The field is already saturated and the niche occupied by large players in the areas where true money can be made: its a fad and few companies will make real money in this area. There is a small consulting market which is or will soon be saturated as well.
...and doing it toward the exclusion of everything else in your life, for a career with no security whatsoever.
In addition, imagine the damage to your eyes, hands, nervous systems, and social life.................. A hobby is very different from a job............. Forget to mention politics too. Most of the IT projects at Wall Street fail because of politics.
The same world we all face every day: a changing one. Several years ago I read a book called "Future Shock" which maintained that the pace of change in society was accelerating. The books thesis was true at the time the book was published and is even more applicable today. I think its reasonable to assume you son will probably have several "careers" over his working life. This is becoming the norm in developed countries.
Ah, Future Shock- the pace of change- we must become masters of change management. I just noticed one thing. No one complains about change when something good is happening. They don't even call it change if its something good. When you get a raise or a better job, no one goes on and on about the need to master change. The only reason why lectures about being change masters are part of the HR world is that things are being taken away. They call it change only when it sucks. The emphasis in all those stupid parachute books and those idiotic cheese books on the modern skill of change management is a clue that we are truly in a deflationary period.
I like the saying "with change comes opportunity". Change is good if you embrace it. Yes, in big corporations change is a synonym for "We think you are stupid enough to believe the **** we are telling you . .." Most companies are run only adequately and most management "consultants" or authors have little of value to add. The management fad of the day usually rules. I pity those that have to deal with internal corporate politics or manage through a merger or aquisition at the midlevels.. A sad way to make a living... taking all the c*** for no financial reward while the ceo and board get rich .....
"The only reason why lectures about being change masters are part of the HR world is that things are being taken away. They call it change only when it sucks. The emphasis in all those stupid parachute books and those idiotic cheese books on the modern skill of change management is a clue that we are truly in a deflationary period." very true, although its not going to be "deflationary" in the monetary sense of the word IMHO, but it will be a period of "reduced expectations". I was one of the "hacks" that was kicked out of IT when LUCENT started to go to hell in a handbasket almost entirely because of stupidity and the self serving actions of top management ( I know the IT boom ended, but that's not why lucent is loaded with debt and in danger of bankruptcy ). I am a "hack" because I don't have a degree in computer science and I was expensive, not because I couldn't perform my job function. Well, i can tell you that they are no better off now than they were before they got rid of all us "hacks", in fact they are worse off because they lost the knowlege of how their systems really work. If you want to go into IT, you had better have a burning passion for being a developer, or else some really good connections to get you into management. Otherwise spare yourself a lot of pain and do something else.
Same story for the pre-lucent bell labs. Any employee above a certain salary number was let go: merit was not part of the equation. Anyone not classified as essential was subject to this - the definition of essential at the time was basically the board. People with 20 years and knowledge of critical systems were cut. Nine months later the CEO was hauled before congress to explain the failure of the nationwide long distance system.
At the company I work for, they took outsourcing to a new level when we needed to send an engineer to our Taiwan design center. Given the choice between sending an American engineer or hiring a Taiwanese national, they chose option C - hire someone from India and send them to Taiwan. I think that some sort of computer technician type skills coupled with your finance degree would be more useful than programming skills, especially at a small company without an in-house IT department. The first time that the entire place is shut down because the server is off line and the off site tech wants $300 to fix it in a couple of days, you'll be a hero when you bring it back up an hour later with the $10 replacement NIC you got from Best Buy (actually happened to a friend of mine).
What BS. Some of the best computer geeks ive known were degree-less hacks. I did get my degree in comp sci, and im a real hack, but a degree in comp sci means nothing. Its all about track record. I cant tell you how many comp sci PHD's I have rejected in techie interviews, only to hire the real hacker with a high school diploma. peace axeman