Need a bit of career advice...

[emad]

I just wanted to write this down to help me sort things out a bit and hopefully get a bit of advice from anyone here who has something to say on the topic.

I've had a lot on my mind lately, and my head's spinning from all the thinking I've been doing. It's not as bad this time as it was last year when I was making decisions on what university and what program I wanted to get into but now that I'm in IT Management, I'm having second thoughts.

I sifted through 6 other fields that I find really interesting before I decided to take this up. I know for certain that I'll enjoy IT because I've been working around computers for most of my life now. But since this is a Management program, most of the technical courses wont be offered till 3rd and 4th year. That's no longer a big deal because I'm starting to find the business courses that are a part of this program to be quite enjoyable (except the accounting courses which I'm absolutely terrible in).

There's a lot of emphasis on business and when I graduate, I'll have a business degree but no IT certifications - just knowledge and possibly a bit of first hand experience through lab based classes. With the way this program is layed out, if I get the certificates through a college, I'll have a good chance of getting a fairly high level position as my first job out of university. Now that I think about it however, that may or may not happen though. The accounting and finances classes have severely hurt my GPA and top that, IT jobs have been seeing a bit of a recession in recent years.

I don't know why, but all of a sudden, I've started having second thoughts about this program. IT is most definately something I'll enjoy doing but...I don't know...I've been thinking a lot now and i'm starting to wonder if I should become a mechanic instead. It'll take roughly 3 to 4 years to gain an apprenticeship as an auto technician or I can just go to this college about 1.5 hours out of my city and take a 2 year course there. The reason I thought of this is because I've had an interest in cars and how they worked since I was a little kid. Lately, that interest has been getting stronger and stronger...but I'm not sure if this is just a phase that I'll grow out of like my past obsession with wanting to become a 3d animator.

If the mechanic thing is actually a phase, I've also had second thoughts about the ITM program I'm in currently. I'm not fully sure if a management type environment is something I'm interested (that's what we're learning to work in anyways). I like getting into the guts of things and working with the guts of the things - not pushing paper and handling employees. At least, I don't want something like this in the beginning. If this is the case, would it be a good idea for me to switch out of this and into a 2 year program at a college? There's several great options available at a school near my place and I'll most likely be exempted from roughly 1/4 of the classes due to my past experiences in the field and from what I learned at Ryerson.

My current plan is to stick with Ryerson University and ITM at least till I finish 2nd year and make a decision then. Even if I do choose to become a mechanic, I dont think I'll completely drop my studies in IT. I will probably try going to a local technical institute and take part time studies in some area of IT or another.

 

[Goomba]

I'm in the same boat with you. I have a few directions I could go with my life, but I'm not sure which one.

I tried the mechanic thing, and it sucked. I was a valet at a local Chevy dealership and was planning to work my way up. It was the wrong atmosphere for me, didn't get along with most of the others. I freaked out, but also realized that this isn't what I wanted to do. Working on cars, day in day out, that aren't mine, just sounds suck. So, I quit.

I'm don't think I could give any advice since I'm right where you are, so I'll just give moral support and see what others have to say.

 

[Der Alta]

Well, emad, You've got hte right idea in getting more business related experience. While you may really love and enojy working on computers, you're missing something very important.

Remember this: IT means you'll spend 90% of your time fixing other peoples mistakes. It'll be the same mistake 4 times in a row, and they'll never figure it out. You'll constantly be trying to do your job with inferior equipment, outdated software, for people who have no clue.

If you're serious ask Giles Guthrie how much of his day is spent fixing other peoples screw ups.

Getting the business portion of the degree is an excellent approach. It will give you a wide enough experience that you'll be able to adapt and understand why your bosses spends money the way they do. It'll drive you nuts, but at least you'll understand it.

Being a mechanic, every customer thinks you're screwing them, and you'll be fixing hte same mistakes constantly. (again). I couldn't deal with those headaches.

Now if you want to combine both IT and cars, you need to start writing letters to major car manufacturers. Simply to start talking to people in that area. How many cars have computers today? Someone has to prorgam them. When you work for a company programming them, you'll know how to alter that programming, and voila! You're off on your own business that upgrades cars for better performance.

Most of all, remember, any job sucks. It's looking for the few high points in the day that makes you happy.

Good luck,

AO