Difficulties finding a job in CS?

The last few days in class, we have discussed the difficulties in finding jobs in computer science nowadays, and how IT personnel are low in demand. Many people found that after investing both time and money into an education in computer science, they were left working low paying, entry level jobs because the quota for more profitable positions were already filled. This may be caused by many factors such as: The recession, the outsourcing of IT positions, and possibly a burst of the IT bubble. Whatever the reasons, this job shortage is affecting everybody studying computer science. However, as a computer science student, so far I have not have any trouble finding any relevant and well paying jobs. Even though I am merely a student, I have been offered IT jobs, entry level programming jobs, and even research opportunities. Based on this, I personally do not feel the effects of the low amount of IT jobs being offered. I realize that the jobs which I have considered were all student jobs or entry level jobs, and that these are not the jobs which are being sought after by most graduates. And also, the selection process of candidates of these jobs are often based on academics, and this may be a problem for some.

However, perhaps the problem is that the upper level jobs are actually being taken by those working the entry-level jobs, by promotion. So perhaps the way that people can get these jobs is by applying for the entry-level jobs as students, and continue to work towards higher positions in the job.

Scammers

Internet scamming has been around ever since the time that online transactions were made possible. As discussed in class, many internet crimes are the same general idea as their real-life counterparts. For example, many scammers go door-to-door and solicit for, say, a charity, and take the money for themselves. Online, there are these types of scams all the time. Online theft is not as common, but it can still happen. This is usually done through either identity theft or hacking. Stealing from an online store can be tricky, but it is definitely common enough that online stores take many precautions. For example, an online store that I recently ordered shoes off of required that I pay extra shipping insurance, provide credit card information AND both a scanned version of my credit card and a photo identification card. These are extreme security measures which are implemented in order to discourage the practice of identity theft, and also to ensure the user of the credit card is indeed the one who is purchasing the items. These security measures are a big hassle, and prolong the transaction process by a long time: the communication between buyer and seller is done through e-mails, and the store rarely replies e-mails within the same day. Such measures are put in place because the store has been scammed by a customer before, and thus to prevent it from happening again, the buyer must perform these actions in order to buy the shoes he wants.

As we see in the example of this online store, the ones who suffer from the acts of scammers are not only the seller who lost their products without proper payment, but also those who want to buy from this store in the future! The store is now aware that scammers are rampant in the online community, and is cautious of all online buyers. The online stores are now skeptical of who is a scammer and who is not. The result, for us non-scammers, is that transactions are delayed, we must make extra efforts to prove that we are not scamming, and the price of products and services must be increased in order to balance the money lost through scams.