Just A Rant

[Rick]

It's all about picking the path that has a higher chance of reward down the line.

And sometimes, nothing you can do can help you find the perfect job.

I was lucky to make upwards of $75K for the past fifteen years, working for a fantastic company. Unfortunately, last year, they were forced to downsize, and my position was no longer required. Even though I have a number of certifications, a large, varied (yet focused!) amount of experience, I am starting a new job next week, making less than half of this. I've had a number of recruiters working for me, my own search on the go, and yet, this is the best solution I've come up with that fits.

But you know what? I'm happy with my choice. I'm going to be managing a team of people, and working to improve a department in what can be a very great company. I'm excited to try this new opportunity, and damn it if I'm not going to work my hardest to succeed.

Chin up!

[Vigo]

Congrats, Rick. I know you had a tough roll these past couple years.



I have to agree with Rick. My story right now is that I make piss poor pay, but I am finally at a position that I love what I am doing. My job now is just like this hobby. Part technical, part creative, part problem solving. And I work for people who are fighting for me to get my certifications, get me travelling, get me better pay, and giving me the authority to make the changes I need to do to help the company. I am in a field I never thought about before, and is not exactly what I went to college for. I am happy with what I do now.

Even if after college you don't find that job you like (It took me 8 years to get to this point, and I still need my pay to catch up with my title, this stuff takes time.) Just stick it out and never do a sub-par job. Be frugal as possible until you can breathe easy. 10 years from now money won' be such an issue and you will have that nice house with a 3 car garage, and taking your girls to the Bahamas for vacation. 

[CalixPapi]

So just thought I would give a little update since the rant. I have graduated with my bachelors degree  . My oldest is in kindergarten. Little one hit terrible twos  Found a full-time job, finishing my first week tomorrow,  two months after graduation and it pays pretty well  .  All in all it is getting better and am very optimistic now. There are still hardships but everybody has those. The good thing is now I have a steady income which means I should be able to post a new project announcement thread soon   

For the mentions about the degree not mattering it was basically a flip of a coin during the interviews, I got a few "Oh, you got your degree, good for you. . ."  At my place of work now plenty of them do not have schooling and are doing well but took awhile to get there and the ones who do got there a bit faster. Atleast from what I have heard so far. 

[Vigo]

  Congrats, man! I am glad to hear it. Sounds like a success story. Looking forward to that project announcement.

[yotsuya]

Good for you, my friend! 

[ChadTower]

Really, the degree is not about being better at your job.  The degree is about being better at your job search. 

[RayB]

Really, the degree is not about being better at your job.  The degree is about being better at your job search.

Pretty much every job ad I look at says "Bachelors of Computer Sciences or equivalent experience". I just have to ensure I keep up to date on the latest tech and buzzwords of the year.

[pbj]

Really, the degree is not about being better at your job.  The degree is about being better at your job search.

Pretty much every job ad I look at says "Bachelors of Computer Sciences or equivalent experience". I just have to ensure I keep up to date on the latest tech and buzzwords of the year.

That's because a lot of the people floating around in that field have been in it for 20+ years back when companies were desperate and you could get away with a high school diploma and a few programming classes.  It won't stay that way forever and the lack of a degree is going to preclude any serious advancement in many industries.  So, yeah, there's some guys without formal education with good jobs doing random stuff like, "director of IT for a machine shop" but c'mon.

Saying, "you don't really need college" is terrible advice to give to an 18 year old in 2014 that wants white collar work.
 

[ChadTower]

The "equivalent experience" becomes less and less relevant as the years go by.  There is no longer a shortage of young people with solid degrees in IT or MIS.  Now there is actually a glut of them.  Think about the path your (or my) resume takes during this process.  The first person who sees is it an HR rep that literally knows nothing about your job other than the buzzwords and expected salary range.  That person has no idea how to weight those terms so they do what seems like common sense - they weigh the college degree way above certifications and technologies.  They then weed out everyone but the people who have long specialized experience in exactly what they want and the people with a relevant degree.  Given the way the IS/IT field is right now it is moving so fast that the number of techs in which it's even possible to have ten years of real experience is lowering all the time.  There is no longer any room for "well I know UNIX so I can get a job in Linux" or "I know Tomcat and Apache so I can work in an Enterprise Java environment".  You're either an existing expert in exactly what they want, you have a degree, or your resume is in the recycling bin.  And this is leaning way more towards the college degree as each year goes by.

This is also assuming that they ever even look at an American for the position.  Where I work most of these jobs get immediately farmed overseas to either India or Ireland.

[jennifer]

    OP: Good for you!!!... Jennifer doesn't mind telling you now, I was a bit concerned about your well being there for awhile. But all good now, Congrats. 
Now for the rest of you, (PBJ in particular) This world doesn't need anymore unemployed Art majors, or whatever your pushing for in the name of higher education, That degree is NOT going to be the end all in jobs, and certainly does not promote free thinking in the context of ideas...And yes It is possible to be self educated, and conditioned for the job market.

[pbj]

    OP: Good for you!!!... Jennifer doesn't mind telling you now, I was a bit concerned about your well being there for awhile. But all good now, Congrats. 
Now for the rest of you, (PBJ in particular) This world doesn't need anymore unemployed Art majors, or whatever your pushing for in the name of higher education, That degree is NOT going to be the end all in jobs, and certainly does not promote free thinking in the context of ideas...And yes It is possible to be self educated, and conditioned for the job market.

