<p>Education: 4 years, BS Biology
6 years, PhD Plant Pathology
3 years, Postdoctoral work in Europe
<strong>Get married, have child, decide not to work full time</strong>
(At this point most would look for permanent/tenured position)
Past 15 years, work half-time in research lab at large university; soft money, but demand is such that money is secure. </p>
<p>Pros:
Opportunities for creative research in a relatively uncrowded field, as opposed to medical research.
Increasing restrictions on the use of pesticides means the pathogens are gaining the upper hand and job security is good.
Meet people from all over the world.
Travel to meetings all over the world.
Great benefits (pension/health/insurance) at university</p>
<p>Cons: Research somewhat directed by funding availability
Pay is low relative to Engineers, MD’s
Pressure to publish
University budget cuts negatively affect resources</p>
<p>Career: Computer Engineer (BS Electrical Engineering, MS Computer Engineering)</p>
<p>Pros: I always thought that majoring in EECS (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) is the best one can do if they have passion in science and technology. Here is why:
Problem solving - This is a very sought after skills that one can apply to multitude of problems.
Understanding of the Silicon - Most of the advancement going to be in the silicon (Moore’s Law). Once you have the base knowledge there are tons of opportunities or jobs to apply to or work at.
Software Engineering - Different skill than just programming, it’s more related to algorithms design than coding.
Ample Opportunities - Still by far the most rewarding field globally.
Flexibility - You can work from any corner of the world.
Pay - Really high for deep algorithmic work - From wall street to MS/Google/FB via Intel/IBM/Apple.
Opportunities for professional development - From attending conferences, to publishing/presenting papers, to getting patents…</p>
<p>Cons:
Competitive - You need to be good as the competition is global.
Biased against the older worker - Because of long hours and demanding load younger worker perform better.</p>
<p>Still I think if one is good this is a far more rewarding career than any other.</p>
<p>@emory83
Yes, it can be difficult to get a job after graduation without any contacts, experience or a good strategy in place. My particular hospital has a program. If you are a nurse’s aid and currently in Nursing School, they will give you a stipend and tuition reimbursement with the understanding that you will work for the hospital when you graduate for at least 2 years. This is an excellent way to get a job. They then preceptor you for 1 year and yu can choose a specialty like the ER. Many other hospitals are doing something similar. Also if the school you are in is affiliated with a Teaching hospital you are pretty much guaranteed a job when you are done. Without some planning in place, even if it’s just a job in a hospital, you have a better chance at getting hired. As HIMom stated most jobs
require experience these days. The pay is the same whether you went to State U or Prestige U. Salaries are region specific, higher on either coast. Most graduate nurses end up taking Nursing Home jobs, mostly nights, which is a good way to gain some fundamental nursing experience under your belt.
As far as seeing deformed or dead bodies, yes it can be very much a part of your life, but it’s not everyday and it depends on where you work. If you work in an ER or Critical Care unit, you may be more inclined to see death and dying as opposed to pediatrics or Obstetrics. Other areas less apt to deal with dead bodies would be school nursing or in a Dr’s office. I’ve always worked in ICU, CCU and the ER, I have seen my share of death and suffering, but you learn how to dissociate from iit over time. Believe me it is not an everyday occurrence. Sometimes you can go for months or years before you experience it again.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’d like to say thanks to all posters. As someone getting their BS/MS in Comp Sci currently, one of my biggest concerns is that someday everyjob will be outsourced. Seems from first couple of posters that it is indeed a valid concern.</p>
<p>Well, in my 20’s I had jobs, not a career: waitressing, picking apples, bookstore, fish factory, you name it. In my early 30’s I worked with the homeless in a very satisfying, multi-faceted job. It was enough money for me.</p>
<p>But my real “career” was raising kids for 24 years. Lost of pros, not that many cons, unless you count trouble trying to get a job now…which seems to be a common problem these days.</p>
<p>Career 1: Actuary (2 yrs)
Career 2: MBS/ABS structurer(7 yrs)
Career 3: partner at a start up software firm (8 yrs, sold the firm)
Career 4: IT director at a finance firm
Career 5: head of all support functions to sales and trading
Career 6: who knows</p>
<p>I am one of those who just fell into different jobs, never planned. I have a BA degree. With each of those jobs, I’ve had no professional training or knowledge, I just did it. I attribute any of my “success” (if you could call it that) to my liberal arts education and my can do attitude. I never took a CS course in school, but it didn’t stop me from starting a software company or be an IT director. I manage a trade processing group, but I have never done it before.</p>
<p>Pros:<br>
Never a dull moment.
No advance degrees required.
Pays well (this is the biggest pro).
It suits my personality.<br>
Work with very smart people.</p>
<p>Cons:
My time is never my time, I am tied to my BB (I sleep with it).
It is very stressful, to the point I get sick whenever I am on vacation.
I am a professional manager now. I miss doing the real work.
No job security.
Taking pot shots from people about getting paid too much.
<p>Since no one has posted about working for the government, I thought I’d add my 2 cents:</p>
<p>Career: Federal Government Statistician (now retired)</p>
<p>Pros:
Of being a statistician–can work in many areas (surveys, health, education, quality control, and lots more); jobs available for good people; work is interesting
Of working for the government–This may be changing, but there’s always been job security, good health/leave/retirement benefits; doing important work; being able to work with smart, interesting, passionate and dedicated people.</p>
<p>Cons:
You’ll never get really rich working on a government salary, but you can do well if you enter the executive ranks. I’ve known lots of people who have done well investing…and others that move to the private and even nonprofit sectors that do even better.
The reputation of gov’t workers is relatively poor, but the reality is that most professionals work hard and long and are not compensated for doing so.
Policies and conditions change as administrations and/or political appointees change. The higher you rise in your agency, the more affected you are by these changes. The changes can be welcome or unfortunate, depending on your point of view, but they always cause down time and temporarily decrease productivity as the newbies settle in.</p>
<p>Must like school! 4 years undergrad & 3 years of grad school to get your entry level D.P.T.</p>
<p>Pros: very popular at parties (everyone needs PT advice!)
fascinating work
usually working as part of a team
can work anywhere (must have a state license)
can specialize in sports medicine, orthopedics, pediatrics, geriatrics, teaching
in a PT school
get to know your patients 1:1 - truly helping people and seeing positive change
Cons: pay is middle of the road (unless you are in private practice)
significant physical demands (it helps to be very coordinated and fit) as
you must lift, bend, twist, etc</p>
<p>Friend is a telephone communications specialist for the federal government. Most of his training was on-the-job. He majored in accounting & has been working in computers & phones for decades.</p>
<p>Pros–got lots of on-the-job training; when there was a budget for it, went to training seminars, so some travel, lots of variety–has to keep up with rapidly changing technology & always having to keep current; pay variable</p>
<p>Cons–lots of variety–has to keep up with rapidly changing technology & always having to keep current; hard to learn when lots of material is poorly written (some by non-native & some by native English-speakers); pay variable</p>