I've worked as an freelance programmer for a few years now, and I really love it. My main client is in Denver, CO, so I get to telecommute and do my work wherever I feel like being. I really like it a lot, and I'm glad this is what I'm doing.
Are you familiar with Devchix? It's a group for women that are programmers, and those going to school for it. There is a mailing list too, if you'd like to be added.
someone once told me that freelance seemed more right for me, but i'm not sure i could deal with the fluctuating amount of..everything. then again, i'm not sure how in-demand my skills are...
Not that I am a voice of knowledge but: you shouldn't waste your talents, just because you consider some of the stuff boring. You could be a journalism major with a minor in CS. Or Business major with a minor CS. Find something that excites you and makes your blood rush. And incorporate your CS knowledge into it. I did something similar. I wasn't able to go to college when I wanted to. I went into the military and worked as Psychiatric Technician. I was also very interested in computers. When I got out, rather than going to college (circumstances again) I wanted to work in computers, because i could get paid signifigantly more then in psych. So I used my communication skills that I learned in Psych and merged that with computers. So know I work at a company where I do mostly customer support for Linux backup software. It utilizes both fields to degree and it pays well. I'm mostly happy, but to really advance, I need a degree. So, I'm back to school and I'll graduate sometime in 2012. FUN!!!
That's the problem. There really isn't much else I care much about, except cognitive science. but the problem with that is that it's so interdisciplinary and sort of "new" that I'm not sure what the point of getting a degree in that would be because it's really not one thing or another. So I'm thinking CS with like, a psych or chem minor would be the best. It's just that I don't know what to do as a career and I'm stuck.
Chemical minor? That's hard. Probably something to with bio-computers? Instead of quantum computing, bio-computing. I'm sure there is a research field there, but.... So, I was thinking something interesting to do might be to look at people with CS degree's and minors in chemistry or psych. I found this woman who is a PHD in CS and has a minor in Psych http://www.mindspring.com/~bethmeyer/resume.html
So, my advice is that you should look on Google for something like:
+"computer science" +minor +chemistry +resume
It might help you identify jobs that you would like, or at least fields.
This wasn't a completely altruistic search, I want to do something that utilizes everything that I've done in my life so far when I finish my CS degree: Psych/Teaching/Computer Science, this helps me identify what I want to do. Thanks.
Yeah. Cognitive science is one of those that sound perfect for me (it's like cs+psych+philosophy+biology+neuroscience+more), but people who get one of these degrees go on to do a lot of things. Like jobs irrelevant to their education, programming, med school. And not everyone has a degree program in cogsci.
It's just that once in a while, education and whatever chosen career path people went with are different. It's that people go back to school sometimes to do something else, or they don't go at all. And the stuff people end up doing varies wildly.
One of the links I found while researching UC Berkeley was a list of all the jobs graduates went on to do after graduating, organized by major: http://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm and it's like Hah, one EECS dude went on to become a dentist? Or studied law? Public health?!? See what I mean? :)
fuck capabilities, do something you like. But I do promise you, doing something you're good at can be quite fun. Having financial security is fun, too.
I don't think you'd be satisfied yourself with a coder job, so try and find something a bit broader.
Personally, I'm a coward. So I get myself a solid education in a field that's interesting to me. After that, I could always open a ice-and-dildo shop.
As for 'not-only-coding' jobs, talk to someone (a friend, a recruiter) in a (larger) IT company. Actually, smaller companies can have interesting jobs as well.
I'm not sure. I want to do something along with the ice cream+dildo shop. Not just one or the other. But I don't know what I want to do. All the tech-related jobs I've come across (and a LOT of them) are interesting, but not as a career. That's only my problem :(
Comments 13
Are you familiar with Devchix? It's a group for women that are programmers, and those going to school for it. There is a mailing list too, if you'd like to be added.
Reply
someone once told me that freelance seemed more right for me, but i'm not sure i could deal with the fluctuating amount of..everything. then again, i'm not sure how in-demand my skills are...
Reply
Find something that excites you and makes your blood rush. And incorporate your CS knowledge into it.
I did something similar. I wasn't able to go to college when I wanted to. I went into the military and worked as Psychiatric Technician. I was also very interested in computers. When I got out, rather than going to college (circumstances again) I wanted to work in computers, because i could get paid signifigantly more then in psych. So I used my communication skills that I learned in Psych and merged that with computers. So know I work at a company where I do mostly customer support for Linux backup software. It utilizes both fields to degree and it pays well.
I'm mostly happy, but to really advance, I need a degree. So, I'm back to school and I'll graduate sometime in 2012. FUN!!!
Reply
Reply
So, I was thinking something interesting to do might be to look at people with CS degree's and minors in chemistry or psych. I found this woman who is a PHD in CS and has a minor in Psych http://www.mindspring.com/~bethmeyer/resume.html
So, my advice is that you should look on Google for something like:
+"computer science" +minor +chemistry +resume
It might help you identify jobs that you would like, or at least fields.
This wasn't a completely altruistic search, I want to do something that utilizes everything that I've done in my life so far when I finish my CS degree: Psych/Teaching/Computer Science, this helps me identify what I want to do. Thanks.
Reply
It's just that once in a while, education and whatever chosen career path people went with are different. It's that people go back to school sometimes to do something else, or they don't go at all. And the stuff people end up doing varies wildly.
One of the links I found while researching UC Berkeley was a list of all the jobs graduates went on to do after graduating, organized by major: http://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm and it's like Hah, one EECS dude went on to become a dentist? Or studied law? Public health?!? See what I mean? :)
Reply
I don't think you'd be satisfied yourself with a coder job, so try and find something a bit broader.
Reply
Reply
Personally, I'm a coward. So I get myself a solid education in a field that's interesting to me. After that, I could always open a ice-and-dildo shop.
As for 'not-only-coding' jobs, talk to someone (a friend, a recruiter) in a (larger) IT company. Actually, smaller companies can have interesting jobs as well.
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment