hey there everybody i just recently graduated from homeschooling and can pursue a career! I really want to get into the career for building computers! But what type of degree would i need to do so? I really want to build mainly just computers and laptops and work for a company such as cyberpower, ibuypower, maingear etc. But all the college courses i looked up require to do some coding. Am i looking at the wrong degree for this career i want to pursue? I hope im making sense lol. Any answers would be awsome!
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what degree would i need for building computers?
- Thread starter tna135
- Start date
- Joined
- May 29, 2005
I doubt even MCP would be necessary as that's a microsoft cert. A+ wouldn't hurt I suppose.
I don't want to step on your dreams of putting together computers for a corporation but -- I honestly imagine they have people that don't have degrees (or if they do, it's not because they needed one) getting paid near minimum wage to do those repetitive tasks.
I don't want to step on your dreams of putting together computers for a corporation but -- I honestly imagine they have people that don't have degrees (or if they do, it's not because they needed one) getting paid near minimum wage to do those repetitive tasks.
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2004
This. Don't waste tens of thousands of dollars on a college education to get a minimum wage job assembling computers. If all you want to do with your life career-wise is assemble PCs for a retailer, don't get a degree at all, just find a job and work your arse off. (That's not an attack on your goals, but it's the truth. Not everyone wants or has a need for a college education). If you want to get a degree, take a few courses in a few different areas that interest you and see what sticks. Don't shy away from coding, it's fun! If you really enjoy the hardware aspect (which is far, far deeper than just assembling PCs) maybe computer or electrical engineering.
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2007
- Location
- Near Toronto Canada
I have similar aspirations and this is my personal plan:
Step 1, find a mentor in your local area (completed)
Step 2, practice troubleshooting problems, helping people with builds, putting parts lists together on an online forum such as this (completed)
Step 3, get your CompTIA A+ certification (studying for this)
Step 4, either get a job at a store like CanadaComputers, NCIX, Compucenter, etc repairing, troubleshooting, building computers
OR
Start your own business or become part of a business that does the above
Step 5, If you selected "Job at NCIX" from Step 4, get into buisiness for yourself. Grow business, get more clients, expand outside your city to surrounding areas, hire helper(s) to handle more clients
Step 6, profit
Due to a mental illness, you have a 10-12 year head start on me, so you may be making it big by 30
.
Ask around on local forums and message boards, talk to people you know, even people you don't know very well, ask them if they know anybody in the tech industry who would be willing to help guide you along the path to making it in the industry. Having a mentor is very helpful. A mentor is somebody you can meet up with in person, have a conversation over lunch, bounce ideas off of, learn from.
Spend some time on this forum would be the first step I would suggest to you. Learn about AMD and Intel product lines, Nvidia and AMD/(formerly ATi) products, sound cards, network cards, networking, operating systems, and so forth. I am still learning... Maybe I'm a slow learner. I don't know... Anyways, don't expect to be a total expert in a matter of weeks. This takes time, and you have to be a student for the rest of your life and standards and specifications change very frequently. We're not talking about woodworking, where things stay the same for a long time.
Make sure this is something you really enjoy. Are you infront of your computer all the time? Is being on the computer, tinkering with it, learning about it, something you thoroughly enjoy? Can you see yourself troubleshooting, installing, upgrading, fixing, and building computers for the next few dozen years? Are you prepared to have to constantly improve and evolve your knowledge? Are you sure you want to do something where you have to problem solve and think on your feet, often (and certainly initially) for less money than the effort is worth?
Step 1, find a mentor in your local area (completed)
Step 2, practice troubleshooting problems, helping people with builds, putting parts lists together on an online forum such as this (completed)
Step 3, get your CompTIA A+ certification (studying for this)
Step 4, either get a job at a store like CanadaComputers, NCIX, Compucenter, etc repairing, troubleshooting, building computers
OR
Start your own business or become part of a business that does the above
Step 5, If you selected "Job at NCIX" from Step 4, get into buisiness for yourself. Grow business, get more clients, expand outside your city to surrounding areas, hire helper(s) to handle more clients
Step 6, profit
Due to a mental illness, you have a 10-12 year head start on me, so you may be making it big by 30
.Ask around on local forums and message boards, talk to people you know, even people you don't know very well, ask them if they know anybody in the tech industry who would be willing to help guide you along the path to making it in the industry. Having a mentor is very helpful. A mentor is somebody you can meet up with in person, have a conversation over lunch, bounce ideas off of, learn from.
Spend some time on this forum would be the first step I would suggest to you. Learn about AMD and Intel product lines, Nvidia and AMD/(formerly ATi) products, sound cards, network cards, networking, operating systems, and so forth. I am still learning... Maybe I'm a slow learner. I don't know... Anyways, don't expect to be a total expert in a matter of weeks. This takes time, and you have to be a student for the rest of your life and standards and specifications change very frequently. We're not talking about woodworking, where things stay the same for a long time
.Make sure this is something you really enjoy. Are you infront of your computer all the time? Is being on the computer, tinkering with it, learning about it, something you thoroughly enjoy? Can you see yourself troubleshooting, installing, upgrading, fixing, and building computers for the next few dozen years? Are you prepared to have to constantly improve and evolve your knowledge? Are you sure you want to do something where you have to problem solve and think on your feet, often (and certainly initially) for less money than the effort is worth?
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2007
- Location
- Near Toronto Canada
I think the point we're trying to get across here is that there is no money in "assembling computers". It's a minimum wage or near minimum wage job. The OP has to expand his horizons.
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2004
Not necessarily, some folks are very content with doing a particular skill that they enjoy and excel at, regardless of the pay. If OP's dream is to assemble PCs for a living, who are we to shut him down? The least we can do is save him $30k on a college education that he wouldn't need for that job, though.
Not necessarily, some folks are very content with doing a particular skill that they enjoy and excel at, regardless of the pay. If OP's dream is to assemble PCs for a living, who are we to shut him down? The least we can do is save him $30k on a college education that he wouldn't need for that job, though.
A 17-18 year Olds ambition and desire to turn a hobby into a career typically fades away quite quickly when mommy and daddy stop paying your bills.
the only viable option for success (a relative term, I understand) is to get a reputation for creating something exceptional and opening a business.
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2007
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- Near Toronto Canada
Not necessarily, some folks are very content with doing a particular skill that they enjoy and excel at, regardless of the pay. If OP's dream is to assemble PCs for a living, who are we to shut him down? The least we can do is save him $30k on a college education that he wouldn't need for that job, though.
When he realizes that his dream will earn him marginally more money than asking "Would you like to upsize your fries?", he might change his mind.
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2004
That's rather insensitive of you. The world needs fry cooks just as much as the world needs people that do whatever it is that you do for a living. Believe it or not, not everyone picks a job for the money, some pick it for the satisfaction. My wife could earn more money working at Starbucks than she does teaching 2nd graders, should I tell her to change careers?
In any event, as bob pointed out, OP is young and still likely to change his mind. Still, though, there's no sense in demeaning his current aspirations because it's not something you would choose longterm.
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2012
Either one is better than "Deep Inside A Magic Mushroom" like your location says.
I could make more money as a neurosurgeon, but I work as an engineer. Why? I like engineering, not medical.
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- Dec 1, 2007
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- Near Toronto Canada
As an engineer I think you probably make a lot more money than a fry cook, or a guy who just assembles computers. I think the OP has not properly gauged how much money he's going to need to survive and how much money he can make from assembling computers. Minimum wage is not a living wage. Hell, $15 an hour is not a living wage in modern times.
The OP, if he's like 99% of people out there, is not going to be happy or have a nice life on minimum wage once his parents stop supporting him. I don't think I'm being insensitive at all. I think insensitive would be encouraging the OP to follow his dream despite knowing he will not make a living wage with it.
He can build computers, as part of a larger computer servicing and repair business. But just assembling computers requires no more skill than an assembly line worker at a skin cream factory, and will make no more money.
Maybe the OP thinks assembling computers is some high brow, complex task requiring years of study. It's not. Assembling a computer is less complex than most $100 LEGO sets out there, and takes less time. You can put a computer together in less than 20 minutes if you aren't anal retentive about cable management.
I stand by my reasoning. Assembling computers is not a skilled trade. Unskilled trades make terrible money. Most people are unhappy making terrible money. If the OP is like most people, he will not be happy making terrible money.
The fact that the OP stated that he wants to go to Uni/College to learn how to assemble computers pretty much says it all doesn't it? People go to post secondary education to make good money. The OP seems to think assembling computers = good money. It doesn't. Even "experts" in the field like Carey Holzman (check out his youtube channel) only make $100 or so per build. That would be great if you got 10 builds a day (who doesn't want to make $1000 per day?) but what are the odds of that happening? Like anybody who does this properly, Carey builds as part of a much larger computer servicing business, covering all facets of computer maintenance.
He needs to get started working at a computer repair position for a larger company so he can have work sourced for himself reliably and stably, and then once he gets good at the job, he can go into business for himself and make a decent wage.
Am I a jerk for discouraging the OP? I don't think so. If my son told me he wanted to work for minimum wage for the rest of his life I would be terrified. I think it is borderline criminal to encourage someone to pursue a low-wage dream in modern times. Inflation is out of control, the middle class is disappearing. Prices are through the roof. You could get by on $10/hour back in the 70s and live comfortably. In 2015+? No way. Sorry. What you see as crapping on someone's dream I see as helping.
ATM- I would not know if either is better than being deep inside a magic mushroom. It's a reference to a funny YT video I saw recently. I've never been deep inside a mushroom myself. I weigh 240lbs. I wouldn't fit.
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- Joined
- Jun 28, 2012
It's quite obvious you don't realize just how much someone working to assemble custom computers can make with a company.
You're being quite condescending about this, and there's no need for it.
It was suggested the best way the OP could go about chasing this as a career.
Just like any other job, there's room for growth. You do it long enough, and you get raises, you get promoted to management, etc.
It's not a dead-end "I'm going to make $7/hr" job.
And obviously computers are SO easy to build, since we literally get asked how to build them all day every day.
It actually isn't something everyone can do.
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2007
- Location
- Near Toronto Canada
yes we get asked how to build them every day, but then once people realize how easy it is, they laugh. You can learn how to build a computer from a 30 minute Youtube video.
Yes there is room for growth, you're right, but what are the odds of growth? What are the odds of making seriously good money? Compared to running your own business, expanding into new regions, hiring more helpers, etc? I'm not being condescending. I'm being myself.
The first time I built a computer back in 2004 I didn't have youtube, I didn't have any tutorials, I just used common sense, my hands, and a screwdriver and I got it right on the first go. That's how simple it is. I just think the OP should set his sights a little higher. Menial jobs with repetitive tasks like building computers all day every day, even if you make good money at it, can drive a person to insanity. Wouldn't it be more fun, and probably a lot more lucrative, for the OP to run a full blown computer servicing business? I think it would.
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2012
I know computer techs that bill ~$90/hr at their company (not their company).
Obviously, that isn't 100% to their pocket, but the point still stands that they don't make a small wage.
As far as your "running your own business" argument, look at how many hours you put in to running a business vs just working at one.
You'll find that the $/hr is actually quite terrible in most cases and that you work ALL the time.
Obviously, that isn't 100% to their pocket, but the point still stands that they don't make a small wage.
As far as your "running your own business" argument, look at how many hours you put in to running a business vs just working at one.
You'll find that the $/hr is actually quite terrible in most cases and that you work ALL the time.
The truth lies somewhere between ocnoob and the "follow your dream"ers. Some people are happy with mediocrity. Power to them, not our place to judge as long as it's legal and they aren't raising children they can't feed. If doing something truly makes you happy, and you can make a career out of it, that's the same as winning the lottery imo.
Now, telling an 18 year old with zero life experience to "chase is dreams" is just as ignorant as saying to not do something you think you'd enjoy. If that were the case, I'd be playing video games for my career. The next best thing would be to make said games. Since I discovered early in my life I HATE programming, I decided against that. I compromised and got a career that can fund my hobbies and things I enjoy.
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The truth lies somewhere between ocnoob and the "follow your dream"ers. Some people are happy with mediocrity. Power to them, not our place to judge as long as it's legal and they aren't raising children they can't feed. If doing something truly makes you happy, and you can make a career out of it, that's the same as winning the lottery imo.
Now, telling an 18 year old with zero life experience to "chase is dreams" is just as ignorant as saying to not do something you think you'd enjoy. If that were the case, I'd be playing video games for my career. The next best thing would be to make said games. Since I discovered early in my life I HATE programming, I decided against that. I compromised and got a career that can fund my hobbies and things I enjoy.
Now, telling an 18 year old with zero life experience to "chase is dreams" is just as ignorant as saying to not do something you think you'd enjoy. If that were the case, I'd be playing video games for my career. The next best thing would be to make said games. Since I discovered early in my life I HATE programming, I decided against that. I compromised and got a career that can fund my hobbies and things I enjoy.
- - - Updated - - -
The truth lies somewhere between ocnoob and the "follow your dream"ers. Some people are happy with mediocrity. Power to them, not our place to judge as long as it's legal and they aren't raising children they can't feed. If doing something truly makes you happy, and you can make a career out of it, that's the same as winning the lottery imo.
Now, telling an 18 year old with zero life experience to "chase is dreams" is just as ignorant as saying to not do something you think you'd enjoy. If that were the case, I'd be playing video games for my career. The next best thing would be to make said games. Since I discovered early in my life I HATE programming, I decided against that. I compromised and got a career that can fund my hobbies and things I enjoy.
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2007
- Location
- Near Toronto Canada
At least 1 person is sort of on my side here
.And yes, working for yourself means putting more hours in, but you're your own boss. You answer to no one, except your clients. That's freedom. Freedom to set your own hours. Freedom to run the business your way. Freedom to set prices. It's not all bad, running your own business.
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2012
At least 1 person is sort of on my side here
And yes, working for yourself means putting more hours in, but you're your own boss. You answer to no one, except your clients. That's freedom. Freedom to set your own hours. Freedom to run the business your way. Freedom to set prices. It's not all bad, running your own business.
Freedom of 90 hour work weeks until you have a booming business? No thanks.
Yes but you won't get fired for showing up in your underwear either haha.
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