Thanks for the info. To clarify, this is not a survey. I got contacted by some folks from the college I went to, they wanted some advice in regards to a career in the software side of IT. I didn't want to use myself as a case study but still wanted to give them inside information from the people who are inside the industry. I did a bit of research, ITJobsWatch <http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/> gave the answers i wanted, for UK. Then came across this post from Fog Creek Software<http://discuss.fogcreek.com/joelonsoftware/default.asp?cmd=show&ixPost=23012>which formed my question to skunks. To be more specific; should I be becoming a guru in MySQL, SQL Server or Oracle? Should I become a .Net wiz or are my chances better with the PHP, Perl and Python. If I go the desktop development route, who leads the pack; Java, C#, VB.Net? If it is mobile apps, J2ME or WML? Or can I throw all of the above out of the window and go the route less travelled: NetApp, Sharepoint etc Where I (or the kids i'll be talking to) am right now: Fresh out of college with a basic degree/diploma in IT Where I want to be in 2 to 3 years: Earning more than 100k per month working in or with software Where I want to be in 5 to 7 years: Not much hands on work, integration kind of stuff, consulting etc, kinda like the things SevenSeasTech does. What I am good in: Nothing in particular, but just finished college and not really dump thus can learn new stuff quickly Political alignments: Non-existent. Like a typical college grad, girls, money and machines interest me most.