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More schooling vs. working advice
Kirbith
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Alright, so I am 22 and trying to figure out what to do with my life, so to speak. Brief time line: graduated high school four years ago, spent two years following in college. First year I was undecided, second year I was in the CIT program. (Computer & Information Technology). This required trigonometry, which I was terrible at and this led me to take a year off of school. I moved to Dallas for a while, blah blah, ended up working a few retail jobs that all paid terribly. Went back to school for the Fall 09 semester, took a crazy 17 credit hours to get my Associates in General Studies. After that, tried to get any kind of basic administrative job, no dice.
My mom owns a small business, offered me an administrative job on a project she got for the state's lottery. Job paid very well, but as the contract for it is almost up, I am out of a job here very shortly. So decision I am trying to make is if I should go back to looking for full time work, or if I should try going back to school in the fall.
The college I have attended previously was IUPUI, and that's where I would go back to. They offer a lot of majors, so there's quite a bit too choose from. However, I really am clueless as to what I would go back to school for. At the same time, the job market is still pretty bleak in Indy, so I don't know much where to look there. So I made lists of some of my strengths and weaknesses, maybe there's something in them that I'm missing.
Here's some areas that I was either very good at, or I'm very passionate about:
Here are some things I'm not that great at, or that I am disinterested in:
Now there is of course also the issue of money. I know my parents will pay for my classes and books. That is not an issue. My brother is 25, still going back and forth on going to school and yea, my parents pay for his classes. Now in the past they have also helped pay for my rent, utilities, ect. Usually this all ends up being around ~$500 a month, and my mom has never said that that was too much. However, I now have an apartment with my boyfriend. In the past, my mom always said she wouldn't help me pay my bills in that situation. But for the Fall 09 semester (when I was living with him), she did give me $400 a month to help pay for bills. My boyfriend has a good job, but I will still need to cover my half of bills. So I will still need about $500 a month to be comfortable. I have some savings, but it's not nearly enough to go back to school and live on. Now I am VERY uncomfortable asking my parents for money, and student loans are out of the question for me.
Here is what I am asking: for those who have a Bachelor's degree, was it worth it? Is there something I can do to figure out a field of study that would be right for me? From what I have said my interests are, is there a general area that just screams, hey, look into me? Or would I be better suited just looking for a job? I know my boyfriend will be very supportive of whatever I decide to do, but he will not be able to help financially, so yea. Gotta find a way to pay my part of the bills. And I will be at my parents house tomorrow since I do our laundry for free there once a week. So I am gonna talk to my dad, see what he thinks I should do. And by the way, both my parents are highly educated with Master's degrees, so they do kind of want me to go to more school. But I want to hear your guy's experiences. Was it easier to find a decent paying job once you had a Bachelor's degree? Is the job market starting to get better and I just don't know it?
tl;dr Trying to decide between going back for more school to get my Bachelor's degree or find a job. Currently have an Associate's degree in General Studies and would have to pick an area of study for the Bachelor's. Want people's opinions, experiences they had from this level of schooling/ trying to find work.
My mom owns a small business, offered me an administrative job on a project she got for the state's lottery. Job paid very well, but as the contract for it is almost up, I am out of a job here very shortly. So decision I am trying to make is if I should go back to looking for full time work, or if I should try going back to school in the fall.
The college I have attended previously was IUPUI, and that's where I would go back to. They offer a lot of majors, so there's quite a bit too choose from. However, I really am clueless as to what I would go back to school for. At the same time, the job market is still pretty bleak in Indy, so I don't know much where to look there. So I made lists of some of my strengths and weaknesses, maybe there's something in them that I'm missing.
Here's some areas that I was either very good at, or I'm very passionate about:
- I'm very organized
- Logic, I took a CIT logic course and loved it.
- SQL, this was in the logic course I took, I just remember loving using this program because it made a lot of sense to me
- I took a first level Japanese language course in Fall 09 and absolutely loved it. It was difficult, but it made me feel great when I succeeded.
- Literature, but not classic literature. I love reading. Usually very modern authors, such as Neil Gaiman. I also read some manga, and I've been getting into Graphic Novels.
- Technology. I love figuring out how things work, and I love working on my computer.
- Typing. Typing is something that comes very naturally to me.
- HTML. I don't think I was ever very spectacular at using HMTL, but I could do basic things with it quite easily, and I had fun writing things out by hand when I had to use it for a few classes.
- Stategy RPGs. I love meticulously planning out who is going ot go where, what to level up next, ect.
