Post: #1

I'm on the fence, I want to be a teacher (maybe move to Australia where they pay teachers 60k?) Get a masters in COMM or English? I can also work for Businesses with a degree in COMM

or if I should just major in a field that I will dread and just go for the $$$. Something like Engineering.

People keep telling me to pursue the career that will make me happy, but IDK

any advice from the older gentleman here?

Post: #2

No question about it - go for the career you like, not for the $$$.

A 2010 study from Princeton University found that, up to $75,000, each boost in income increased participants’ happiness. But after that, bringing home more income ceased to matter in their overall life satisfaction.

I know quite a few highly paid lawyers, investment bankers, etc that are very unhappy and have to "self medicate" with various drugs to keep themselves sane.

Post: #3

A career you like (relatively) with $$$

Post: #4

It is a very individual thing, what is right for one is entirely wrong for another.

Just like for example, you read certain blogs where the conventional idea of college followed by a 9 to 5 career for 40+ years, wife and kids are all dismissed as the most absurd thing in the world. But for some people, doing that is exactly the right and suitable thing for them.

Personally I'd only do a job I really hated if the wage returns were lucerative. In this day and age, if a job, career ir whatever pays less then 400k/year, it is not exactly a highly paid job.

Post: #5

I'm just worried I won't be able to get a job if I pursue a Bachelors in COMM and end up going back to school. Maybe I should just go for engineering?

Post: #6

(04-16-2014 09:01 PM)L M McCoy Wrote:  I'm just worried I won't be able to get a job if I pursue a Bachelors in COMM and end up going back to school. Maybe I should just go for engineering?

There are a lot of jobs requiring a Bachelors in COMM. You could even specialize in something like Digital Media.

Post: #7

There's no money in engineering

Do engineering because you love it. It's hard and not everyone can handle it. It's more of a mental exercise like trying to solve a Rubik's cube.

You'll plateau salary wise. The only place to go after that is management, consulting or your own business if you want more money.

Post: #8

Depends on what you value more.
Yeah you may "like" the career at this point however is it enough for the far future?
With $$$, you are given more options such as excessive income, being able to not work whenever you wish and most importantly time.

Post: #9

Would I be able to get a job in another country with a Bachelors in COMM or English? I'm open to moving

Post: #10

(04-16-2014 09:13 PM)Parlay44 Wrote:  There's no money in engineering

Do engineering because you love it. It's hard and not everyone can handle it. It's more of a mental exercise like trying to solve a Rubik's cube.

You'll plateau salary wise. The only place to go after that is management, consulting or your own business if you want more money.

I thought Engineering was where its at with $$$? Other than nuclear science of course.

Post: #11

I would say if you have an absolute passion for something and it doesn't make much money go for it 100%. Passion meaning you, live and breathe whatever that is all day and love it, where you couldn't imagine doing anything else. Only that I think will get you through not caring about $. Plus if you are that into it you probably will find a way to get creative and turn it into a business.

Otherwise I would pick a career you can be well satisfied with that does make decent $ and has the option to start your own business at.

If strictly $ is your goal your best best is to get into one of the best Finance programs in the nation, kill it and get into investment banking/hedge funds. Get a CFA + MBA after. It doesn't sound like you are that crazy about $ strictly though.

My brother is a top guy at a hedge fund. He told me there are around 70,000 people in high finance in NYC making good money. In SF there are a couple thousand. In Chicago there are I think he said about 5k.

So very tight competition to get in.

Analysts can be breaking $200k no sweat in their first few years.

The vast majority of engineers make between $60-130k for their entire career.

Post: #12

If you become highly qualified, teachers in Australia can make more than 60k, some get up to 100k. If you can handle maths teaching 'Sir why do I have to learn this...', you've got your pedagogy and politicking downpat you can get a job at an elite school and rake it in. Teaching at an international school in Hong Kong/Dubai/Singapore/(insert rich non-anglo city here) can give even more money.
You can minimise expenses then travel during your 12-14 weeks off a year can make it worth it.
Don't become an English/history teacher, the lefties in charge of curriculum are completely insane and you'll hate yourself for brainwashing kids.

You can become a teacher here after doing a 1 year graduate diploma if you already have a tertiary degree (Bachelors). Your original degree doesn't seem to matter, my high school maths teacher did a HR degree.

As much as I heckled all of my teachers for being in such a deadend job, I can see myself becoming a maths/econ teacher when I'm 45 or so and private sector career progression stalls.

Unless you are extremely money driven, hate yourself and are willing to sell your soul, don't become a banker.

