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Just wondering

T_Yamamoto

T_Yamamoto

Lifer
What everyone does as a profession and what sort of stuff they do, I'm still trying to find my niche. I'm conflicted on what kind of major I was to pursue.

my original idea was

Polisci->law school->job

then it became

polisci->intern+masters->government (FBI, CIA, State department[embassy employee,etc])
 
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Go for a duel major, physics/polysci. That way if it turns out that you're smart you can be a scientist and if you're not you can go to law school.
 
IronWing said:
Go for a duel major, physics/polysci. That way if it turns out that you're smart you can be a scientist and if you're not you can go to law school.
Click to expand...

Don't let your majors duel. They'll end up shooting each other and dying of their wounds.

Get a dual major instead.

I'm currently a product manager for an ISP. Eh...it's a living. My advice is don't go where the money is, study something that you TRUELY enjoy. The richest people in the world are the ones that get paid doing something they love.
 
Fritzo said:
Don't let your majors duel. They'll end up shooting each other and dying of their wounds.

Get a dual major instead.

I'm currently a product manager for an ISP. Eh...it's a living. My advice is don't go where the money is, study something that you TRUELY enjoy. The richest people in the world are the ones that get paid doing something they love.
Click to expand...
I know, my dad said so. I think he wanted to work on F1 cars (always love watching F1 and nascar and car things in general, hes a computer engineer at IBM >.< except hes really good at what he does)

I'm seriously considering getting a job at the State department or something.
 
T_Yamamoto said:
I know, my dad said so. I think he wanted to work on F1 cars (always love watching F1 and nascar and car things in general, hes a computer engineer at IBM >.< except hes really good at what he does)

I'm seriously considering getting a job at the State department or something.
Click to expand...

If you can learn from my case:

In the 80's when I was in high-school, everyone asked me what I wanted to study in college. I replied that I love astronomy and astrophysics. Their eyes would glaze over and say "There's no money in that stuff. You should do computers!" (They said "do computers" back then...I don't know why).

So, I reluctantly followed their advice and it turned out I had a knack for it. You basically learn some commands and patterns and they apply to everything. I worked my way up and got a job in IT, then management, and I'm a "prestigious" middle manager with my own office. I'm also underpaid, and go to work every morning with a *sigh*. My days of the week are Monsuck, Tuessuck, Wednesuck, Thursuck, and FriYAY!

On the flipside, everyone thought of a physicist as a nerdy professor with a labcoat teaching in high-school back in the 80's. Today, astrophysicists are in high demand at research labs and NASA, with starting pay somewhere around $120K/year. If I had listened to myself instead of everyone else's opinion, I would be doing something I enjoy and making a great living. Instead I'm counting the years until I retire.

Learn from this.
 
Fritzo said:
If you can learn from my case:

In the 80's when I was in high-school, everyone asked me what I wanted to study in college. I replied that I love astronomy and astrophysics. Their eyes would glaze over and say "There's no money in that stuff. You should do computers!" (They said "do computers" back then...I don't know why).

So, I reluctantly followed their advice and it turned out I had a knack for it. You basically learn some commands and patterns and they apply to everything. I worked my way up and got a job in IT, then management, and I'm a "prestigious" middle manager with my own office. I'm also underpaid, and go to work every morning with a *sigh*. My days of the week are Monsuck, Tuessuck, Wednesuck, Thursuck, and FriYAY!

On the flipside, everyone thought of a physicist as a nerdy professor with a labcoat teaching in high-school back in the 80's. Today, astrophysicists are in high demand at research labs and NASA, with starting pay somewhere around $120K/year. If I had listened to myself instead of everyone else's opinion, I would be doing something I enjoy and making a great living. Instead I'm counting the years until I retire.

Learn from this.
Click to expand...
I shall. I think my dad feels the same way. Hes good, but doesnt really enjoy it. He does more work than he should (hes "team leader" so he has to keep up). Usually working long hours. (7am-5pm, then 7pm-11am?) Always doing work whenever he has time. :/
 
Fritzo said:
If you can learn from my case:

In the 80's when I was in high-school, everyone asked me what I wanted to study in college. I replied that I love astronomy and astrophysics. Their eyes would glaze over and say "There's no money in that stuff. You should do computers!" (They said "do computers" back then...I don't know why).

