<p>Someone suggested I post this on the Parent's Forum because many of you have a lot of life experience.</p>
<p>Long-story short, I'm about to get my Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering and it took me until now to realize I hate it.</p>
<p>Now in retrospect I do realize it was probably the 'wrong' field for me, but I suppose the reason I stayed in it so long was because I was good at it and found it easy, so I falsely assumed I was 'destined' for it.</p>
<p>So with that being said, what other reasonable jobs out there would require (or highly prefer a degree) but not necessarily something specific. One example I could think of is being a police officer, it doesn't require a college degree but it certainly helps.</p>
<p>I was thinking of being a community organizer as well</p>
<p>I agree, finish the degree! IT touches sooo many jobs these days, it won’t hurt you to have that background in many different fields (and believe me, the IT people will probably love you – it is a huge help to them to have someone out in the business community who speaks their language!). If you have any room in your senior year to take classes in another field while you finish the degree, do that.</p>
<p>It is okay when you go to inteview to say that you completed a degree in one field, but have a strong interest in something else that didn’t develop until it was too late to change your major. So you took classes in <whatever> your last year to develop that interest, and would like to work in that field. That worked for me to get INTO computer science many years ago (my degree is in marketing, but I took several comp sci classes starting 2nd semester of junior year because I decided I liked it after taking an intro class).</whatever></p>
<p>But get your degree. You will NOT be sorry you completed it. Having ANY kind of college degree opens doors for you that will be closed otherwise. You would hate to have to go back and finish the degree in 10 years when you have kids and other responsibilities.</p>
<p>zinc - You’re not the first to discover you don’t love your UG major. Finish your commitment and start looking for a job you’d ENJOY. Things will turn out fine, really.</p>
<p>[signed] Chemistry major whose first job was Advertising Copywriter for racing equipment</p>
<p>You could always switch your major to CS. In CS you have a lot more flexibility with your degree because you can go into any scientific or computational field you want. In fact, if you wanted a versatile degree, one of the best I’d say is a CS degree.</p>
<p>At this point though, it might take you longer to finish. A person with a CS degree can work in a chem lab, neuroscience, dna sequencing, astrophysics, finance (like wall street), or anything like that. Of course, some of these things require graduate degrees, but if it’s something you’re interested in then why not? You might even be able to get some of these jobs if you just get a minor in CS.</p>
<p>Unless your real gripe is with programming, but I can’t see how anyone who’s gotten so far along in a related degree just now find out programming sucks. If it is though… good luck. You can always try graduate school to do something different.</p>
<p>Try to figure out what it is that you don’t like about IT. For my daughter, it was being stuck in a cubicle all day, clacking away on her computer. Like you, she likes to be around people. She’s given some thought about getting a job at a college–admissions, student life, etc. Unfortunately, those jobs don’t pay nearly as well as software design.</p>
<p>Well, she’ll figure it out…</p>
<p>But I agree with everyone here–get that degree. Having your ticket punched with a degree can keep your resume from being discarded early on in the application process.</p>
<p>If you will have serious student loans, you may want to work a few years at IT to pare them down.</p>
<p>Lots of different jobs in IT. Our school district has a number of IT people who are out in the field going from classroom to classroom helping teachers with their computer issues. Lots of people time and moving around and helping with various problems. no cubicles involved.</p>
<p>The same thing happened to me when I was in college…I ended up with a computer science degree and couldn’t imagine actually doing computer science work. Today I own a PR and marketing firm that works with hi tech companies… although I am a marketer, my technical background is very useful when I am speaking with CTOs.</p>
<p>Corporate IT is a job world in and of itself: technical writers, business analysts, proposal developers, project managers, programmers, managers, clerical admins, network specialists, computer technicians etc. I’ve met philosophy majors, fine art majors, CS majors… in IT. You don’t have to sit in front of the computer all day to be in IT. Finish up your degree first and worry about your destiny later.</p>
<p>I agree with Ellemenope. Figuring out what you don’t like about something is the first step. If it is the technical “stuff” – perhaps it is boring – there are many jobs related to IT that are much more people intensive, and not so much technical jobs. But maybe it is the school environment that is boring – real work environments rarely are like school. Someone who might not like IT as part of a big corporation might really enjoy being the one and only IT guy/gal at a small non-profit or at a small business that does something interesting. I know folks working IT at a craft brewery, a snowboard company, an education nonprofit and a mountain biking association, and they seem to really like putting their technical energies to work in fields that are personally meaningful.</p>
<p>I returned to college when my late husband was diagnosed with cancer. I chose computer science due to my aptitude at math. I did very well in college.</p>
<p>I found, however, that I was not happy writing code for 40 hours a week. I was good at it, though, and did it for a number of years. I had a family to support when their father passed away.</p>
<p>When I was in a position to (when I remarried), I quit programming for a living, went to grad school, and became a technical services librarian. I am much much happier.</p>
<p>I don’t know exactly what would make you happy, but just having your undergrad degree complete will open many doors. So you are close enough to just finish.</p>
<p>Do you have any opportunities to intern anywhere? You might not know exactly what job interests you, but are there any sorts of business that do (for example, if you have a passion for art - perhaps a museum; or if you have a passion for helping people, maybe a social service organization)? If you can get out there and try things, you might find what, exactly, does interest you enough to want to do it all day every day. Then you will know what the next step will be, whether it be further education or just knowing what to interview for.</p>
