Careers in Computers

[xRyokenx]

I'm interested in more info, I'd like to know as many of my options as possible and then take courses and all based on what I'm interested in. The High School I went to was awful, all about numbers and that dumb "No Child Gets Ahead" rule that actually caused me to fail a course and do awful on another. I'll think about internship and I'm going to talk to some of the professors at the community college here in a little while just to discuss some stuff. They have a good pathway for me to follow when it comes to classes that covers almost everything and gets me a transferable Associates Degree so I can go to a four year university a little further down the road.

Thanks to all who have posted so far, still plenty time left, so post away guys (and ladies, the few that visit here, lol)!

[nil8]

The school system, no matter how flawed, can't and shouldn't take all the blame. Bad laws and seemingly insane administration doesn't help, but it's not all the schools fault. If you want to succeed in their system, you will sacrifice what's necessary to do so.

Most of us went to high schools that were awful. Get over it.
Mark Twain said,"Don't let school get in the way of your education."
If you want to learn something, learn it. Don't let school or anyone stop you from it.

Community college for IT is a mistake, go for a bachelors. Your job prospects and requirements to even be seen are much greater if you have a BS vs. Associates or Technical degree. Besides that 'transferable' degree isn't in a lot of cases.

Yea, Bozo is definitely a professional sysadmin. Sounds like you should retire and become your wife's assisstant.

[Airbozo]

Yea, Bozo is definitely a professional sysadmin. Sounds like you should retire and become your wife's assisstant.

Not anymore, really. My title at this company is; SR, SGI Systems Engineer and Product Development (that last part is my promotion and basically means I spec out hardware for new systems). They have asked me to do system administration here, but I refused unless they gave me a 50% pay increase. They do not pay me enough here to take on the stress and responsibility of all the internal systems _plus_ my regular job.

I do consult for another company, but I have to keep it minimal or it could become a conflict of interest. I charge the other company $120/hr and at first they balked at it, now they are happy to pay me that because I fix things and am personable (basically I make their systems work and don't piss off anybody while I am at it).

I am also a personal chef for 3 different clients. The personal chef gig would pay more, but right now 2 of the 3 clients are family. Once I build that job I may drop this current position so I can travel more. Being a personal chef is the only way for me to make a living in the food industry right now, since I do not want to start from the bottom.

I have proposed to the Wife that I become her sexratary, but she is only doing her recruiting part time at the moment, and she makes less than me as a teacher (even though she has 10 times the education). In the next couple of years that may change (the part time recruiting). She would make a horrible boss though, since she is a slave driver and Task Master... (hehehe)(Hi Sweetie!)

SO all in all, the best advice I can give is the same advice my adopted father gave me;

The best work? Play.

If you are not going to be the very best at your job (top 5 in the world), learn a second or even third career. You will need it. (I have)

Remember not to burn your bridges.

Pay yourself first.



Good luck!

[Drum Thumper]

<begin off topic>
Personal Chef eh?

I'm curious, do you have some professional culinary training? Or are you just a natural when it comes to the kitchen?

<end off topic>

[$loth]

LOL Minty!

What's an average chefs way over in the US? It's p*** poor in the UK.

[stewart123]

I work for a great insurance broker. We have around 700 people here and have our own software and hardware department. I work on the help desk for the hardware department. I came into this job with only self knowledge and an Information Systems and E-Business degree. (Which is not very much as I have a more hands on job now) I have learned quite a bit about networking and servers. We run Terminal Server here - yes I know it sucks. I have been here almost a year now. I started off making 27k and they boosted me up to 30k at my 6 month review. I get potentially a 10% bonus at the end of year. Base on performance and overall company performance.

What is pretty neat about my job is that I can work with both departments within the IT department and each division. I get my hands dirty with quite a few new projects. This always makes me feel good as I feel like I am continuously growing. They will pay for certs which I will work being working on going into next year and give me a bonus/pay increase. I really like my job. Also, it is a privately owned company which allows us to do neat things. One thing we do is have an award ceremony every 3 months where people get a "best at what we do" award. People nominate other people for doing a good job. Normally we have about 5-6 in each office. You get an award and a nice crisp $100 bill. Everyone else gets to have a beer or two and cheer you on. It really is a neat thing.

The downside to my job? Well no sales person respects IT people. Sales people are always stressed so they like to take it out on people they have little respect for. I have only ever had a couple of issues with people here. Everyone knows who the people are though who can sit there and shake the stick. I just have to learn to ignore the money makers! Anyways, time for me to go home!

[Airbozo]

I have a Culinary degree from a community college. The CC i went to (Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz,CA has a damn fine culinary program. That said It is NOT as rigorous as say CIA, but all the instructors are Cordon Bleu Graduates with some specialty field. My "degree" (really a certificate) is for "Pastry Chef". I took a sabbatical a couple of years ago and got bored, so I started my own consulting business and also went to culinary school (I have this thing about being busy...). I ended up screwing up their grading curve so I went pass/no-pass (I can take a test and pass it without studying so long as I attend classes. If I study I usually ace it). This ended up being a benefit to me, and I got asked to do all the extra tasks. The CC i went to runs it's own restaurant (The Sesnon House) and also caters weddings and other events. I got asked all the time to do the weekend services and front house manager.

I also just have a knack for what tastes good.

Unless you are really good or know someone, being a chef is tough work with low pay. I would never survive in a real restaurant for very long, although I do thrive on the stress. I could not take working nights all the time or weekends or holiday's. That's just me though. A good pastry chef or baker is worth their weight in salt. Also in the US, _anybody can go into the culinary field without belonging to some guild (or whatever they are called in Europe). No training necessary. If I remember right you have to get into some kind of sponsorship in the UK, (not really positive about that)


Stewart; Want the sales people to respect you more? You have to make them realize what you do to keep them able to sell. Let the computers crash for several hours and when you save the day, they have a little more respect.

[slytherock]

Are you looking for a Hardware related, or software related job?
For software, I can explain some jobs if you'"re interested

[xRyokenx]

Explain whatever you can Sly, I'm not sure what I want to do yet, hence this thread.

[slytherock]

General description of what you do.
Movie Editing:
Can go from short movies, Advertising, TV, Sports, Movies..

How widespread it is aka job availability.
Depend on witch side you stand, The hard part is to have a name. Once it's done, you dont stop working...

Starting pay (if you know it/wish to post it)
Nah, sorry. Anyway it would be in Canadian money...

Classes you needed in college (to compare to what's needed today, etc.)
Depend. I had a degree in audio/visual electronic. At the last year we we're working both inside and outside the broadcast stuff. I liked the outside most
Some I know had a degree in cinema.
Finally it depend more on your habilities to meet people and suck them of

How well you like it.
Best job ever

Anything else I've forgotten to add.
Have to like movies, music and have multiples interests

There's many jobs like that one, graphism, animation. People think it's only for certain peoples, but they always need good workers