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What do you do for a living?/Help me pick a career.

Psychedelic.Penguin

Psychedelic.Penguin

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Backstory for those who don't know.

I'm a 19 year old community college kid, living at home with ma. I was set on a B.A. in Compute Science. Since 11th grade I wanted to get this degree, CCNA certificate, and just get a stable well paying job as a network administrator. Over the past 2 years I've mostly been taking GE classes, and I've just got 2 more classes to go. However my Major Prep classes I've still got a year and a half of VERY hard classes. I've failed Calculus twice in a row, though I studied my ass off. The stress drove my immune system to such a low, that I contracted shingles. People usually don't get that until they're in their 60s.


So now I'm trying to figure out what I want to do. My plan A failed, and I'm scrambling to find a plan B. I've been thinking more about doing some sort of trade school; carpentry maybe. Jesus was a carpenter. I've also thought about photojournalism, or some sort of photography. I think I'd be content shooting weddings/special events and portraits. At this point I'd like to move out (somewhere distant and completely new, my hometown sucks), find a new job, keep going to community college until I find out what I want to do.

I'm not out to try to change the world with some new product. I don't want to become an accountant like my dad, just for the money. He hates it and has told me since I was 5 that he'd rather be doing anything else and make far less. Being 19, I don't have many living expenses. I'd be happy with just being independent and going to school at my own pace until I figure out what I want to dedicate myself to.

My questions to you:

What do you guys do for a living?

Are you happy at your job?

What did you have to do to get there?

Are you struggling to pay your bills?

Thanks guys.
 
Woah, woah. I think you need to slow down with your "My plan A failed" talk. Calculus or any hard class shouldn't derail your dreams. I know doctors who know nothing about respiratory pharmacology, yet they struggled through it to practice medicine in general.

I think you should take this summer or fall to do calculus at a very slow pace. As in, if needed, just take the calc and nothing else. Hire a tutor if you need, grab some "Calculus for dummies" books, etc. This is just a hurdle, not a sign you can't do what you want.

I failed calculus too. I went on to get my BS, MBA, and have since written speeches, campaigned, etc for politicians and now consult. Don't stop what you're doing, man.
 
Dude Calculus wasnt meant to be easy. Theres a reason why it took centuries for people to understand and come up with theories we have today.
Easiest way to understand Calculus is taking good notes from a professor that knows what the heck he/she is doing and explains clearly to you. ABUSE ABUSE AND ABUSE OFFICE HOURS THEY ARE UR LIFESAVER!

Next is practice practice and practice questions and do your homework with friends. Having more than one head always helps because people learn and understand differently. Some clicks some dont it all matters on practice.

Failing class isnt the end of the world just means you need to retake them.
I'm currently studying Chemical engineering and believe me its not the easiest major to do especially if its impacted major -.-
Failed both my intro and 2nd Chemical engineering core classes and intro chemistry because of life issues and whatnot so this year I have to retake them.
I also failed one of my Calculus class because I didnt understand and was shy to ask my professor. But I passed the next quarter by studying and working my ass off with my friends.

If Comp Science is what you want to do and feel you wont be bored of and enjoy working then I would say stick to it. You can change your major whenever you want XD I know my professor changed his major 5times during his college years :p
 
Funny, my dad's an accountant too. I couldn't follow in his footsteps. I like the pluses & minuses, but the taxes/rules/laws suck. I was always into computers, so I'm a Systems Administrator for his accounting firm & insurance company (both in the same building). As much as I've loved computers, there's many days where I wish my career was something unrelated. Even better would be some kind of skill that doesn't change so constantly. I think it's pretty neat when a business & its skill can be passed on through generations, but anything our dads knew about computers no longer applies now (queue the punch card stories). :p

I make good money but I'm still struggling to pay the bills. I made too many bad decisions in spending, accumulating debt and a choice in home buying.

I had to repeat a business calc class. There were those stupid word problem questions like a raisin machine isn't putting in the right amount of raisins into the boxes.
You're supposed to say something like, "based on the null hypothesis, blah blah blah," but I realistically answered "You get it repaired or buy a new one." So yeah, I had to take that over. :p
 
Hi PP,
I work in a Semiconductor Manufacturing company as engineer to support the making of tiny electronic parts for handheld devices. Yes, I'm happy with my job. At first I attended community college in hopes of becoming an aircraft mechanic, but the waiting line was too long for me, so while waiting I took science and math courses. I did well on those courses, so I took transfer courses for Computer Science. I was put on waiting list again, so I took Physics as my major. I managed to get a B.S. in four years, 6 years total in college. First job after college was a Federal job at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard doing Nuclear Safety. I didn't like that job, so I joined the Army. I got out after 3yrs and end up in San Jose, CA. I got a job as Engineering Technician at a small company. It closed down then found this job where I'm at. I've been doing this job for well over 10years now. I am not struggling to pay my bills because I live within my means.

