For e.g
I have a degree in Buss/Commerce (Hospitality), I'm currently a retail salesperson. And before that, I worked in IT Helpdesk.
The closest thing to hospitality I have ever done was work in a cafe and that was BEFORE I started studying university. Haven't touched hospitality jobs since.
So per title: what did you study, and what related / unrelated field do you work in now? And have you given up trying to look for said related job?
engineering but im experiencing a quarter life crisis now. I dont know what to do with my life. Comparing myself to my friends whos earning buck loads, i feel shyte. I wana be rich and better than them
Quarter life crisis? So 20ish?
Mate you've got time to get better at whatever you do. If you're main objective is rich, then engineering is prolly not the best field to be in unless you're very lucky, or really exceptional in your field.
and im not very good at what I do.. but i chose engineer when I was young coz i was told to do what I enjoy but the harsh realities of life struck me and I realised I need money. Money to do a lot of things like buy a house, car, boat, feed my family, kid, mum, dad, gf, rent, bills, grocery, food. And im the worse out of most my friends money wise. So im kinda miserable right now.
Chin up mate. Look, if engineering is really what you like to do and you're an engineer, half the battle is won. Why do you think you're really not that good at what you do? Don't mind me asking, what field of engineering are you currently in and what did you graduate in?
There are plenty of opportunities in life and you really don't need to get all depressed about it. If you think $$ = success, you prolly have the wrong mindset.
When i first started as an engineer fresh out of uni, it took me 4 months to find a job, only to find a job that paid about $40k a year for couple of years and the company still owes me more $10k in wages (long story, lets not go there). I was still happy and making ends meet. Sure i didn't own a boat/house/family/dog and i drove an old clunker and lived in a shoebox, but i was contented. Sure I definitely looked at friends driving Porsches, Ferraris, BMWS and Mercs with envy, but not to the extent of feeling depressed. I enjoyed cars so i bought a cheap clunker as my track day car- It was a stretch of budget, but a sacrifice i made for a passion i loved. Cooked almost every dinner, ate lunch out once a week and only when food was on clearance (1:30pm) so that it'll be the cheapest. Still managed to save quite a fair bit of money for rainy days :). Whilst everything does cost money, it doesn't need to be premium. Budget brands work almost as good as the premium ones most of the time when it comes to groceries, that saves quite a bit.
But the most important point. STOP COMPARING. You'll dig yourself into a endless pit of self pity that would affect your day to day performance in whatever you do. Frankly speaking, you're your worst enemy in that aspect. Get your thoughts together and wake up.
@zeomega: Stop comparing. I cant. I was raised that way, I excelled in school and was top of the top and was looked upon by many peers. I was good. Now i'm just average, below that even and I'm not even working as a "real engineer", working only partially related it. I feel I can relate to you, cook every dinner, ate lunch once a week, buy clearance food. Glad im not the only one but it does seem like im the only one though, coz every day my friends will have a night out, smash $100 on drinks and im probably too cheap to buy a $2 Mccheeseburger.
So rather than waste your life drinking and getting wasted, why not pick up some new skills rather than self pity? I know i did and it helped me a lot over the years. I've given up the partying scene since Uni. It does nothing to advance you as an engineer… rather it possibly kills more brain cells (speculative), You also probably need new friends.
You like engineering, pursue it, advance yourself, learn new skills and read more books. Reason why I asked about what you graduated in is to find out what your passion was/is. I'm only in my early 30's and may not have the most experience and still have heaps to learn. But with loads of hard work (heavy OT without extra $$ compensation), loads of self learning on my own free time, and a huge dose of blessing, am now a Senior Engineer. Now this not to belittle you but rather to show you, with a little bit of effort, determination and positive thinking, it can/will get you places.
Hey mate, definitely don't need a boat! - That's just material and you don't need that in your life. Racking up big debts and so forth
@Thenarrator:I was raised that way
Do you mind if I ask what ethnic background you are from? I am Filipino and don't feel this pressure however did notice stark competition among other south east asian students. The competition among peers came as a huge surprise to me.
@Thenarrator: apologies in advance if i strike a chord. not generalising but mainly noticed this among singaporeans and occasionally malaysians. not so much among the rest. significant comparisons which did not seem to be constructive, fierce competition where distrust and secrecy was used in place of collaboration. basically just unhealthy study habits in general with the misguided ideal that that's the best way to get ahead. a bit silly if you really think about it. nobody likes an (profanity) in the office no matter how much you think you know.
