Ramona Said:

IT people: if you could design the perfect course curriculum to stay relevant and employed, what would it be?

We Answered:

Good question and I think a lot of IT people are wondering the same thing. First off, there's no such thing as a recommended course of study in IT. Given the breadth of the field and rapid pace of change, the better question is what interests you, where are your strengths and talents, and what motivates you. Every sincere recommendation on career direction is going to say the same thing so you probably already know that.

Regarding what skills will remain relevent in IT in the US, this is probably best answered by the trends and forces driving the industry:

1. Offshore work is going to grow as companies leverage lower cost resources for their IT work. This means development, support, and testing mostly, but foreign companies are eager to go into other areas such as consulting and healthcare. The benefits of low cost labor, taxes, etc. are too high to ignore and it's better to adapt than resist.

2. Most IT budgets are shrinking as more work is outsourced and internal cost-reduction measures put in place. IT skills that reduce IT and business costs are a priority.

3. While offshoring will move most IT work overseas, most overseas IT companies have their own issues that should be considered. Specifically, Wipro, Tata, etc. have to play the numbers game regarding demand so newer technologies are not areas they compete in generally. Newer technologies like Rails, Ajax, XAML, etc. are too risky for them to invest time and resources if the demand is limited.

4. Another big trend in business is process automation. Actually we should be more worried about automation eliminating jobs than outsourcing. Developing automation on a resuable SOA-based framework is where, IMHO, app development is heading.

5. Lastly, the skills that make you relevent may not be technical as much as business oriented. Can you build and deploy a technical project that saves the business money? Can you demonstrate keeping a budget and schedule? Can you show how you collaborated with a team and made a meaningful contribution? The better you do at these regardless of your technical prowess is what makes you relevent to future business.

Good Luck!

Mitchell Said:

How did YOU study for the SAT II Korean Test?

We Answered:

well, if youre Korean you definitely have an advantage because I assume that your parents are Korean and you have someone always speaking the language around you which allows you to get familiar with the language.

On the other hand, if you're are not, be sure to buy the single subject practice tests which includes Korean and other languages so you can get familiar with the actual test. Just immerse your self into Korean stuff like books, music, etc. And instead of practicing single alphabets of words, try to practice using phrases and it will help you a lot as most of the test questions are filling in the blanks which requires a lot of grammar knowledge. And finally, go on Youtube and enjoy yourself with those pointless Korean dramas and sitcoms...I believe most of them have English captions.

Eileen Said:

Preparing for the SAT, ACT, and PSAT—Should you study on your own?What do you think?

We Answered:

there are many websites offering free information

Andre Said:

Is this a rigorous curriculum enough for Harvard and Stanford ?

We Answered:

It depends. Because your not in all AP's, if your harvard/stanford bound you need to be getting high A's in all your classes. You should take the SAT II for Bio, AP US and Chem becasue those are your three honors courses. Unless you are getting all high a's, and have alot of sports/extra curiccular activities then this isnt top school material. if you have lke a 3.9 and get a good grade on SAT's and AP's then you will go to a good score. If you really want to get into those schools, you should try to take AP American Literature. This is a pretty good schedule, keep high A's and you definitley will have a shot

Marvin Said:

Where is the best place in the world to study oratory and extemporaneous speaking for a mid-20's professional?

We Answered:

You can try the UK .. Oxford or Cambridge have some very good public speaking courses. Also believe it or not there is some excellent public speaking in the top schools of India -- they are the Indian equivalent of Oxford and are run by British experts. Listen to Sashi Tharoor -- a former top guy at the UN and now famous commentator. He is even more eloquent than British leaders (and has a posh British accent as do most rich Indians in India) and he is a product of the Indian school system. Just youtube him and you'll see what I mean. Good Luck.