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| Probably faced with the hardest decision in my life thus far | ||
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| Madvillain |
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Registered Member #445
Joined: Sun Oct 01 2006, 11:42PMPosts: 2233 |
See I've put alot into this site, and for the most this thread is for the older people around me ( glitch, noskill, rusty, toasters, YOUR UP!) mostly for the added wisdom that probability would state you would have more of. But probability is uncertain so I wouldn't mind feedback from everyone I've already understood the fact that ultimately I am the only person who can answer this question But in my gut Feedback of any kind I feel will be somewhat helpful To you this question probably seems stupid and unimportant but I really want to pour a lot of energy into the career i choose thus, I am in struggle to pick between Accounting or Marketing. Either way I will be graduating with a management degree, its just what type of manager do i want to be the facts: - either way, regardless of what, I will be graduating in one year, in December of 2011 - I decided to go into accounting for 1 simple fact: to graduate indefinitely with a job that pays 55k a year at least. This is in fact due to the fact that I have student loans to pay and i want absolute independence from my parents once i graduate. - I've recently talked to a representative from Berdum LLp -[link]- , visited the office, seen, and experienced abit of what my life as an accountant would be. AND I HATE IT. HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE i hate it so much, like sooooo fucking much omg i don't know how id last a week without super weekend binges or something. and i hate it mostly because to crunch numbers my whole life seems pointless to life. - Marketing does not pay as much - marketing and advertising, i feel like, is very competitive, like extremely competitive. Im not tooo sure about this, im currently researching how competitive, but i've applied to some nearby marketing offices and I suppose if I don't get any its extremely competitve i guess, but i can't find valid statistics for marketing majors online. Overall thinking about it, if im serious about this marketing idea, i should probably try considering Graduate school ...but that means more student loans etc.... Thank you fishtank, i am now going to research scholarship programs for marketing graduate school...thank god i get decent grades  but no seriously if you guys have any imput i wouldn't mind listening. My advisors all say the same thing, DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY etc etc so I'm trying to go with that. but yeah...i have no idea what it takes to be a good "marketeer" so grad school would be best...i dunno.. |
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| Rusty |
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FTS Server Op
Registered Member #159
Joined: Wed Mar 01 2006, 06:33PMPosts: 2682 |
Alright. I have a few stories, and you should take what you want from them. First off, back a few years ago, I was fucking this chick that was a roommate to a friend of mine. She was hot, smart and fun, but she was about to graduate as an accountant. One night we were drinking, and it was probably the only time we ever had a serious talk, as we were never dating or anything, so it never seemed necessary. But she came to me, and asked me how I get a long doing what ever I want, and not worrying about the future. I told her, I'm a dreamer, I follow me dreams, even to the broke house (not the best idea). And I asked her why she was becoming an accountant. This answer shocked me, beyond belief. She was doing it because her mom and dad were both accountants. She just didn't know anything else, and was afraid to be out of her comfort zone. I knew she was that type of person, as for the first time in six years she was single, and was always weird about hooking up. She liked that constant, but the constant never made her happy. And she, like you in a way, asked me for my advice, what would I do in her situation, and the only answer I had was I wouldn't be in her situation, I do what makes me happy, what makes me feel like I contributed something. This went on to talking about what she could do to turn her ship around and find something that makes her happy. She had a job offer at 68k/year from th place she had interned the last two summers, and they offered her two start dates, one would be two weeks after her graduation, the other would give her a summer to relax, get comfortable and then start up. I immediately told her to take the summer off of school and work, and find herself, which she ended up doing. Last time we talked, she told me she was going to take the job for two to three years, build up a financial backing while paying her loans. Then she planned on going to grad school, but she didn't know for what, but she knew she didn't want to crunch numbers her whole life. Last time I checked, she was back with her douchebag boyfriend, and had nixed the idea of going to grad school, as it was her comfort. Even though she wasn't happy, she was comfortable with the known. Second story goes to me. I went to college for five long, fun, crazy years, made some amazing friends, and most recently