Mate, many people go through this at some point in their life. I recently quit my job because well my boss was not worth it. So as a qualified accountant I thought I would get a job quickly - well hello reality. Couldn't find anything for months. So got myself a somewhat related job and I am content. Not happy, but content.
My mates are earning a lot more than me, but they are my friends and they respect my disposable income. We go out occasionally but to places that I can afford too.
Money is important. heck having a job is important - I felt so uneasy when people asked me what I do and had to tell them I was jobless, but that motivated me even more. Don't worry about house, car, boat etc. They will come. In due time, they will all come.
Be happy with your situation. you are doing better than many (homeless people for example). Keep working hard, and keep networking or keep applying for other jobs.
Good luck.
@fishism007: Yep its hard to get a job! No 1 rule is that you never leave your current job until you have signed a contract with another company.
what?
engineering is a pretty highly paid profession - can easily earn a 6 figure salary
If you're good at what you do, yeps. If you're not, you'll only crack the 6 figure much later in your career or not at all.
To expand on what i've mentioned.
http://www.google.com.au/webhp?hl=en#hl=en-AU&q=payscale+eng…
This will give you an idea of what engineers are getting and how many years of experience it takes to get whatever pay. People have the impression that all engineers are highly paid, not we're not. Only the fortunate few are and those are the people you typically hear about. No one talks about engineers that earn a 90k after 10~20 years in the job. It not great money, but it's still good money that is enough to live comfortably.
I'm in the same boat, I'm 26 and studied Finance and am in an entry level finance position and trying to get a higher paying job. I wake up on many occasions thinking it's groundhog day, every day is the same, I could pretty much plan out my whole week and then I think is this what life is?
what is life. Why can others live by a yacht and I cant. But at least you got into finance, literally a job that teaches you how to make money.You will be living by a yacht one day my friend, one day.
Haha well I had to take a call centre job out of uni to get to my entry level finance job that doesn't even require a degree, wooooo
I work for BT Financial Group which is owned by Westpac, I work for Asgard in the Shares team. My job is to basically make sure that when financial advisers place trades for the client's that they go successfully and to answer questions and fix any problems they have. Get paid $53k, I guess the perks that I can think of us I live around the corner from work, it's cruisy if you can semi handle a stressful environment and we get free income protection and normally $1,000 of WBC shares a year.
Visual Communication (Graphic Design), Did a lot of EDM work earlier in the year, now in Advertising, but in an admin position. Don't recommend wasting 3-4 years at Uni doing Graphic Design since it's way too competitive and pay is low. I make more as an Office Junior than the Junior Designers in the office.
Mechanical Engineer -> Car audio and surface treatment
chemical engineer, spend 5 years in a refinery, designing vessel and optimizing process.
Now, 99.5% purity blue meth cook.
You should create a tv series about that I reckon :)
nah doubt people will be interested in a show like that
Do you recommend getting into chemical engineering nowadays? Say for a young fella fresh out of high school?
In Australia's landscape, no. Chemical engineers are involved in the manufacturing process, or designing the process. In a petrochemical refinery, we separate crude oil into it's components ( eg LPG for cooking, gasoline , bituamen for roads, aromatics for solvents , lubricants, plastics) or change one type to another if it's profitable. In pharmaceutical, the process can be from growing bacteria in vats that produce penicillin to chemical synthesis of various drugs.
We don't really get involved with getting the crude oil out from the ground or the metal from the mines, which is what australia is doing predominately.
I am from Singapore, where there's sort of a chemical hub, plus a small cohort of students (only 1 uni offered it back in those days), so i got a good job at an oil major. Many of my classmates got jobs in pharmaceuticals, sales etc.
Australia doesn't have a manufacturing economy, which is sad imho. Manufacturing is a very important part of any economy because it value add to raw material, increase the knowledge base and has a tremendous trickle down effect.
But manufacturing is deserting Australia because it's becoming increasing difficult to give in to high pay, better conditions that unions demand and a very small domestic market.
so, that's why i took up meth cooking. And i also make a mean cup of distilled coffee.
So do chemical engineering and ditch Australia or get into another type of engineering and stay?
Would have been interesting to include in the title/description to ask what/if there was a reason for this.
