[zekim]

There are lots of different options depending on where you live and the field that you want to enter.

For my money, the best bet is to find internships while taking your general education requirements that every degree requires.  It gives you experience to add to you resume and lets you figure out if it is a field that you want to be in.

[CanRay]

Frag, I'd have done quite a few things for a $15/hour job.

last time I worked for LESS than $16/hr, min wage was $4.35 /hr...

Now, the wage is between $40-175/hr... depending on the working conditions, the job in question, etc...

Count yourself lucky.

[Black]

Bachelor of Art (International Relations/Asian Studies/Commerce) with a Masters in Professional Accounting.

Jobs in the IT industry (Business Analyst/Project Manager, so pure IT skills weren't neccessary).  But often your degree is not always a true indicator of your actual path in life.  Sometimes, after years of study and years of entry level work, this is a good things.  I know many accountants who do everything but actual accounting, and I know at least one civil engineer who was a CEO of a top 6 bank here in australia.  Civil Engineering and banking... would not have seen that mix working so well, but it did.

Currently I'm $100/hr.  And that's considered medium for my role/industry/location.

So, yeah, Uni pays off sometimes.  Not for everyone, sure, but it can. 

But attitude is alway, always the most important indicator of wether you will be successful.  Never accept the status quo, always push yourself, always challenge yourself, remain positive no matter what (this is the hardest thing, because a bad job or series of bad jobs can lead to making oneself feel quiet bitter, and bitterness never leads to happiness).  Problems, in all their forms, are challenges which help us grow and develop when we overcome them.  Failures are opportunities to learn and reflect.

The ability to listen, really listen, and understand where someone is coming from, communicate and show empathy for the people around you, help your fellow co-workers, even the ones you don't like, and always look at ways you make things better.

[WrongConcept]

Hi!, Im from Venezuela so i don't know if my advice can be useful, im an Informatics Egeneer waiting for grade act wich is this October, the thing is ive specialiced myself in program coding, and several programation Languages XCode, C, C++, Basic, Pascal, Turbo Pascal, Gnome, Assembler and Kobol, i also have a honda robotics certification and i am working to perfect my english (i can read it perfectly, understand it spoken in most cases, slang costs a bit but i can understand the basic) while i am studying Chinesee. Thing is my country economy is depressed badly, however my debt is close to zero thanks to a simple set of rules ive forced on myself:

1.- If it pays its good: Sure i could be asking some dude in a restaurant if he liked fries with his stake, that dosen't mean i gave up nor that im not looking for a better job, it just mean that i am working honestly for my dreams.

2.- People are Dicks, I don't have to be people: A Smile opens a thousand doors, my first job was taking the trash and cleaning the floor of a civil engeneers firm, i smiled to people, joked with them and one day when the tech guy did not appeared and they had a problem with the server i asked if i could cheked it and they allowed me, i looked it fixed some problems with the Swiths and i got my first job on the area as tech support. (The Firm later went bankrupt)

3.- Dont be a comformist: You think you can do it better then do so! people in most cases will appreciate it and if not you are losing your time with that company

4.- Never ever lie!: That is self explanatory sincerity is the best weapon, bosses prefer a mediocre sincere person over a lying genius, if you can be a sincere professional then many doors will open.

5.- Always strive to start your own bussiness or the seat in a good executive, or higher position in a Mega! Never work for the company, work for yourself if the company beneficiates from this then both partys are happy.

My advice is take the College only if you are ready to work your ass off, and to push forward non stop 24/7 (of course leave some time for good old fashioned shadowrun game or other hobby or fun thing to do so you don't burn out!

[Bull]

Don't take this the wrong way Basic, but your topic title alone tells me that yes, college would be worth it.

Do you guy's think college is worth it ?

"guys" not "guy's", and no space between "it" and the question mark.

[PeterSmith]

http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=12978.msg241486#msg241486

[Critias]

As a professor, the best answer I can give is a thorough "maybe."

Because, honestly, it comes down to what field you want to study, how much different degrees will help you, what the market's like, what the market will be like when you finish your degree, what sort of school you go to, where you live, what kind of debt you can handle, what kind of scholarships you can get, what kind of contacts you might have to help out the whole process...

There are a lot of variables there, and the real answer is that it varies from person to person, job to job, region to region, and all those other variables.  Your best bet is to find it out for yourself -- check with folks at the school you want to go into, check with folks you know in that field, check with the folks in your scene, not someone else's, because it's your life that's gonna be changed (one way or the other) by all this.

[Reaver]

http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=12978.msg241486#msg241486

[from me earlier in the tread, so everything is tied together]
The cab I took last week was driven by an IT professional.

The steak I ate last night in the bar by a woman with a masters degree in sociology...

If I was you, I would take a look at the last 5 years for the field you are wanting to study. If the wages are dropping, then so is the demand.... And you are saddled with debt and asking if I would like fries with my steak.


••••
20 years ago I went into trades (Electrical/ industrial instrumentation mechanics) and everyone thought I was a sucker as 'computers is the way of the future'! Or thought I should study business admin....

Well, I have made six figures for the last 15 years, take MONTHS off at a time, have travelled and worked in a dozen countries over the world on my employer's dime... And was debt free from my student loans WEEKS after completing each year of school. (in Canada, trades require hours worked spaced with classroom time)...


So if you are trying to plan for your future be aware that technology degrees in many cases come with an expiry date of "the next big breakthrough"....

noticed you didn't link the one describing my current working conditions.... or the pay for said conditions

[bigity]

This is one of those things that's so subjective it's hardly worth answering.

However, no degree here and went from Air Force comms to Department of Defense to school district to private company.  I don't make crazy money but enough to support family and the wife can stay home and do the hard work of raising the kids, though she is working part time at a daycare the last few years as the kids get older.

Taking college classes but pretty sporadic, OTOH, I have the work experience to offset that.

All that being said, it never hurts to have a degree.  Just don't go into debt to get it.

[PeterSmith]

noticed you didn't link the one describing my current working conditions.... or the pay for said conditions

You're an outlier, I'm not going to hold you up as a common example.

[DWC]

Disclosure:  I have a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from a private engineering school, finished paying off my student loan debt after 8 years, and have been a controls engineer for 12 years.   Since the day I graduated, I've spent a grand total of 2 weeks without a job within my field and those two weeks were conscious choices to take a few days off between leaving one job and starting a second.

If you're not looking to get into law, engineering, medicine, finance, or a hard science like biology, chemistry, or physics, going to college is going to mean a huge amount of debt that doesn't do a lot to help you make more money.

For what you're looking to do, getting an Associates Degree in Information Security and then spending a few years in the Navy or Air Force seems like a more cost effective and overall effective career path.  The AD will increase your chances of getting into the part of your chosen service that aligns with your goals, and in addition to the immediate benefits of serving, will get you a leg up on the professional contacts that you'll need to get into the IS testing world.