I'm the Controller of a Mid-Size Manufacturing company. My background is in Computer Science, Management Information Systems, and Accounting. As the Controller I am responsible for the Finances of the company as well as Human Resources, and Legal Contracts. On top of this I'm the Director of Information Technologies so I'm in charge of making sure our technology plan will support the growth of our company. I deal a lot with strategic planning for the company and making the company more efficient. I'm also in charge of systems design and implementation for the company. Having a varied background has helped me immensely but the most important thing you can do is find something you enjoy and follow that path. The success will come naturally. I loved computers as a kid and programming came naturally to me. Although I eventually moved into Accounting my computer background has been the basis for my success.
Bryan
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- 20 Feb 02
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Originally posted by Jacko007My advice would be to stay at school, then go to university, then travel the world for a year or so. Enjoy life to the full and try and sample as many delights as you can before you have to worry about responsibilities and mortgages.
...the time has come for me to start thinking of a carrear aim. I have no idea at all of what i want to be. What do you guys do and can you say a little about your job please.
David
If you must get a job the important thing is not "what do I want to do as a job?" but "what do I want to gain from having a job". If you want "stability" work in the public sector; if you want a "mad summer of fun" be a holiday rep, if you want "money" go into sales.
As you are young do not think about a career, think about how am I going to pay for next weekend? Worry about that and the rest falls into line. I am 30 and still living by that rule!
Andrew
Forget about us. Most of us on this site are pretty worthless. That's why we spend so much time on this site while at work, but then again maybe we're pretty smart to have jobs where we can get away with it. OK, first thing is to take an inventory of YOU. What do you like to do? What are you really good at? One of the most unofrtunate and saddest things to see is a 50 year old man looking back on his life and saying "what the hell have I been doing all these years?" Many people go through very healthy career changes at mid-life. My advice: follow your bliss. 😉 Kirk Oh yea, I'm a Rev.
Originally posted by ChessNutThere is no argument here.If people want work there is work
I'm the Controller of a Mid-Size Manufacturing company. My background is in Computer Science, Management Information Systems, and Accounting. As the Controller I am responsible for the Finances of the company as well as Human Resources, ...[text shortened]... my computer background has been the basis for my success.
Bryan
Linda.
Well, all I can say is that the I.T. industry isn't what it used to be... A real bad patch at the moment. A lot of my friends have been made redundant and find that the only way to get work now is to commute to the big smoke (Chris even had to move there!)
I work for a small start-up company, and have had to take a 40% 😲 pay cut over the last few month, just to see us through a difficult time. No fun at all.
But having said that, this is the first time there has been a down turn like this in my working life, and no doubt things will pick up again in the future. But the great thing about being a software engineer (or a code monkey, like me) is that when you are enjoying a project, you sometimes forget you are at work at all. If you can find a job where you feel the same way, you are on to something good.
-Russ
Originally posted by Russso this means -40% of work 😉 which means +50% RHP? yeah?
I work for a small start-up company, and have had to take a 40% 😲 pay cut over the last few month, just to see us through a difficult time. No fun at all.
sorry - don't take the joke too seroius Russ! 😵
th
Hi there David. I'd go along with what latex and kirksey said and should probably stop there....but I can't resist, so for what it's worth...
It drives me nuts to see the pressure heaped on children/young adults with respect to careers and jobs. David, you're 16 years of age, still a child in many respects (I don't mean that in a patronising way whatsoever) and yet speak to most careers advisors and they'll tell you that you need to start thinking about a career etc.
I can only speak from personal experience but when I was 16 I didn't have much of a clue what kind of clothes I liked, what music I liked, what kinda girls I was attracted to, was I even attracted to girls, what subjects I liked. Yup, I had notions and ideas, but they changed every week (except whether or not I was attracted to girls...Cheryl Tyler was more than enough evidence to suggest in fact I was). Take the whole academic subjects thang for example. Am I right in thinking you've just done your GCSE's? Many subjects are totally different at A-Level/post 16 level. Your opinions on them (and if they relate to a specific career, career choices) could dramatically change. There may even be subjects which you've never had the chance to study before. And yet there are careers advisors suggesting you really should be thinking about jobs and careers.