had the greatest girl in the world, although that ended (besides the point). I studied film, something I've loved my whole entire life, and something I plan on pursuing. But I don't even have my degree yet. My degree requires a 120 hour internship, which in my area of college, didn't exist. So I had to take the internship over the summer. That never happened. I personally don't have the best relationship with my family, though it has improved since being on my own. I worked to pay rent at my house, and afford my own food, because damn sure wasn't going to be earing with my family over these summers. I also needed transportation because I didn't want to be trapped under the same roof all day, which lead me to only be there when I was sleeping. Anyway, long story short, I moved out as soon as my 5th year ended, and got a place with two friends, I bought a new truck because my car's timing belt blew early and took the engine with it. I am barley getting buy paying my rent, utilities and my car loan, which are all necessary for me to make it to my job. It's in theory, just a means to nothing, no end in sight, an endless circle. I have become delinquent on two of my loans that won't defer due to unemployment (I freelance, and that in sense allows me to be unemployed). I scrape by mainly on eating rice, roast beef sandwiches, protein shakes, chicken breast and oatmeal. I can't go out outside of going to work, because I can't afford the gas. And my sorry broke ass got dumped. That's where I stand in my life right now. Would I trade it in? Not for anything, the turmoil I've gone through the past 6 months has been insightful. I've learned a lot about myself, and others. Am I happy? No, not in the least bit, but I know once I reach my dreams I will be happy for the rest of my life. Take from these what you will, hope it helps in any way. |
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| gLiTch |
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Anal Assassin
Registered Member #455
Joined: Mon Oct 09 2006, 04:58AMPosts: 3848 |
IM getting depressed from just reading this thread... Even though i am a veteran of FT... has had much experience in school and a wide variety of work experience as well, I am, and have been for the past 5 years, in the same boat as the two of you... It fucking sucks so much. Right now im living with my friends aunt and uncle in the basement because it is one block from my g/f of 6 years, and an easy commute to my freelance job in Manhattan (Fox News kitchen staff). I make $25/hour and work somewhere between 16 and 32 hours a week. I have been in college for 5 years and only have one Liberal Arts degree to show for it. I changed my major a total of 6 times and just recently decided to not go along with the 7th. I cannot for the life of me figure out what i want to do for the rest of my life. Right now im leaning towards Firefighter, and it is the only one that stuck so far for the longest (hoping this is it). I have been visiting Florida occasionally for the past few years with my g/f and i cannot get enough of it. I fuckin HATE NEW YORK CITY WITH A PASSION and anywhere upstate is too cold and boring for me. Im done. Im tired of it. Ive decided i will not get a career up here and raise a family up here. I dont care if NYC pays more then anywhere else... what is the point of "living it up with $$" if i hate where im living? SO im stuck trying to figure out wtf im gonna do down in Florida, while living in NY, trying to save money.... yea... fuck me. I take 50% of my check out and throw it into my savings cuz i have to do my own taxes and i want to save money for that "big move." I currently have a few grand untouched for that purpose after taxes get taken out. This story may or may not help you (probably didnt)... but it will show you that life, for everybody, has its hardships and challenges... From my personal experience... no matter the situation, worse or even worse, if you hustle and make responsible educated decisions, you WILL come out on top. Now, from what i understand, you HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE accounting. I dont blame you. It sucks and it's boring. I took one financial accounting class and i wanted to gouge my eyes out on the 3rd day. Since your leaning into business (marketing that is) i can maybe help you out. I was a business major amongst other things and took a few marketing, sales, international business, and advertising classes. I will tell you this... if what you want is to have a job that is fulfilling and satisfying, and one that also makes good money, (and being in NY yourself makes this one very attractive to consider), then go into sales. Sales Representative to be precise. My professor for my Business Administration class was very experienced in this... and she loved it to death to the point our whole class was based around it. I snatched an A+ in that class. Our final goal was to sell a product or product line to a retailer. My goal was to sell a Gillette Mach3 to CVS. I had to do a LOT of work researching everything. Granted i wasnt ACTUALLY selling it but the "mock selling" was an amazing experience to say the least. What you do is you work for a company, any product company, and they send you on your way to make sure their product reaches the shelves of a retailer. There really is SO much more to this job i cannot explain even a fraction of it. (Im surprised myself that im not going through with it). You can make good money doing this depending on who you are working for. And being in NY is a huge plus for that. Good luck on your decision bro. Your not alone. Most of us are all in the same boat. |
