Career Discussion Thread
 

I'm a 17-yr-old going into my senior year of high school soon, and I'll be applying to college (University of Arkansas) in a week or two. However, I don't have a single clue what I'm interested in (looking at either architecture, computer science, or engineering). Job shadowing is pretty non-existent around here, since people either work 50 miles away or at Wal-Mart/McDonald's, so I have no idea of what professionals' jobs are like.

Since we don't already have a thread like this, feel free to share what your job is, what you do, etc. :jvang:

Here's a recent tweet I saw on this topic:

[URL="https://twitter.com/Noahpinion/status/1015996032784609280"]https://twitter.com/Noahpinion/status/1015996032784609280[/URL]

How well do you know yourself? What you enjoy now might not be as thrilling in four years.

[QUOTE=jvang;491808]...looking at architecture, computer science, or engineering...[/QUOTE]
This forum probably attracts people from the NSA (or equivalents in other coutnries) who aren't allowed to answer your question!

More seriously, a lot of work in the areas you are interested in can be summarized as taking a [B]functional design[/B] and developing a [B]technical design[/B].

The functional design says what the building/computer system/aircraft should be able to do.
The technical design says how this could be achieved: what components could be used,
which of them already exist and which would have to be built from scratch,
how they would fit together, possibly including what it would cost and how long it would all take.

This type of work is usually done in a team, though the size of it depends heavily on the type of project.

[QUOTE=masser;491827]Here's a recent tweet I saw on this topic:

[URL="https://twitter.com/Noahpinion/status/1015996032784609280"]https://twitter.com/Noahpinion/status/1015996032784609280[/URL]

How well do you know yourself? What you enjoy now might not be as thrilling in four years.[/QUOTE]

Lots of things [I]seem[/I] fun, but I'd rather avoid getting a degree in a field that is less cool than it sounds. But I don't know of any resources to find out about the inner workings of such jobs :ermm:

[QUOTE=Nick;491847]More seriously, a lot of work in the areas you are interested in can be summarized as taking a [B]functional design[/B] and developing a [B]technical design[/B].

The functional design says what the building/computer system/aircraft should be able to do.
The technical design says how this could be achieved: what components could be used,
which of them already exist and which would have to be built from scratch,
how they would fit together, possibly including what it would cost and how long it would all take.

This type of work is usually done in a team, though the size of it depends heavily on the type of project.[/QUOTE]

Not gonna lie, both types of design sound pretty cool :max:

In addition to that, I think that something science-based would be cool too. I always see news articles about students working with their professors to discover new biological agents/quantum particles/other things. What do you do to end up in a lab environment like that? Or just engaging in cutting-edge research in any field?

[QUOTE=jvang;491808]I'm a 17-yr-old going into my senior year of high school soon[/QUOTE]

You subbed to the forum in November 2015, so you were 14 or 15 at the time. O.O

[QUOTE=jasong;491862]You subbed to the forum in November 2015, so you were 14 or 15 at the time. O.O[/QUOTE]

:ttu:

How many of us are doing today what we thought we would be doing when we were 17?

(Did we say that right?)

:mike:

I don't know where to put this link, but it inspires me so much that I think I will simply leave it here:
[YOUTUBE]NR3reGzJANY[/YOUTUBE]

[SPOILER]I listened to Rick's channel for quite a while now, but this one is a real eye opener - here, he explains how he didn't know what to do with his work when he was 38, and this really reminds me of my favorite quote:
"Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't."
[/SPOILER]

[QUOTE=jvang;491857]In addition to that, I think that something science-based would be cool too. I always see news articles about students working with their professors to discover new biological agents/quantum particles/other things. What do you do to end up in a lab environment like that? Or just engaging in cutting-edge research in any field?[/QUOTE]
It's important to understand the difference between the natural sciences and technical/engineering sciences.
Examples of natural sciences: physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, ...
Examples of technical/engineering sciences: computer science, aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering,...
In the first, students study the world around us and researchers discover new things.
In the second, students study what other people have built and the researchers invent new things.

The team which recently landed a space probe on a comet contained both sorts of people.
The engineers didn't want any unexpected surprises: they wanted the spacecraft to remain fully under control and do what they wanted.
The natural scientists were hoping for unexpected surprises in the samples taken from the comet, since then they would learn more about how the universe formed.
There is, of course, some overlap: students of aerospace engineering have to do some physics, for example, but they do it to use in other things, not for its own sake.

When research universities recruit new researchers, they choose people who are not just talented and hardworking, but also passionate and show original thinking.

