sorry i dont know where to ask this does computer repair need math

[jamesm.92]

sorry i dont know where to ask this does computer repair need math ? im confused people said no but for some reason am told the opposite by  universities where am from help all i want is to build and repair 

[Aleks NE]

1 minute ago, jamesm.92 said:

sorry i dont know where to ask this does computer repair need math ? im confused people said no but for some reason am told the opposite by  universities where am from help all i want is to build and repair 

Yes, maths is important in computer repair. 

[jamesm.92]

i suck at it is it basic ?

[jamesm.92]

@Grand Admiral Thrawn is it basic math or advance the thing is math wasnt my strong suit 

[Radium_Angel]

9 minutes ago, jamesm.92 said:

i suck at it is it basic ?

Can you add, subtract, multiply and divide basic numbers? That is all you *might* ever need in a break/fix/build environment.

And I say this as an ex-mainframe programmer and builder of systems/network admin.

[jamesm.92]

so basic could i do this as job i wasn't very good i could use a calculator if needed , my confusion is this  this dude says no  as u said more towards programing all i want is to build repair  with  some tools. Maybe some schematics @Grand Admiral Thrawn. 

[Slottr]

A+ certs don't require math in any shape or form iirc.

[GoodBytes]

You need math, more for the logic side of math. In order to really better understand circuitry and chips, you need to understand the logic side of things. So, AND, OR, XOR, etc. so that you can follow schematics.

 

Remember that University is there to train you to be a Researcher, not the work field. If you want work field training, then you need to go a technical school. The university doesn't see you as a "some dude that fixes computer", but rather "a person who can design circuits and chips"... an electric / computer engineer. Now, maybe your university has a technical program... that is possible, I don't know what you are looking at as you are super vague.

[rcmaehl]

Depends on if you're doing component level repair or not. MOST companies aren't doing this and will just swap out entire components, but those companies that do can pay a high salary.

[DrMacintosh]

University is going to tell you you need math. That’s what University does, they fill your head with cr*p you don’t need because the professors there have never had a real job in their life and the University wants money. 
 

If all you want to do is computer repair, you’re going to be better off just going right into the workforce. You can check out Louis Rossmann on YouTube to see what advice he has on getting into the industry. You absolutely do not need a formal education. 

[GoodBytes]

30 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

University is going to tell you you need math. That’s what University does, they fill your head with cr*p you don’t need because the professors there have never had a real job in their life and the University wants money. 

Incorrect. Assuming we are talking about a bachelor degree, and not a certificate, bachelor degree prepares you for your Master degree, so that you can do (PHd) academic research. Not job. University doesn't care about you in the work field. Universities is about research. So yes, there is a lot of courses that one takes, especially in engineering, that is useless for the work filed, and even out dated, even on a good university which excels in the field. But more valuable in the academic research field.

 

As for certificate, then I have no idea. Probably to make money, yes. But is certificate more valuable then a degree in a technical school? No idea. I am not in that field to know.

[amdorintel]

2 hours ago, jamesm.92 said:

sorry i dont know where to ask this does computer repair need math ? im confused people said no but for some reason am told the opposite by  universities where am from help all i want is to build and repair 

computer repair needs nothing, absolutely no formal education at all. Just know how to fix computers, and setup shop and start fixing/making computers, though small shops have decreased due to bestbuy and staples chains repairing pc's.

 

univ and colleges want your money, they will lie to you straight to your face. government budget cuts money and funding from the univ/colleges. even in the trades you can get hired on without any education but just a good work ethic and a fast learner. its just the facts of life so its a mixture of how you relate to others, is it a good fit between people, fast learner, everything is human interactions and in todays society there is less and less of that so people cant communicate well.

 

apply to best buy and work in whatever department, then after 6 months ask to work in the repair department. i wouldnt say its a career goal, but its a good start and will get your resume building for better, high paying jobs!

 

where are you from?

 

maybe some people here can point you to the right companies to apply to. in the meantime, take some english courses in writing because writing is apart of todays world, like sending emails, writing memo's so a good grasp on the english language would help you accelerate where you want to go.

[spartaman64]

2 hours ago, DrMacintosh said:

University is going to tell you you need math. That’s what University does, they fill your head with cr*p you don’t need because the professors there have never had a real job in their life and the University wants money. 
 

