Those of you who went to College.... end up getting a career in what you majored in?

[mr_b]

Shit that sums up IT across almost all of its sub categories.

That is one of my biggest complaints with the field now. Back 10 years ago, your knowledge base and performance got you alot of respect. You used to get a lot of perks to put up with the bullshit like comp time, flexible hours, good pay. Now the positions are considered to be so commonplace that you're expected to be just another minion. There is a huge difference between a skilled professional in this field and the unskilled. Mother fuckers don't respect I got woke up at 2am and worked 2 hours fixing an issue with 3rd shift retards and production didn't miss a beat. Yet when if I'm not there by 8:30 am, they interrogate me like I'm loafing. Go Fuck yourself!

 

[ebinsugewa]

Computer Science? You really have to love coding, long hours, no overtime, and its hard to keep your social life due to all the work disruption. You also get no prestige or respect for being a programmer.

i like coding.

i work 40 hours a week. zero overtime required. the fuck do i care about prestige? every two weeks money shows up in my account.

 

[LoneSage]

blowmecelt sounds like a 34 year old teenager

 

[beigemore]

Getting a good job is like 90% who you know.

 

[Jibbajaba]

Got my undergraduate degree in chemistry. Aside from a few years hiatus working in the private sector as a field service tech, I have been in academia in a "staff researcher" position for the last 10 years. Started graduate school a few years ago, so now I am career staff *and* a graduate student for the same professor. I tentatively have an adjust faculty / P.I. position waiting for me here when I graduate. We'll see what happens.

 

[SpamYouToDeath]

Computer Science? You really have to love coding, long hours, no overtime, and its hard to keep your social life due to all the work disruption. You also get no prestige or respect for being a programmer.

It's easier if you don't have a social life to begin with.

I've got a BS and MS in Computer Science and I write code all day at work and at home. Living the dream. (Oh, and I pretend to be an electrical engineer on the side.)

 

[lions3]

I have an art degree. Nope not using it.

I interned at web company in college (late 90s). Now i'm a contractor doing design/development. Making a poster one day. Then coding some mobile project the next. Been in my current job almost ten years contracting with one of my old dream companies. Some days it lives up to it... other days I start thinking about shopping around.

 

[neo_mao]

Pretty sure the only reason I got my current job is because during the interview I told the hiring manager that I have a very small penis and that I am sure his was larger than mine.

 

[Tw3ek]

What about Nursing? RNs tend to be more desired, but BSNs can usually find work as well. A health industry job that doesn't require grad school seems valuable to me. I have a few nurses in my family, they make more money than I do and thats not counting overtime pay that they can get.

Computer Science? You really have to love coding, long hours, no overtime, and its hard to keep your social life due to all the work disruption. You also get no prestige or respect for being a programmer.

Prestige? Who cares? If that's a requirement for your job search, you're in for a really unpleasant time. Programming gives you the ability to create and solve problems, which can really make people happy or their lives easier. If you wanna get hung up on all the bad things with your work, then I'm sorry for how unhappy you are going to be for a long time.

 

[Neodogg]

I have an art degree. Nope not using it.

I interned at web company in college (late 90s). Now i'm a contractor doing design/development. Making a poster one day. Then coding some mobile project the next. Been in my current job almost ten years contracting with one of my old dream companies. Some days it lives up to it... other days I start thinking about shopping around.

I have a BS in Visual Comm & Design. Did a couple years as a designer then a couple as an Art Director. Got kind of burned out with the competitive nature of it, everyone thinking the are the worlds greatest designer. I think about freelance every now and then, but not sure how to start that. Before we got married my wife and I decided to pursue her corporate career since it has a better potential. Seems to be working out so far.

 

[egg_sanwich]

Pretty sure the only reason I got my current job is because during the interview I told the hiring manager that I have a very small penis and that I am sure his was larger than mine.

These are the interview tips they need to be teaching in school.

