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yoyomama posted:Another link on bootcamps: https://www.blacksintechnology.net/upcoming-bittechtalk-podcast-ep-66-dev-bootcamps/ There are blacks in technology??!?!?? http://carlos.bueno.org/2014/06/mirrortocracy.html
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Dec 22, 2014 18:30
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posh spaz posted:There are blacks in technology??!?!?? See you link and raise you another: [url] https://modelviewculture.com/pieces/diversity-for-sale[/url] This also talks about code schools, and gives a counter perspective on the downsides of them.
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Dec 22, 2014 19:01
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That's a really interesting article. I have a friend in Silicon Valley. He's pretty well connected and could probably open some doors for me, but I find most of that culture as offensive as Wall Street in the 80s.
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Dec 22, 2014 20:13
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posh spaz posted:That's a really interesting article. I have a friend in Silicon Valley. He's pretty well connected and could probably open some doors for me, but I find most of that culture as offensive as Wall Street in the 80s. Yeah, it was one of my biggest worries in changing careers. My current career is no paradise, but I didn't feel like changing to a culture that's even worse. Thankfully I've joined a lot of groups that have gone a long way to helping me feel more comfortable trying to join the tech industry. That said, gently caress working in Silicon Valley, I've heard enough to know I'd be wasting my time even trying to work over there.
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Dec 22, 2014 20:40
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posh spaz posted:That's a really interesting article. I have a friend in Silicon Valley. He's pretty well connected and could probably open some doors for me, but I find most of that culture as offensive as Wall Street in the 80s. The people who are going into SV now are the people who would've gone into Wall Street back then.
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Dec 22, 2014 23:37
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What's wrong with SV and the tech sector? Isn't it a really relaxed and free form work environment?
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Dec 23, 2014 08:50
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All this talk just makes me want to try quitting my job and giving coding school a try. I'm not at the point I want to give up a stable job for it though.
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Dec 24, 2014 07:44
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|Ziggy| posted:All this talk just makes me want to try quitting my job and giving coding school a try. I'm not at the point I want to give up a stable job for it though. I've been looking into it, but I can't not have health insurance, so I looked for part time/online programs I can do while I work. There are a bunch out there, so if you really want to you could try looking up those. I've been looking at them here: http://www.skilledup.com/articles/online-alternatives-coding-bootcamp/ https://www.switchup.org/ That said, looking at some of these syllabi for these programs, the main benefit of these programs that you can't do at home is the networking aspect. So another alternative is self-study + lots of networking and going to recruiting events. I've been doing this so far, and I've seen a lot of coding bootcamp grads at these same events.
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Dec 24, 2014 15:28
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yoyomama posted:I've been looking into it, but I can't not have health insurance, so I looked for part time/online programs I can do while I work. There are a bunch out there, so if you really want to you could try looking up those. I've been looking at them here: I was thinking about the local community college as well. It would take longer, but it would be cheaper and I could do it part time while I work full time.
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Dec 24, 2014 17:59
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posh spaz posted:That's a really interesting article. I have a friend in Silicon Valley. He's pretty well connected and could probably open some doors for me, but I find most of that culture as offensive as Wall Street in the 80s. ultrafilter posted:The people who are going into SV now are the people who would've gone into Wall Street back then. JIZZ DENOUEMENT posted:What's wrong with SV and the tech sector? Isn't it a really relaxed and free form work environment? Silicon Valley is just one, albeit large and very visible/vocal, microcosm of tech and IT. It's a massive and extremely broad industry. It's by no means "tech = SV startup culture".