You know, I clown on liberal arts with the best of them, but if our choices are educated unemployed vs uneducated unemployed, I'm going with educated.

[jennifer]

     Not to have a job is just lazy, To be all "I have a degree in this so I Will only do that" limits prospects considerably.... Work ethic is where its at, creative thinking and ultimately working for yourself (If its a character trait one possesses)... Yes Maybe Jennifer has done things the hard way, but life's been good to me.

[dkersten]

@OP - Glad to see that you are still pushing ahead.  I know from experience how difficult it can get when you can't see light at the end of the tunnel, but hear the ominous rumble of a train headed your way.. 

Here is my "rant" on all this:  One thing I always say is that your life is the sum of your choices.  Sure, bad stuff (and good) happen to people despite their efforts to prevent it, but in the end, it is ALWAYS your choices that led you there.  Can't afford kids?  Don't have sex.  Simple as that.  Saying "it was an accident" is like saying your DUI was an accident, that you had to get home and ONLY had a couple beers, and you do it all the time and were driving perfectly and if it wasn't for the random checkpoint you would never have gotten it..  NO, if you hadn't drank and drove you wouldn't have gotten it.  You make a choice, you live with the consequences.  And ignorance is never a good excuse.

One of the biggest problems today with the younger generation is that they tend to have a sense of entitlement and some idea that everything that happens to them is someone else's fault (or nobody's).  Adopting an attitude that you make your own destiny, that you make your own luck is what will bring you success later in life.  And nobody owes you anything.  Period.  The sooner anyone accepts that, the sooner they can start being happy with what they EARN in their life and not be sitting around wishing they had more.
/rant

Other comments about education:  A friend told me in a heated discussion over some beers the other night that college education doesn't make any difference in anything.  I understand where he is coming from, especially in the past few years where well educated (but inexperienced) kids were finding that their $50k in student loans didn't guarantee them a job, even in fields that weren't in the Liberal Arts areas.  But that doesn't mean that a college education is worthless.  You may not learn all the things you need to know to do a job, or even any of them, but college gives you the background necessary to excel in a particular field.  All knowledge is built on previous knowledge, and college gives you a foundation on which to start.  Sure, some people can teach themselves or learn from doing, but they are building their foundation from scratch, and if it isn't strong enough they will find one day that all their experience is for naught because they built it on a weak foundation, and they will constantly be going back to the beginning to learn new things.

And if you are going to go to college for anything, take a business minor.  Doesn't matter what field you want to get into, if you understand business you will be able to apply it to the real world in a better and more successful way.

My advice to the OP (and anyone else who is younger):  First off, you have to "pay the piper".. Everyone has to put in their time.  Nobody gets to skip ahead of the line, and this goes for jobs, financial success, material items, and even family.  The older you get, the more you will have.  When you are young you will want it desperately, and when you are old and have it, you will be lucky if you still have the energy and health to really enjoy it.  It is just how life is.  As much as you want to skip past the "working hard for it" part to get to the "relax and enjoy it" part, it takes years, decades in fact, and even with hard work, you still might not ever get there.  So quit worrying about it and just enjoy each day the best you can.  Don't sweat the fact that you have to work hard for pennies, or that you can't build that arcade because you have young kids who need clothes and food, or that you work and work and work and still couldn't go more than a week without your job before you have to stop eating.  Eventually you WILL get ahead if you keep at it and practice what you have learned in life, even if you never start making 6 figures. 

Make a plan and stick to it, but plan for tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, and 15 years from now.  They are all relevant to today and all dependent on your action right now.  Anything you want in the future will not be as good, as well developed, or less difficult to get than if you start working toward it today.  And if you ever find yourself sitting around feeling bad about your life because you owe too much or can't pay for that cool arcade cab you want to build, then you probably have time to go out and find some more work.  Believe me, there will come a day when you have an opportunity to take on more work and make a little more money but you can say "I don't really need to trade more of my time for money, I am OK with what I have now." 

[ChadTower]

I believe the biggest lie told to college students is not "there will be a job waiting for you."  The biggest lie is "you should follow your heart and hold out for a job you love so you will never work a day in your life."

Sorry, not many people love the jobs that actually support a family.  That's why they pay well.  Get a job that is close enough and actually puts a roof over your adult head and your wife/kids if you have them.  Don't mooch off of your parents because "it has been two years and I still can't find the right job."  Be a grownup and support yourself even when things aren't as fun as you'd like them to be.   

[dkersten]

I used to have a job doing something I loved.  It was my favorite hobby, and I thought I was on top of the world being able to make good money doing it.  Did it for almost 9 years.  And the truth is, for a long time I really loved getting up and going to work.

In the 15 years since I changed careers, I have practiced that old hobby exactly 3 times.  I turned down offers to do things on the side for friends, family, and even old customers, even though the pay offered was really good.  I find zero enjoyment in it and have no little desire to do anything in that field again. 

Making what I love into a job took away everything I liked about it and burnt it out of me.  It is one thing to enjoy what you do for a living, but to say that the best thing in the world is to do what you love for a living is bad advice.  Unless you can be your own boss by doing it and you can set your own hours and only take on the jobs you want to do.  The moment you become a slave to it, it is just another job, no different than scrubbing toilets.  I know some people will disagree, and some people could do something every day for 15 hours a day and still love it after 60 years of doing it.  I found that I couldn't do ANYTHING that much and still enjoy it, and when I still had to do it even when I wasn't in the mood, it was even worse.