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

[Likwid]

TDLR even if you're  dumb as stump and place you want to work doesn't involve research or product/software development anyone can do it after some time of training

[AngryBeaver]

So here is my take and opinion. For what you are asking you don't really need much more than basic math to do, but there is much more to advanced math than just numbers. Math in general teaches you how to solve problems which is why it is part of most degrees in the IT field.

 

So from that perspective I would say math is important as it does give you very solid problem solving skills. If you look at problems in general and look at math problems you will see the correlation and why despite not needing actual math you are using those same skills to solve everyday issues.

 

*edit*

 

Also doing PC repair as a profession even if you have your own small business isn't a decent paying job. I mean sadly that is the truth (unless you have some decent private contracts with companies, which is unlikely most of the time).

 

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/computer-repair-technician-salary-SRCH_KO0,26.htm

 

According to glassdoor the average salary is 36k/yr. That is about 17/hr. For a comparison you can make 15/hr at Mcdonalds or any amazon owned business. Looking at it overall I see plenty of places only paying 12/hr for a pc repair technician. So it isn't a field with much growth potential. I would consider it very much entry level and not something you would want to do as a career. You would want to do something on the networking side, infosec, devops, etc if you want to make a good living. I mean I would at the minimum set my sights at something in the line of a Network Administrator. 

 

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/network-administrator-salary-SRCH_KO0,21.htm

 

The average range for that is 68k.

 

Now if you really want to get some where look at Information security. You would want to start in the Analyst side, but here are the numbers for it.
https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/cyber-security-analyst-salary-SRCH_KO0,22.htm
that average pay jumps to 80k... and let me tell you that is close to the entry level pay... which is what I consider this position.

 

Anyways, just me rambling on. Good luck.

[AngryBeaver]

On 11/6/2019 at 3:24 PM, GoodBytes said:

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.

 

On 11/6/2019 at 2:49 PM, 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. 

 

So just wanted to address both of these.

 

You have technical Degrees/programs that are more hands on and teach technical skills mostly with very little in the way of generals. Then you have your general 4 and 6 year degress. These give you all of the generals as well as the IT skills. Now saying that these professors have never had a real job is pretty biased and shows ignorance. Now their experience might not be current, but most of the time they DO have some experience in the subject they teach. You just have to understand that a lot of what 4 and 6 years do is the old style of lecture & essay teaching. They teach the theory side of things more so than the hands on technical (even though some classes will be that way). These degrees also teach you how to do research and write up a very decent paper via a Thesis and then a Dissertation.

 

Now in IT experience can be a much more important thing, but you cannot get the experience if you cannot get in the field. Most big companies require a 4 year degree just to get past the HR barrier. There are schools out there that are MUCH better and also much more technical not to mention affordable (WGU for one). Another thing about a degree is it shows dedication and follow through. It doesn't always show competence, but it means you are more likely to be.

 

Now I have a pretty good amount of degrees, certs, and experience. Looking back I would still have gone the degree route. While a lot of the stuff at the time felt pointless after being in the field for a good amount of time I discovered that wide coverage of information really did help me excel at what I do. It helped me land better jobs, it help me get promoted more quickly, and it put me in a position to teach college classes on the side in my field for additional pay and benefits if I choose to. So look at the degree as something that helps open doors. Sure having 10 years of experience for example shows you are competent and experience in the field, but you probably not land a job over someone with 5 years of experience and a 4 year degree. That is just the hard truth of how things operate these days. The worst part of it all is that you probably wouldn't even get past the automated resume scanners or HR for an interview.

 

Just think of a degree as investing in yourself. So in my opinion that is the most important thing to invest in... YOURSELF.

[Flying Sausages]

YOU NEED MATH ON ALL JOBS.

[DrMacintosh]

57 minutes ago, OlympicAssEater said:

YOU NEED MATH ON ALL JOBS.

Even a mortician? Not everyone needs a math degree. Just a few decades ago nobody could do higher than basic algebra. The vast majority of the population still can’t. 
 

We’ve artificially raised the skill floor for jobs in America despite not actually needing the skills we get taught when out in the real world. 

[Flying Sausages]

2 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Even a mortician? Not everyone needs a math degree. Just a few decades ago nobody could do higher than basic algebra. The vast majority of the population still can’t. 
 

We’ve artificially raised the skill floor for jobs in America despite not actually needing the skills we get taught when out in the real world. 

Well you still need math in your life. basic math and advance math.

[DrMacintosh]

1 minute ago, OlympicAssEater said:

Well you still need math in your life. basic math and advance math.

The vast majority of jobs, even highly technical jobs, will rarely (if ever) require you to be able to do a differential equation on the spot and from memory. That’s not how life works. 

[Flying Sausages]

5 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

The vast majority of jobs, even highly technical jobs, will rarely (if ever) require you to be able to do a differential equation on the spot and from memory. That’s not how life works. 

Well, they expect you to know what 8 x 6 equal to for every jobs.

[Jarsky]

I've needed more math in car modification than I have in my entire IT career. I'm a system engineer (sysadmin) but I often deal with hardware as well.

Even scripting for basic automation doesnt require math. In comparison I need Pythagorean, Geometry, etc...for some of the work I do on my cars.  

 

Unless you're doing component level repair (typically you'd get an electrical engineering degree) then I don't see a need for it, even that is probably limited. You'll often find someones made a online calculator for about everything you could need. I remember doing my MCSA we had to learn how to calculate a subnet in our head to show we knew the theory, but again theres online calculators for that stuff for real life application. 

[amdorintel]

On 11/6/2019 at 5:08 PM, Sauron said:

BestBuy

from an employee with zero on the resume, gotta start somewhere

besides that, retail is a good starting point to gain money, build the resume, and go to school or get into a trade

 

[ManyCoresGuy]

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 

Short answer is no, not at all. But you need basic math skills to function at any job (giving change to your customers).

[dizmo]

If you just want to work at a repair shop, no, not really. But if you're applying, and there's someone that does have it, then you're going to, in most cases, lose out to that person. Most people have some form of post secondary education, and even if it's not directly related to your field, it can still be beneficial. If you're not good at math, I don't think it'll affect much if you plan to stay at a low level position.

 

Where do you want to go though?

Computer building and repair really isn't that profitable, unless you own your own company, and even the it's a pretty tough market to get into. It's pretty saturated because, as you can imagine, it's gotten exceedingly easy and pretty much anyone can do it; you'll be competing with loads of people, including 15 year olds that do it on local classifieds sites. It's a really dead end path.

 

On 11/6/2019 at 1:49 PM, 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. 

University isn't meant for most people, university was made for those who wanted to study for a living.

On 11/6/2019 at 2:24 PM, GoodBytes said:

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.

I don't understand why people think university classes are the same as a technical school, or short program which is meant for one specific skill. BAs etc are meant to make you a rounded individual, not to teach you one or two things that are specific to one job.

49 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Even a mortician? Not everyone needs a math degree. Just a few decades ago nobody could do higher than basic algebra. The vast majority of the population still can’t. 
 

We’ve artificially raised the skill floor for jobs in America despite not actually needing the skills we get taught when out in the real world. 

Not everyone's forced to take a degree in math. Stop making it seem like it's a big deal that you have to take a few math courses in school. A few courses is in no way a degree. Universities exist to educate people in more than one discipline. If you want to learn about one thing and one thing only, that's what apprenticeships and technical colleges are for.

44 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

The vast majority of jobs, even highly technical jobs, will rarely (if ever) require you to be able to do a differential equation on the spot and from memory. That’s not how life works. 

No, but being able to do that makes you a much more valuable employee.

For example, I have a friend who took Power Engineering. If you look at the course list, very little is actually related to what he currently does, but he still might need to know it at some point in his career. He also designed a system for the corporation he works for to deal with private contractors, of which he benefited massively from the secondary database courses he took in school; which, one might think, have nothing to do with engineering. Surprise. Value.

 

You really need to open your mind beyond doing the bare minimum, or you'll only ever get the bare minimum.

[amdorintel]

too many players in the i.t. world

too competetive

[Rolling2405]

1 hour ago, AngryBeaver said:

I would say math is important as it does give you very solid problem solving skills. If you look at problems in general and look at math problems you will see the correlation and why despite not needing actual math you are using those same skills to solve everyday issues.

I would understand the requirement to take up to precalc but, calculus and higher should be unnecessary because I think precac is already good enough to make your brain work to give you good problem solving skills to use in everyday life and career. Also most high schools require you to take up to algebra 2 and most universities require you to take one college math class as part of your general education anyways so, almost all college graduates will take precalc. Tech support specialists do not need a college degree they only need certificates. But, a system administrator manages computers on a large scale for an organization and they learn more things but, extra problem solving skills are not required to learn the extra material unless you are learning programing. I think the problem is that there is no IT degree that only teaches computer admin skills without the programing and calculus and higher in math classes.

 

1 hour ago, AngryBeaver said:

So look at the degree as something that helps open doors.

I totally agree with you that getting a bachelor's degree is important it's just that I think the advanced math class requirements to get the degree such as a computer science degree is unnecessary for people who want to become system administrators. I think the problem is that computer science has to cover a very broad range of knowledge and skills for all the computer careers that depending on the IT degree you choose advanced math is irrelevant. 

[Rolling2405]

2 hours ago, Jarsky said:

I've needed more math in car modification than I have in my entire IT career. I'm a system engineer (sysadmin) but I often deal with hardware as well.

Even scripting for basic automation doesnt require math. 

Do you know of any bachelor's degree that doesn’t require math above precalc that I can get to become an IT system administrator?

Edited November 9, 2019 by Thomas001

[Bitter]

PC building isn't necessarily the same as PC repair. Diagnosing a hardware failure isn't like assembling a PC, trying to determine which expensive part has failed instead of just guessing and throwing parts at the problem (other than swapping diagnostic parts of course) requires an understanding of the computer and how it works somewhat and it also requires some logical thinking. Diagnosing and repairing operating system issues also needs some smarts at times to just pin down the issue rather than just wiping and starting fresh (which is often needed but not always). It's the difference between someone who install a starter, install a fuel pump, install a computer, and miss a blown fuse vs someone who can diagnose why the car isn't starting and find the blown fuse.

[Animal901]

There is math.  Kill thread already...

[Jarsky]

6 minutes ago, Thomas001 said:

Do you know of any bachelor's degree that doesn’t require math above precalc that I can get to become an IT system administrator?

I don't have a bachelors, i'm just experienced and certified in technologies  (VMware, Windows Server 2016, Microsoft 365, CCNA, ITIL, etc...)

[Rolling2405]

7 minutes ago, Jarsky said:

I don't have a bachelors, i'm just experienced and certified in technologies  (VMware, Windows Server 2016, Microsoft 365, CCNA, ITIL, etc...)

And your a system administrator? I thought almost all system administrator jobs required a bachelor’s.

[PineyCreek]

Discrete mathematics maybe...that's basically math without numbers...logic puzzles.

[Theminecraftaddict555]

Yes, but 99% of it is basic math from my own experience. However, similar to certifications, knowing more than basic math can make you a valuable candidate for certain IT/computer technician jobs and make you stand out more. So while complex math isn't required to work as a computer technician, it is more of a suggestion that can increase your chances of landing the job. 

[IAmAndre]

On 11/6/2019 at 8:25 PM, 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. Maybe some schematics from time to time.

Even programming doesn't need maths, although it probably did in its early days.

[AngryBeaver]

9 hours ago, Thomas001 said:

I totally agree with you that getting a bachelor's degree is important it's just that I think the advanced math class requirements to get the degree such as a computer science degree is unnecessary for people who want to become system administrators. I think the problem is that computer science has to cover a very broad range of knowledge and skills for all the computer careers that depending on the IT degree you choose advanced math is irrelevant. 

So let me back up a little bit. I don't even necessarily think you have to get a 4 year degree for a lot of IT. Depending on where you live a simple 2 year like and A.A.S can be plenty. I started with a 2 year degree and just expanded on it over the next few years. I actually landed a Computer Forensics job for a Fortune 100 due to the 2 year degree and just being very skilled in general. I went back for a Forensics oriented degree and was promoted/moved to the CSIRT (Cyber Security Incident Response Team) before I even finished the first semester in that direction though. It has all been one opportunity after another since.

 

Now I will say my results and success are not typical. Most people would not have gotten the interview thanks to the HR filter. I actually knew someone there that mentioned me and handed the hiring manager my resume. I still had to basically win the position from others who on paper looked more qualified. 

 

Now back on topic. I was never a computer science person. I can code/script in several languages since I did take some classes in those areas, but I was never interested in actually doing that kind of work as a primary function. I do still do it to help automate repetitive tasks and save time when possible, but I by no means love it or even enjoy it that much. It is just something I can utilize to make my work more efficient. Where I guess it truly shines is being able to read and de-obfuscate code to get at the heart of an attack (job specific).

 

The great thing about IT is that anything learned in the field isn't really wasted. As you move up the more broad knowledge you need. I am hoping the OP is wanting to move up at some point and not stay working an entry level tech job. I mean he would be better off getting a low volt apprenticeship and pulling cat5/6 cable every day.

[Bombastinator]

13 hours ago, DrMacintosh said:

Even a mortician? Not everyone needs a math degree. Just a few decades ago nobody could do higher than basic algebra. The vast majority of the population still can’t. 
 

We’ve artificially raised the skill floor for jobs in America despite not actually needing the skills we get taught when out in the real world. 

Generally they are needed for other things though.  Life in an industrial society is complex.  Being a citizen in an industrial society is more complex.  Floors haven’t just been raised though they’ve also been lowered.  Reading levels? Down.  Understanding of history? Down.  Logic? Down.  Logic is a particularly scary one for me.  Not understanding logic and history makes people easier to lie to.  There used to be a class called civics which did some of these things and explained how government worked.  It’s almost totally gone.   One doesn’t learn that stuff anymore until college or if you go to an expensive private school for the children of the rich.

[DrMacintosh]

13 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

There used to be a class called civics which did some of these things and explained how government worked.  It’s almost totally gone.

I’m not sure when the last time you were in school was, but you’re clearly not informed about the curriculum that exists in modern day education.