My advice to you is evaluate yourself what you are good and enjoy doing. And if there is no vocation or degree which matches your passion then maybe something you can tolerate doing. Which courses did you do very well and enjoy in college? Maybe that's your calling? If you enjoy working with your hands (carpentry, mechanic, ... etc) then that's what you should pursue? You are very young, so you have lots of time to find the career for you. One thing, the route others have taken to get there is not necessaritly the only path, sometimes you may have to create your own. Take care and good luck PP.
 
-Do not pick a field because it sounds like good money, or there are others who are happy with it, as it is all relative.

-What you need to do is first think about what you would want to do WITH a Computer Science degree. Is it something you honestly feel you want to do, for many years? Is it something that excites you? If so, then take the above suggestions and do whatever you can to get past the bumps, as any path you take will have bumps[and where some are able to overcome, others fall off and go a different path].

-If you feel you are just getting the degree to get it, without any real care for the careers available to you after then you need to assess what does drive you. Do not get a degree just to get it if you do not plan to work in the field you spent so long to get a degree for. That time could be spent far better.
 
Thanks all.
[MENTION=11]Ghonzo[/MENTION], believe me, I tried everything for calculus. 24 hours of tutoring/studying a week and I still bombed the quizzes. I would understand how to do a problem for a day, then forget it before I came to class the next.

I could give calc another try. But I've still got 3 more advanced math classes after that. I don't think I could deal with that much stress again.

I know some people have told me to just do what I enjoy doing and I'll find a way to make a living from it. Others have to me to stick with comp sci because its a promising career in any part of the world and it pays well.

I'm really taking all this advice seriously. I've learned to consider what elders advise, cause they've probably gone through the same thing before.
 
Well I'm a recent grad from UCR with a Computer Engineering degree and I just landed a job(starts on the 15th) at General Networks Corp as a Support Consultant where I'm on a support team assigned to Disney for programming/troubleshooting/sys admin needs across the U.S. I'm not struggling with the bills atm because I just moved back home and my job is a 3-4 minute drive.

In college, my GPA steadily decreased every year and I had originally planned to go to grad school. That plan is on hold because of how hard some of these classes were for me. But my final overall GPA was a 2.8, I failed Calculus, Machine Language Programming, as well as an intermediate algorithms class. I was extremely stressed because if you don't pass the second time your booted from the major. I know I wasn't the brightest or smartest in my class but I knew that I didn't want to do any other major so I stuck with it.

My advice: Get through your shitty basic courses and re-take them as many times as it takes. Upper div CS classes don't even use calculus. Almost everyone I know who was in my major or related major is doing something different from each other so Comp Sci can take you to many different places that spark your interests. To sum it all up, Don't quit and I don't think your Plan A has failed yet.

On a side note... while I was job hunting, most jobs actually didnt not ask for my GPA. I'd say about 20% ask but most of them liked that i had 1.7 years of internship experience over my GPA. Once you graduate your an engineer regardless of your GPA.

Also, just doing what you enjoy doing to make a living realistically doesn't work most of the time now a days.
 
I have 3 careers currently:

Full time -- I work for a Government Agency in the County I work in (but our funding is 66% Federal/34% state, no local money so Fed Gov' job) nice work hours, nice nice pay, lots of work so days go by fast.
Part time -- Property Investor -- basically owning and maintaining rental properties. This is meant for long term investment right now, not a short term large capital gain by any means.
24/7 -- Father to an almost 4 year old boy... best job in the world :D :D :D

I didn't have to do much to get where Im at. Worked at a car dealership for several years which gave me the funds to buy the properties... and being a FInance Manager gave me the skills to work for the Government...Fiscal Manager/Investigator.

I am not struggling to pay my bills. The mortgage on the house my wife owns is only $800/month which is sweet for a house built in 2008 in a great neighborhood. cars are paid off, no revolving debt... just play money/vacation/concert money!

LOL. I love my jobs. My wife has a great job as well. She finished school with a Masters Degree in Social Work and has her CA LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) so basically a therapist. She works at the courthouse as a mediator in family law and she loves it. great great pay too and amazing benefits.

If I could do it all over again, like right outta high school... I would have been a mechanical engineer. I know its never too late to go back to school and I am only 28 years old.. but have a lot on my plate right now to commit to going back to college.

Good luck Pengu
 
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