Whether it be too much effort to get the experience needed to get into the field or just from losing interest
Ph.D. in Chemistry, with a Computer Science Major, ditched the Chemistry (unfortunately) and now work in IT.
surely chemistry makes more $$$
No, it doesn't :/ (not in Australia at least)
If things don't work out you atleast have a backup. Just look for Jessie pinkman. Future Heisenberg :)
I started off thinking that. By the end of the first season it didn't look like such a wise career choice :) PS - the blue would be an impurity - don't take anything blue, except pureed smurf.
I studied Math and Stats, and actually have a role as a statistician. Saying that, mot of what I do is coding…
Masters in IT, now in IT support (mainly Linux).
Not liking it much, have to handle calls which I've never done before.
Might shift to something more peaceful, even considering teaching, though not really sure how to get in.
Helpdesk is a rite of passage for most IT workers.
and a great source of exploitation for IT management.
IT helpdesk jobs does make one want to bash their head against a brick wall everytime the phone rings.
This is for one of the better firms, most of my mates don't seem to mind.
I literally had nightmares everyday about phones ringing, now I have them once/twice a week.
I have a feeling once I get sucked into the family, house, car, etc. related expenses, I won't be able to get out!
Have you tried turning it off and on again?
I majored in weather science and chemistry (BSci) and for my first job they had me forecasting road toll/fatalities :/
got halfway through Dentistry at Uni. Then bombed out due to too much partying. Ended up finishing BSc, worked in retail for 15 years. Then went back and got a post grad in extractive metallurgy. Been doing that for last 5 years..good money but very stressful. Regret not finishing the Dental degree, many ex dental classmates loaded now and I'm sure less stressful jobs.
dentistry is a licence to print money. just saying.
I'm currently studying dentistry and it's so easy to get lax with studies :(
One tooth type a year, right?
I believe they commit the most sucicide!!
maybe they didn't get that limited edition BMW. #dentistproblems
hahaha
To be honest I don't know of any denists that make coin like doctors! Most doctors I know live in $3m+ houses, they absolute kill it, especially surgeons.
@gamechanger: not everyone can be a doctor, much more respect for them and the shit they have go through and how long they have to study for. dentists however, spend some time in a clinic, then start your own, bang. the money rolls in. not to mention the whole 'let's drill deeper so he needs a root canal' approach.
it's one industry that needs to be regulated properly and isn't.
they're like prostitutes of the mouth.
meanwhile i'll stick with going to thailand…for the dental work that is.
@gamechanger: Trust me..I am still in contact with some of my ex classmates and they are all either very, very comfortable or extremely comfortable. Bear in mind they have been in the biz for 20 years now. A 3M house? Not that hard these days for those guys.
B.Bus..now doing IT web hosting stuff :)
As in owning the business, or supporting it?
I used to IT support it a couple of years ago.
Bachelor of Applied Science (Chemistry/Forensic)
Bachelor/Master of Computer Science (Cyber security)
Worked as an IT network engineer (2001-2005), and an IT Architect for the past 10 years.
TLDR:
Wow, most of the OZbargainer is in to IT technology. No wonder most of the deals are SD cards,USB flash drive, Eneloop /Fujitsu battery as a rice substitute during wedding,gadget & phones
Anyway back to the point, How come you like yang and I'm a yin. I studied BIT in Network Engineering & Hardware enthusiast (LinusTechTips), was end up as kitchen hand in KFC & currently Dishwasher in Airport Hotel (Hospitality)
By the way honestly I found what I studied is totally impractical and , I only really learn like 5% in the total moment in my university life & from that 5 % I found like 6-12% of what I studied useful & practical which is to keep calm during last-minute deadline submission. Anyway I have title at the end of my name P. D. (Proscacinator Doctorate) , I'm so good at it no once can beat me. I'm so "quick" at university that I submit assignment 1 weeks , sometimes 2 weeks late. Seriously though I found GUI interesting, maybe most students prefer more into psychology stuff.
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More detail, pointless & complicated story:
Anyway like mostly people who took IT mainstreamly , I took it because I was so eager and passionate about game that I want to create RPG game, MMO would be better. They don't have computer science because the university is in rural area + at that time it was around 2000s (university is quite new to IT actually) , now they have more specialization.
I have 3 option which are IT system management (commerce), web design & network engineering. I chose this because I reckon & envision that Internet is the most Essential, Crucial & Critical things in the future & the golden potential.