Post: #13

(04-16-2014 08:28 PM)L M McCoy Wrote:  I'm on the fence, I want to be a teacher (maybe move to Australia where they pay teachers 60k?) Get a masters in COMM or English? I can also work for Businesses with a degree in COMM

or if I should just major in a field that I will dread and just go for the $$$. Something like Engineering.

People keep telling me to pursue the career that will make me happy, but IDK

any advice from the older gentleman here?

some thoughts:

1. do you have any family/ties to australia? they're making it increasingly difficult for foreigners to immigrate there unless you have a specialized skill, most of which are engineering related, or you have family already there. australia's wages are some of the highest in the world - so everybody wants a piece of it.

2. the general rule of thumb, when it comes to MA degrees, is that humanities masters are a waste of time and money unless you intend to teach it as a profession.

3. everybody's motivated differently so what works for one person probably won't work for another. motivation's very important because it's what will get you to persevere in tough times instead of quitting and having to start all over again.

the best thing you can do if you're still young is apprentice/intern/work in the fields you're interested in. you have to see for yourself what the highs and lows of the industry are in order to know if it'll properly motivate you.

Post: #14

(04-16-2014 09:23 PM)L M McCoy Wrote:  Would I be able to get a job in another country with a Bachelors in COMM or English? I'm open to moving

Typically you need to have some years experience and/or specialized skills to secure decent jobs in other countries. If you are working for a multinational (eg. IBM) there can be opportunities to transfer to other countries within the company.

Post: #15

My plan would be to accrue as much wealth as I can before 35-40 then just fuck off working. Depends if that's something you'd want to do, or have a career till retirement that you enjoy.

Post: #16

(04-16-2014 09:24 PM)L M McCoy Wrote:  

(04-16-2014 09:13 PM)Parlay44 Wrote:  There's no money in engineering

Do engineering because you love it. It's hard and not everyone can handle it. It's more of a mental exercise like trying to solve a Rubik's cube.

You'll plateau salary wise. The only place to go after that is management, consulting or your own business if you want more money.

I thought Engineering was where its at with $$$? Other than nuclear science of course.

Depends on what you consider big money. It pays well and there's lots of work. You won't break $100k ever. You'll need to take it to the next level to make more than that.

Post: #17

It's really hard to say. My "career" is my own internet business. I really don't like it much, it usually sucks balls. It does feel really good when I hit something big, but only because I like seeing money flow into my bank account. So yes, I pretty much hate it, but I have a ton of freedom and I've been traveling all over the place for the past 7 months. If not for my tedious and stressful line of work, there's no way I'd be able to live such an awesome lifestyle. Life can't always be perfect. Eventually I want to move onto new things, but I need more capital first. Until then, I'll just continue to travel, fuck foreign women, and sit on my computer forcing myself to do stressful work. I would actually highly recommend this stuff to anyone if you can hack it.

Post: #18

(04-17-2014 06:33 AM)Parlay44 Wrote:  

(04-16-2014 09:24 PM)L M McCoy Wrote:  

(04-16-2014 09:13 PM)Parlay44 Wrote:  There's no money in engineering

Do engineering because you love it. It's hard and not everyone can handle it. It's more of a mental exercise like trying to solve a Rubik's cube.

You'll plateau salary wise. The only place to go after that is management, consulting or your own business if you want more money.

I thought Engineering was where its at with $$$? Other than nuclear science of course.

Depends on what you consider big money. It pays well and there's lots of work. You won't break $100k ever. You'll need to take it to the next level to make more than that.

It is not uncommon for experienced Petroleum Engineers to earn $US300K plus.

Post: #19

do what you enjoy doing, anything else your just wasting your time.

Post: #20

(04-17-2014 07:19 AM)Steve9 Wrote:  

(04-17-2014 06:33 AM)Parlay44 Wrote:  

(04-16-2014 09:24 PM)L M McCoy Wrote:  

(04-16-2014 09:13 PM)Parlay44 Wrote:  There's no money in engineering

Do engineering because you love it. It's hard and not everyone can handle it. It's more of a mental exercise like trying to solve a Rubik's cube.

You'll plateau salary wise. The only place to go after that is management, consulting or your own business if you want more money.

I thought Engineering was where its at with $$$? Other than nuclear science of course.

Depends on what you consider big money. It pays well and there's lots of work. You won't break $100k ever. You'll need to take it to the next level to make more than that.

It is not uncommon for experienced Petroleum Engineers to earn $US300K plus.

Yeah but you'd have to move to the middle of Buttfuck Alaska. It pays well because it's shitty work in shitty conditions.

