[MissTwisties]

I need help here. Many of you work with computers, as IT techs, security systems, etc...

I want to go back to school (College) and study in something that will keep my interest, and that I will be able to use for a future career. Now my best bet would be to sit down with a counselor, but there is so many Colleges in my area, that I don't even know where to start. When I visit their websites, they al seem to offer "Computer Science Technology", classes that have something to do with administrating systems, and/or taking care of internet security for businesses, etc.

I am trying to find somethng about webpage design. I love to "create" and see a result. I've heard that there is a lot of work opportunities in this field, designing webpages for companies (and individuals) and some good money to be made doing this job. I LOVE computers, and don't get sick of sitting in front of one (as you all well know this fact.....I'm sure...LOL) and I think I've been looking at other options for too long without seeing what was right in front of me all along...working with computers. Now I don't want to go to school for the next 4 years. I'm thinking a maximum of 2 years. Maybe 3...depending. I am NOT good at mathematics (except for geometry, but I doubt this has anything to do with PC's). Can any of you guys working with computers give me some advices here? Is there such a thing as College courses for "web design"??

Thanks in advance....

[TheIglu]

Web page designers are a dime a dozen, as are IT administrators and techs. Look elsewhere if you are looking for a career that has a big demand.

[MissTwisties]

So far all I've read is that there is very little security administrators being formed and a big demand for them...(altho this is not really something that interest me anyway). No matter which field you are looking into, they all seem to have too many formed people and not enough jobs for all of them. I went to school for health claims and coding specialist, got an almost perfect grade of 3.9 for the whole course and graduated, they told us all along that the jobs were flowing for us, only to find out later when searching for one that they want people with the experience already under their belt, NOT the diploma and freshly out of school.

[Honclfibr]

There is no free lunch. If you want to be at the top you have to start at the bottom. And if you're switching careers late in life you're going up against a lot of people who cut their teeth doing what you want to do, so you better be willing to work three times as hard to catch up.

Finally, your GPA does not necessarily determine your aptitude and understanding of a field, only your ability to learn the material long enough to regurgitate it back to instructor in the manner they are expecting. Do not confuse success in school with success in the real world, they are far from perfectly correlated.

[beet]

he even looks geekie

[richw]

Barking up adjacent tree

Look for Art/computer

There is demand and creativity for computer art content even just designing. Usually MAC and out of an art or design school.

Graphic Arts is subject computer is tool

[Honclfibr]

Originally posted by MissTwisties
I went to school for health claims and coding specialist, got an almost perfect grade of 3.9 for the whole course and graduated, they told us all along that the jobs were flowing for us, only to find out later when searching for one that they want people with the experience already under their belt, NOT the diploma and freshly out of school.

I don't know what the hell a "health claims and coding specialist" is, but plain ol' nurses are in high demand. You should specialize in a field only after you've acquired a broad knowledge of that field, otherwise you may find your speciality disappear and with it all your job prospects. Generalists always find work, because they can learn new things quickly.

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

[dhuze]

Originally posted by Honclfibr


A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

I thought we only needed to be able to kill? I guess I've been wasting my time with all this practice.



Oh Well! It was fun while it lasted

[Stoneman]

Originally posted by richw
Barking up adjacent tree

Look for Art/computer

There is demand and creativity for computer art content even just designing. Usually MAC and out of an art or design school.

Graphic Arts is subject computer is tool

If she's looking to actually make money, that's not the field to get into. 'Graphic designers' are a dime-a-dozen too, and are 'flooding the market' just as much as any other computer trade. Half of 'em don't know what the fuck they're doing anyway, so they'll get absolutely no where in the field...

[HBerry]

Getting a decent paying job in IT is going to be very tough even with a degree. You are going up against a lot of college grads, or soon to be college grads that already have a few years of experience. If you are actually committed you are going to have to work your ass off, try to get a job at a company working there for free to get experience, and don't plan on it being easy!

[nefarious]

while web gurus (WYSIWYG RETARDUS) are a dime a dozen, good ones (eric jordan) www.2advanced.com are few and far between. (which by the way took 4000 man hours to produce)

If your not good at math and logic, then your going to have to work with someone else to produce dynamic websites. Like photography, you'll find business skills are almost more important then actual talent.

[97BladeRider]

Originally posted by HBerry
Getting a decent paying job in IT is going to be very tough even with a degree. You are going up against a lot of college grads, or soon to be college grads that already have a few years of experience.

+1 on this one. I'm one of those "self-taught" IT professionals and had a really hard time breaking into the field. I started in '95 by building PC's for friends and just went from there. I'm now a web, database, and applications admin. But trying to find a job is hard when you're up against people with the degrees.

Money's a lot tighter than it used to be as well. I got my first contract position back in '01 for upwards of $75 an hour, which went permanent. When the comapny cut back, I got laid off and started all over, only to find out that similar contact positions were paying 33% less than when I was looking in '01. (this was in early '05)

The first thing I'd say is to look outside the Springfield area. I was born & raised in Chicopee and couldn't find squat out there for IT work. I now reside in Blackstone and work in downtown Boston, as does my wife, so we commute together. (we have similar hours, which makes it much easier.)

I'd have to say that you'd be better off finding a niche field. Something like an application admin, database admin, release engineer, or project manager.

There's also a big market for digital photographers/photo editors. This is mostly freelance work.

