Hundreds of posts reveal views on secrecy, religion, politics, and working in IT. “Society really seems to have developed an unquestioning obedience towards spooky types,” he says.
Under the name TheTrueHOOHA, Snowden appears to have posted to ArsTechnica, a tech, IT, and geek culture site, hundreds of times over the last ten years.
Source: July 26, 2006 / via: arstechnica.com
The last of his 753 posts, first discovered by Anthony DeRosa, was posted on May 21, 2012, in response to a question about creating a "Dead Man's Switch," a program that would automatically delete a computer's contents if its owner failed to log in periodically. Snowden replies, "You could write one. There are also plenty of orphaned Open Source ones out there you could pick up that need to be finished, if you want a head start." This was the first time he had posted on the forum in six months.
Earlier, in a thread titled, "I'm a screwup," he writes, "Join the army. Worked for me." Two days later, in a discussion about emerging industries, he suggests "Counterterrorism" is an area that will expand within the next five years.
First off, the degree thing is crap, at least domestically. If you really have ten years of solid, provable IT experience (and given that you say you're 25, I think it'd probably be best to underestimate), you CAN get a very well paying IT job. You just need to be either actively looking now or get the fuck out of California. I have no degree, nor even a high school diploma, but I'm making much more than what they're paying you even though I'm only claiming six years of experience. It's tough to "break in," but once you land a "real" position, you're made.
It takes a lot of bullshit to get to that point, though. I was unemployed for a full year and then had to work in a non-IT field for six months before I was able to get back in IT and double my salary.
If you do want a degree, I agree that going overseas is a much better idea than attending some $150k domestic diploma mill.
Also, don't discount the Foreign Service. Someone already mentioned it, and it's an amazing deal if you can swing it. I'm not talking Foreign Service Officer, either, just standard IT specialist positions.They pay for your (ridiculously nice) housing and since you'll be posted overseas, the first ~$80k you make will be tax-free.
Military is always an option as that door is not likely to close in the future. If you do decide to join, though, I would suggest considering using the opportunity to learn a new skill, as opposed to further specializing in IT. You only live once.
Source: Aug 14, 2006 / via: arstechnica.com
DISCLAIMER: I'm going to come off sounding as an asshole, but I'm not. It's just the nature of the business. To succeed in a hostile environment, you need to be both confident and aggressive.
Anyway:
You're going into IT. Nobody gives a shit what school you go to. Choose the cheaper school.
Listen to what they say about networking. This is absolutely vital. If somebody likes you, it doesn't even matter if you put your pants on before your underwear in the morning -- you will get the job.
What you will need is IT work experience. You must get a job in IT while you're going to school. The sad reality is that an IT degree means DICK in terms of competency to an employer. You need demonstrated, specialized skills to be competitive. SO, you need work experience.
Get a part-time IT gig anywhere you can. Even if you don't want to work through college, that's fine. Get it. Here's the dirty little secret: you can scale back your hours until you're only working four hours a week if you need more school time. Take leaves of absence, but remain employed. It doesn't matter how many hours you work, because the only thing going on your resume is the number of YEARS you worked there. What DOES matter is that you are the absolute best of friends with your supervisor and when your new post-college employer calls them for a reference, they absolutely BLEED love for you.
As long as you're good at what you do, you'll never have a problem, and that work experience will make that degree worth far more than it is on its own.
People might argue, but they'd be wasting their breath. I speak from personal experience in the most disadvantaged position in the job market. I don't have a degree of ANY type. In fact, I don't even have a high school diploma.
That said, I have $0 in debt from student loans, I make $70k, I just had to turn down offers for $83k and $180k (they're going in a different directions than where I'm heading), and my co-workers have BSs, MSs, and ten to fifteen years of experience. Employers fight over me.
And I'm 22.
That's networking. Good luck.
Source: May 1, 2006 / via: arstechnica.com