

Ask HN: Pick My Career - brightscreamer

I understand that this isn't news, but I really need some advice. I'm 26 and am returning to college. I initially planned on studying Psychology, but it doesn't interest me as much as it used to. Lately I've been spending my free time teaching myself Algebra (I was a wreck in High School) and SQL, and I'm enjoying it. I would like to do something related to math and/or computers, but with the cost of schooling as high as it is right now, I want to ensure that I am making a wise investment. I'm also looking for something rather recession-proof. I have about $1,000 in credit card debt and $6,000 in student loans. Any ideas?
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bhousel
I'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.

</rant>

~~~
brightscreamer
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.

~~~
xiaoma
We can't downvote stories on this site, only upvote or flag.

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Mystalic
1\. 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 themselves disillusioned quickly.

~~~
gloob
_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 whole pile of potentially-
interesting, reasonably-well-paying things without the correct degree. You can
program without a degree, but the notion that there is therefore no connection
between getting a degree and success in your chosen career path is ridiculous.

~~~
allenp
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.

------
tjr
Some 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-...](http://philip.greenspun.com/ancient-
history/professionalism-for-software-engineers)

And this: [http://www.amazon.com/Thou-Shall-Prosper-Commandments-
Making...](http://www.amazon.com/Thou-Shall-Prosper-Commandments-
Making/dp/0471218685)

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.

------
bokonist
I would not go back to college unless it was absolutely necessary for my
chosen vocation. The tuition/debt plus opportunity cost is just too high. So
if you want to be a teacher or accountant, then a degree makes sense. But if
you want to code, teach yourself, find freelance gigs to hone your skills, and
then look for a job. If you just want to learn for the heck of it, get a
library card. It's cheaper and will give you a better education.

------
allenp
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).

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byoung2
I'm an English major turned programmer. Just a heads-up, from what I've seen
in people I've interviewed for programming jobs, college teaches you very few
programming skills (lots of theory, though) that are useful in the real world
(of hacking). I'm self-taught (C++, Perl, PHP, Javascript, SQL), and the best
hackers I've worked with were too.

~~~
brightscreamer
How long did it take you to learn all of that? Was your English major worth
the investment?

~~~
byoung2
I have been teaching myself programming over the past 10 years. I started
doing freelance web design while in college and it's been a steady income ever
since. I had a profitable internet business in college as well (a comparison
shopping site with affiliate links that predated mysimon.com!).

The most valuable part of college was the experience, the people I met, and
the T1 connection in the dorms. Studying English taught me how to quote
Shakespeare and write sentences like the last one with parallel structure.
Occasionally I wax poetic about the similarities between sonnet form and
object-oriented PHP.

------
icey
Statistics. 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.

------
Mankhool
Computer 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.