I majored in corporate finance and was over it before I even graduated. Self taught myself web design and have been doing that with the missus for years now. Best decision ever - work only a few hours a day from anywhere in the world while my former peers are having stress related breakdowns at 30.

 

[sparksterz]

i like coding.

i work 40 hours a week. zero overtime required. the fuck do i care about prestige? every two weeks money shows up in my account.

Same here, went for computer science, do software development. Not breaking my life over long hours. Did that at one job though, never again.

 

[madman]

Computer Science? You really have to love coding, long hours, no overtime, and its hard to keep your social life due to all the work disruption. You also get no prestige or respect for being a programmer.

I majored in computer science, I'm not a programmer. There are other things to do in IT other than code.

 

[eek]

I did computer engineering in college. Worked for a small rocket company doing software. And then a super short stint at a bluetooth device company. And then a long stint at a satellite company (coding, EE work, purchasing, anything). Ended up wanting to quit the defense/space biz after 9 years. I got laid off last year and now I'm working at a software consulting company that works on web stuff. So far so good.

 

[Tacitus]

Shit that sums up IT across almost all of its sub categories.

That is one of my biggest complaints with the field now. Back 10 years ago, your knowledge base and performance got you alot of respect. You used to get a lot of perks to put up with the bullshit like comp time, flexible hours, good pay. Now the positions are considered to be so commonplace that you're expected to be just another minion. There is a huge difference between a skilled professional in this field and the unskilled. Mother fuckers don't respect I got woke up at 2am and worked 2 hours fixing an issue with 3rd shift retards and production didn't miss a beat. Yet when if I'm not there by 8:30 am, they interrogate me like I'm loafing. Go Fuck yourself!

I posted this a while ago, but here's my feelings... written as an "recommendation" for someone.

"If you are reading this, you have vetted this person as a candidate for whatever position you're hiring. This person approached me and solicited a recommendation from me. I would love to recommend competent people in this profession. However, the problem that IT suffers from is that to the layperson, someone who dropped out of HS and worked on his mother's computer is on par with someone who dedicated themselves to the profession and has an advanced degree or accreditation. Additionally, with tech schools, colleges and technical institutes flooding the market with marginally or poorly trained people who have unrealistic expecations and a lack of motivation.. the problem becomes clear. I can state subjectively that an alarmingly high percentage (75%+) of the available talent in this field is either woefully inexperienced or would be termed as "extremely deficient" in the areas of talent or motivation. So deficient, in my opinion, that to staff them would be damaging and a detriment to whatever organization chose to bring them on. All of that being said, the person who requested this was unremarkable by whatever metric you would ask me to measure them by. Comparing this against my previously noted percentage, this would actually put this person in the top 1/4 of all technology staff available at the moment. This is far more an indictment of the industry and the layperson decision makers who have fostered this culture of ineptitude and commoditized workers. If you are still considering this person, the sad fact remains that in a skewed talent pool, you could likely do far worse. This person isn't going to blow up your datacenter or reinvent the wheel. They will likely leave you in 2 years after tiring of your organization or being terminated in favor of another likely marginal-at-best staffer who will be slightly less expensive and far less experienced. I would recommend this person against throwing a dart at your massive stack of resumes culled from monster, dice or craigslist."

 

[StaticX]

Any of you have your careers take you to other countries? Like to live? (Not teaching English in japan. That's pretty easy)

 

[NeoSneth]

Got my undergraduate degree in chemistry. Aside from a few years hiatus working in the private sector as a field service tech, I have been in academia in a "staff researcher" position for the last 10 years. Started graduate school a few years ago, so now I am career staff *and* a graduate student for the same professor. I tentatively have an adjust faculty / P.I. position waiting for me here when I graduate. We'll see what happens.

that's a good gig , but I don't think I could go back to academia for research. Moves at a snail's pace compared to industry. Hopefully they have a good arrangement for tuition.