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| peacebypeice |
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peacebypeice
Registered Member #925
Joined: Mon Nov 26 2007, 05:23AMPosts: 1452 |
Madv, sounds like a death trap and I (or anyone for that matter) shouldn't tell you to do it for the money. Personally I will be graduating in December of 2011 with a BS in Computer and Network Security. Gone to some information sessions and such and actually found out that more what I'm in is IT or doing the physical parts of setting networking stuff up. I love working with my hands but I also love technology and computers. Luckily, my degree will still allow me to get a job doing what I want. However, if I were in your position I would open your view to other types of jobs instead of just those two. I've been doing a lot of reading lately and have found that the really happy and successful people aren't the geniuses but the people who know how to deal with others very well. Even if you don't have the exact degree to do what you want, if it is even somewhat close you can probably get a job somewhere. This is coming from someone who lives in South Dakota where it is quite easy to get a job so I'm not completely sure if my advice translates everywhere. But I still say, find what you love and find a way to do it. |
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| Knightrider |
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Meteor 2016
Registered Member #316
Joined: Mon Jun 26 2006, 09:14PMPosts: 3503 |
I picked what I was good at. I just bought a brand new car today. College definitely pays off. | ||
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| .4ngryToasters |
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you would
Registered Member #149
Joined: Sun Feb 12 2006, 01:08AMPosts: 2039 |
So you don't know what you want to be? JOIN THE FUCKING CLUB! No one knows what they want to be, and anyone who says different is lying (except for astronauts, they pretty much know what they want to be). I can't tell you what job you should do, but I can give some advice. Do what makes you happy; if it pays more, then that's just a benefit. My cousin graduated college as a communications engineer, full scholarship, job at Teradyne out the door, and you know what? He quit in his first year. Now he is making less than half his salary as a middle school history teacher... and he loves it. I can relate to him as well. I went into college as a business major, and four years later, I hold an associates degree in information technology. The most important thing you can do is graduate college. It's not as important what subject in (if you have an idea of the direction you're going it certainly helps. But if you don't, you haven't shut any doors behind you that you can't re-open) If you don't have an idea of what to do for a career, I recommend staying local for your college. For reasons beyond me, community colleges get a bad rep. It's crazy because they are cheaper than brand name schools, they often have good transfer programs to those very same brand name schools (so you can graduate with a piece of paper with their name on it), and more often than not, the professors come from the same jobs you are looking to get into (not from behind a desk studying the theory of your career field). Now that's not to confuse a community college with an online or "chain" school like you see on tv ads. Many of those credits won't even transfer over to another school. One more suggestion, if you're looking for sales like someone mentioned in a previous post, just be warned that you are entering a highly volatile, fast paced environment. Not to scare you away though, many people love the feel of sales (there is no other feeling like it when a client comes around and starts to buy into what you're pitching... like the rush you get right before you are about to have sex with some new girl). It is a highly rewarding career when things go your way, but at a cost as it is a high stress environment. Oh and you can forget about weekends and holidays, you will be working crazy hours. |
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| Wolf |
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Registered Member #95
Joined: Mon Dec 26 2005, 04:56AMPosts: 331 |
If it were me I'd go with marketing just because you seem to enjoy it more and even if you don't have that degree in accounting you do have a background in it as well as your bachelors. So if the marketing doesn't pan out you can still get a job in accounting and go back to school at a later time to finish that one up to further your career. I'm doing a similar thing with my schooling. I'm a Biochem major because it's fucking cool as shit and I could be a sports nutritionist for the mma fighters I know. However if I can't get a fucking job doing that then I can apply to pharmacy school again and work in a similar field making a fuckton more money doing something that is still relatively interesting. It all boils down to how much time and money you're willing to spend on this shit. I'm already 5 years in with nothing to show for it yet and potentially another 4 more years if I go for pharmacy. But you know what, I'm still fuckin' happy either way and that's all that matters. You should shoot for the same thing. PS: I love all of you. Edited Fri Nov 05 2010, 05:37PM |
