Careers

[HuntinFool]

Well, to start off I'm a Sophmore in highschool. I just took the ACT and it got me thinking about what I want to do when I'm older. On the ACT I got a 26 and they predicted that by the time I am a senior and take the final test I should score a 32. I have a 3.8 GPA. So that being said my options are pretty open. The only problem is that I have no clue what I want to do when I'm older. I was wondering if you guys could post a little about what you do and any other comments about your job. I'm just trying to get a few job ideas that might interest me. Thanks in advance.

 

[stinkystomper]

first off take it from the great and wise stinky that posting gpa's act scores and anything else eluding to the fact that you might be intelligent will land you in the gutter fast. That of course is in the mm world. Of which reality has no base. Therefore I would conclude that you will end up in the unemployment line and mentally disturbed as you are asking a forum full of psychopaths, retards, and mentally unstable guys advice about what to do in the future.


People will tell you that college is the only way to be successful. Colleg will land you a good job with good pay and benifits and provide you with a future. College will do none of this.

Only go to college if it is a stepping stone to something in your broader scheme. Figure out what makes you unbelievably happy inside. If college is required to get this then go for it. If college isn't required for your overall plan then scrap college. When you die your money and posessions stay here. money and materials come and go in life. Friendships, family, and memories are forever. Spend every dime you make investing in memories with your friends and family and I'm pretty sure you will be right where you want.

If you want to know I was an electronic warfare engineer, an sram design engineer, a radar engineer, a flight test engineer on f-16's, and a product engineer. Currently I'm an entrepreneur. All of which are crappy jobs and brought me zero happiness. My family, friends, and kids are the only thinngs I feel i've done right in this life and I spend every dime I have making memories with them. I take them on vacation, go on safaris, elk hunts, deer hunts, cruises etc. that's where success is. However im sure you think success is in money and you will just have to find that one out the hard way.

 

[smitty]

Take this for what it's worth.

I was taught to get a good eduction, get a good job and be happy. Well, I went to college for 3 years, worked a couple different jobs then decided to quit college and build my own business. That was 12 years ago, now I am tired of what I'm doing and starting a different business as well as trying to buy real-estate. My group of friends and I have conversations all the time of what we "should" do. I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't really matter what you "do", there are a wide range of quality professions, but do something that you are interested in. For myself, I could never work for someone, I have to blaze my own trail, do my own thing, but everybody is different. There are advantages to working for someone. My advice would be to continue your education, and beyond that, start reading some books out side of school. Richest man in Babylon, Rich dad, poor dad, think and grow rich are a few to start with. They have done more for me than any book I read in school. Learning how money works is the most important thing you can learn, and you won't be taught that in high school or college. There is no course on it, it is something you have to learn on your own.

Enjoy what you are doing right now, you will never get it back. Once you grow up, life can be a constant grind. Be smart, look around at people that have what you want and learn from them.

Good luck.

 

[1911]

College is not for everyone and will not automatically make you wealthy, happy, or successful in life. That said, it is naive to suggest that somehow all the college you can muddle through will not in same way benefit you in life and it is easier to get through when you are young and have fewer obligations in life.

Blue collar trades are going extinct in this country as we continue to export our manufacturing enterprise overseas to cheap labor. Also consider what you may like doing today you might hate when you're 40. Education now will help keep your options open later in life should you choose to pursue a different course of action. People don't stick with careers in today's world like they did in generations past making this more of the norm and less of the exception.

The fact is whatever you choose to pursue, education will translate into more options and better pay period. Whether the cause and effect is a direct translation from the paper degree or the added life experience the statistics don't lie.

 

[AWHOLELOTTABULL]

Do something you enjoy doing or it's going to be a long life. What you want to try and avoid is getting burned out on what you went to college for and then having to start from the ground up. Also, make your own retirement plan. Don't rely on your works 401K. They have been completely worthless the last 10 years. Those that have something else invested will do better. My goal has always been to retire a happy man at 55. I doubt I will hit that goal but I don't think I will be too far from it.


It's always an adventure!!!

 

[feddoc]

You do need an education to succeed. But, you have to decide what you want to do and then get that appropriate education. Attending a college/university isn't the only way to get an education. It doesn't matter if you are a brick layer, or carpenter, or lawyer or doctor...you still need an education geared towards your goal. Smitty is pretty much right regarding learning about money. While it isn't what makes the world go round, you do need, above all else, to understand how 'it' works...and how to make it work for you.

Calvin Coolidge (I think he was the 4th or 5th president that Eel voted for) said this: ?Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.?





Compromise, hell! ... If freedom is right and tyranny is wrong, why should those who believe in freedom treat it as if it were a roll of bologna to be bartered a slice at a time?

 

[Hardway]

My Gramps always said "Work is a four letter word for a reason". I'm a surveyor, its work but it's tolerable. Great bennies and pension.... wish I had a little more time off though.

