Hdip in IT (Advice for an Ex-Maynoothian)

CaoimH_in

Hiya folks,

Long time no chat. And I've only dared to come back because I want something--I do have quite the nerve, eh? Sorry. Let's move on. :P

I've been accepted back into the warm bosom of Maynooth for an Hdip in Information Technology. I've seen a few of these threads before, but they're old enough (2 years ago the one with any great information). So, I thought perhaps I should try my luck with starting one.

Does anyone know how employable in the current market you would be after this? I know all about the skills shortage, but I come from a humanities background with no really hard IT experience. (I once built my own computer but that felt more like Lego than serious IT work.) Would one with such a background be looked at as valuable?

Does anyone know what code you'll learn? I'm probably going to be more interested in the software development and programming side of things.. And in how much detail would you learn it?

Finally, are the staff sound?

Thanks everyone.

Alt_Grrr

Finally, are the staff sound?

Yes,

Does anyone know how employable in the current market you would be after this? Would one with such a background be looked at as valuable?

Depends, programming skills are in demand, but after studying along side HDips, I probably wouldn't hire most of them for their programming abilities. (there are of course exceptions).

Does anyone know what code you'll learn? I'm probably going to be more interested in the software development and programming side of things.. And in how much detail would you learn it?

The main language you'll encounter is Java, typically you'll have a two week crash course in Java before the semester starts, then you'll be studying Algorithms and Data Structures with the second years. I'm not sure what you mean by detail here, the Hdip course doesn't cover topics like language semantics and compilers. You'll also encounter the normal webstack (HTML/CSS/Javascript/PHP/MySQL) in a course called "Web Information Processing", its a team project module.

You can see the Modules Here

CaoimH_in

Thanks. When I read the module list it wasn't clear to me how much there'd be. You've clarified for me in an extremely helpful manner. Thanks Alt_Grrr.

Do those learning going through the hdip seem noticeably out of place against those in the standard degree?

Thanks again. You've been hugely helpful.

Alt_Grrr

CaoimH_in wrote: »

Do those learning going through the hdip seem noticeably out of place against those in the standard degree?
.

The Hdip IT has a broad cohort of students, typically the mature students in the course stand out for all the usual reasons that mature students do.

A lot of modules assume that you already know the basics of using a computer, so for some this makes life a lot more difficult.

I also notice that some students are afraid to ask questions in labs, I think its fear of looking stupid. But as I've told many students, "its okay to look stupid, your all stupid by comparison to me, that's why they pay me to be here".

Oh and Google, for the love of god use Google, heaps of great CS resources on the web.