If I didn't know what I wanted to do, I'd take a year off, travel around the country or overseas, and work odd jobs. If you've always lived in a small town or have never travelled abroad it will open your eyes to new possibilities. In other words, spend some time to find yourself, before you have debt or a family, while you are still free. So often people are shepherded into things they don't like because they did what was easy.

[QUOTE=Batalov;491885]I don't know where to put this link, but it inspires me so much that I think I will simply leave it here:[/QUOTE]

Great video; makes me almost want to get into music :tu: I hope that when I get to that sort of age I'm not dissatisfied with my career, unless I manage "exhaust" the supply of original things to do with it (like Rick was unhappy with his position).

[QUOTE=Nick;491890]It's important to understand the difference between the natural sciences and technical/engineering sciences.
Examples of natural sciences: physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, ...
Examples of technical/engineering sciences: computer science, aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering,...[/QUOTE]

Sounds like "pure" sciences versus applied sciences, the way I've heard it. I just need to figure out which is more interesting. Now I'm considering going for a more general courseload for my first year or two until I figure out what to major in. U of Arkansas has an undecided 1st-year engineering program, so I guess I'll go with that. If I really want to swap to a completely different curriculum then I can probably transfer most of the core credits anyways. I've dropped architecture for now since everything that I think that I want to know about it could probably be learned from the Internet :whee:

I suppose I'm interested in a really broad spectrum of subjects; how would one get exposed to a variety of topics like that during college? Are study-abroad programs worth looking into, or is that more cultural immersion/tourism?

Most high schools have guidance counselors who can offer tests to see what
you might like to get into.

I think a lot of college students are in your position.
One plan is to take a wide variety of course your first year to see what you like.

I am in Computer Science and do technical design someone brought up.
If you enjoy solving puzzles, I think design would be a good fit.

[QUOTE=jvang;492157]I suppose I'm interested in a really broad spectrum of subjects; how would one get exposed to a variety of topics like that during college? [B]Are study-abroad programs worth looking into, or is that more cultural immersion/tourism?[/B][/QUOTE]

Although traveling sounds pretty nice; I wouldn't mind a career that A) supports me enough and gives me the free time to travel a lot, or B) lets me make a living while traveling.

[QUOTE=bgbeuning;492162]Most high schools have guidance counselors who can offer tests to see what
you might like to get into.

I think a lot of college students are in your position.
One plan is to take a wide variety of course your first year to see what you like.

I am in Computer Science and do technical design someone brought up.
If you enjoy solving puzzles, I think design would be a good fit.[/QUOTE]

I'll see what our counselors have, but they haven't been helpful in the past :max:

So you're taking classes in Computer Science? What's that like?

[QUOTE=jvang;491857]
In addition to that, I think that something science-based would be cool too. I always see news articles about students working with their professors to discover new biological agents/quantum particles/other things. What do you do to end up in a lab environment like that? Or just engaging in cutting-edge research in any field?[/QUOTE]

1. Attend a research university, i.e. one that grants PhD's.
2. Sometime after your first semester, show up at a Professor's lab and ask if they need undergrad help. You're a volunteer, but some schools grant course units for undergrad research. You do really menial stuff, but if you take enough busywork load off a grad student, you might be granted co-authorship on a paper that writes up an experiment you helped on. It's not quite fun, but it's the best path at a non-elite university to get to graduate work (and understand what graduate work entails).

[QUOTE=VBCurtis;492220]1. Attend a research university, i.e. one that grants PhD's.
2. Sometime after your first semester, show up at a Professor's lab and ask if they need undergrad help. You're a volunteer, but some schools grant course units for undergrad research. You do really menial stuff, but if you take enough busywork load off a grad student, you might be granted co-authorship on a paper that writes up an experiment you helped on. It's not quite fun, but it's the best path at a non-elite university to get to graduate work (and understand what graduate work entails).[/QUOTE]

Hmmm, I think that the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville is the only university in the state that is classified as an R1 research university, so that's good. Although the way you describe that process sounds kinda lame and necessary at the same time :ermm: I'd need to make sure that I got a bit of course units/credits for that sort of thing.

Don't restrict yourself to R1 schools; if you take advantage of REUs, a smaller college can be quite rewarding.

[URL="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chadorzel/2015/04/10/why-small-colleges-are-great-for-science-students/#3781e5267b9a"]chadorzel/why-small-colleges-are-great-for-science-students/[/URL] (a lot of this is relevant beyond science)

Are you restricted to Arkansas for in-state tuition reasons? If so, you might investigate if they have reciprocation agreements with neighboring states.

