u/Wilsomjane86

Something I've been wondering about while looking at different information technology courses is how much the actual list of subjects matters once you start applying for jobs. 

Two courses can cover similar areas but have completely different subject names and structures. Then you see job descriptions asking for a mix of skills that don't necessarily line up neatly with any particular degree. 

For people who hire in IT or have recently started their careers, how much attention do you actually pay to someone's academic subjects? 

Would you rather see a candidate who studied a wider range of topics, or someone who went deeper into a smaller number of areas? 

And how much can a good project portfolio make up for subjects that weren't covered in someone's course? 

There are so many Information Technology courses with almost identical titles that the name alone doesn't really tell you much. 

I'd personally be more interested in what students actually get to do. 

Are there practical projects? Do students work with networks, databases, cybersecurity or cloud technologies? Are assignments based around realistic problems, or is most of the learning theoretical? 

And then there's the question of what happens after graduation. 

For people who've already studied IT and entered the industry, what part of your course actually helped once you started working? 

If you had to choose an IT course again, what would you look at beyond the course title and list of subjects?