Seeking Advice From Sassberto Or Anyone Else! (San Diego: college, tax)
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Relocating to San Diego, seeking career and employment advice, recent college graduate work in retail, take computer classes, join certified paralegal program, apply for border patrol
Hey Sassberto and anyone else that has helped me. Essentially want to have anyone knowledgeable on here give their 2 cents about what they would do right now if they were coming to San Diego as a new person and what field would you be embarking on? I ask this because like I said in my previous posting a few weeks back I have a job in retail. However, if you were in my position as a person that just graduated college trying to switch into a new career would you:
a)join the border patrol or work for the Govt., b)spend a year taking computer science classes due to SD market demand for tech people, c) spend a year in a certified paralegal program because paralegal profession is a hot commodity, or d) secure a job in hospitality because this area rarely ever dies in San Diego.
Would appreciate anyone willing to reply. Oh yes and I already know about nursing and biotech!
I'd do the CS classes (I actually would if I had the money )
Border patrol is just asking to be shot. Paralegal might be nice, but that's up to you. Hospitality stuff would work, but you would not make enough money to live in an even remotely nice area.
Don't get into CS unless you really like computers... if you're not into it you won't be successful.
paralegal could be OK, doesn't seem to pay well, I have a friend who does it and he seems to like it.
Hospitality is pretty low-pay, personally I wouldn't touch it unless it the specific opp was really special.
I actually encouraged my wife's brother (grad with no real direction) to join border patrol... good benes, lots of action, good pay, federal job. Not nearly as dangerous as being a police officer IMO.
I actually encouraged my wife's brother (grad with no real direction) to join border patrol... good benes, lots of action, good pay, federal job. Not nearly as dangerous as being a police officer IMO.
What about the whole TJ meltdown? One night of action might be your last
What about the whole TJ meltdown? One night of action might be your last
that crap generally stays south of the border in TJ. The worst I usually hear about border patrol agents is getting rocks thrown at them. At least from what I hear in the news it doesn't seem like the most dangerous job.
Hey Sassberto and anyone else that has helped me. Essentially want to have anyone knowledgeable on here give their 2 cents about what they would do right now if they were coming to San Diego as a new person and what field would you be embarking on? I ask this because like I said in my previous posting a few weeks back I have a job in retail. However, if you were in my position as a person that just graduated college trying to switch into a new career would you:
a)join the border patrol or work for the Govt., b)spend a year taking computer science classes due to SD market demand for tech people, c) spend a year in a certified paralegal program because paralegal profession is a hot commodity, or d) secure a job in hospitality because this area rarely ever dies in San Diego.
Would appreciate anyone willing to reply. Oh yes and I already know about nursing and biotech!
Your one positive comment about the hospitality industry "this area rarely ever dies in San Diego" is exactly what could be said about working for the Border Patrol. That border ain't ever going away, but the Border Patrol pays better, with better benefits.
Therefore, drop option D entirely. Between A, B, and C, I can't really help you. But Sassberto knows the tech industry and who thrives in it, and who doesn't.
Don't get into CS unless you really like computers... if you're not into it you won't be successful.
Very true. The best CS people are the ones that got hooked young and have been geeks their entire lives. I'm one of them and wouldn't trade my job (self employed consultant) for anything but some of the people I run into in the field scare me. It is obvious they are book learned and sure they can eek it out in their field from what they learned but outside that they have no clue.
Not saying that is you but it is worth mentioning even if not. Tech fields have a lot of people competing for the good jobs, specially at the entry level, and the technology changes fast. If you don't have a desire to keep- up with it or have a solid background in it already (even just as a casual geek understanding things like how the internet works, configuring network stuff, fixing computers, etc) it is a tough field to excel in.
If you don't already have the irresistable urge to protect our borders, you will once you've lived here for a short while. And with Military/Law Enforcement in general, you have a very straightforward 'roadmap' to career advancement. In the civilian world, you're entirely at the mercy of your supervisors (and thier's) and thier greed/ego, etc. A college degree doesn't provide the same leverage it used to, considering EVERYONE has a degree these days. You would also be immune to the sunshine tax we have out here as civilians. A buddy of mine is finishing his training in NM this month and I'm looking into it myself.
If you're not sure about the BP thing, getting a degree would still be a safe bet, and would earn you a higher pay grade if you did end up doing the Border Patrol thing.
Hey Sassberto and anyone else that has helped me. Essentially want to have anyone knowledgeable on here give their 2 cents about what they would do right now if they were coming to San Diego as a new person and what field would you be embarking on? I ask this because like I said in my previous posting a few weeks back I have a job in retail. However, if you were in my position as a person that just graduated college trying to switch into a new career would you:
a)join the border patrol or work for the Govt., b)spend a year taking computer science classes due to SD market demand for tech people, c) spend a year in a certified paralegal program because paralegal profession is a hot commodity, or d) secure a job in hospitality because this area rarely ever dies in San Diego.
Would appreciate anyone willing to reply. Oh yes and I already know about nursing and biotech!
If I were you (and I was you, lo these many years ago) I would go for the tech industry, but you don't necessarily have to take CS courses for that. But let's step back a bit - I am assuming you're young (21-24 ?) So first things first- get a job that will support you,and get situated in SD - that could mean a service job,and a bartending or waitstaff thing on the weekends. Then, maybe you should take a little time to decide what you really want to do,you probably would have a better idea once you were in SD a while.
And it doesnt have to be an either/or thing -- lots of people change jobs/careers many times. That said, I will say a bit about the tech industry. Theres a few ways to get started -- you could do a career focus thing, like a New Horizons,which would not take as much time/$ as a regular Univ., and/or get a few certifications under your belt. As far as certs go, A+ is the place to start, followed by M'soft stuff like MCSE (think they call it MCITP now) Unix/Linux stuff, and anything security based like security+. All of this would maybe get you into a help desk or break/fix type position, which from there perhaps your employer would help with further education.
Also, look at SD -- Biotech,Wireless, Defense. A security clearance will open as many doors as a degree will, I know they are hard to get, but worth mentioning here. Also I would not get into anything that can be outsourced like website creation, database stuff, basically anything that someone can send overseas (India,China) for a fraction of the cost. There will always be a need for people to manag/fix servers and workstations, perform information security tasks, etc - things that you actually need a person onsite to do.
You could even do the BP thing a few years, then take Tech classes on the side..you really have alot of options but the most important thing I can say is forget about 8 hour days..if you're just starting out,and starting out in SD in particular, you will need to work more (overtime , two jobs) AND improve your skillset on your "off" time.
While I do agree with TomSD, I will disagree about the "geek" idea -- I think you can have a good/great career in IT if you are not a geek. There are many "types" in the IT world, the real geeky, and the more "normal" people who don't even turn on their PC's on the weekend. People skills are very important in the IT world and getting more so all the time. Well I have alot more to say but this is turning into an essay. Good Luck Santa.
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