 

[bloodycelt]

Prestige? Who cares? If that's a requirement for your job search, you're in for a really unpleasant time. Programming gives you the ability to create and solve problems, which can really make people happy or their lives easier. If you wanna get hung up on all the bad things with your work, then I'm sorry for how unhappy you are going to be for a long time.

o.0 What I do is automate jobs away from other people, we make our clients happy which are the admissions officers, this means they get data and reports factored in ways they can figure out who to admit to their university to get the most federal grant money.

I'm just a fucking commodity. Happiness is for people that have actual talent.

 

[Jibbajaba]

that's a good gig , but I don't think I could go back to academia for research. Moves at a snail's pace compared to industry. Hopefully they have a good arrangement for tuition.

I do environmental chemistry research (fate and transport of pollutants, mostly) and it's something that I really care about. I do agree that everything moves slowly, which is frustrating. Having worked briefly in the private sector, I just didn't care for it. Busting my ass to make someone else rich. I was not at all proud to tell people what I did for a living, when asked. I get a good deal on tuition.

 

[Tacitus]

I do.....a sASF)Had8s09jq78eJASD)FJ*aj80

[connection terminated]

 

[DanAdamKOF]

Any of you have your careers take you to other countries? Like to live? (Not teaching English in japan. That's pretty easy)

Mine took me from Dallas to Cupertino. Not quite what you're asking though lol.

 

[Tacitus]

I'll say this:

Most of the folks I know in various industries are not in their chose majors. The people I would say that I consider experts or exceptionally talented are absolutely not in their chosen majors.

I'm in mine in one regard, but that was a conscious decision to move toward it and that it specifically benefited me to have it when compared against my peers.

Looking back, I would've chosen the major(s) that I would've really enjoyed or found valuable. I know there's the "burger flipper" argument, but like I said.. after you get your first job (and many times not), what your GPA, major and just about anything else ceases to matter.

I would've changed to a philosophy, art history or astrophysics when I was in school. I didn't because I was worried about job prospects and extending my loan debt. Not that I didn't like it or that I'm not good at my job... I could've been in the same place I am now with anything and with paying my own education. Knowing how much I paid for it and its irrelevance in regards to "what am I going to do for the rest of my life?": I would've studied something I really loved and enjoyed the time to learn and concentrate on it.

 

[munchiaz]

So i initially went to college for game design. Moved from Buffalo NY to Phoenix AZ, back in 06, and studied for about a year and a half. I site it as one of the biggest mistakes i made. I was one of the first people to go to college in my family, and my lack of knowledge and understanding back then was moot. I did learn many life lessons, and made some great friends, but fuck the game industry. It started to get to the point of hating it, and i don't want to hate my job, that is also one of my main hobbies.

I took a year off from school, and eventually went back and got an associates in Cisco Networking. I was able to land a job in a network operation center, about a year into my associates. Stayed in the NOC for 2 years, got half of my CCNA, and got a promotion at my company to engineer. Now i have my CCNA, and am currently studying for my CCNP. So It took awhile, but i do work in a field based on my degree.

 

[Tacitus]

So i initially went to college for game design. Moved from Buffalo NY to Phoenix AZ, back in 06, and studied for about a year and a half. I site it as one of the biggest mistakes i made. I was one of the first people to go to college in my family, and my lack of knowledge and understanding back then was moot. I did learn many life lessons, and made some great friends, but fuck the game industry. It started to get to the point of hating it, and i don't want to hate my job, that is also one of my main hobbies.

I took a year off from school, and eventually went back and got an associates in Cisco Networking. I was able to land a job in a network operation center, about a year into my associates. Stayed in the NOC for 2 years, got half of my CCNA, and got a promotion at my company to engineer. Now i have my CCNA, and am currently studying for my CCNP. So It took awhile, but i do work in a field based on my degree.

Have OSPF and BGP melted your brain yet?

Spoiler:

It will.

 

[aha2940]

I have dual degree in Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science. Never used the first one for anything, currently working as a consultant for a technology company.