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| b4ndito |
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b4ndito
Registered Member #958
Joined: Fri Jan 04 2008, 06:59AMPosts: 3385 |
Do what makes you happy. Money = Happiness. Do what makes you money. TL;DR part now: I went into a field that I thought I'd enjoy and want to get involved in. So, I went into Secondary Education because going back to teach high school seemed like a good idea when I was 18. I'm going to make no money, I'm going to have to put more hours in than you could imagine (and not get paid extra for them), I have to continue education because the government puts extra requirements on teachers despite the fact that they are capable and the family structure is what ruins the education system, and most importantly, I realized in my 3rd year of college that I hate the idea of being a teacher. I want to drop out and go to culinary school, but I haven't told my parents yet. |
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| NoSkill |
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Sir
Registered Member #457
Joined: Tue Oct 10 2006, 01:13PMPosts: 2628 |
Ya I'm posting, don't get used to it. ALright, first and foremost, just graduate, get the degree. Whatever the shortest most direct least expensive route is, do that. Make sure it's a Bachelor's and be done with the fucking thing. Trust me, this is the best advice anyone will ever give you unless Jesus appears to you in your cereal and tells you to kill Carson Daily. I went to school for a while, never graduated, but I have a trade. Did a job in that trade (drafting), 7 years later I was a salesman making $70kish a year. What did I do then? I fucking quit and went to Europe for a few months. I was fucking miserable. Surrounded by incompetent retards, egomaniacs and super demanding clients. All the while I felt like the only sane person. That was sales (Marketings drunken step father). I've hired and fired marketing people and to be honest most of them suck ball sack. Marketing people are usually the people who thought "math was too hard" and "english literature was too boring". Not smart enough to do anything sciencey, not dedicated enough to teach. Basically they're the cop outs of college. Yes it's competetive cause every tom dick an harry has a marketing degree, I'm surprised they don't come in boxes of lucky charms. But even still, it's a 4 year degree. So get the fucking degree, then just look for a job you LIKE to do. Who cares what field it's in, it doesn't matter. Once you have a 4 year degree any company worth a dick will train you to do entry level stuff anyway, and if you're worth a dick they'll spring for some more advanced training/education in a year or two. Accounting, meh, do it. Just finish and get a job, do it for 6 months or whatever time period is one week less than how long it'd take to kill yourself. The experience will be good for you. Then do like me, quit and travel and say fuck it I don't care what I do. Then you get a job in a restaraunt, have sex with the waitstaff, get hammered every night, do this for 2 years, total your cars, join AA and then start over. Thus is the cycle of life. Whatever you do, DO IT. Stop deliberating and do it. If you want to suck dick for coke money, be the best dick sucker in the world. If you want to be an accountant, learn what makes a company profitable and learn how to ADVISE some douchebag owner on how to make money other than saying (lower your budget or raise your prices), If you want to market shit... fuck read books about Apple and get in with a known firm. That's all... The rest of you... do the same thing. If you're close to a 4 year degree, get it, then who gives a fuck. |
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| NoSkill |
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Sir
Registered Member #457
Joined: Tue Oct 10 2006, 01:13PM Posts: 2628 |
Oh and if you're not close to a 4 year degree you can just jump to the "who gives a fuck" part now. If you want some "who gives a fuck" ideas I have a few, none of these should be done for more than a year or two, unless you love it: -I've always thought getting a job on a boat would be insightful for a year or two. Like a cruise ship or commercial fishing boat. -Long distance trucker. The pay is good and the scenery change is constant. -Airport bartender. The turnover is close to zero because I hear (from talking to them) that this is one of the best jobs you could hope for,might need to know someone here. -Real estate agent. Easy to get, hard (kinda) to do. Self employed... finding clients, finding property, a good excercise in resourcefulness. $$$$$$ if you're good. There ya go, all of those things would pay good enough money and don't require much more than a willingness and some above average competency. Have fun figuring it out... let us know if you come up with anything. |
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