 

[BIGFOOT46]

If you wanna be happy
For the rest of your life,
Never make a pretty woman your wife,
So from my personal point of view,
Get an ugly girl to marry you.

 

[HuntinFool]

I sincerely thank all you guys for your responses. I have been set on firefighting for the last six months, but I know that the starting pay isn't that great, and this economy has me freaked out a little bit worrying about my future and being able to afford what I want to do. That being said you guys have just reaffirmed my original decision. My father was a firefighter for 20+ years up till the day that he died and he loved every minute of it. I still consider most of the guys that were on his shift family. I can't think of a better work environment than that.

 

[HuntinFool]

>If you wanna be happy
>For the rest of your life,
>
>Never make a pretty woman your
>wife,
>So from my personal point of
>view,
>Get an ugly girl to marry
>you.
Maybe I can get a big ol' squatch?

 

[overton]

Geezus you are flipping nuts!

 

[sageadvice]

LAST EDITED ON Mar-17-12 AT 02:22AM (MST)[p]First you say, "The only problem is that I have no clue what I want to do when I'm older...

Then you just said, "...I have been set on firefighting for the last six months... That being said you guys have just reaffirmed my original decision. My father was a firefighter...

HF, Your statements seriously contradict each other.

To me, nothing like being your own boss living in a place or community that you really want to live. I traded a good job and great career for living where and how my dreams took me. Few can do that as most need to support a family or have other obligations that they feel tied down to. I chose to live life to the fullest now, meaning as each day came, long ago and worry about retirement in the future. I'm a 58 year old small business owner wondering if i'll ever get to "retire" but i'll have walked many happy trails in this life when my time has come!

edit; To recommend to a young man to do similar as i have would probably be ill advised and i'll not do so but mine is purely seeds for contemplation when weighing out one's options. I was lucky enough to have sports pay for my education, such as it is, and those years away at University were among the best of my life. Some advice from one older huntingfool to a young another, strive find happiness in life's chores. If you're not so, move on to something else that brings you joy as life is too darn short.

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[luckless]

+1 Stinky

--- but if given the opportunity to go to college on someone else's dime, DO IT. I passed on some scholarships to join the Air Force. Loved almost every minute of it and have tapped GI bill for an AAS, BS, MPA, MSM and currently still going on another graduate degree. School was "free" (if you don't count risking my life on convoys in Iraq) and it has opened doors. That being said, Stinky nailed it about college not doing it for you. College is a piece of a puzzle, not the whole puzzle, glued, framed and on the wall... Never let a degree frame what you want to do...

DC

 

[littlejoe]

Unless you know you are going to have your own business and that plan is in action you absolutely need to go to college.

Life is 90% about who you know and 10% about what you know.

Never burn a bridge, you just never know when you might not that person ever again. I learned this the hard way.

Don't work in production. It makes a person hard and cold.

 

[Foreman4x4]

I've been in law enforcement going on 21 years and if I could do it all over again, I'd be a firefighter. Better pay, better retirement, and everyone likes fireman. Another benefit is a lot of them work four on, so you get a ton of time off without burning vacation. If I didn't do that, I'd look into federal law enforcement (I'm too old now).

 

[kingfish]

I can't help you I'm 55 and still don't know what I want to do? I will tell you this though? Think really hard before you get married or have kids!!!! Both are LIFE changing!!. Make as much money as you possibly can so you can do the things you love to do...MONEY makes a big difference....


Government doesn't fix anything and has spent trillions proving it!!!
Let's face it...After Monday and Tuesday, even the calender says WTF!

 

[YukonDall]

HF......LITTLE JOE IS CORRECT......GIVE YOURSELF A CHANCE, GO TO COLLEGE. WITH YOUR 3.8 GPA YOU WILL DO FINE, COLLEGE HAS A WAY OF OPENING DOORS FOR PEOPLE. THERE WILL BE MANY JOBS/POSITIONS YOU WONT GET AN INTERVIEW FOR UNLESS YOU HAVE A COLLEGE DEGREE. CASE IN POINT.....MY SON JUST LANDED AN ENTRY POSITION JOB AT 72 THOUSAND A YEAR TO START. + A FULL BENNIES PACKAGE, AND PROFIT SHARING PLAN.


THE FIRST THING MANY EMPLOYERS WILL LOOK FOR IS A SOLID EDUCATIONAL BACK GROUND. EDUCATION ALSO BUILDS A STRONG WELL ROUNDED PERSON. ALSO CONSIDER A LOT OF YOUR JOB COMPETITION WILL HAVE AT LEAST A 4 YEAR DEGREE.

ITS JUST LIKE GOING ON A HUNTING TRIP, YOU NEED THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT. BE SMART ABOUT THIS DECISION......IT WILL EFFECT THE REST OF YOUR LIFE........GOOD LUCK........YD.