So, I reluctantly followed their advice and it turned out I had a knack for it. You basically learn some commands and patterns and they apply to everything. I worked my way up and got a job in IT, then management, and I'm a "prestigious" middle manager with my own office. I'm also underpaid, and go to work every morning with a *sigh*. My days of the week are Monsuck, Tuessuck, Wednesuck, Thursuck, and FriYAY!

On the flipside, everyone thought of a physicist as a nerdy professor with a labcoat teaching in high-school back in the 80's. Today, astrophysicists are in high demand at research labs and NASA, with starting pay somewhere around $120K/year. If I had listened to myself instead of everyone else's opinion, I would be doing something I enjoy and making a great living. Instead I'm counting the years until I retire.

Learn from this.
Click to expand...

I feel like this is good-intentioned advice, but I don't think it's realistic.

To me, I don't think of work/job in such subjective terms. The only thing I think of is "does this put a roof over my head/food on the table/etc?" I think it's great if you dedicate your life to some career or pursuit. And it certainly doesn't hurt if you like something you do and b/c of that you end up being good at it. But just know that you might give up other opportunities doing so. Say your family, hobbies, or whatever else it is you care about.

my personal advice is, stay away from liberal arts unless you are a genius and/or have reliable connections to get you where you want to go. Don't say you want to get a job at the state dept: everyone and their dog does. You have to actually get that internship and then prove to your boss why you should be there. And while you're there, you have to build your network and attend events to go even further.
 
Broadcast. Traffic reporter at a start up network for travel information. Very new media centric. It's not something I see myself doing forever but it's a start.
 
bigpimpatl said:
I feel like this is good-intentioned advice, but I don't think it's realistic.

To me, I don't think of work/job in such subjective terms. The only thing I think of is "does this put a roof over my head/food on the table/etc?" I think it's great if you dedicate your life to some career or pursuit. And it certainly doesn't hurt if you like something you do and b/c of that you end up being good at it. But just know that you might give up other opportunities doing so. Say your family, hobbies, or whatever else it is you care about.

my personal advice is, stay away from liberal arts unless you are a genius and/or have reliable connections to get you where you want to go. Don't say you want to get a job at the state dept: everyone and their dog does. You have to actually get that internship and then prove to your boss why you should be there. And while you're there, you have to build your network and attend events to go even further.
Click to expand...
I understand that. I have a long road ahead of me. I honestly do want want to work for the government or work as a lawyer.
 
If you're not smart and you don't apply yourself don't try for engineering. You'll just waste your time and fail out.

I'm an applications engineer with one of the top pump manufacturers in the world. I greatly enjoy my job, it's relatively simple, and I've got about a hundred different paths that I can take if I want to stay with the company with no limit on upward growth.

I'm happy.
 
PowerEngineer said:
<-------------- This.
Click to expand...
Electrical engineer? im actually interested in that
deadlyapp said:
If you're not smart and you don't apply yourself don't try for engineering. You'll just waste your time and fail out.

I'm an applications engineer with one of the top pump manufacturers in the world. I greatly enjoy my job, it's relatively simple, and I've got about a hundred different paths that I can take if I want to stay with the company with no limit on upward growth.

I'm happy.
Click to expand...
applications engineer? like software?
(sorry for the lack of knowledge)
 
Fritzo said:
If you can learn from my case:

In the 80's when I was in high-school, everyone asked me what I wanted to study in college. I replied that I love astronomy and astrophysics. Their eyes would glaze over and say "There's no money in that stuff. You should do computers!" (They said "do computers" back then...I don't know why).

So, I reluctantly followed their advice and it turned out I had a knack for it. You basically learn some commands and patterns and they apply to everything. I worked my way up and got a job in IT, then management, and I'm a "prestigious" middle manager with my own office. I'm also underpaid, and go to work every morning with a *sigh*. My days of the week are Monsuck, Tuessuck, Wednesuck, Thursuck, and FriYAY!

On the flipside, everyone thought of a physicist as a nerdy professor with a labcoat teaching in high-school back in the 80's. Today, astrophysicists are in high demand at research labs and NASA, with starting pay somewhere around $120K/year. If I had listened to myself instead of everyone else's opinion, I would be doing something I enjoy and making a great living. Instead I'm counting the years until I retire.

Learn from this.
Click to expand...