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Jan 6, 2015 22:54
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putting this on hold for now
Pegged Lamb fucked around with this message at 19:30 on Jan 7, 2015 |
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Jan 7, 2015 17:20
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My current "career path" kind of sucks, but the only big bonus is that my job allows me to take classes and get an MA or PhD for free (albeit very slowly). I'm doing immigration advising for a state university, and it's one of the lowest-paying state universities out there. Last year I had about seven interviews, several paid me to fly out of state and interview in person. I came very close several times but never got a new job. These jobs all would have increased my yearly salary by $10,000-$15,000. I'm currently making $31,000/year with very good benefits, but no raise in sight. I don't really want to do a PhD, so I'm looking at terminal Master's programs. Most of what interests me has no career benefit, and most of what has immediate career benefits does not interest me. I'm interested in trying to learn Technical Writing on the side to see if it's a field I'd want to break into. The advantage of this would be that I can use the skills while in my current position to help build my portfolio. We have lynda.com accounts and I'm allowed to use work time to train myself if I can relate it to my job, which I can, because I'm already the go-to person in the office for writing up clear instructions for faculty/staff/students etc. Aside from learning Robohelp and other software that you can Google and get lists of, what kind of terminal master's would be a good idea to work on if I am trying to break into Technical Writing? I will start building up a portfolio, but I'm not sure what kind of thing I would want to specialize in and what is in the highest demand. Does anyone here work in the field and have some general advice?
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Jan 8, 2015 17:24
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So, after working at the same lovely motel for 4 years, I finally started searching around for something in the field I want to get into (IT). I'm one exam away from an A+ certification, but I figured it would be worth applying places before I got it just in case. Yesterday, I finally got a call back and I now have an interview set up, but the thing is, it's a work from home position. Basically it's an entry level help desk position for a 3rd party tech support company, which is based in Texas, but I would be doing everything from my computer at home. It sounded awesome at first, and still kinda does, but working from home is whole new territory for me, and the reason I'm posting is to get some input from those of you who have experience working without leaving your front door. I'm nervous about the position for a few reasons. For one, this will be my first tech position, so I'm having the obvious doubts about my ability to do the job. I think I'll be okay once I go through training (paid training, woo!), but its still something I'm nervous about. The other thing is that I'll be working from home, so I'm gonna have to be real disciplined on separating work time from home time. I'm really excited about getting this new job, I just want you guys to tell me that it's all gonna be okay! The pay is 9/hr at first, then 10 after 30 or 60 days, I forget which. There is also apparently a performance review every 60 days with potential raises. But honestly I'm making 8 now and I'm mostly doing it for the entry level experience I need, so its not the biggest factor. However, please tell me if that's like, astronomically low for this kind of position (I'm in central Florida).
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Jan 9, 2015 02:24
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That pay is low and work from home can be a big challenge for some people (me!) but that seems like a good break. I would jump on it in a heartbeat. Keep studying for certs though. Don't let yourself stagnate.
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Jan 9, 2015 16:22
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Bone posted:So, after working at the same lovely motel for 4 years, I finally started searching around for something in the field I want to get into (IT). I'm one exam away from an A+ certification, but I figured it would be worth applying places before I got it just in case. I don't find working at home any harder than in the office. If I am not interested in doing something I am going to mail it in and goof off on the internet no matter where I am. It is just that at home I do it in my pajamas. From the couch.
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Jan 9, 2015 17:59
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No
JIZZ DENOUEMENT fucked around with this message at 06:13 on Dec 23, 2019 |
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Jan 13, 2015 23:49
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Background: career started slow due to graduating during last recession. Spent a few years at startups, jumped with some apprehension last year to a Fortune 500 company. Have impressed a lot of people there with my ability to accomplish things and DIY resourcefulness. They think I've moved mountains. From my perspective, overall it's fine (good pay and lots of perks), but from my perspective we are moving too slowly. There's some uncertainty due to corporate restructuring - no one's scared of being fired, but our jobs might completely change, and that's been difficult the past few weeks with a lot of new responsibilities thrown on our plate without our previous ones going away. The biggest thing though is how political it is. I largely don't have to deal with that directly, but there's just layer upon layer of upper management, and literally the merit of an idea and the resources that flow towards or away from it completely have to do with how many higher ups support it, and not necessarily the merits at all. This has been frustrating with a lot of low hanging fruit that could save thousands falling by the wayside to work on new initiatives, and oh by the way we're at the same time getting more budget pressure. I'm not that unhappy and it's nothing compared to some of the horror stories you see here, but I was just contacted out of the blue by an internal recruiter from one of my dream companies. Who knows if it goes anywhere and it is on the other side of the country, but wow. I work in an obscure but growing field. The recruiter at least made an effort to not come off like a complete idiot/form letter, which a lot of these sorts of things do. I'm curious to see whether or not they want to bring me in for an interview. They honestly could learn a lot by doing that even if they don't hire me. I actually did apply to them in a completely different role a year ago and received no interest. For the position itself, I'm not sure if it's a fit or not but it's at least relevant enough to check. I've now been project lead in this same role at a small company and now a big company, basically in charge of implementation and day to day operations. It would be for a step up from where I am now, in a managerial role. I spend quite a lot of my time with my manager on overall strategy, and in practice do quite a bit of supervisory work now and have for years at both roles. My current manager in effect spends most of the workday either on direct management or endless, soul-crushing meetings, and jumping through hoops for HR and the central administration, and doing that in lieu of my actual job doesn't exactly seem enticing, but I'd have to see whether they want to do that, or more of a building their operations up from a ground up sort of thing, which I'd be perfect for. It's not exactly the career progression that I want, but it is one, which may or may not be possible currently.
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Jan 19, 2015 01:12
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I'm mostly curious to get input on where my skills would be transferable as a backup plan. My current backup plan if I were to ever lose my job is just switch to my competitor. I've worked in wireless 6 years, I'm currently in management at a big store for big blue, and I overall love the gig and I'm also very good at it. Pluses: opportunities for further advancement, full benefits, I get two days off most weeks, i get overtime, I enjoy the job. I have solid enough connections in the company too and a good reputation. Minuses: lately it's been just extremely numbers focused, and it doesn't help that they gave me a really tough store to fix right when the magnifying glass has come out. So there is a lot of sales pressure right now. Also, retail schedules do suck at times. Income: $60K before OT, $70ish after, full health insurance, matching 401K but not yet vested. So my question is simple: with 6ish years of sales experience, 3 going on 4 years sales management experience, mostly retail but some outside and cold calling, is there something I am also qualified for at a similar pay rate?
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Jan 20, 2015 06:46
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Has anyone found it useful to go out of their way to get a big, brand name company on their resume? What I mean to ask is: have any of you had trouble finding a job doing what you want (say job A) and managed to get an offer from a big multinational corporation doing something else (job B), only to find that when you tried to go back to the job A market it was much easier to get responses?
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Jan 20, 2015 18:09
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Boot and Rally posted:Has anyone found it useful to go out of their way to get a big, brand name company on their resume? What I mean to ask is: have any of you had trouble finding a job doing what you want (say job A) and managed to get an offer from a big multinational corporation doing something else (job B), only to find that when you tried to go back to the job A market it was much easier to get responses? In my experience, name/brand can matter in a career; It's similar to going to a big name college, though it's more field-dependent. It can help with networking as well. I think what matters more is what you do at the company. I've tended to work at smaller companies that aren't super well-known, but worked with interesting well-known clients or public projects that interest people in interviews. Before that, working for the census bureau used to come up a lot in interviews, just because it's a job that people don't know a lot about, and generates a lot of stories. So ideally it's interesting work at a well-known company, but one or the other works as well. To answer your specific question: if company B is in a similar field, then I've found that it can be easier due to having that many more years of experience and general industry knowledge, as well as the prestige of being associated with that company. As long as job B has some overlap of skills with job A, then it can definitely be easier to get job A later. And if company B is really prestigious (apple, Microsoft, proctor and gamble, etc.) then being in a similar field may matter even less. Though one challenge may be when you want to move from the well known company to a smaller one and they want to know why you want to make a "downgrade" in your career.
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Jan 20, 2015 18:24
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I think it helps in that it shows a respectable, important company was willing to hire you, but if they're really dissimilar jobs/industries, then it's not a great resume booster. It'll still be better than a no-name company all else being equivalent, but relevant experience trumps all.
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Jan 21, 2015 00:21
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So, I have an MSc in Tropical Marine Biology. But I have not been medically cleared to SCUBA dive, and the last GP I went to said no on it due to asthma. I'm noticing a lot of aquarium related jobs require scuba certification. Should I go ahead and apply for these jobs or accept that it wasn't meant to be? :/
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Jan 21, 2015 02:50
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I don't know anything about marine biology, but I think you need to ask yourself if it's an essential part of the job. If it is and there's no way around that, then maybe it's not meant to be. If it's a minor part of the job or you think it could otherwise be worked around, then it doesn't seem unreasonable for them to accommodate you on that since you're otherwise qualified and it is a medical issue. If you do apply, let them bring it up, don't shoot yourself in the foot by opening your cover letter with "I'm not SCUBA certified."
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Jan 21, 2015 02:54
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Should I stay at my current, non IT or tech related job and work on my masters in IS part time or ditch this job to go full time and finish in half the time? I'm concerned that a program the will nominally take 3.5 years might leave me unemployable in the tech field of all my background is in financial services.
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Jan 21, 2015 20:58
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Xandu posted:I don't know anything about marine biology, but I think you need to ask yourself if it's an essential part of the job. If it is and there's no way around that, then maybe it's not meant to be. If it's a minor part of the job or you think it could otherwise be worked around, then it doesn't seem unreasonable for them to accommodate you on that since you're otherwise qualified and it is a medical issue. If you do apply, let them bring it up, don't shoot yourself in the foot by opening your cover letter with "I'm not SCUBA certified." It seems for a lot of the large/public aquaria, yeah, it is. It seems to be in most of their DEFINITE MUSTHAVES section. I'll probably put in for the ones where it's nice but not necessary and skip the ones where it's considered vital. It's kind of a bummer, but that's how it goes, I guess. There's a nice surveying/testing job I might go in for.
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Jan 21, 2015 23:25
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Okay goons, some advice. I'm currently working helpdesk in a school system dealing primarily with a High School. Right now it's through a temp service, and there's a very real possibility the position will become permanent with state level benefits. It's a really relaxed environment and pretty flexible on hours. However, as of right now, no benefits, no holiday pay, pretty meager pay overall. There is a job opening for a local hospital. It is a part-time ("Half time") job, looks to be 24 hours a week (2 12 hour overnight shifts). This would be on the weekends, so it wouldn't actually interfere with my current job. It would be M-F at my current job (8 - 5) then Friday and Saturday 11P - 11A (next day). So I would basically have Monday to crash. There's some pretty amazing benefits for working at the hospital, even for part time (40 hours a pay period of 2 weeks). They probably don't pay huge gobs of money, but they're constantly looking for the next level help desk position, and there may be opportunity to move up. Problem is it's part time. Should I go ahead and apply and work there? I"d only be working ~65 hours a week. I'd miss my son terribly but we could use the money. Would it be worth it to join this position to show I can work more if needed?
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Jan 23, 2015 13:34
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Why not apply, interview, and when they ask if you have questions, ask them if there is potential to move to full time and upward growth within the hospital? If yes, what kind of time frame are you looking at? If the answer isn't what you're expecting then keep looking.
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Jan 23, 2015 18:32
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Duckman2008 posted:
Try to get into corporate marketing or sales operations. Boot and Rally posted:Has anyone found it useful to go out of their way to get a big, brand name company on their resume? What I mean to ask is: have any of you had trouble finding a job doing what you want (say job A) and managed to get an offer from a big multinational corporation doing something else (job B), only to find that when you tried to go back to the job A market it was much easier to get responses? Yes, and surprisingly because the company is enormously successful but seems like a dinosaur in many respects. But for 90% of recruiters, they make really simple decisions like that, and it helps tremendously. Note: may not be the case if you're at Radio Shack or somewhere else stigmatized.
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Jan 24, 2015 18:23
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I've yet to get started on a career. I've been working in retail since graduating in 2009 with a BA (2:2) in Politics with a minor in French. (A "2:2" is basically like a C, if D was the lowest pass you can get. It basically rules you out of doing any postgrad courses in the UK). I don't want to work retail anymore but I'm finding it really hard to think of a way out. I think at any rate it will involve some further study or training. Here's what I'm looking for: -18,000€ (20,000 USD) p.a. net. This might seem like an unreasonably high expectation but it's actually what I'm already getting at the minute here in Germany. -A profession to my name. A lot of graduate positions for non-STEM related degrees seem to be very "ad hoc" (I'm having trouble coming up with a better term). I want to have a professional qualification with very clear relevance to an established career path. I feel like the only viable option open to me at this point is some kind of TEFL course. I had been considering aiming for translation/interpreting but recent government cuts in the UK mean that public service interpreters are making little over minimum wage. As for conference interpreting, that would require doing a Masters at a non-UK university and I don't have the money to support myself for a year, which is realy disappointing because the one thing I know I'm really good at is learning languages. Any ideas?
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Jan 24, 2015 22:17
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Kim Jong Il posted:Try to get into corporate marketing or sales operations. I'll start looking around. Advice on where to look company wise and job posting wise (linked in)? I feel like by the time a job gets to posted on linked in, career builder, whatever, it really has already been taken by someone who has a connection to the company already.
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Jan 25, 2015 18:26
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Benny Harvey posted:I've yet to get started on a career. I've been working in retail since graduating in 2009 with a BA (2:2) in Politics with a minor in French. (A "2:2" is basically like a C, if D was the lowest pass you can get. It basically rules you out of doing any postgrad courses in the UK). I don't want to work retail anymore but I'm finding it really hard to think of a way out. I think at any rate it will involve some further study or training. Here's what I'm looking for: YOu may be right about interpreting - I have two friends in that field and even after quite a few years, they still earn modest money. Slightly wild idea: I have another friend who finished history about a year ago and after failing to get a museum position is now interviewing for analyst positions with all sorts of companies. (He said, "Studying history is about analysing, weighing and summarizing information so ...") Maybe you could look in that direction? Mind, your degree is a bit old. I wouldn't rule out postgrad study if you can sell your work as "real world experience".
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Jan 25, 2015 18:39
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outlier posted:YOu may be right about interpreting - I have two friends in that field and even after quite a few years, they still earn modest money. What kind of analyst positions is he applying for? As for work experience, I stock shelves basically. I've just been looking at the Civil Service's Fast Stream Programme and that's looking like a very good opportunity.
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Jan 25, 2015 19:56
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Tech companies. Civil service can be sweet gig though, especially if you get in early.
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Jan 26, 2015 00:02
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Anyone work in international aid/development? Would love to get some advice, since it seems to be basically impossible to break into.
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Jan 26, 2015 05:13
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It's a field where a lot of people are willing to work for free / peanuts, so yeah if you need a source of income to live, it's really hard to break into. Where are you located, where do you want to work and what qualifications do you have? International aid is a hugely varied field, after all.
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Jan 26, 2015 05:46
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just stumbled upon this thread and my only advice is don't be a doctor
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Jan 28, 2015 05:14
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Posted this in the physics thread in a/t but no response there. I'm beginning to research next steps; I have a 2:1 Masters in Physics from a UK university, spent 5 years in acoustic engineering (largely construction related work) and the last 3 as a high school/ college physics teacher. Unfortunately, no desire to go back into either of these! I like education, but just not in the UK school system it seems. I enjoy thinking about to how to explain and deliver a subject, how to resource it etc. However, It feels like I have lost a lot of my technical skills during that time; I didn't really need the skills my degree explicitly taught me for either. What other types of posts would I be a good fit? I'm at a bit of a loss where to go next really, just trying to find out what's available. I have no responsibilities tying me to where I am so very happy to consider anything. I don't even mind giving up the teaching holidays as I don't have the money to make the most of them at the moment!
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Feb 1, 2015 09:59
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Any tips for going after a Buyer position in the public sector? Got a business degree in accounting and did some purchasing in a junkyard for a bit.
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Feb 2, 2015 22:48
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Right now I have a full time semi dead endish position doing financial operations work. I have an opportunity at another firm to do technical work with SQL and script writing concerning my area of expertise (new accounts) but it is part time and benefits only start after 1 year if you've averaged 30 or more hours that year. It would also allow me to go full time with my masters program in IS. I'm leaning towards accepting because even though it is part time if I work 25 hours a week there I would be makings much as I do here. Good idea/ bad idea?
CAPS LOCK BROKEN fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Feb 4, 2015 |
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Feb 4, 2015 16:15
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Great loving idea. I would love to cut down to 25 hours a week with no pay cut. School and career progression are cool too.
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Feb 4, 2015 16:27
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