I mean imagine life now without internet? nothing to wank to , no bargain, no games no life, no netflix (that's the most addictive one), being private eyes in facebook,no google- "private" randomly research, no torrent ,no hacking virtual life (btw, Mr. robot is so real in the first bit 2 episode , after that the story is clueless IMHO ). All the daily things will have IPv6 address in the future, fridge, microwave. This is where Networking become the most crucial and backbone of the future
bachelor in IT n Telecoms majoring in business systems.. i'm a sys admin now (not related to business sys but working for a business systems company.. loll) … wish i cared about all of the above you mentioned as you do ..hahaha i might have actually gotten somewhere in my career .. :P
business and worked in banking and finance after graduation. now medical admin at a hospital part time. kids is a career killer. but i have work like balance. working part time, school hours and it's not stressful. im just glad to be able to do something for myself and better yet to get paid for it.
B. Engineering (Civil and Structural)
B. Finance
Now in IT doing data migrations after not being able to find work in either field
I know a lot of finance students in my year group end up doing something unrelated to finance. Are entry level finance jobs hard to find?
I studied finance and seem to be stuck in the loop of getting a more defined finance role as you need specific experience to work in the field but hardly anyone is hiring and willing to train you up.
I just think there's an over supply of these kind of students.
Students should consider job prospects BEFORE they pick a degree, not after graduation.
I know some degrees are quite long, and the market can change. But either way, I think too many students pick a degree without knowing what's in it for them after.
Students are also able to gain experience while studying e.g. highly competitive internships. From what I've seen, students who have done some sort of internship in conjunction with their studies have no problem finding an entry-level role in their field.
Oh man, I totally feel you. When did you graduate?
Did almost the same thing except BComm with major in Accounting.
Luckily I have work in accounting after 2 years searching
Graduated about 4 yrs ago, first job I was conned into a internship to be a financial adviser .. well that's what I thought it was, I was then was flown to sydney for a week of training to find out we would be cold calling customers trying to con with into booking a financial planning consultation 9 hours a day, if we didn't get our sales targets we couldn't take a break. Next job was a similar role except the company Financial Index had bought the book of client's from storm financial group where people were calling the client's and basically moving their products over, anyway a few months in they decided to fire me for failing a test which I was advised I'd have two attempts at and never given the second attempt. Then I was getting desperate so took the job in the call centre for Bt Financial group selling westpac general insurance, stayed there for 18 months then moved to the shares team for Asgard in the same business.
ummm that's kinda what a financial advisor is anyway?
an entry level one anyway… a salesperson matching a client's requirements to a company's own products.
I deal only with queries relating to their share trades on the platform that they use, I don't give any advice financial advise etc. .
No I didn't, I was working various other jobs while at uni just not in the field of finance.
any tips on where to search and how to go about looking for a position?
going to be in the same boat soon as I am in my last semester with no job lined up
Completed Bachelor Of Applied Science (Occupational Therapy).
Went back a few years later and did a Post Grad in Computing.
Currently working as Business Intelligence Consultant.
If you don't mind me asking, how come you got out of OT? Was it a struggle to find work after completing the degree? It's something I'm considering doing and would love a peer's input!
Cheers.
I sort of fell into OT by accident - I was hoping to get into physio, and only just missed out out. I believed at the time that OT was the next closest thing, so thought I'd do that and then try and transfer.
Pretty much just got through the course doing the bare minimum, so my chances of transferring went out the window (tried to get into Engineering after a year which had a much lower entrance score, and had no luck). So I decided to stick it out and complete the degree.
After graduating I traveled for about 6 months and decided to do the post grad when I came back.
All my friends from the course had no issues finding work, although some did have to travel away from the city to do so. My biggest advice would be to fully understand what type of work the course leads to. If you have a passion for the type of work I'm sure it would be most rewarding.
Cheers for the in depth response, appreciate it. All the best!
Did engineering, but managed to jump into IT as the boom was happening. IT has treated me well over the years, but ready now for a complete midlife crisis change (lawn mowing or woodwork??) Trouble is I have a wife and kids with expensive tastes…
Haha you sound exactly like me. Have a B.IT and worked in that industry for 16 years so far. Really want to get out but going from the top level to shit kicker is almost impossible with my family.
Those Matthias Wandel and John Heisz videos are so tempting though. I've even looked into what machines/tools I'll buy "when" I build my workshop.