[MissTwisties]

$75/hour? WOW...I was NEVER thinking of THAT kind of money....lol

I'm not dead beat on going back to school in the computer related field. I'm trying to find what I would actually enjoy doing, with "decent" money...which to me means if I bust my ass getting a degree at my age, if I get something over $18/hour is already a good thing.

Photography? I'm sure I would really enjoy that. I have an artistic side, always have, and really enjoy taking pictures. I could take a course, and then start my own little business doing weddings, nature, special events, etc.

[97BladeRider]

Like I said, contract pay has dropped off bigtime. You won't see those $75 per hour pays now.

As far as photography goes, there are a few good books out there to read:

How to Start a Home-Based Photography Business

And

Mastering Digital SLR Photography

Both are very good. Initial investment is between $1500 and $10000, depending on the equipment you choose. Sometimes, it's as easy as snapping a really cool photo and selling it to a local newspaper that gets your name on the map.

It's one of those right place, right time things.

[hqp921]

Originally posted by nefarious
...you'll find business skills are almost more important then actual talent.

I believe you are correct...

Originally posted by Honclfibr
Finally, your GPA does not necessarily determine your aptitude and understanding of a field, only your ability to learn the material long enough to regurgitate it back to instructor in the manner they are expecting. Do not confuse success in school with success in the real world, they are far from perfectly correlated.

...and you are too.

In fact, in one of my (graduate) classes, the professor stressed - don't worry about your final grade, you will NOT be an expert in the subject matter after one course, nor do I expect you to be.

MissTwisties, you don't necessarily need to learn about something that you can use in a future career - perhaps you can learn for the sake of learning? I went to school, majored in music, minored in advertising/pr. Currently, I work in a PR/Marketing position and going to get my MBA. I still teach music on the side and perform when I can - because I really enjoy it.

[MissTwisties]

Originally posted by hqp921

MissTwisties, you don't necessarily need to learn about something that you can use in a future career - perhaps you can learn for the sake of learning? I went to school, majored in music, minored in advertising/pr. Currently, I work in a PR/Marketing position and going to get my MBA. I still teach music on the side and perform when I can - because I really enjoy it.

This is a great idea, and I'd love to do that. But when you think you are getting in student loans debts and need to repay it, I don't think I'll ever have the kind of salary that would allow me that luxury. Learning/going to College cost big $$$.

[hqp921]

Originally posted by MissTwisties
This is a great idea, and I'd love to do that. But when you think you are getting in student loans debts and need to repay it, I don't think I'll ever have the kind of salary that would allow me that luxury. Learning/going to College cost big $$$.

You don't need to tell me! I'm paying back undergrad loans while paying for graduate courses (Even though I can, I don't want to stop paying back my undergrad loans - that's just delaying the inevitable. )

If you're just interested in web design itself, I'm sure you can just take a course or two and keep things pretty affordable. OR, you can sell me your bike and then get tuition money that way!

[nefarious]

If you want to go into design, skip the schooling geared towards webdesign and go for something more like a BFA. If your HTML etc suffers from poor fundamental designs skills it wont matter how many programs and languages you know. If you have the aptitude to wrap your head around the diffrent logic, standards and practacies you can learn more out of a decent set up books then you will from any school filled with 30 dummies detracting from your time.

things you probably want to learn for web design

With out a question

HTML
XTML
CSS


Optional and highly desired skills

PHP
ASP
Coldfusion
Ajax
javascript
mysql
flash
actionscript
e-commerce

Then you can get into some more obscure stuff

SOAP
SMIL

and others.

[MissTwisties]

On another note, here's some other fields that always attracted me:

-Massage Therapy (good opportunity to start your own business and make good money out of it, but not sure I'd like to touch some of the customers laying down on my table...but I know I'd be really good at doing this)

-Trucking....I LOVE to drive and see new places, while being alone on the road and listening to music. I find the "loner" apsect of it attractive, doing your own thing, etc. and I love trucks...lol BUT...I have 2 kids and unless I'd work for a "local" company and be home every night, I don't see how I could do long distance travel having them to think about.

Basically there is a few other things in my mind, but I know I wouldn't do well in a place where I have to be surrounded by too many people at once such as working with public (sales). Working alone, or one on one or just a few people at a time is good for me.

[nefarious]

I bet a lot of people here would love it if you started trucking and had limited forum access....

[MissTwisties]

Thanks Nefarious! Yes I was also thinking of getting books and learning that way. I would basically just like to learn how to design nice webpages for people/companies...not sure I need a bachelor degree to do that if I can get my hands on a few good books and teach myself.

[MissTwisties]

Originally posted by nefarious
I bet a lot of people here would love it if you started trucking and had limited forum access....

Are you kidding? I'd have to get my hands on a laptop!!

[MissTwisties]

Originally posted by hqp921
OR, you can sell me your bike and then get tuition money that way!

That is NOT an option.

[97BladeRider]

For web design, all you really need is good software. Macromedia Dreamweaver is awesome and has great templates and tutorials.

But to really know it well, you have to figure out the raw code. Learning basic HTML isn't enough now. You also need some sort of coding skills (JavaScript, Perl, etc...) to make dynamic and interactive web sites.

[bigred875]

Originally posted by TheIglu
Web page designers are a dime a dozen, as are IT administrators and techs. Look elsewhere if you are looking for a career that has a big demand.