Help With Career Choices!

[Kramx3]

I'm going to be registering for my freshmen year of college tomorrow, but I have no clue what I want to do with my future. I need to find a career that interests me asap so that I can select the proper classes tomorrow.

My original plan was to get a degree in computer science, and study computer/network security etc... but I am not so sure I want to do that anymore (it just seems rather dull).

If I could get a good list of interesting/fulfilling jobs it would help me more than you can believe.

You can list any job you feel worth listing. I'm mainly hoping for something enjoyable, that pays well enough to live comfortably.

A few questions to get your thoughts flowing:

"What are you planning on doing for your future career?"

"What are you doing currently?"

"What would you choose to do if you could change your current job?"

"What would you recommend as a career?"

Thanks for all your help ATOT!

 

[fire400]

i'm planning on gettin' my masters in comp sci

but with all this time wastin' i'm doing, who the hell knows.

i'm suprised to even be postin' on this forum.

follow your heart and don't lie to yourself.

put yourself through the experiences, not just talk or listen about what you want to do with your future.

as much of a nerd i can be, whatever the hell you wanna call me, i love talking to young people, kids and teens. story tellin' and asking them questions and teachin' them about all sorts of stuff. fuse talents together, and you got a multi-layered career, not a boring desk job where you wanna make over 50K a year.

go all out.

"glorious days."

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

This really is something you need to figure out for yourself.

It's silly to think of your degree as something you want to do for the rest of your life. Truth is you'll probably switch careers a half dozen times in your life. The trick is to find the most flexible degree you can. Business, Marketing, Law...

Whatever. I went to college as an English major in Alaska. Wanted to be a teacher. Wound up making 90k running a home theater store and now I'm starting a real estate brokerage in Maui. (BTW... I have no degree... I drank myself out of college)

Point is, don't get hung up on what you think you're going to do for the rest of your life. unless you become a doctor, you're going to get bored and move around like everyone else. Picking a major and sticking to it as a career for your entire working life is like marrying your highschool sweetheart and staying together forever. It happens... but not that often.

 

[aCynic2]

Originally posted by: Kramx3
I'm going to be registering for my freshmen year of college tomorrow, but I have no clue what I want to do with my future. I need to find a career that interests me asap so that I can select the proper classes tomorrow.

My original plan was to get a degree in computer science, and study computer/network security etc... but I am not so sure I want to do that anymore (it just seems rather dull).

If I could get a good list of interesting/fulfilling jobs it would help me more than you can believe.

You can list any job you feel worth listing. I'm mainly hoping for something enjoyable, that pays well enough to live comfortably.

Secret Agent
Special Ops Soldier
Cruise Ship Captain
Silicon Breast Implant Lobbyist

 

[jackace]

Any job you find interesting will be fulfilling so just pick something that interests you. I can say that comp sci/eng degrees do make a lot of money out of college right now. That could change by the time you graduate though so you never know.

Basically pick something that interests you and learn about it. Some degrees earn more then others right out of college, but after 5 years experience those roles can greatly change. I personally had always been interested in business start-ups. Why and how people start these multi-million dollar businesses. So I studied Entrepreneurship Management in college.

I will advise you that technical fields like comp sci/eng will almost always make more in the job market on AVERAGE then a lot of other degrees.

 

[Kramx3]

Thanks for your advice, keep it coming.

 

[fire400]

spend time with people from all walks of life.

 

[replicator]

I'd move away from Comp Sci, unless you are really interested in it, and not looking to make the big bucks.. Technical work in general is really tough career choice at this point - it is one of those professions where as you get older, you get stereotyped as being less capable of producing good work (unlike professions such as Law and Medicine).. Also, all the offshoring happening these days to eastern Europe and India doesn't make it any easier!

I'm sure you'll hear this time and time again, but choose what interests you most - but stay aware of supply and demand. As much as you enjoy something, if you aren't going to be rewarded appropriately for it then you won't be very satisfied, especially as you get older and want to start a family.

If I could go back, I'd probably go into some area of business (finance, marketing, etc). Less stressful than IT, and you are better compensated.

 

[Bibble]

Dude, why are you worrying about your career so much when you haven't even begun college yet? Sign up for the classes that look to be the most interesting and/or fun! No sense in paying to take a class you will hate.

Of course, it's good to keep your career choices in the back of your mind when doing these things, but by no means should you have to really worry about this your first semester (unless maybe you want to go to med school). I'm only a year ahead of you, and I can tell you that one year ago my career plans were completely different from what they are today. Exploring classes and subjects that are interesting to you will help give you an idea about what you want to do with your future. Good luck!

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Originally posted by: Kramx3
I'm going to be registering for my freshmen year of college tomorrow, but I have no clue what I want to do with my future. I need to find a career that interests me asap so that I can select the proper classes tomorrow.

My original plan was to get a degree in computer science, and study computer/network security etc... but I am not so sure I want to do that anymore (it just seems rather dull).

If I could get a good list of interesting/fulfilling jobs it would help me more than you can believe.

You can list any job you feel worth listing. I'm mainly hoping for something enjoyable, that pays well enough to live comfortably.

A few questions to get your thoughts flowing:

"What are you planning on doing for your future career?"

"What are you doing currently?"

"What would you choose to do if you could change your current job?"

"What would you recommend as a career?"

Thanks for all your help ATOT!

Hmmm...

First post... Legitimate questions... No black man avatar...

Does this mean you don't have any free Ipods?

 

[Aluvus]

Originally posted by: replicator
I'd move away from Comp Sci, unless you are really interested in it, and not looking to make the big bucks.. Technical work in general is really tough career choice at this point - it is one of those professions where as you get older, you get stereotyped as being less capable of producing good work (unlike professions such as Law and Medicine).. Also, all the offshoring happening these days to eastern Europe and India doesn't make it any easier!

I'm going to partially disagree. Demand for US workers in technical fields is still pretty good (in some areas, for the immediate present, it is very good). The outsourcing phenomenon is real, but isn't bleeding off white collar jobs as quickly as some would claim (though if your goal was to work in a call center, you may need to move to India).

That said, it is true that older workers in some technical fields don't gain value as much as similar workers in law or medicine. Sort of. There is a place in many organizations for a senior technical role, but in general moving up in these roles means taking on supervisory tasks. In some cases, it means managing those outsourced workers.

@OP: Your first semester/quarter of classes do not determine the rest of your life. Take some baseline stuff (calculus, whatever is normal at your school), and keep your options open. I never actually changed majors, but until my junior year I made sure I kept the door open to at least double-majoring in other stuff that interested me. Unless your school has a very unusual curriculum, you shouldn't have to make any really final decision about your major yet.

 

[YoungGun21]

Theoretical physicist