Hi all! Firstly, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope all of you are doing well and have a good year ahead of you. I graduated in 2011 with a bachelor's in computer science and electronic engineering. Since then I haven't been able to find steady work but realised soon enough that I dont want to do work in software engineering or development. Also, I feel jaded by the whole technology side of things, mostly because of my placement and having lost confidence in my software developing abilities in final year . On the other hand I did develop interests in economics(mostly about its debunking side), philosophy and music. I was hence wondering if there are other more interesting careers that I maybe able to do with my degree qualifications that skew more towards people facing roles than the technical side of things. Your advice will be very appreciated! Thanks!
Are there any career options where I can combine my love for music and my knowledge from uni? Or any which are more people oriented rather than technical(like software engg.)?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_engineer Not a field I know anything about beyond being aware of its existence.
Thanks! Any others? Are there any which are outside of IT as well that I can apply for with my degree?
You could become a train driver, the money is very good: https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/traindriver.aspx
If you're a developer but don't want to develop then look at technical pre-sales / professional services type roles. Most software houses will have them - the pre sales especially is all about the people but you need the technical skills to understand the product and specify / pilot the customisations they require. It's great money and a good stepping stone into other areas because the people stuff lets you move away from the technology if you choose to. Companies like Jive, Lithium etc plus google apps resellers are growing rapidly and always recruiting for those types of people.
To echo this - good friend of mine ditched it after years of inconsistent, antisocial work with wildly variable pay and now designs induction loops for a (stable) living. As suggested a few up, Pre-sales consultancy for a company in your area of interest might be a good fit from what you've described - It's usually nigh on 100% people facing and relationship building, but you get to hang on to technical competencies at the same time and don't have to entirely sell out. It might not be something you can just step in to right away, depending on the company, but if you show a willingness the track from an entry level role to being let loose on customers isn't necessarily a lengthy one. The base pay can range from pretty-decent to very comfortable and there's often a commission element on top of that (as ultimately it's a sales role by another name). This can vary wildly from company to company from nothing more than token beer money to shiny new Italian exotics sort of bonuses. At either end of the scale though, it's always nice to have some element of what goes in to your bank account directly linked to how well you do your job IMO.
Another alternative is some sort of software planning role. If you have the underlying knowledge, systems design etc can be quite lucrative.
HAHA! THAT is certainly something I never thought of. Money's unexpectedly quite good! Anyway,firstly, thank you all for your advice. Its much appreciated I am based in India right now so getting jobs abroad basically becomes a visa problem along with the usual skills issue. I recently interviewed for a company here in India and told them about my situation. They have offered me a business analyst or a pre-sales role, and after wikipedia-ing it, I preferred the former. Its because I think I cant be a good salesman, partly because if something's crap my conscience wont really allow me to sell it. Moreover, I am always quite skeptical and cynical about tech or non-tech products. Does pre-sales have a heavy 'selling directly to people element' to it? Could you please describe it with an example? Also I found a lucrative linux and windows systems administrator job in Australia. Although I dont have any experience doing any system administration,having tinkered with computers all my life and having a comp sc. degree, I am pretty sure I can learn it fairly quickly. How likely are employers willing to hire me in this situation? And what's the job like,especially in terms of future prospects?
I'd be surprised if you get that. Experience is vital especially if you are looking after a large amount of computers. Sysadmin roles can be very demanding and the breadth of knowledge required is often hilariously big. You really need good experience of what to do when it all goes wrong. Plus, Australia is one of the hardest countries in the world to get employed in if you are a foreigner.
Oh.... How do people get started in this profession then? From entry support roles? And any idea which countries are easier to get work in?
For sysadmin type roles you start in 1st line, get a shedload of experience & certifications and work your way up. Then you can move to technical pre-sales where you use your 10 years experience to help people find the best solution to their technical needs. There is no fast way to do this
Oh! That's looong! Any other jobs I could apply for? And in countries where relatively easy to get into for graduate or entry level positions?
Probably not what you want to hear but my experience is that doing a lucrative job gives you far more time to pursue hobbies and interests, than working in these hobbies and interests. Economics is frankly the kind of field that you do when you have no better idea, you have loads of people studying it, and chances are you will end up in some crappy clerical job. (I have a economics degree so I know...). Music and philosophy need to be considered hobbies, that is unless you have some exceptional talent (and even then). The other thing, and that's what I noticed is that development becomes more pleasant as you get good at it. Again, that is my experience, but I could be contradicted. Now, if you have to avoid development and still not throw away your education, there are still some good paths left. Use the keyword "Business Analyst" when you are looking for work. This is essentially writing specifications and changing processes within companies. The can be junior, entry-level positions, and can culminate in full blown project management. This is what I do, and there is little coding involved, although you need to be familiar with it. And yet, as a contractor, when it comes to rates, you may be the one talking to the end users and management and telling people what to do, but it's the developers that make the most money. When it comes to the crunch, "soft skills" are the ones brushed on the side. It's not that they are not needed, it's just that the technical skills are easier to "prove" and are needed more immediately. So all in all, my opinion is, make very sure you are really not into development.
Well I would basically like to do something that at the end of the day doesnt make me feel empty when I am travelling back home. That was a constant feeling I had almost everyday at my internship at uni. I just dont know how to pinpoint at what kind of work that would be