 

[scandalousbob]

I studied architecture in school, but it's a tough field right now. Like a lot of other jobs (construction, real estate, engineering, etc), it tends to cycle with the economy. If you're interested at all in anything medical, there are a lot of good jobs there with great pay and scheduling flexibility. I have two older brother in the medical field. Both do really well and never seem to have a problem taking time off in the fall to hunt.

 

[HuntinFool]

>LAST EDITED ON Mar-17-12
>AT 02:22?AM (MST)
>
>First you say, "The only problem
>is that I have no
>clue what I want to
>do when I'm older...
>
>Then you just said, "...I have
>been set on firefighting for
>the last six months... That
>being said you guys have
>just reaffirmed my original decision.
>My father was a firefighter...
>
>
>HF, Your statements seriously contradict each
>other.
>
I know. I mentioned that the test got me thinking that firefighting might not be the job for me. I was trying to get some information about different careers, but then all your guys comments about doing something that you'll love and won't get burnt out on made me realize that firefighting will probably be my best option. Thanks for all the replies.

 

[HuntinFool]

>I studied architecture in school, but
>it's a tough field right
>now. Like a lot of
>other jobs (construction, real estate,
>engineering, etc), it tends to
>cycle with the economy. If
>you're interested at all in
>anything medical, there are a
>lot of good jobs there
>with great pay and scheduling
>flexibility. I have two older
>brother in the medical field.
>Both do really well and
>never seem to have a
>problem taking time off in
>the fall to hunt.
That was actually really helpful thank you. Architecture has been one career that I have looked into.

 

[jodog]

My nephew went to collage (Notre Dame) graduated and went to another collage (Temple University) He is now a specialized surgen in So Cal at age 33 He makes alot!!! of money. His house payment alone is $8900 per month...no big deal. Decide what you want to do then go get that piece of paper!!!

 

[YukonDall]

HF......FIREFIGHTING IS A GREAT WAY TO GO, I GOT 30 YEARS IN THE FIRE SCIENCE FIELD. YOU WILL NEED A DEGREE IN FIRE SCIENCE, I HAD THAT DEGREE AS WELL. GOT IN AT 19.....RETIRED AT 49 IN 2004. FOR SOME ITS A GREAT PROFESSION, CANT BE BEAT.....YD.

 

[Hardway]

College is great if it leads to where you want to go, but dont think that just because you have a degree its somehow going to make you rich. There are alot of "trades" that pay extremley well.... I have a friend that is a lineman for PG&E here in Ca. He has makes 130k plus with 4-6 weeks vacation and a ton of other bennies. Like I said earlier, I'm a surveyor and I usually make more than the degree holding engineers that draw up the plans. Granted they may pass me up after 10-15 years of experience but in the end I will still have made more money over my whole carrer.

 

[Hardway]

LAST EDITED ON Mar-17-12 AT 10:59AM (MST)[p]PS... Overton said he may be able to get into the adult film industry but he needs you to PM him a picture of your "equipment".

 

[nickman]

In my opinion, you pretty much answered your own question.

A set of college courses in fire science would be a stroll for you and it is an Excellent career path.....Chit is always going to burn!

Either way, we still live in a world that sees a college degree as an important resume tool. Even if you haven't made a career choice yet, get all the schooling you can while you are young.

You don't need a parachute to skydive.
You do however, need a parachute to
skydive.......twice.

 

[Utah400Elk]

College was a good thing for me. I have a masters and hope to finish a PHD one day. That being said, for me college was not what I thought it would be. I always invisioned one day sitting in a class and a light would shine down on me and I would find the career I wanted. Never happened! I just had a long talk with my niece about the same thing and she thought she would find he career the same way. We had a good laugh about that idea. I went to college to become a doctor. Took all the pre med classes, MCAT, and even got accepted to George Washington but in the end opted to work a Snowbird for a few years (a ski bumb fo three yeas and yes it was fun)

What I have been able to do in life is determine there are jobs I DON'T want to do. As I have moved though life I have woked a few jobs and relized I neve want to do that again. I have worked in Law Enforcement for the last 15 yeas and have about 15 to go until I retire. I am starting to get into Fire Investigations and that has been fun.

I am a big believer in the idea that it is ok to be happy but not satisfied in work. I will always strive for more. That is just who I am.

I think Stinky's post gave you some of the best info so far. In my life I have had some geat jobs, some great positions, taken some geat college classes, and some great times outdoors. In the end they are never enough. They don't give me long term satisfaction. I am happy with what I have done so far but want more. The only thing in life that has bought me true satisfaction is my friend and my family. I do what I do now so that I can have the money to do what I want to do with my family. I have been trully blessed by my family and friends.

Best of luck to you. As I told my neice, relax, it's just the rest of your life. I the told he it's never too late to change what you do for a career.