The Like/Hate Thread

[Dehan]

High school of the dead...HAS RETURNED!!!

[Super Buu]

Time for more jiggling tits, ass-closeups and occasional zombie encounters!

[King B]

Like: Life is looking up

[Jarka]

Jumping on the life bandwagon: I'm really happy with my life right now. Need a better job, but that's really the only complaint I have right now.

[Jonathan Meer]

Biggest pet peeve: People who get a degree in the humanities (Gender Studies, Literature with a focus in the Victorian era, Philosophy), then bitch about the economy when they can't find work.

[Sage]

lmao true, true

[Super Buu]

I guess it's because until the last decade, you didn't need a degree to get a job. Having a degree of any sort was considered a bonus. Nowadays, having a degree is considered a baseline, and folks with degrees still can't get jobs. Most of us were 18 when we chose our degrees, and not exactly world-experienced. Hell, most people still don't have a plan by that age. Some of us figured out even during the course that we were fucked, but by that point it's too late.

I hope it feels good to be able to rub it in our faces, though.

[Blue]

To be honest, I'm 28, going for a Software Engineering degree, and I'm not even sure if this is what I want to do. I'd rather just get certificates for my areas of knowledge... but, like you said, the workplace these days requires an associates degree to even start out. And even then, they want you to have experience in the field before they hire you. Which always struck me as odd, since for me to have experience, someone would need to hire me first.

[Vad]

To be honest, I'm 28, going for a Software Engineering degree, and I'm not even sure if this is what I want to do. I'd rather just get certificates for my areas of knowledge... but, like you said, the workplace these days requires an associates degree to even start out. And even then, they want you to have experience in the field before they hire you. Which always struck me as odd, since for me to have experience, someone would need to hire me first.

This is where I am at the moment. Totally fucked.

[Vad]

I guess it's because until the last decade, you didn't need a degree to get a job. Having a degree of any sort was considered a bonus. Nowadays, having a degree is considered a baseline, and folks with degrees still can't get jobs. Most of us were 18 when we chose our degrees, and not exactly world-experienced. Hell, most people still don't have a plan by that age. Some of us figured out even during the course that we were fucked, but by that point it's too late.

I hope it feels good to be able to rub it in our faces, though.

Doesn't salt in the wounds feel great though?

[Jonathan Meer]

I guess it's because until the last decade, you didn't need a degree to get a job. Having a degree of any sort was considered a bonus. Nowadays, having a degree is considered a baseline, and folks with degrees still can't get jobs. Most of us were 18 when we chose our degrees, and not exactly world-experienced. Hell, most people still don't have a plan by that age. Some of us figured out even during the course that we were fucked, but by that point it's too late.

I hope it feels good to be able to rub it in our faces, though.

I got an expensive degree in humanities. I then got an online degree in software engineering. Anyone can do it and it was pretty cheap for me.

I'm not making fun of people for getting a degree in the humanities. I'm making fun of them for expecting a job, instead of taking the steps that _ARE AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE_ to make themselves skilled for a good job.

EDIT: I should say I totally sympathize with people whose interests just don't line up with what's actually profitable. I have a good number of friends who just aren't interested in STEM jobs, and don't have a personality inclined toward social jobs. That's just a rough situation.

EDIT2: To further de-barb, I think you guys are awesome. My original post was intended for a friend of mine who owes me a lot of money, has an art degree, and makes infrequent attempts at sustaining himself through art and applying for jobs that he just isn't qualified for, and didn't apply for food service ('I'm too good for that, I have a degree')

[Jonathan Meer]

To be honest, I'm 28, going for a Software Engineering degree, and I'm not even sure if this is what I want to do. I'd rather just get certificates for my areas of knowledge... but, like you said, the workplace these days requires an associates degree to even start out. And even then, they want you to have experience in the field before they hire you. Which always struck me as odd, since for me to have experience, someone would need to hire me first.

My mom started as a computer programmer at around 26, self-taught, never got a degree, and is now a lead designer ('Data Architect' or some shit; XML and databases) for the state of Maryland. That's one thing I love about this field: People don't give a shit what your degree is, they care what you can do, and the resources are freely available for anyone with the aptitude and inclination to spin up within a year.

There are entry-level jobs out there. I don't have a sense of how competitive they are, but if you know what to do, it's actually pretty easy to set yourself apart from the rest of the candidates.