Post: #21

(04-17-2014 07:19 AM)Steve9 Wrote:  It is not uncommon for experienced Petroleum Engineers to earn $US300K plus.

Key word is experienced.
Also important in Chem E/Petroleum engineering is where you went to school, when you got out, and the state of the industry.

Good friend of my father is an old Chem E. When I was in engineering, I watched him struggle to find work, despite having decades of experience, speaking several languages, and a great degree. The market was down, and who needs a guy in their mid fifties to draw a huge salary and actually use the provided health insurance?

And before people come with the old chestnut of "network", networking tells you that the system is broken. (Hiring in general is broken. How does a 1 hour meeting determine how you will fit, and how well you will do once hired?)

Furthermore, engineering and technical people rarely get to do more than manage a small team. (hell, that's most professions, very few of us rise to management)

But the people giving you your marching orders aren't nearly as smart or capable as you. But getting tracked into engineering, developing the pitfalls of an engineering mindset, is what keeps most technical people beholden to some large organization for most of their lives.

The media will have you believe that STEM or the Trades is the salvation, and that you're not really going to have to seriously change careers several times in your life. Everybody yelllng CS/IT doesn't remember the tech bubble of the 90's and how graduating during the millenium meant more than few lean years, which statistically plagues you for the rest of your life. Now we're in a second internet bubble, and at some point these consumer internet software products will look like pets.com. Pharmacy was all the rage when I was in college, signing bonuses, bmw's. Now the market is full of them, and they new guys are not making the big money, that guys only a few years older made. (and the old guys are always facing corporate pressure)

There will of course be something to replace it. There always is.

But it's foolish to think that 5-10 years from now, the people making the hiring decision for the shiny new job want you instead of the just out of college kid.

We need an experienced person that knows this specific piece of technology that has only existed for past 3 months, and we won't train, nor will we pay the top market price. And won't fail to mention that if this thing doesn't actually do well in the market, we're going to dump you back into the pool of unemployed people.

WIA

Post: #22

I work in the oil sands and our senior engineers are making 400-500k. I make 130k to start. I suspect our principle engineer might bring in nearly 1m. Directional drilling engineers will make 2k/day working shift with 5-10 years experience.
I'd chase the money.

I defy most men to take a regular job with regular salary and not cave into settling for a regular wife in a regular house in their 30. Having money is the key to avoiding this.

Post: #23

(04-17-2014 12:00 PM)christpuncher Wrote:  I work in the oil sands and our senior engineers are making 400-500k. I make 130k to start. I suspect our principle engineer might bring in nearly 1m. Directional drilling engineers will make 2k/day working shift with 5-10 years experience.
I'd chase the money.

I defy most men to take a regular job with regular salary and not cave into settling for a regular wife in a regular house in their 30. Having money is the key to avoiding this.

How do you like the work though? Walk us through a typical work day.

Post: #24

I lately think about this problem too.

On a meta-level, you could ask the question "From what would other people benefit? What other people value? How can I help humanity?" It is not not the same as follow your passion, or do whatever you want but you are always thinking how can you add value to other people. But not in a sleezy pezzy creepy way.


I noticed that RooshV has this approached, he sometimes mentions it, but its very subtle. It puts you in a mood thinking about yourself and the other peoples desires.

Post: #25

It's different in the US, but The Civil Engineering profession in Britain is an absolute dead end hell hole.

I used to work for a big consultancy. You're on £27,000 when you're 30 unless you REALLY REALLY care about your work (even then, it'll take years of sucking up for your superiors to notice). The department I worked in had some pretty brutal shrinkage over the past five years. What was once a profession well-known job security now surely cannot claim that (Again, I speak for the state in Britain).

Plus, you're not going abroad until you're chartered (usually occurs age 27). That is not worth it. If you want money, go to the oil sands and make enough money to justify the 'drop' in lifestyle. Don't take a bit more money for something you fucking HATE.

I quit my engineering job to clown about teaching TEFL. I'm not gonna get my male hamster going and rationalise that it's perfect because it's not. If got off my arse and started a business it COULD be a lot better.

I used to want to kill myself, now I absolutely love getting up for work. I get paid to clown about in classrooms with rich Thai girls whilst living in the tropics. I liked being a class clown at school so this was the closest career to it. My immaturity is finally being encouraged. I don't really feel stressed ever because I love my job, even if the pay is crap by RVF standards.

I haven't even entertained the idea of going up to the oil sands to make 50 times the money for a second. I want to be in sunny Thailand with Thai girls in the NOW.

Do what you wanna do