Here are some things I'm not that great at, or that I am disinterested in:
- Math. I am fairly decent at algebra, but once I get to the more complicated parts of math I am not very good. My grandpa has a PhD in math, my dad a masters, and so yea. Family doesn't understand much that I'm not great at it.
- Art. I am a terrible artist, even at the most basic drawings.
- U.S. History is extremely boring to me. I can never remember all the dates, names, all that jazz required with it.
- I have problems with Social Anxiety. Meaning, it's very difficult for me to pickup the phone and call people I don't know. Or it's hard for me to have lengthy conversations with people I don't know. Now, if someone calls me, I am usually ok at talking to them even if I don't know them. But yea. I have been working on this but it's still a problem for me.
- Sales. And by that I mean directly selling things to people. This is just not something I would be good at, as it makes me too interested. Now, if somoene wants my opinion on things so they can help pick one that will be best for them, great. But I can't push things on people.
Now there is of course also the issue of money. I know my parents will pay for my classes and books. That is not an issue. My brother is 25, still going back and forth on going to school and yea, my parents pay for his classes. Now in the past they have also helped pay for my rent, utilities, ect. Usually this all ends up being around ~$500 a month, and my mom has never said that that was too much. However, I now have an apartment with my boyfriend. In the past, my mom always said she wouldn't help me pay my bills in that situation. But for the Fall 09 semester (when I was living with him), she did give me $400 a month to help pay for bills. My boyfriend has a good job, but I will still need to cover my half of bills. So I will still need about $500 a month to be comfortable. I have some savings, but it's not nearly enough to go back to school and live on. Now I am VERY uncomfortable asking my parents for money, and student loans are out of the question for me.
Here is what I am asking: for those who have a Bachelor's degree, was it worth it? Is there something I can do to figure out a field of study that would be right for me? From what I have said my interests are, is there a general area that just screams, hey, look into me? Or would I be better suited just looking for a job? I know my boyfriend will be very supportive of whatever I decide to do, but he will not be able to help financially, so yea. Gotta find a way to pay my part of the bills. And I will be at my parents house tomorrow since I do our laundry for free there once a week. So I am gonna talk to my dad, see what he thinks I should do. And by the way, both my parents are highly educated with Master's degrees, so they do kind of want me to go to more school. But I want to hear your guy's experiences. Was it easier to find a decent paying job once you had a Bachelor's degree? Is the job market starting to get better and I just don't know it?
tl;dr Trying to decide between going back for more school to get my Bachelor's degree or find a job. Currently have an Associate's degree in General Studies and would have to pick an area of study for the Bachelor's. Want people's opinions, experiences they had from this level of schooling/ trying to find work.
Backloggery | Steam - Kirbith | PSN - Kirbith | 3DS: 4957-2249-4817
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Did 2 tax seasons and decided that accounting sucks
Went back to school for a year and a half and got my MBA
Got hired onto a Fortune 100 company as a financial analyst for 51,500 in Denver, CO at 24
I now live in San Jose and work for the same company at 88,600. Im 28.
My college was University of Colorado in Colorado Springs
Tuition was about 5K a semester at the time. I did 18-21 credits a semester and worked a night shift 2 days a week for appox $11 an hour.
College is only not worth it if you are a *silly goose* person that NEEDS to go to New York (or some prestegious/expensive) college to "find yourself" and goes 100K+ into debt to get your art degree. There was recently an article on yahoo about such a woman and how the mother is trying to blame the college for her daughters 100k debt.
It sounds like you like IT. Go get your 4 year IT degree. Get prepared to interview 20+ times at large companies. I had around 10 before they originally hired me back in 2006 and the market is awful now compared to then. I even went to a recruiter that told me that I was only worth 37K max and that me hoping for a 48K starting salary was "delusional" (I forwarded her the offer letter :-)
Many, many managers and potential employers will spout the "I don't care if you have a degree as long as you're good" line. Only a very small percentage will ever back that up with action, especially before you've also got a lot of experience to outweigh the lack of school.
If you were talking about racking up tens of thousands of dollars of debt for a non-science/engineering degree, I would tell you to reconsider. But if your parents are willing and able to pay for classes and you can pay for your living expenses with a part-time job or student loans, getting the bachelor's is a good investment in your future.
The longer you wait, the less likely you're going to be to go back to school.
Rigorous Scholarship
Yeah, IT is going through a bad turn right now. Don't believe those commercials from the PC training places about how in 6 months you could be making 60k a year in a highly rewarding IT career. Not happening.