I can only speak for myself, and what I saw around me as I was growing up (I still am - I'm only 22), but I found there to be SO much pressure on children to grow up fast, and to make decisions which, they are told, impact on the rest of their lives.
While this is prevelant in schools to a largeish extent, it moves up a gear or three at university. I saw the uni life (what should be one of the most enjoyable times of one's life) of many friends spoilt by them thinking that they had to get a job as soon as university had finished, and subsequently started, on the advice of careers advisors, to spend hours researching careers, researching paths into those jobs, filling in application forms 18 months before they were due to graduate etc etc. Very few of them knew what they wanted to do, and many of the ones I've kept in contact with who rushed off to become accountants and the like as soon as they've graduated tell me now, 8 months later that they hate their job, they are not stimulated by their job, that they made a mistake in choosing a job before they had any idea.
I remember someone once saying "you can't win a football match in the first ten minutes, but you can lose it". My advice to you David, at the age of 16 is not to close too many doors. It's highly unlikely that any decision you come to now about your future job will hold 6 years down the line. Even then, the subjects you choose for A-Levels (and despite seeming to suggest otherwise, I would strongly suggest that for most people, but by no means all, taking A-Levels then having a year out or otherwise, and going to university is a good way of doing things, for the qualifications yes, but also for the experience) are unlikely to prohibit a change in direction in the future.
It is a cliché but taking time out/travelling/not rushing into a career in order to "find yourself" is nevertheless an idea I feel very drawn towards.
I guess I'm probably "projecting" to use the psychology term a lot of my own crap onto you, and because I couldn't cope with the pressure I felt (whether it's really there or not) it's manifesting itself in any advice I try and give now. Which is why talking to lots of different people about these matters is a good idea.
If you'd like to discuss things more personally then send a game over and I'll see what I can do further about brainwashing you into becoming a drifting doss-about waster* like me 🙂
T1000
*Disclaimer: That was an attempt at self-deprecation. I'm much more adept at boasting though. In a few years, when I'm ready, I'll be one of the best Maths teachers in an alternative teaching methods school there's ever been.
You have plenty of time to make up your mind. When I was 16 I thought I wanted to be an electrical engineer, mostly because people told me that I would be good at it. So I went to university in an electrical engineering and computer science program, and did OK, but couldn't shake the feeling that I didn't really like it. Two years into the program, my grades were declining, I didn't enjoy what I was doing and I was more or less miserable. When I finally decided that it was time to get out and pursue something that I actually liked, I found biology, which I remembered enjoying while in high school. Even though everyone told me I was crazy for leaving a field that has such high salaries and great job prospects, for one that doesn't pay so well and takes forever before you get a job, I left and haven't looked back since.
Now that I am doing what I like, things are much better, I like coming into the lab every day, and my general disposition is much happier than before. So don't feel like you need to know exactly what you want to be or do at your age, chances are you'll probably end up doing something completely different than your expectations.
-mike
My advice would be to start watching people as they work.
Pay particular attention to those who seem to be enjoying what they are doing. Talk to them. Find out what they like about what they're doing.
If you see something that looks like you would really enjoy it, find out what sort of training and education is required for it. Ask lots of questions.
I think you will find that people who are happy with their profession will be more than willing to share information with you if you demonstrate that you are sincere with your curiosity.
regards, Marc
One of the best experiences I ever had (I can say that now) was having one of the most miserable jobs in the world. After my first year in college I spent the summer working in a door factory. It was assembly line work, very redundant and boring. The people there were ignorant and there were very large rats running around my feet. I came home at the end of the day exhausted and covered in saw dust. I also felt pressure from my family to "be strong and endure." Let's just say that studying came easier for me the next year. No way in hell I was going to be there again. Oh yea, did I mention that I had to scoop up crap from the worthless guard dog. 😠Kirk