[ale] Sort of OT: College Majors

[Fulton Green]

On Mon, Nov 22, 2004 at 01:31:42PM -0500, Bob Toxen wrote:
> Computer Programming as a decent well-paying profession is DEAD in
> the U.S. (and Europe).  Pick another Major (lots of Engineering
> possibilities, possibly Pre-Law, Business, etc.)
(job search horror story deleted)
> The party is over for Programmers!

While I don't necessarily agree with the severity of Bob's assertions, I
will say that the long-term career prospects for those in software
development have definitely been diminished over the past several years.
When I took a cold, hard look at my own prospects a few years ago, I had
to weigh the value proposition of either focusing extra-hard on certain
skill sets (e.g., J2EE/XSL or C#), going into a unique industry niche
(anti-spam technology was/still is an interest of mine), or going into
something completely different.  To make a long story short, I'm now
wrapping up my first semester in a fulltime MBA program.  FWIW, Alan Cox
just wrapped up his fulltime MBA education, though our motivations and
post-MBA aspirations differ somewhat.

Anyone that's curious about my experiences so far ... feel free to ask!