What is YOUR Career?

[Chrisksaint]

Re: What is YOUR Career?

What Dayman really meant to say is "Hobbit that destroys rings"

[superjames1992]

Re: What is YOUR Career?

Assassin for the Soviet Government.

Damn, sucks you've been out of a job for 20 years, man.

[Nathan_OS]

Re: What is YOUR Career?

BS in Accounting.

As someone else said, definitely weigh all your options, positives and negatives.

For me, it came down to Accounting or Mechanical Engineering.

I believe I made a good choice. I graduated in May of this year, and had a job in line, already. I get to see the greatest(for the most part) city in the world and all the people in it on a daily basis. I've never had Nights/Weekends off since I started working, so it has been great!

Also, I will be going for an advanced degree, and also going for my CPA soon.

Opportunities are endless in Accounting, Engineering, IT, etc.

If you have any interest whatsoever, I would definitely look into IT.

If you are into Auditing, IS Auditing will definitely continue to rise. CISA certification will mean just as much as a CPA.

What the hell is IT lol

[Bellsprout]

Re: What is YOUR Career?

Damn, sucks you've been out of a job for 20 years, man.

It speak to Soviet intelligence that American think glorious Soviet Union actually dissolve. We rise again. Strike with force of mid-July Russian blizzard.

[8]

Re: What is YOUR Career?

It speak to Soviet intelligence that American think glorious Soviet Union actually dissolve. We rise again. Strike with force of mid-July Russian blizzard.

Expect "visitors" in the very near future.

[Bellsprout]

Re: What is YOUR Career?

Expect "visitors" in the very near future.

They won't bother visiting when they investigate and see that I'm actually a college student by day and a dude who cleans **** out of toilets by night.

[8]

Re: What is YOUR Career?

They won't bother visiting when they investigate and see that I'm actually a college student by day and a dude who cleans **** out of toilets by night.

When I said "visitors" I should have been more specific. What I meant was aliens that are going to "probe" you.

/End of thread hijacking.

[Nathan_OS]

Re: What is YOUR Career?

Its looking like I might I have to play really hard basketball this year, because I don't have alot of things to look forward to.

[Dirty Turtles]

Re: What is YOUR Career?

I'm studying in the IT field. Don't really know what I'll "major in" when the time comes to pick a specific path.

[mburke2]

Re: What is YOUR Career?

I have a BS in Management and just finished up my MBA about a month ago and looking to get into HR. Its definitely not an easy career to just jump into without experience but it's what I want to do so I'm sticking with it.

[auburntigersfan]

Re: What is YOUR Career?

I'm a freshman in a BSBA program right now, I like what I'm doing so far, and will probably end up majoring in a combination of two of these economics and strategy, Finance, and Operations and Supply Chain Management. Job outlook for business isn't too great right now, but my school has just about 100% job placement so I should be good.

You can't really go wrong with engineering if you like science, though.

[studbucket]

Re: What is YOUR Career?

I go a BS and a Master's in Computer Science and now work for a very large software company.

Regarding what you should do, in my opinion.
1) Since you still have some time before you go to college, brainstorm a few subjects/areas that interest you. See if you can take a few related classes from a local community college and get HS credit for it. It's often something you're allowed to do, and this will give you a better idea of if you'll really actually like Computer Science, Economics, etc.

2) Choose a major that provides you 2 things: Enjoyment/interest and a chance at a career. For instance, if you love psychology, unless you plan on going to grad school, your best plan is to maybe be a business major with psych minor and go into Marketing or HR, because that gives you a much better chance at getting a job than a straight psych major. (This is my wife's situation).

3) College IS NOT about getting the degree. It's what happens when you take all your classes and finish up, but college is really about preparing yourself for your career and the world. Courses are a part of that, but a big chunk is finding jobs related to your prospective field (early, by like sophomore year), getting internships (by junior year), and fine-tuning the "soft skills" that can make you great in your field. Join student orgs, go on volunteer trips (alternative spring breaks are awesome), talk to your professors regularly. Doing all these things gives you a leg up, and you can learn things in college that would normally take you time on the job or training to learn.

