I’m thinking of going back to school and I’d like a practical, career oriented program. I took some programming courses back in high school and I was quite good at them. My question is two-fold: Which are the better known, more respected colleges in Toronto for computer oriented programs, and which of these programs are in high demand right now? I’m leaning towards programming but I’m open to network administrator or web design options as well. Advice from former students, employers, people in the field is welcome.
Thanks!
Are you looking for colleges or universities? You don’t show your location, so I must give the obligatory disclaimer that in Ontario, “college” and “university” are two different things. You mention practical, career-oriented goals, so that leads me to think, “college”.
Colleges in the immediate Toronto area include George Brown (right downtown), Centennial (eastern suburbs), Humber (western suburbs), Seneca (northern suburbs), Georgian (north of the city), Durham (east of the city), and Sheridan (west of the city). There are also private career colleges; I know nothing of them.)
I went to Sheridan College, which at the time was known for its CAD programs and electronics technician/technology. These days it’s better known for animation (computer and otherwise).
I’m not sure what’s in high demand right now (possibly nothing, thanks to the recession). You might be best to look for something that offers flexible skills that can be adapted to a variety of situations.
I live in Toronto right now. By college I mean 2-3 year program that ends with a diploma or certificate, not a degree. I’m not really interested in graphics or aesthetic design programs but I can be creative when it comes to compiling programs. Honestly, I’m not clueless when it comes to computers but I don’t think I know enough right now to be able to say what interests me. Something along the lines of either programmer or technician I’d say.
Well, technician is closer to what I did. You need to know hardware for that, and, more importantly, you need to have the “troubleshooting mind”. That’s probably the most important thing for a technician who is going to be diagnosing and repairing things. I don’t really have the tropubleshooting mind, and so I drifted away from hardware into documentation. Mind you, I worked extremely well with a guy who does have the troubleshooting mind.
Other technicians work on assembly lines and like that, but there’s not as much manufacturing here as there was formerly. On the other hand, who knows? I’m sure there are still some local white-box manufacturers or custom system manufacturers around here.
Another thing you might look at is computer security and maintenance. This includes things like anti-virus sweeps and backups.
As for programming, I can think of a number of niches, but I no longer know much about what the colleges offer. These things seem to change about every five years. I understand that university-level programs give the student a greater theorietical understanding, so that in programming, for example, you’d get more knowledge on how to pick the right computer language for a task, say, while in technician-oriented programs you’d deal with the practicalities of using a pre-chosen language.
Re learning programming in general, you may want to look at the file How to become a Hacker. Have a look at the section "Basic Hacking Skills–there’s a discussion of different programming languages there.
Seneca offers some diploma and certificate computer programs in the areas you’ve mentioned: Programming; networking; system admin; etc. You might want to check out the website - under the full time and part time programs.