1) Learn how to use source control, and demonstrate that ability. Wherever you go, you're going to use source control, and schools don't seem to teach it. Which leads to...

2) Finish a project to completion, and make it publicly available. Create a repo on GitHub, follow through the tutorial (will give you the basics on how it works), and finish up a personal project. A small, simple game would be a fun example. This will be a great opportunity to showcase your coding ability and style, and it will show that you can follow-through. Use Git to make regular commits to demonstrate ability in item 1.

3) Get involved in open source. This one is more of a monster than the first two; you should do items 1 and 2 regardless, and that will probably set you apart from 80-90% of the other candidates, but this one is a beast. It takes time to get involved in an open source project. But if you do get involved, and make a public commit, that will be a _HUGE_ advantage. It demonstrates that you can integrate into an existing project, get up to speed on their coding conventions, learn the structure of the program and make active contributions. Seriously, if you do this, you'll get a job, and probably a good one.

All of this said, you really do need a certain passion about programming to succeed in the field. Jeff Atwood writes about it here: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2008/12...ve-it.html

Also consider, though, whether the lack of passion is a problem of environment. When I got my degree in comp sci, I took it online, and didn't have anyone in my direct social structure to bounce these ideas off of. I didn't hate it, but it wasn't really that interesting either. Then I found Reddit, and subscribed to some programming sub-reddits (/r/learnprogramming is a great one for beginners, and even intermediates), and now I'm a huge fan.

[Vad]

I'd need a constant morphine drip to be able to stomach coding.

[Super Buu]

I'm not making fun of people for getting a degree in the humanities. I'm making fun of them for expecting a job, instead of taking the steps that _ARE AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE_ to make themselves skilled for a good job.

Fair enough. I guess it struck a nerve with me, being someone who's attempted for years to rectify my 'mistake' and get another degree, but can't get the funding. Same for an apprenticeship with an IT-based company. Luckily that degree I have does make me eligible for the JET program, so I finally found some use for it (besides possibly having helped me get one of my jobs).

Like you I've come to realise that pretty much anything can be self-learned anyway, and often much better and quicker than universities. Hell, in 4 and a half months I've been teaching myself Japanese, and catching up to students who've been studying it for years at university. I'm on /r/learnprogramming as well, though I admit I've barely been there. I'm still not sure what I wanna do when I get home, though I'm certainly going to apply for JET. Increasingly I've been thinking it's time to get down and write my book, so I'm just going to see if I can get a part-time job to allow me to do it.

[Vad]

I'm a self taught computer nerd since I was 3. My college degree really only expanded my thinking, gave me a piece of paper, and made me realize that I hate coding, dislike the networking aspect, and can solve almost any problem in Windows. However the problem with that is that Microsoft wants people to learn to do things THEIR way. If you don't follow their routine you'll fail a certification exam.

If the test wants you to click on Start > Run > CMD then Windows Button + R > CMD is not correct.

[Blue]

I've discovered that I hate online school. Or maybe all school. I hate essays. I really do. I've always been more of a test taker. I was thinking about going out and just getting certificates in programming and electronic repair. I do think I'm gonna stick with college for now, but I may use some of my spare time learning about programming from books and people who know about it.

[Sage]

I hate coding. I suck at it and also don't have the patience for it, I think.

The worst thing is it's so the opposite of the person I am. Coding is dehumanizing and uncreative and totally drives home the idea that I'd hate my life if I chose that as a career path. Which sucks because tech is where the money is and I just cant get into it.

[Super Buu]

I think coding is awesome and I want to be able to do it. It's just rather intimidating. Massively intimidating. There will always be more to learn, even if you get super into it. But that's cool too. However like Vad, I'm not sure I have the stomach for it, at least not working for someone else. If it's just making my own stuff, for website ideas I have? Sure. But it's kind of pipe dream-ish.

[Jonathan Meer]

Designing programs requires significant creative ability.

[Orion]

In uni I learned C++ and hated it, but now I do SQL as part of my job and I freaking love it. Now I'm looking for more opportunity to tackle bigger projects and expand my knowledge on the job, but my boss is a huge control freak and it's not often we get to do anything advanced without her taking the reins. Plus there may be redundancies by the end of the year (I'll know by mid July) and finding a similar position in my area is not easy.

I guess I'll have to self teach to expand, which I hate because I suck at doing anything after work that isn't video games or writing.