This.

I make good money as an IT Consultant but I don't really find my work challenging. However, I absolutely love astronomy and astrophysics. When my two kids are done with high school I'll only be 42 so I've kicked around the idea of going back to school to get a PhD. However, I'd be at least 48 by the time I was done and probably too old to reboot my career like that.
 
child of wonder said:
This.

I make good money as an IT Consultant but I don't really find my work challenging. However, I absolutely love astronomy and astrophysics. When my two kids are done with high school I'll only be 42 so I've kicked around the idea of going back to school to get a PhD. However, I'd be at least 48 by the time I was done and probably too old to reboot my career like that.
Click to expand...
but does it meet your needs and habits?

updated OP a bit
 
T_Yamamoto said:
Electrical engineer? im actually interested in that

applications engineer? like software?
(sorry for the lack of knowledge)
Click to expand...

I'm the interface between our sales engineers and our factories. A customer has a certain requirement, I decide what they need, do all the background work making sure the factory is onboard, do any intermediate engineering required, and then put together the proposal for the customer.

I primarily handle extremely large pumps for the oil and gas industry.

Think of an applications engineer as a retail sales guy - you tell him what you want, he decides whats best, then you make a decision. Except for me, I don't have to worry as much about making the customer happy or interfacing with them, and I'm also not biased by trying to push one option on the customer, only providing the best option possible.
 
deadlyapp said:
I'm the interface between our sales engineers and our factories. A customer has a certain requirement, I decide what they need, do all the background work making sure the factory is onboard, do any intermediate engineering required, and then put together the proposal for the customer.

I primarily handle extremely large pumps for the oil and gas industry.

Think of an applications engineer as a retail sales guy - you tell him what you want, he decides whats best, then you make a decision. Except for me, I don't have to worry as much about making the customer happy or interfacing with them, and I'm also not biased by trying to push one option on the customer, only providing the best option possible.
Click to expand...
That seems like something I could get into, what did you major in?
 
T_Yamamoto said:
Well I can add that one to my list of majors I want to get into >.<

my strong contenders are still polisci and something in engineering
Click to expand...

It's interesting that you've stuck on two of the most polar opposite majors you could have.

I will echo what I said above. If you do not enjoy math and physics - and frankly if you're not the top of your class in them - don't even bother getting into most engineering disciplines. While engineering is extremely interesting (you look at everything in the world in a different light), it is very tedious, very backbreaking, and at many colleges, very unfullfilling. Thankfully I went to a school that focused greatly on hands-on projects and applying engineering to the world around you - rather than just theory.
 
deadlyapp said:
It's interesting that you've stuck on two of the most polar opposite majors you could have.

I will echo what I said above. If you do not enjoy math and physics - and frankly if you're not the top of your class in them - don't even bother getting into most engineering disciplines. While engineering is extremely interesting (you look at everything in the world in a different light), it is very tedious, very backbreaking, and at many colleges, very unfullfilling. Thankfully I went to a school that focused greatly on hands-on projects and applying engineering to the world around you - rather than just theory.
Click to expand...
NC State is top notch for engineering and their polisci is good in their own right.

PLUS they have a first year college program allowing me to get a taste of either major without devoting myself to that major.
 
I have a bachelors in chemistry and somehow I ended up in patent law. My advice? Don't become a lawyer. It ain't all its cracked up to be. If you want to be a professional, go into medicine.
 
soxfan said:
I have a bachelors in chemistry and somehow I ended up in patent law. My advice? Don't become a lawyer. It ain't all its cracked up to be. If you want to be a professional, go into medicine.
Click to expand...
medicine. the one problem with the medical field is, 1) doesnt interest me, unlike my brother (who points out tendons and stuff while eating chicken)
2) cant stand the sight of blood
 
T_Yamamoto said:
NC State is top notch for engineering and their polisci is good in their own right.

PLUS they have a first year college program allowing me to get a taste of either major without devoting myself to that major.
Click to expand...

Coworker went to NC state for industrial engineering. Does appear to be a good school and not having to choose a major before you go in is helpful - although you want to be careful to not jump around too much and ultimately delay graduation.

If you have any other questions about mechanical engineering feel free to pm me and i'd be happy to answer you. Can also give fairly good information regarding employment afterwards although it varies significantly from school to school i've found.
 
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