CAREER ADVISOR

“Your Career Advisor” is responding to three inquiries:
(1) "Should I leave my current job to enroll in an ORACLE course?" And;
(2) "Which is the best career in the computer field?"And;
(3) "What is next for an Intellectual Property professional?"
All reasonable questions related to careers, skill development or employment related issues – sent to advisor@skill-link.com - would be addressed in this section every week.

Q1: Should I leave my current job to enroll in an ORACLE course?
I am working as an Export Coordinator in a well-known ready-made garments company. I have the opportunity to enroll in an ORACLE course free of charge financed by the Future Generation Foundation. This, however, requires full time attendance. I am afraid to quit my job to attend this course and after completion I may not easily find another job. One of my friends graduated from an ITI course and did not find a suitable job in the IT field. Please advise me if I should leave my job to enroll in this course.

M. S. (Egypt)

Replying:

Dear Mr. S.

There are several issues you should consider prior to taking a decision like the one you described. First of all, what is it you would like to be doing? Do you want to get in the field of software application development or database administration? If so, why? You should not be tempted to enroll in an ORACLE course because it is fashionable those days and because it is free.

The second consideration is how are you doing in your current job? Is the company stable and you feel appreciated? If yes then you should be lucky, being in exports is a good skill to learn.

In light of the limited information you provided us with, unless you are bored in the export function of your current employer or feel very unstable, we do not recommend you leave your job to enroll in the ORACLE course. We do not also recommend you ask your employer for an unpaid leave to attend the course, since you will then be signaling to your employer that you will be later looking elsewhere. The only exception to this advice is if your employer is currently using ORACLE or is in the process of implementing ORACLE applications, and you present your case as coming back to work in the IT function, leveraging the experience you already gained with the company.

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck.

Q2: Which is the best career in the computer field?
I would like to know the difference between computer science and computer engineering; in addition to the different fields in computers like software engineer or software developer or system analyst or hardware engineer.

From the above, which is a better career: a computer science graduate or computer engineering graduate? Which one has a better future inside and outside Egypt?

A. M. (Egypt)

Replying:

Dear Mr. M.

In general, the whole field you are inquiring about, is now referred to as the Information Technology (field), it includes: hardware, software (application systems, operating systems, databases), networks, internet etc…

To reply to your question, let us go back to some basics; there are two important parts to a computer. One is the hardware (the computer itself, the monitor, keyboard, and printer); the second part is the software (these are the written series of instructions called the computer program), a computer cannot run without these instructions. Obtaining a Computer Science degree gives you the background to learn programming and computing skills to prepare you for this second area. Most jobs in the computer science area require a proficiency in mathematics. Other traits are thinking logically, persistence, and enjoying exacting, analytical work. Computer Science is an exciting and continually changing field.

On the other hand, Computer Engineering is the design, construction, implementation, and maintenance of computers and computer controlled equipment. Most universities offer Computer Engineering as either a degree program of its own or as a sub-discipline of Electrical Engineering. With the widespread use and integration of computers into our everyday lives, it's hard to separate what an Electrical Engineer needs to know and what a Computer Engineer needs to know. Because of this, several universities offer a dual degree in both Electrical and Computer Engineering. Among the topics you would study to obtain a Computer Engineering degree: Circuit Analysis; Electro-Magnetics; Solid-State Electronics; Electric Machines; Electric Power Systems; Digital Logic Circuits; Computer Systems; Communication Systems; Electro-Optics; Instrumentation; Control Systems etc….

While the above is an academic distinction, real life could differ; thus you may find someone with a degree in Computer Engineering working as a software developer in a company. You may also find professionals with a Computer Science degree working in the After Sales & Maintenance Department of a Hardware distribution company. Moreover, a lot of the most competent individuals who work in the IT field, did not study computers in university, they may have a Commerce or Tourism degree; they taught themselves useful skills and got on the job training.

By now, you should realize that unlike the legal profession (you cannot be a lawyer unless you studied law) or the medical profession (you cannot be a doctor if you have not studied medicine), the IT field relates more to the practical skills you have. Of course having a formal education in a computer related field is a major plus.

Now, with regards to which is more useful for your career? They are all useful, if you are good at what you do, work hard and learn quickly you will advance and be recognized. The decision depends more on what you like and the degrees available to you. All other things being equal, we believe the Computer Science degree could offer you more diversified opportunities in areas such as: application development, database administration, web & multimedia development etc

We hope the above was of some use.

Good Luck

Q3: What is next for an Intellectual Property professional?
I am working in the field of intellectual property (IP), responsible for the registration and prosecution of patents, trademarks, designs, domain names, and all infringement cases in the country, but I'm not a lawyer, I have a BA in public administration only. And I have three years of experience in this field; I also do marketing for the above services.

I have been trying to switch to a job in the advertising or marketing fields, I have applied to many companies and agencies, and this is maybe due to the fact that my experience is not so irrelevant. I.P. deals with the corporate identity and is well related to advertising and marketing of any product. Unfortunately, I received no replies.

I would appreciate your advice on what could be done to attract more job offers. If possible please advice on what other fields might be a suitable for my experience.

A. S. H. (Cairo)

Replying:

Dear Mr. H.

You are working in an interesting field that is slowly becoming important in our part of the work. In a way working in this field is like being a brain surgeon, important when needed but a few hospitals can make use of him.

We are aware of one or two firms in Egypt that deal in intellectual property, we also got to know that a group of multinational music production companies have formed a joint venture to handle their intellectual property rights in various regions of the world and that Cairo might be where the Arab Region's office will be located.

Leaving intellectual property aside, the field is wide open for you. You have not invested many years in the field to feel bad about moving to another line of business. Whether you are suitable in the world of advertising or not is something you should know. The advertising sector in Egypt is not in its best of times, the current economic situation has affected most businesses and therefore they are cutting on their advertising spending. As a result, several advertising agencies are reducing payroll or cutting staff.

Obviously to chase interesting career opportunities, we cannot but advise you to register your CV with skill-link.com; we would also recommend you investigate entities that are active in the area of media content (such as the firms in Dubai Internet City or Fonoun, the company actively acquiring movie and music titles).

Another area, that could be of some relevance would be the mobile phone service companies (GSM operators), they have complex agreements with regulatory bodies, roaming agreements, now getting into WAP and signing all sorts of deals with internet content providers…. You may have added value for them.

Have you considered part time teaching? Some reputable training entities (such as the AUC, LOGIC, Raya Academy etc…) may be interested to teach their students the fundamentals of intellectual property… while this will not be a full time job, it could open interesting doors to you.

We hope the above was of some use.

Note from the editor: 
Employer names and inquiry sender names were withheld for confidentiality

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