If you feel like you have time to explore who you are and what you want to do, I'd suggest casting a wide net and taking some survey courses in potential areas of interest for you. If you like Psych and SQL you might enjoy Sociology - see if your school has a statistics programming class for the social sciences (usually uses software called SPSS).
Ask HN: Pick My Career
11–20 of 22 posts
Re: Ask HN: Pick My Career
#12I'll probably get downvoted, but I have to say it, I feel like these kinds of Ask HN are getting a bit ridiculous. I'm sure it's just my knee-jerk reaction to the title "Ask HN: Pick My Career".
Don't ask a bunch of strangers what you should be doing. In most cases, it doesn't really matter anyway - what is more important is that you do SOMETHING, then if you don't like it, try SOMETHING ELSE. You can figure these things out for yourself - and from the sounds of it, you probably already know what your interests are and what your budget is.
Pick your own career / college major / text editor / programming language / what to eat for lunch / what music to listen to when coding / what city to live in / what video games to play / what drugs to use / where to meet members of the opposite sex / etc.
Re: Ask HN: Pick My Career
#131. Your college major doesn't determine your career. That's a flat-out myth. 2. WHY are you going back to school? What benefit does it and the debt that'll come with it give? 3. How many more classes do you need to graduate? 4. Have you tried out programming? Gone and seen how hackers work every day? Are you sure you want to follow that path? It's a specific type of person who LOVES this work. Many others find themse…
1. Your college major doesn't determine your career. That's a flat-out myth. This is one assertion I see an awful lot here that rather bothers me. You cannot become a medical doctor without the proper degrees. You cannot become a teacher (where I live, at least) without the proper degree (it's not technically required, but no employer will come within a hundred yards of you if you don't have it). You can't become a w…
I think what is important here is that the degree gives the potential for a certain career field - but does not guarantee a job in that field (and does not mean you are stuck in that field if you later decide you hate it).
One thing you might consider is that relevant work experience goes just as far for getting on a trajectory as the education. Trying to be hired as a teacher might be just as hard with an education degree if all you've done is worked on oil rigs as it would be if you had worked in a childrens museum for five years but had no formal degree.
Re: Ask HN: Pick My Career
#14I'll probably get downvoted, but I have to say it, I feel like these kinds of Ask HN are getting a bit ridiculous. I'm sure it's just my knee-jerk reaction to the title "Ask HN: Pick My Career". Don't ask a bunch of strangers what you should be doing. In most cases, it doesn't really matter anyway - what is more important is that you do SOMETHING, then if you don't like it, try SOMETHING ELSE. You can figure these th…
The title was written in jest. I appreciate that you took the time to reply, but wish you could have offered me some constructive guidance. If not, I think a simple downvote would have sufficed.
Re: Ask HN: Pick My Career
#15Some ideas:
It seems from comments in this thread that you are already back in school, studying, uh, nothing in particular, I guess. If you're sure you're interested in math/computers, then majoring your studies in computer science (possibly with a second major in mathematics) may be a good route.
But no degree recession-proofs your life. You have to do that yourself. Programming work is easily outsourced to whoever does it cheapest (and ostensibly, adequately). Be an engineer; create things, build things, develop things that people actually need or want. Solve problems people have. Focus your career on how you can make others' lives better. That kind of work isn't easily outsourced.
Read this: http://philip.greenspun.com/ancient-history/professionalism-...
And this: http://www.amazon.com/Thou-Shall-Prosper-Commandments-Making...
But like bhousel said... we're a bunch of random people on the internet. You know you dreams, ambitions, interests, abilities, etc., way better than we do. Probably, the more specific your questions, the more useful our answers can be.
Re: Ask HN: Pick My Career
#161. Your college major doesn't determine your career. That's a flat-out myth. 2. WHY are you going back to school? What benefit does it and the debt that'll come with it give? 3. How many more classes do you need to graduate? 4. Have you tried out programming? Gone and seen how hackers work every day? Are you sure you want to follow that path? It's a specific type of person who LOVES this work. Many others find themse…
1. Your college major doesn't determine your career. That's a flat-out myth.
As a 26-year old starting college anew, it probably does. As an 22yo graduate, you're probably right but if you are a 30yo graduate, you likely want to graduate in something you'll enjoy for the next 30 years.
Re: Ask HN: Pick My Career
#17Statistics. I think statistics will be in high demand over the next few decades as we all try to make sense of the mountains of data that have become available.
Just think of all the things we aren't tracking right now. There aren't a lot of people who are well equipped to analyze that sort of volume of data.
Re: Ask HN: Pick My Career
#18Computer Science with as much emphasis on video encoding and streaming media as you can. I'm a freelance Digital Archivist and one of my clients (a multinational telecommunications company) cannot find anyone to fill the position. They have one guy who has been with them for 8 years, but need another.
Re: Ask HN: Pick My Career
#19I'll probably get downvoted, but I have to say it, I feel like these kinds of Ask HN are getting a bit ridiculous. I'm sure it's just my knee-jerk reaction to the title "Ask HN: Pick My Career". Don't ask a bunch of strangers what you should be doing. In most cases, it doesn't really matter anyway - what is more important is that you do SOMETHING, then if you don't like it, try SOMETHING ELSE. You can figure these th…
The title was written in jest. I appreciate that you took the time to reply, but wish you could have offered me some constructive guidance. If not, I think a simple downvote would have sufficed.
We can't downvote stories on this site, only upvote or flag.
Re: Ask HN: Pick My Career
#20I'll probably get downvoted, but I have to say it, I feel like these kinds of Ask HN are getting a bit ridiculous. I'm sure it's just my knee-jerk reaction to the title "Ask HN: Pick My Career". Don't ask a bunch of strangers what you should be doing. In most cases, it doesn't really matter anyway - what is more important is that you do SOMETHING, then if you don't like it, try SOMETHING ELSE. You can figure these th…
Hacker news is full of smart people of similar interests. You shouldn't take comments as Gospel truth, but the fellow readers here can be a tremendous source of information.