Also, I'm curious why student loans are "out of the question" for you. Many people use student loans to go to school. They are probably one of the only kinds of "good debt" out there, since the interest rate is typically low (for government subsidized loans, NEVER do any private bank loans for education) and repayment is a good way to build a credit rating.
This. Managers may not "care", but they may still have HR guidelines that they have to follow (even if they don't know about them). Not having a BA/BS closes a lot of doors.
When I was at Uni the mathematical computing courses were called "Computer Science" and the non-mathematical were called "Information Technology". I don't know if this is still current.
I am not now, nor will I ever be a high school social studies teacher. In fact, I work in the wonderful world of finance.
So, was my degree a waste? Yes and no. I wish I had gotten a degree in business, as that is where I ended up. However, having the degree almost certainly allowed me to get this job. So, having a degree is worth certainly while.
Also, the college experience is worth something, maybe not 40k, but something.
My advice is to get the degree, but try to get it in a field that you are likely to use later in life.
Oh, one thing. While you are in school you will have the opportunity to do internships in your desired field. This opportunity will only last while you are in school and is likely to be more valuable then the degree you get. The networking opportunity and job contacts and resume padding experience you make will give you a serious edge when you graduate. I wish someone had told me this when I was in school.
At mid to large companies your resume won't even get through HR to they person doing the actual hiring if it doesn't meet certain criteria, or if you don't have referral. (Even with the latter it might not get past HR if they have a formal referral process).
Also +1 to the idea of taking advantage of internships, co-ops whatever while you're at school. Just be a disgusting glutton for this sort of thing, make connections. You shouldn't just be coming out of your degree with a piece of paper.
If you think your anxiety issues might get in the way of this and can't be overcome by just forcing yourself into social situations then that's something you need to deal with.
I e-mailed my old manager to get feedback - was I not qualified, what was I missing if I wasn't, etc. The problem? Having no expectation that I would apply for the job he wrote the requirements as a BA/BS in related field or 8+ years experience. I was capable of doing the job and he knew it, but I did not meet the requirements that were submitted to HR, so they wouldn't let him hire me.
There are a host of technical certifications you could pick up that would help you with resume fodder.
As for the degree - yeah it will close some doors if you don't have one. The idea is that you certainly don't want to give someone a reason to exclude you. A degree in anything proves that you can set a goal, deal with/put up with a bunch of crap in the interm and finish the goal - it doesnt mean that your qualified to do anything more than put up with a bunch of crap. Most jobs want to know that you can accomplish something while still putting up with crap - so a degree is the current measuring stick.
Not saying that you can't find employment without a degree, but it certainly doesn't hurt your attempt and it is ultimately cost effective. The numbers simply don't lie - if you have a college degree you're going to make more over the course of your professional life.
As an example: If you go and buy a brand new car for 35,000 dollars, that car will be worth close to 0 dollars in 20 years.
If you go get a degree for 35,000 dollars, the degree will only EARN you money in 20 years. Will it earn you more than 35,000? Hard to say..but it'll certainly earn you more than 0.
My only issue with continuing with the IT program is the math requirement. People who attend IUPUI are in one of either IU or Purdue's schools, depending on your major. Since IT falls under Purdue, yea, they have tough math requirements. I already had to take two basic level college algebra classes, and then the CIT degree has an algebra/ trig class as its math requirement. The other two I took were just prerequisites to be in the class. Now the algebra/ trig class can be taken one of two ways: a 5 credit hour, or broken up into two 3 credit hour classes which is taken over two semester. I went the later route, and unfortunately got a C- the first time through (a very poor grade for me). As luck would have it, you have to have a C or above to go to the next class, so I retook it the next semester, got a B I think. But I struggled to get that B. Now since it has been quite a while since I took this class (I retook it in Spring 08), I would probably have to either take it AGAIN, or do the 5 credit hour version. This seems very daunting to me. How difficult is trig?
Oh it's actually worse than that. If I found a candidate tomorrow that could do the job better than any other person on the fucking planet and all he had was a High School diploma, my HR department would not let me hire him for my team.
You could possibly argue in an associates if it's a Junior role.
Once you are past that class, no one is going to make you do trig in a job interview. Unless you are going to work at Sadists' R Us.
I know it sucks, but with copious help and dedication, i would wager you could score a passing grade if it was important enough to you.
If there is more math yet to be had after that, well... then that would suck.