If all you want to do is computer repair, you’re going to be better off just going right into the workforce. You can check out Louis Rossmann on YouTube to see what advice he has on getting into the industry. You absolutely do not need a formal education. 

actually most math professors ive met would love nothing more than for nobody to take math classes so they can just focus on their research 

[GoodBytes]

Just now, spartaman64 said:

actually most math professors ive met would love nothing more than for nobody to take math classes so they can just focus on their research 

That pretty much sums up a good chunk of professors in universities. They want to do their things, for their benefits with someone else money without having deliverables per se, as you would in a company. And the large companies with their own dedicate research departments, are far and few (only the really big ones like Microsoft, Google, and others), and the space is limited enough that THEY come to you, and not you come to them type of things, basically (although a researcher can apply). Then they didn't get in for whatever reason, and gets to bitch all day how the company is bad/stupid to their students.

[Sauron]

3 hours ago, jamesm.92 said:

sorry i dont know where to ask this does computer repair need math ? im confused people said no but for some reason am told the opposite by  universities where am from help all i want is to build and repair 

Universities don't teach computer repair. Do you know how to build a computer? Maybe start learning that, because if you're asking whether or not it needs math then you probably have a long road ahead.

 

Also I should say I don't recommend you go for that as a job, it's just not worth it. Not a lot of people buy desktops anymore, those who do either know how to build and fix them themselves or they get prebuilts that can be replaced within warranty if something goes wrong and aren't worth repairing anyway most of the time. Data recovery or logic board repair offer better opportunities but they're also significantly harder to learn and do well. Definitely don't drop out of school just because you don't want to learn basic math.

 

Things are usually either easy or lucrative, sometimes neither.

1 hour ago, amdorintel said:

apply to best buy and work in whatever department, then after 6 months ask to work in the repair department. i wouldnt say its a career goal, but its a good start and will get your resume building for better, high paying jobs!

You don't really promote to high paying jobs from working at BestBuy I'm afraid... plus their "repair" policies are usually along the lines of "if it's not the hard drive just give them a new computer and clone the data".

[Rolling2405]

4 hours ago, Grand Admiral Thrawn said:

People often put math and computers together because of programming. Computer repair itself does not require math. The only thing you need is common sense and some tools.

I do not understand why computer science is required for IT administrator careers when they don't do anything that requires math. All they do is manage a company's computers. Careers like this would be appealing if it did not require a degree which requires a lot of math classes and programing. 

 

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/careers/computers-math-network-computer-systems-administrators

 

There needs to be a bachelor's degree that teaches about computer but, without the math and programing. Sadly, I do not think one exists. There is only computer science and computer engineering degrees and both require lots of math classes.

[Roswell]

43 minutes ago, Thomas001 said:

I do not understand why computer science is required for IT administrator careers when they don't do anything that requires math. All they do is manage a company's computers. Careers like this would be appealing if it did not require a degree which requires a lot of math classes and programing. 

What kind of network admins are you meeting that don't need programming skills or a computer science degree?! It's a basic requirement for the job in any remotely scaled business.

 

Maybe if you're managing a wireless router and network printer for a mom and pop's shop you don't need to know math or programming, but with a real network admin job you'll need to know how to script/program deployments, compile, edit code on switches/routers/servers, etc. 

[Rolling2405]

38 minutes ago, Vitamanic said:

What kind of network admins are you meeting that don't need programming skills or a computer science degree?! It's a basic requirement for the job in any remotely scaled business.

 

Maybe if you're managing a wireless router and network printer for a mom and pop's shop you don't need to know math or programming, but with a real network admin job you'll need to know how to script/program deployments, compile, edit code on switches/routers/servers, etc. 

Not network admins system admins. All they do is install programs to a large amount of computers, manage updates, prevent settings from being changed and act as tech support for the organization. For example, I don’t think system admins who work for a school district  or hospital would need to know math would they?

[DavidKalinowski]

18 hours ago, Thomas001 said:

Not network admins system admins. All they do is install programs to a large amount of computers, manage updates, prevent settings from being changed and act as tech support for the organization. For example, I don’t think system admins who work for a school district  or hospital would need to know math would they?

I work for a college in computer services. I am first level tech support. I do hardware installs, software installs, trouble shooting, etc. The only math i've needed so far in 3 years on this job has been how to read a tape measure. my boss and his boss on the other hand, are in charge of million dollar+ budgets, negotiating contracts for software licsencing etc. the college requires a masters degree for the bosses boss. current boss, has the experience from being in the military and running his own business where he had multiple gov contracts that they over looked his lack of a degree.