P.S. [URL="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chadorzel/2017/01/10/small-college-astronomers-predict-big-stellar-explosion/#2c7d300221d4"]Here's another link from same author about some cool astronomy work at a small college.[/URL]

[QUOTE=masser;492230]Don't restrict yourself to R1 schools; if you take advantage of REUs, a smaller college can be quite rewarding.

[URL="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chadorzel/2015/04/10/why-small-colleges-are-great-for-science-students/#3781e5267b9a"]chadorzel/why-small-colleges-are-great-for-science-students/[/URL] (a lot of this is relevant beyond science)

Are you restricted to Arkansas for in-state tuition reasons? If so, you might investigate if they have reciprocation agreements with neighboring states.

P.S. [URL="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chadorzel/2017/01/10/small-college-astronomers-predict-big-stellar-explosion/#2c7d300221d4"]Here's another link from same author about some cool astronomy work at a small college.[/URL][/QUOTE]

I'm sticking to Arkansas public universities since I have free tuition, room, and board to one. Turns out that the U of Arkansas also has some REA programs that I might want to look into. Pretty sure that none of the private universities in Arkansas are worth going to even if they were free, and the other publics around here are drastically inferior to our flagship institution.

[QUOTE=jvang;492157]I suppose I'm interested in a really broad spectrum of subjects; how would one get exposed to a variety of topics like that during college? Are study-abroad programs worth looking into, or is that more cultural immersion/tourism?[/QUOTE]


I've known a few people that did a semester abroad; they all speak very highly of the experience.

In Febr. I decided changing my job. Away from assembly; going straight forward into an job close-by where I life.
Any way, these new job...failed. After 2,5 months I received the info that they have to fire me.


So...I´m back on assembly! (for the same company, again. I´m happy about that; so I´m not loosing my certificates.)
For now I´m working in an big chemistry park near Dresden (Germany). I´m looking forward to get into the nuclear power sector. :smile:

[QUOTE=MisterBitcoin;493087]In Febr. I decided to change my job. Away from assembly; going straight forward into an job close-by where I live.
[/QUOTE]
There's always some risk when you change jobs.
I'm glad you got your old work back again!

[QUOTE=jvang;492231]Pretty sure that none of the private universities in Arkansas are worth going to even if they were free[/QUOTE]

Out of curiosity, would this also apply to Hendrix?

[QUOTE=clowns789;493188]Out of curiosity, would this also apply to Hendrix?[/QUOTE]

I’ve heard that Hendrix and Harding are the only ones that are actually decent, but I think that U of Arkansas at Fayetteville is probably better. Also, U of A is (I think) our only university that is classified with the highest research activity by the Carnegie Foundation. Not meaningful to humanities majors, but I’m a STEM guy so that matters to me :whee:

Taking cost into account, Harding is way too expensive; anyone qualified and rich enough to go there might as well go to a real Ivy or other top 30 school. Hendrix is closer to the cost of our public universities, so that would come down to one's impression of their curriculum. Of course, with free tuition and whatnot covered to U of A, I don’t have much of a choice to make :w00t:

[QUOTE=clowns789;493188]Out of curiosity, would this also apply to Hendrix?[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=jvang;493212]I’ve heard that Hendrix and Harding are the only ones that are actually decent, but I think that U of Arkansas at Fayetteville is probably better. Also, U of A is (I think) our only university that is classified with the highest research activity by the Carnegie Foundation. Not meaningful to humanities majors, but I’m a STEM guy so that matters to me :whee:

Taking cost into account, Harding is way too expensive; anyone qualified and rich enough to go there might as well go to a real Ivy or other top 30 school. Hendrix is closer to the cost of our public universities, so that would come down to one's impression of their curriculum. Of course, with free tuition and whatnot covered to U of A, I don’t have much of a choice to make :w00t:[/QUOTE]

I do keep getting emails from our many other private colleges. The majority are religiously-affiliated but a few are not. It seems the main benefit of going to most of them are for a “small town, small college” experience; more than a couple have fewer than 1,000 students in total (such as University of the Ozarks and Lyon College). I wonder if that idea is as cool as they make it sound, especially since the particular small town that I currently live in is not very interesting in any way :ermm!