Ph.D in Biology/Genetics of stem cells —> Management Consulting
that sucks…Money might be good, but what a change.
True, the money is not very good in research and consulting is a huge change. I've been doing it for about 18 months now and see it as a springboard into business from science.
Hey locky, I myself am in my final year of a PhD in neuroscience and have been looking at pursuing a career in MC. Mind if I manage to talk to you about your experience?
ScrimShaw ,reading at your comments over last five years or so.. with your knowledge, I would say you deserve better.
10 years ago,when I did my masters I sat home for three months -until I found, what I wanted to be.If you can afford it do it, do it. With your wealth of knowledge, I would suggest you to look for IT consultancy roles. Good luck.
I don't know any more about it than your average person in helpdesk. In fact with only my partially completed it degree I know far less than say Amar89 or Mskeggs
I have trained more than 7 graduates so far, can tell they don't know much, 90 % of your learning comes from your job. Most of stuff you learn on the fly as it comes. More faults better you know about the technology
what field are you training grads in?
How do you found out what you want to do when you sit at home?
What questions did you ask yourself?
no obviously, I did my masters and I did that for a reason, so was damn sure what I wanted to be
Staying home and applying for xx jobs/per day was sure way to be focused instead of waiting for next pay check if I was working.
that would suggest you think his current job isn't good enough.
people can succeed in any field, including retail.
that's my opinion, I do believe he is quiet knowledgeable in field of technology.
Not stating that you can't do well in retail, just that there are other options to explore
Bachelor of Business (Marketing) —-> Business Development Manager (Finance).
Pharmacy at Uni but now work at a mine site doing GIS/IT
Wow, I was about to post the same thing!
Pharmacy at Uni, spend most of my time working in hospital pharmacy but have also worked in eHealth/ICT
BComm - Tourism & Hospitality, Services Marketing and Chinese studies. 4 years of study leading to work at a cafe then fell into finance.
It's been great and I'm really enjoying it. If you told me 4 years ago that I'd be in finance, I probably wouldn't believe you. There's a partial relevance from my degree, mostly because it's client-focussed and I liaise with external companies - otherwise I have no background in the field.
Did B.Comp/BEng and I'm a network engineer for one company and a computer systems engineer for another.
Can you give me the full name of the your degree?
Does it cost much more to do that double degree vs a single degree?
You are working at two companies? How do you do that?
Very generic name of Bachelor of Computing, but it's non-existant now. The BEng's format can be a bit of a mix, but usually Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Systems) or Bachelor of Computer Engineering Systems.
Double degree costs more because you're obviously doing more than 1 degree and they can vary depending on the degree (Medicine, Psychology, Art etc).
Offered job to be SE at one company that has contracts with a lot of other companies. Became a casual/contractor NE with one of those.
Yes, double degree cost more.
Just curious how much more for that double degree you did?
Since some subjects can overlap/ can get credit..
How much it cost to do the single degree and then add this x amount extra for double degree.
e.g. 10000 + 8000 etc..
How long extra time did it take to do the double degree vs single degree?
e.g. 4 years + 1.5 years etc
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What do u do as an SE and NE?
How do u keep up to date with new tech e.g. IPV6..
Do u self study from books/online course, Take real courses paid by the company etc..
@tyler.durden: Would take me quite some time to dig up the figures, but I know the B.Comp was about 20k.
I'm an SE at MSP, so I look after infrastructure etc for a lot of companies, from world-wide corporations to your small 1 man office. Basically anything and everything IT in that job.
I do NE for another MSP/Telecomms company and essentially manage, design and upgrade their network infrastructure. Normally involves travelling around the place to install or replace equipment. Can be simple things like a router or more complicated devices like packetshapers, UTMs, physical VPNs etc. Downside of that job is that sometimes I end up in prison ;)
Constantly working with new technology and always being trained. I do self study online and also get access to real courses either for free from our partners (Microsoft, Citrix, Cisco etc) or it gets paid for.
If you can find the actual costs and total time it took, would be great..
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Do u have industry certificates? e.g. CCNA/CCNE etc..
Do you need to keep getting new certificates since it expires every 3 or 4 years?
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I understand the job of NE, but SE is a bit more complicated to understand..
Is SE similiar to desktop/helpdesk support?
What does it mean "look after infrastructure"?
Business and Accounting Degree, I now work in information security.