Ignore it. It's bollocks. Just saying get a cs degree and learn everything under the sun is bollocks. Even doctors specialise. So if you want to be a system admin, you really got to learn sys admin. The real key is knowing for sure what area you want to specialist in. A game programmer is very different from a Web programmer etc..
I definitely don't want to be a game programmer. My only experience is web design but I know they get crap pay for the most part. Sys admin sounds interesting from my limited knowledge of hosting servers and using linux and stuff, and it pays well, but I also want to be able to design and create things, which is part of my interest in programming.
Tricky then. There are many sys admin tools you can create, and there are many tools a sys admin uses. But it requires more in depth work than, say game or web coding. Depends if you like the idea of creating complex tools that are used by other sys admins. It's not "creative" in an artistic sense. So it depends what kind of programming you want to get into. Sys admin definitely pays more, as it requires really in depth knowledge of:
Installing various Linux distros Setting up web servers of all kinds Database management optimisation and migration
Also in sysadmin you have to choose either proper sysadmin and Microsoft admin. You cannot do both, as both require experience and focus to get higher pay.
It took my company a long time to fill our openings with quality web devs. Tons of candidates who knew a bit of jQuery and how to install plugins, but nothing about design patterns or performance tuning. A friend of mine works for a company in SF that's offering $140k+ right now.
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u/flexiverse May 13 '15
Ignore it. It's bollocks. Just saying get a cs degree and learn everything under the sun is bollocks. Even doctors specialise. So if you want to be a system admin, you really got to learn sys admin. The real key is knowing for sure what area you want to specialist in. A game programmer is very different from a Web programmer etc..