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I used to follow harness racing - a dying sport - and on one discussion group a recent college grad with a degree in Horse Racing Stable Management from U. of Arizona (if I remember correctly) was complaining that the old guys didn't step out of the way and let him have their jobs. One reply (from a well-known trainer) was that he always needed people who were dedicated enough to sleep on urine-soaked straw in the stable when necessary, but he doubted that the complainer was willing to do that.
So the University hired somebody's buddy who used to work with horses and set up a degree program to keep him employed. Probably put some money in an equine facility, too. Got some suckers to register, graduated them, and now they can't find a job. Surprise, surprise.
If you're considering a vocational program, be sure to find out what proportion of recent graduates are actually working in the field. If the school takes Federal money they have to keep the statistics. Count "no reply" as "not working" and see if your chances are good enough to invest the time and money. You'll be surprised how many vocational programs are worthless - except to the people who are getting paid to teach and administer them.
Right. s1alker referred to people with computer science degrees. People who study computer science are intended to become computer scientists. IT and other low tech fields I get... that's easily to replace.
Since you asked, my background is compiler optimization. I do have a degree in computer science. However, I have retired from that field and now spend most of my time investing in commercial real estate.
Yes, I have also retired from my illustrious 35 year IT career and am doing what I am best at, basically relaxing, enjoying life, and in addition, having a part time vanity career of being a substitute teacher.
Most of the programmers, developers, and support personnel who I worked with that had an IT degree was in computer science. I was an anomaly who had a business oriented "information systems" degree that was more suited to business software development and support. So there are many "computer scientists" working as programmers, developers, and troubleshooters where I worked.
Aside from STEM degrees is anyone very disappointed or even angered that their bachelor's or master's degree from a public university did not open doorways to great workplaces?
Many of us worked hard to earn good grades for classes that would be applicable for workplaces but once hired of course after going on a tedious job search the workplace turns out to offer low pay for the overload of disorganized work projects and poor management that one has to deal with.
It often feels that the bachelor's degree and or master's degree is highly overrated and doesn't open up great opportunities in a lot of cases.
Yes, I did think my degree was going to open some doors for me to at least make a few extra bucks. I didn't expect much from a General Studies degree, but I thought it would be better than no degree.
Thats why I encourage kids to do what you love because your odds of getting a good job now days are LOW. If you love what you are doing you are more likely to be able to make a business out of it. Get married and dont have kids and live at home, thats the ideal. No dealing with rent seeking land lords, no spending money at bars trying to pick up women, etc.
Thats why I encourage kids to do what you love because your odds of getting a good job now days are LOW. If you love what you are doing you are more likely to be able to make a business out of it. Get married and dont have kids and live at home, thats the ideal. No dealing with rent seeking land lords, no spending money at bars trying to pick up women, etc.
Then build skills and save for a house.
...and then end your career in the 35 to 40 age range as you become too old (too expensive) to be employed in your chosen field or your business flounders. Then start a new dead end career at a McJob. Then start saving for retirement... oh that's right, you can't.
Yes, I have also retired from my illustrious 35 year IT career and am doing what I am best at, basically relaxing, enjoying life, and in addition, having a part time vanity career of being a substitute teacher.
Most of the programmers, developers, and support personnel who I worked with that had an IT degree was in computer science. I was an anomaly who had a business oriented "information systems" degree that was more suited to business software development and support. So there are many "computer scientists" working as programmers, developers, and troubleshooters where I worked.
Wow... 35 years... rough. Glad to see it's all behind you.
What do you mean when you say that most of the people you worked with that had an IT degree was in computer science? Do you mean they had an IT degree and a computer science degree (as in two degrees)? I can see that... where someone gets an undergraduate degree in computer science but decides to not continue with the field and downgrades to IT... and ends up getting a degree in IT (which is really just technical training and business?).
...and then end your career in the 35 to 40 age range as you become too old (too expensive) to be employed in your chosen field or your business flounders. Then start a new dead end career at a McJob. Then start saving for retirement... oh that's right, you can't.
That's when they're ripe for the "business opportunity of a lifetime." The next thing they know they've been roped into some pyramid scheme.
Wow... 35 years... rough. Glad to see it's all behind you.
What do you mean when you say that most of the people you worked with that had an IT degree was in computer science? Do you mean they had an IT degree and a computer science degree (as in two degrees)? I can see that... where someone gets an undergraduate degree in computer science but decides to not continue with the field and downgrades to IT... and ends up getting a degree in IT (which is really just technical training and business?).
Yes, I am glad that those 35 years are behind me.
The people that I worked with, that held degrees, had Bachelor's degrees in Computer Science. But they worked in IT and they didn't have IT degrees, only the one CS degree. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough in my first post.
At my first employer, we only had 4 employees. One had a Master's in CS and the rest had Bachelor's in other fields. Our top boss did not have a degree.
At my second, third, and fourth employer, there was a mixture of no degree, CS degree, and other degree.
At my fifth employer, when I first started, having any kind of a degree was an anomaly. I was the odd man out with a Bachelor's degree (not CS or IS). As the years went by, we got more and more degreed people. In the last 15 or so years that I was there, having a degree became a requirement. The requirement was to have either a CS, IS, or a purely Business degree. I earned my MBA in IS degree while there.
As a hiring manager; the biggest issue is that many students never bother with a job let alone an internship while in school. New grads think just having the degree and possibly working an occasional summer in retail or barista will get them a $60k job automatically. They then get indignant/unprofessional when you reset their first job and/or monetary expectations. And yes, I have had several parents call me on-behalf of their child....it still happens.
I don’t trust the internship deal. It’s just free labor to these companies who control the country and politicians. What are the statistics of those who intern become full time paid employees of the company they are interning for?
It’s no different than the “permatemp scam these companies are running today.
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