If you want more than 30-35$ year (USA) job, honestly a bach degree will almost be required unless you go into a skilled trade like welding or somthing and are willing to travel for the job. I'm currently working on finishing my degree because I dont wanto be stuck here another 3 years.

[Rolling2405]

5 minutes ago, DavidKalinowski said:

I work for a college in computer services. I am first level tech support. I do hardware installs, software installs, trouble shooting, etc. The only math i've needed so far in 3 years on this job has been how to read a tape measure. my boss and his boss on the other hand, are in charge of million dollar+ budgets, negotiating contracts for software licsencing etc. the college requires a masters degree for the bosses boss. current boss, has the experience from being in the military and running his own business where he had multiple gov contracts that they over looked his lack of a degree.

If you want more than 30-35$ year (USA) job, honestly a bach degree will almost be required unless you go into a skilled trade like welding or somthing and are willing to travel for the job. I'm currently working on finishing my degree because I dont wanto be stuck here another 3 years.

System administrators are the same thing but, the salary is much better $80K-90K a year compared to tech support who only get about 50K a year. I don’t see why math and programming knowledge is needed for a system administrator career.

[Touch My Hamm]

Depends what you want to do in the Computer industry. I am a huge fan of getting your feet wet in a technology company as the Service desk. Usually from there you get a sense of what you want to go into and usually they will give you information as to what they want. If your going into Programming I would bet they want some form of Math. If ytou going to engineering of Parts/hardware I assure you Math is key. Security I do not think you require high level maths and most likely will need Certs from venders products being used. I work in Admin and integration as well as WFM. I do not need Math but some Math would be great for learning Excel since in the business world you always have to know 2 things, Writing and Excel LOL. I got certifications for the venders my company uses and get training in what they use as this gives me more to put on my resume but also makes me more valuable as alot of the time they pay and want people to get the training. 

 

Good Luck and welcome to the IT industry. 

[DavidKalinowski]

29 minutes ago, Thomas001 said:

System administrators are the same thing but, the salary is much better $80K-90K a year compared to tech support who only get about 50K a year. I don’t see why math and programming knowledge is needed for a system administrator career.

Needed and wanted by employers are not necessarily the same thing. Many jobs I've looked into (especially MGMT level) list specifically a bach degree and/or 5-10 years experience in the field. That degree will require the math, not necessarily the job. but the job many times requires the degree.

[Bombastinator]

On 11/6/2019 at 2:23 PM, jamesm.92 said:

sorry i dont know where to ask this does computer repair need math ? im confused people said no but for some reason am told the opposite by  universities where am from help all i want is to build and repair 

Depends on how math is being defined. There are levels of math.  At the lower levels a cashier job requires math.  Counting is math.  At the college I went to in the 80’s the computer science department was actually part of the math department.  It was all programming and hardware architecture though.

 

computer repair is generally diagnosing and fixing broken computers.  You determine which part isn’t working right and replace it.  Calculus is not involved.  Does it require a level of math beyond cashier level work?  Not really.  Being a carpenter requires more math than repairing microcomputers.  There’s a lot of fractions and long division in that one.

[Kisai]

On 11/6/2019 at 12:23 PM, jamesm.92 said:

sorry i dont know where to ask this does computer repair need math ? im confused people said no but for some reason am told the opposite by  universities where am from help all i want is to build and repair 

Depends.

 

Can you add and subtract 6 digit numbers in your head? You're good.

 

Basically:

Can you tell the difference between a lower-case L, 1 and 7 from people's terrible handwriting? A Q 0 and O?

Can you tell time? 

Can you count cash/money?

Can you do the watts to amps/voltage and back?

Can you tell the difference between various sizes of things without a ruler?

 

Basically the most amount of math that gets involved tends to be with not hardware other than calculating power (eg can I run two GPU's and this CPU in with this Power Supply and this UPS?)

 

Most other uses involves billing/invoicing.

[Likwid]

On 11/7/2019 at 4:59 AM, Thomas001 said:

Not network admins system admins. All they do is install programs to a large amount of computers, manage updates, prevent settings from being changed and act as tech support for the organization. For example, I don’t think system admins who work for a school district  or hospital would need to know math would they?

And good ones writes programms which does that automatically.