[QUOTE=jvang;493212]
Taking cost into account, Harding is way too expensive; anyone qualified and rich enough to go there might as well go to a real Ivy or other top 30 school. Hendrix is closer to the cost of our public universities, so that would come down to one's impression of their curriculum. Of course, with free tuition and whatnot covered to U of A, I don’t have much of a choice to make :w00t:[/QUOTE]

Hey, I forgot to mention this earlier: congratulations on the free tuition to U of Ark. You must be a pretty good student to have earned that. I would strongly encourage you to apply to a few additional schools, just to see what they could offer you. Treat the U of A as your safety school and explore (the very many) opportunities you may have in front of you.

If you want to stay "relatively" close to home, there are several very good schools within less than a day's drive: UT-Austin, Rice, Tulane, Washington U. of St. Louis, Vanderbilt. What if one of those schools came up with a financial aid package that was nearly equivalent to the offer from U of A? What if you had to take out student loans, but they were less than X dollars a year, where X seems small?

What if you don't care about proximity to home? There might be schools that have more to offer than U of Ark that will give you an even better financial deal. If you really want to stay in-state, plan some visits to those smaller colleges. They, too, might give you competitive offers. Do you have any hobbies (hiking, rafting, quilting, whatever) that might flourish in one of the quaint college towns you visit?

I scattered my college applications over 6 schools. I was rejected by the one I had identified as a longshot, but got accepted to the others. One of the better schools gave me a financial aid package I considered untenable. Having four realistic choices, with various pros and cons in terms of cost and opportunities, was nice.

[QUOTE=masser;493533]Hey, I forgot to mention this earlier: congratulations on the free tuition to U of Ark. You must be a pretty good student to have earned that. I would strongly encourage you to apply to a few additional schools, just to see what they could offer you. Treat the U of A as your safety school and explore (the very many) opportunities you may have in front of you.

If you want to stay "relatively" close to home, there are several very good schools within less than a day's drive: UT-Austin, Rice, Tulane, Washington U. of St. Louis, Vanderbilt. What if one of those schools came up with a financial aid package that was nearly equivalent to the offer from U of A? What if you had to take out student loans, but they were less than X dollars a year, where X seems small?

What if you don't care about proximity to home? There might be schools that have more to offer than U of Ark that will give you an even better financial deal. If you really want to stay in-state, plan some visits to those smaller colleges. They, too, might give you competitive offers. Do you have any hobbies (hiking, rafting, quilting, whatever) that might flourish in one of the quaint college towns you visit?

I scattered my college applications over 6 schools. I was rejected by the one I had identified as a longshot, but got accepted to the others. One of the better schools gave me a financial aid package I considered untenable. Having four realistic choices, with various pros and cons in terms of cost and opportunities, was nice.[/QUOTE]

:oolong:

[url]http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?p=489231#post489231[/url]

While I'd love to have free college because of my academic achievement, it's actually from a convenient state scholarship, the Arkansas Military Dependents Scholarship. Thus, I'm "limited" to in-state public schools. I'd love to go to plenty of other schools, and probably could've ended up somewhere cool if I hadn't messed up my junior year. But U of A at Fayetteville is good enough (I'll take "Best in Arkansas," for what it's worth), and it's basically as far from the hellhole that is the Arkansas Delta as I can get while staying in-state :jvang:

[QUOTE=jvang;492157]I suppose I'm interested in a really broad spectrum of subjects; how would one get exposed to a variety of topics like that during college? Are study-abroad programs worth looking into, or is that more cultural immersion/tourism?[/QUOTE]

Doh! I was not reading the sister thread in blogorrhea. Sorry.

I'd still recommend multiple applications and visits to more schools. Explore your options; you might be surprised.

[QUOTE=masser;493543]Doh! I was not reading the sister thread in blogorrhea. Sorry.

I'd still recommend multiple applications and visits to more schools. Explore your options; you might be surprised.[/QUOTE]

I’ve taken a look at basically every college in Arkansas (the other public colleges around here are abysmal at best), so I’d have to look out-of-state. I can’t think of any worthwhile private college that I could feasibly afford, but there are a couple of public universities that I would consider. However, I’m 90% sure that most other public colleges that have better programs than U of Arkansas are not worth the full out-of-state cost that I’d end up paying. Places like Auburn University, UNC, and the Texas/California systems.

Even if I had a plan to afford them (Auburn would offer me in-state tuition for aerospace engineering through the Academic Common Market, helps a bit) I’d still need to be admitted, and my fail year tanked my GPA (which also affects any scholarships I could consider). So I’m not really sure where else I should apply that would make sense financially and chance-of-admittance-wise...