Ask HN: Pick My Career | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Pick My Career

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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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>

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.

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.

I assume the OP is not actually going to let us pick his career. Aside from that, what's wrong with asking for some advice?

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.

1. Well, to the extent that you can't practice psychology without a degree, it kinda does. I see your point, though.

2. To learn and to make more money. I realize the two don't always go hand-in-hand.

3. Too many. This is my 3rd semester back in school.

4. Nope. I'd love to find out more about it, though. Any suggestions?

Thanks for the reply!

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.

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.

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.

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-...

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.

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.

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).

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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