<p><a href=“%5Burl=http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1065595042-post1.html]#1[/url]”>quote</a>…So with that being said, what other reasonable jobs out there would require (or highly prefer a degree) but not necessarily something specific. One example I could think of is being a police officer, it doesn’t require a college degree but it certainly helps…
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<p>If you’re interested in law inforcement, you can parlay your skillset in a number of opportunities in homeland security, FBI, NSA, local police force, etc. that need talented individuals to help leverage information systems for their mission.</p>
<p>I agree with others to finish your degree, but then try to find a job more to your liking. What do you like to do?</p>
<p>Having an IT background could really useful for some sales and marketing positions. </p>
<p>If you like interacting with people, you might also look into an IT support/systems administration type position, instead of software development. Your interest in police or community organizing leads me to think that you would like to interact with and help people. Sys Admins who actually like to help people are very valued.</p>
<p>The “answer” to your question depends a great deal on whether or not you can afford to continue in college past this year.</p>
<p>If the answer is “no” then you would want to get the degree, although it is in field that you’ve decided not to pursue. You’ll find that the job market for IT/CS professionals is very competitive. It is an international market. Generally those who have both a high level of enthusiasm and skills are the ones that get the jobs. Without a true passion the jobs that may come your way are the less interesting/challenging ones. Should you land and pursue one of these you may find that it simply feeds your angst about being an IT/CS professional. Several of the responders suggested other fields that you may enter that would leverage the IT skills you acquired in college. In practice though IT/CS is one of those fields in which you need work experience to blossom. Without the experience the value of the college degree is limited in fields outside of IT/CS. Those who interview you know that. You’ll find it very difficult to land technical sales and marketing jobs.</p>
<p>If the answer is “yes” I would encourage you to switch majors. If you can, stay at your current college. Depending on your college, you should be able to get the degree that makes sense to you career-wise in 1 to 2 years. The challenge for you is to figure out what field this degree should be in.</p>
<p>I sort of have this interest in nonprofit organizations. There’s something about grassroots organizations that aim to help people that interests me</p>
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<p>It’s not that I necessarily just found out that it sucked, it’s that I’ve always had this mentality of getting a “job” - before I went to college I didn’t ask myself what I loved to do (big mistake), I asked myself “what am I good at and can make a lot of money doing”</p>
<p>This naivety caused me to pick a high-paying career but one that I hated. Now as I’ve matured a bit I realize that I’d rather flip burgers making minimum wage if I was happy than programming code all day and making 100k while being miserable.</p>
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<p>Honestly, my real gripe isn’t even so much with programming as it is with computers in general.</p>
<p>I just don’t feel the energy or passion around computers, I don’t mind being the “IT guy” who fixes something here and there but to spend 40+ hours a week in front of them is not what’s going to make me happy.</p>
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<p>Well it’s not so much that I want to simply “be around people” because in that case I’d get a sales job in anything, it’s just my idea of being around people isn’t necessarily selling stuff to them.</p>
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<p>Great point, I’ve definitely explored some other options related to IT…</p>
<p>The thing is none of them interest me, I know right now people may be reading this and think I sound like a downer but I’m just trying really hard to search for alternatives.</p>
<p>I have this interest in non-profit and human rights for some reason…</p>
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<p>That sounds cool, I wouldn’t mind that</p>
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<p>The only majors I could possibly “switch” to are general computer science, which really wouldn’t help my cause, it’s still IT-related.</p>
<p>And you’re absolutely right about the “high level of enthusiasm and skills” point, I may do well in it but I certainly am not passionate in it, and that would undoubtedly leak into my work on the job.</p>
<p>Like many others on this board I have never worked extensively in my major. I studied engineering for 6 years, and worked as a design engineer for 2 years. But, I have never regretted my engineering education. It taught me how to systematically solve complex problems, a skill that is quite transferable. I would imagine that your education has taught you much about creating organizational structures and process that can be applied in any number of fields.</p>
<p>If you are interested in non-profit work have you considered the Peace Corps or CityYear? If you can afford not to make much money (not too many loans), consider working for a non-profit as a short-term assignment. See how you like it and then decide if it is where you want to start your career. They say that most graduates today will have 6 different careers in their working life, don’t feel like you have to decide forever today.</p>
<p>My brother went on to study CE in UCB for 4 years and found he hated it in the later state just as you did. He nevertheless finished that degree and start working as a financial analyst with Fed Reserve Bank. From there he got into a first tier MBA program and now is working for risk management in a large bank.</p>
<p>Just as student change majors often, most people change their profession after graduation often as well. It is common for an English major to work in computers(my wife) or a computer major work in finance. So don’t worry about it, finish your degree and if you like, you can go on to take a Master in Accounting and become a CPA, or law or anything you like to be. Believe me, your IT degree will not be wasted.</p>
<p>You can easily try to get a job in non-profit companies using your degree as a way to get in the door and move on to do other things you like within the company. Target your job search on companies that have other opportunities that you are interested in. No one will pigeonhole you into doing just computers stuff because you have a certain BS degree. It is up to you to move and grow into what you want to be. I know a lot of people that are doing stuff that is completely unrelated to what they did for undergraduate study.</p>