to hire people who can demonstrate hard evidence of being able to do the job; either from their previous work experience, or by being able to use their personal projects as a way of showcasing their abilities.

A lot of people in IT careers come from non-technical backgrounds - this is definitely not the optimal way to get into IT, but it's viable for people who have been on postgraduate courses, or who have spent time teaching themselves from adult learning courses, or through online courses and books. People who study non-technical subjects at university do have a harder time getting into a technical IT career because they're usually starting again from scratch, but it's very achievable, given around 18 months to re-train themselves with those skills.

If you're looking at a choice between an HNC/HND followed by a university top-up compared with a 3-year degree, then you'll most likely study a lot of the same topics, so there wouldn't be much difference from that point of view, however it also depends on the college and university you attend - make sure you do not attend a college or university with poor quality teaching - for your course to be valuable, it needs to be challenging enough to help you learn those skills - as long as your tutors/lecturers are teaching you the right things then the choice between an HND+top-up versus 3-year degree isn't going to make a lot of difference.

Regardless of the route you choose, I would strongly recommend picking a course which allows you to take a 12-month industrial placement after your second year - placements are an excellent way to pick up a lot of technical skills that your college or university won't teach you. On the subject of industrial placements, it helps a lot to attend a university which has strong industry connections, so one of the questions I would ask wherever you study is whether a placement is an option, and if so what kinds of placements/companies are likely to be available.

A possible downside of choosing an HND with a top-up year at university is that it may be much harder to find an industrial placement from your college. Employers tend to partner with established universities rather than FE colleges, so you would likely have a better chance at getting a placement year with a full-time degree course at one of those universities.

Another possible route would be through a degree apprenticeship scheme such as Digital and Technology Solutions, which involves applying directly to an employer who is offering a placement on a scheme in partnership with a university:
https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/digital-and-technology-solutions-professional-degree/
As far as routes into a technical IT career are concerned, this is possibly the most reliable if you can be accepted onto the scheme by the employer. It involves working in an almost full-time job (usually 30 hours per week assuming a standard 7.5 hour working day), with one day per week at a college or university. It's also a lot of work because you're combining a commitment to the employer with a commitment to studying and passing your exams too - however the benefit to your career prospects by the time you graduate will be in having 3 years of solid work experience and a technical skillset which meets the demands of employers.

Lastly, there's also the less structured route of online learning and/or applying for specific courses which lend themselves to particular types of certification - for example, certification from companies like Microsoft and Cisco are extremely valuable. There are also websites like TeamTreehouse, Udacity, edX and Coursera who offer a lot of exceptionally high quality online courses for free (or for a very reasonable cost), which you can combine with books and personal projects or other self-directed/self-motivated learning to reach your goals. This is also something you could do during your summer holidays to help your employment prospects.

Computing course

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