Matching major with another , need advice :( .

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LePetitPrince
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04 Sep 2007, 4:50 pm

Hello , I am an old user here and i am autistic (HFA) , I think this is the first time that I post in this section =P.

I am 25 years old I am lebanese and I live in Beirut . I have a business and administration degree + master business IT degree . I am working in a IT company as operations manager in the sales department to sell tech stuff thro banks such as Laptops and PCs ..... I don't really worj sales ...I am more responsible in logistics .

I love technology , internet and computers .I have good business background and very good IT-related background compared to my colleagues that were at university and to my co-workers in the business-related departments like marketing dpt , accounting ...ect thanks to my reading and following-up about these stuff , I always follow the technology news closely specially the PC-related news and I have good knowledge how to use computers and about their components .

However , I still feel this is not enough to have a long term future career related to IT Business or E-business. After all my base major was Business and Administration and I was bit disappointed about the 2 years Mastering in 'Business IT' since a lot of its courses appeared to have 'IT-related titles' (like e-commerce and others) but they were in fact more theoretical entrepreneurship/business oriented courses than real practical IT.

I quickly self-taught myself (and still teaching my self every night for more advanced VBA ) the basics of VBA (not just macro but real coding of Visual basic for applications ) and I am already using this new skill at work for Excel and Access to increase the efficiently of my work . So I guess I have the Programmer's spirit (note that programming was the major that i wanted to major at first but I couldn't afford to study it in AUB because of its high bills not even my parent would be able to afford half of them ( American university of Beirut , which is the only university can teach real programming in lebanon) .....I was kinda forced to major in business in the first place since it was the cheapest major and available in other local universities .

Today , after passing 5 years since i joined the business school , CS and IT majors are available in other good Lebanese and Canadian/french universities (much cheaper than American universities ) So I am planning to do another major ....a real IT or CS major but In the same time I don't want to burn my business education and knowledge . So i want to pick another major that can make a good combo with business major .....so what 's more matchable with Business field ... the IT major or the CS major ????(even tho I know very well the difference between them , CS being the study of the principles and concepts involved in Computing at a more fundamental, and often more sophisticated level, and IT being a more practical, application based approach to computing)

Which one of them is more combinable with Business major ?? any advices or thoughts .



Cyanide
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05 Sep 2007, 12:35 am

If I were you, I'd find out of my university had any advisors and ask them what the best compliment would be. I'd take a guess, but I don't know what "CS" is.



LePetitPrince
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05 Sep 2007, 4:48 am

CS = computer science / programming .



LadyMahler
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05 Sep 2007, 3:43 pm

Well done on all your achievements!

I also come from a software development background and did a Masters in Business Administration a few years ago. I started my own company, but found it unbearably stressfull dealing with clients and political issues, day in and day out. I eventually handed the business over to my partner and am now a business/systems analyst. This fitted my profile perfectly as I had both the business and technology background, and I am valuable to the organisation (which is such a blessing for an aspie!).

From your profile, you have similar traits. I think going into management is difficult but you seem to be coping well, right? My advice would be to take the course that is more hands-on, practical software development. If you are anything like me, we tend to "see" business concepts, processes and operations easily and can learn most business subjects by ourselves. If you are like this, software development and architecture will just come to you in the same way. VBA is a great start, quite easy, but I personally am a Java fan (quite a bit harder to get started on).

Don't neglect taking some soft skill courses if you can (e.g. change management, HR related ones) to help out with learing in dealing with people.

Wow, and good luck, you seem to be doing pretty brilliantly. I am planning to do my doctorate next year on people with Asperger's being successful in business, and I hope I can hook up with you again, if you are willing to be interviewed for my research.



LePetitPrince
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07 Sep 2007, 3:51 pm

^^ Thank you lady for this reply . So you are saying that Business major + Programming major is better than Business major + IT?

as for the others who are too lazy to read my long thread :lol:

I ll summarized the thread to this question : Which major is better to take after majoring business ? Business + IT or Business +Programming ?? or maybe business +computer engineering but this would be so hard while working?

I mean majoring in IT would help me in understanding better the hardware products and so it would help me to advance to a high managerial post in company that sell high-tech products , computer engineering would better but I believe it's so hard and need a lot of time and I am not intending to leave my current work to study...
.... as majoring in business + programming might make me later some kind of project manager .

I dunno ...I am still confused which one can be a better combo/alignment with business major...or it's not even worth the effort to major in another thing?? but I feel that Business alone is not enough and i feel a bit unsatisfied with it alone so i have to pick one of these 3 !


HELP!! !



doberman_lover
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10 Sep 2007, 3:44 pm

With a background in business, I'd suggest IT. CS is going to be more technical, and in my experience (20yrs + in IT) your background puts you in a good position for IT management. If that's right for your ASP issues, it is by far the most lucrative. CS will put you in the trenches coding and doing engineering work, which in my experience is much more fun, but tends to be limited in terms of how high you might rise in a company.... Besides, the IT/management side of things is VERY hard to outsource while CS is a ripe target for it.



LePetitPrince
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21 Sep 2007, 11:52 am

^^ thanks



LePetitPrince
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13 Oct 2007, 6:44 pm

**bump** ... i am resurrecting the thread.