#3 is so huge. So many people just get a degree then whine "I don't have a job". Well...did you ever quit working at the food court in college? No? Well, then you have no real world experience for your area. You screwed up. In college, you can get so many opportunities by just getting to know the faculty, staff, and student orgs at your school, and you never know what will open up to you.

This is something I'm opinionated and passionate about, so feel free to send me a PM if you feel inspired to do so

[Nathan_OS]

Re: What is YOUR Career?

Great post.

You're right. You never know whereyou will really end up

[bgeno]

Re: What is YOUR Career?

I go a BS and a Master's in Computer Science and now work for a very large software company.

Regarding what you should do, in my opinion.
1) Since you still have some time before you go to college, brainstorm a few subjects/areas that interest you. See if you can take a few related classes from a local community college and get HS credit for it. It's often something you're allowed to do, and this will give you a better idea of if you'll really actually like Computer Science, Economics, etc.

2) Choose a major that provides you 2 things: Enjoyment/interest and a chance at a career. For instance, if you love psychology, unless you plan on going to grad school, your best plan is to maybe be a business major with psych minor and go into Marketing or HR, because that gives you a much better chance at getting a job than a straight psych major. (This is my wife's situation).

3) College IS NOT about getting the degree. It's what happens when you take all your classes and finish up, but college is really about preparing yourself for your career and the world. Courses are a part of that, but a big chunk is finding jobs related to your prospective field (early, by like sophomore year), getting internships (by junior year), and fine-tuning the "soft skills" that can make you great in your field. Join student orgs, go on volunteer trips (alternative spring breaks are awesome), talk to your professors regularly. Doing all these things gives you a leg up, and you can learn things in college that would normally take you time on the job or training to learn.

#3 is so huge. So many people just get a degree then whine "I don't have a job". Well...did you ever quit working at the food court in college? No? Well, then you have no real world experience for your area. You screwed up. In college, you can get so many opportunities by just getting to know the faculty, staff, and student orgs at your school, and you never know what will open up to you.

This is something I'm opinionated and passionate about, so feel free to send me a PM if you feel inspired to do so

This is a good post. Any prospective college student should keep those three things in mind.

I know I was interested in being in accountant while I was in high school, but I HATED the intro accounting class I took in 10th grade, so I knew it wasn't right for me.

You definitely want to pursue a career in something you enjoy doing, but the people that tell you not to worry about job outlook and potential salary are naive. Like you said, find a way to make yourself more marketable (business/marketing/PR major with psych minor instead of psych major) while doing something you enjoy.

And definitely take advantage of all opportunities on and off campus. Join whatever clubs you can, take as many internships as possible, and attend any lecturers or speakers that you could learn from. Clubs will help you network and can give you real world experience while leading to other opportunities (I got an internship as the Media Relations Intern for Penn State Hockey because I was in the Hockey Management Association). Internships look great on a resume and are another way to network and learn real-world skills. Attending guest lectures and seeing guest speakers can help you learn a lot. If someone with significance in your field comes to campus, make yourself present at their appearance and soak in what they have to say... there is a reason they got to where they are... you can learn from them. If possible, stay afterward and see if you can talk to the person. You never know who the guest speaker may know that can help you out.

To go along with that, most successful, established people in the professional world are very willing to help the younger generation. Even the ones who seem like they may be too big/busy to care about the little guy in college will surprise you and give you an interview for a research paper or reply to your e-mail when you're looking for advice.

Richard Billingsley, a college football historian known most notably for his computer poll featured in the BCS rankings, gave me a 60-minute phone interview for a 4-minute project I was doing for my radio class once. I e-mailed him on a whim, not even sure if I had a correct e-mail address, and he replied the next day to set up a phone interview. He scheduled me after an ESPN interview he did that day... lol.

[jb12780]

Re: What is YOUR Career?

Was a history major and now studying political science. My advice is join something on campus, whether its flag football or chess club, go out and do something. I joined the rugby team and I'm having a blast.