Having a job seems like such a nebulous, impossible concept for me

sobs

/*sobs*/

how

You'll get something! It might not be the thing you think you liked. My first job was one I thought I would hate but I absolutely loved.

Just gotta keep an open mind :)

I'm just concerned about life as a whole

Aren't we all

I would offer you a virtual beer but you're not old enough :p

Are you worried about college, or just in general?

Not sure about other countries, but there are tons of jobs available in the United States. The skilled trades are dying for new people. My cousin does tool and die work in Chicago, and he's been the "new guy" for 40 years.

@Sciborg Basically college

*sobs*

Honestly, college seems really scary guys, but it was the best. I really, truly enjoyed it and I met my best friends and networking buddies there. You'll learn a ton and grow up a bunch.

I think people stress way too much about college. Where you go, what grades you get, etc.

Agree with Sciborg, college was the best time of my life.

@Sciborg No, I'm worried about getting into college

And paying for it

Ah, yes

North: somewhat seriously, have you considered the skilled trades?

@Sciborg I work for a medium-sized company mainly doing industrial automation software. I'm in the "Professional Services" department, which means I don't actually work on the main software product, but rather on customer-specific projects relating to it (e.g. "Hey I want a driver for this PLC" or "Hey I need a GUI for analyzing these files your product spits out").

It's pretty cool, since I often get the chance to do something from scratch, rather than working on the C++ code-base which is now over 30 years old.

Things like industrial automation, etc.

@JeremyDover What kind of skilled trades?

Not really. My entire focus has mostly been in music

(I work with C#, though)

If you like working with your hands, tool and die work, aircraft maintenance, marine maintenance, electrician.

@JeremyDover I only have one hand, and I'm not sure

@LukasRotter Honestly doing code from scratch is my favorite part of my job, too. I hate working on legacy code so my current job (app development) is really fulfilling in comparison to updating databases and bug fixing somebody else's software :p

And skilled trades are great but they aren't for everyone, I don't always think that should be a catch-all to make up for how completely inaccessible colleges are becoming financially.

Ahh...did not know that. That would make those careers difficult. But there are other options...sawyers for example. They primarily operate from a computer console. Industrial automation (the PLCs LukasRotter mentioned) is another option/

I'm not really great at hand-on stuff, to be honest

Especially because I'm much more interested in theoretical possibilities rather than anything remotely practical

Sciborg: I agree they are not for everyone, but guidance (in my experience) in the K-12 system is way too focused on "everyone needs to go to college".

@JeremyDover I do agree

That's fair.

My Bible Study leader is a chemistry teacher and he's like "you know, you don't have to go to college"

But I've always been more interested more in academia, so I'll probably stay in college as long as I can :D which means more debt D:

One thing I can tell you is that the hardest transition is school to first job. Regardless of whether you go to college or not.

Yup, he's right about that

I've done hiring over the years, and I've never looked at anyone's college GPA, unless they were fresh out of school.

I'm much more interested in job experience.

Life lesson @ The Sphinx's Lair

Can't tell you how many interviews I've had to put on my only suit and tie for, use my nice cologne, drive my crappy car down to, sit still for 3 hours, write code for... and then not get the job anyway and have to do that 17 more times.

Drove me absolutely insane.

Why can't I just fly to Neverland where no one ever grows up?

Because it doesn't exist.

Shucks

Harsh but true.

That's disappointing

Getting a job is still totally worth it, but takes a lot of work, so just be prepared for that

You'll have to get out of bed at least 10 times and dress up over and over and waste gas on it etc. etc.

And if you're applying online, you have to make an account just to apply and sometimes you have to pay a fee, and.... etc etc etc

Sheesh, you're scarying me

I'm just telling you now so you can mentally prep for it :p

Life is scary as hell

If you think that's rough, try finding a spouse :-)

I'm like already stressed over my grades, more of this and I'm going to have a breakdown D:::

Hey, we're telling you this because we want you to know it's gonna be a big slog and a journey, but you're gonna come out okay.

Or at least you'll have an apartment which is pretty solid

But it's worth it

@JeremyDover Ah, love. Where two people get together and try to murder each other

I mean-

That's why you have kids, so you can't easily sneak arsenic into the food.

Life is wild and it's gonna slowly get harder as you get older North, but you're gonna be just fine, genuinely. It's scary but you adapt and you get through it.

Can't just give up on it, that's no fun.

What we're not talking about, and I think Sciborg will agree, is that your ability to deal with these complications grows a lot, once you start facing the challenges. It's a skill like everything else.

Absolutely, you adapt.

I didn't walk into retirement straight out of high school.

You never stop learning, and you never stop growing.

And sadly, there's always some asshole out there who's going to try to give you a grade on your performance.

@JeremyDover Hehe, now that's a metaphor I can get

In school you're kinda stuck listening to them, but the best thing you can do is realize you only have to respect the opinions of people you respect, not anyone who cares to offer an opinion.

@JeremyDover So... I don't have to listen to you? Good advice

I mean, you don't have to listen to anybody, that's the point :p but you should listen to Dover, he's lived a lot more life than we have and he knows a lot more.

Yup, definitely

Absolutely not. I'm just some dude on the Internet. If what you know of me doesn't deserve respect...you should absolutely not listen to me.

If one can retire at fifty, you have my respect

Yes, genuinely, I respect that hard. Hope I can find my way and get there.

*sighs in day dreams*

Well...thanks! There was a lot of hard work, and lot of luck.

I'd like to get one of those scholarships that pays for college and guarantees you a job at the end of it.

@PrinceNorthLæraðr backslash and then asterisk

*like this*

@bobble Oh, Lordy...

I keep using forward slash

@bobble Dang

That's called an internship

@bobble wouldn't we all

Would have done anything for a guaranteed job after college.

@Sciborg there's one really cool one I got my eye on, where you get book money, an allowance, internships during the summer, full tuition, and a job afterwards. You can't apply until you're actually in college though.

also TIL google meets has a new logo

@bobble That looks like a scam

@bobble That has got to be a scam, honestly, I've never heard of a deal that good

It's through the DoD

DoD?

Ah

Department of Defense, I think

U.S. Military does give really, really good benefits

God d-a-m-n

Maybe I should have joined the Army

Like HELLA good scholarships

ROTC programs can pay for either half or full scholarship into college

Some even give a stipend

@Sciborg You still can, I think. They're always looking for anyone with tech knowledge

Speaking of army, any new ideas on defusing the C4 explosive?

I was... definitely kidding, but yes

@LukasRotter heh, C4

I wanted to go into the Air Force, but then the recruiting officer is like, "Yeah, you don't have an arm, that's kind of a problem"

aw

*grumble grumble*

My problem would be more with, uh, "not asking and not telling"

I mean, they're not supposed to discriminate again race, sex, gender, etc. but we all know that's not true

...yeah

@PrinceNorthLæraðr or arm count

@matt I mean, they have valid reason to. I'm just salty about that

I would be pretty salty too, yeah

They also don't let you in if you have different numbers of vertebrae and stuff, so they've got tons of restrictions

Oh, air force is really strict

Certain height restriction, weight restrictions, and EYE SIGHT restrictions

Oh god you're right, my eyesight would never allow me in either

I found that scholarship I talked about. Here's the list of benefits. I had forgotten some of them!

"Hey, uh, Private, why have you been holding that paper up to your face"

@Sciborg I think eye-sight might only be for pilots. I'm not a hundred percent sure

@Sciborg ?

@bobble Damn healthcare. That's a biggie

@matt the joke is that i'm visually impaired

@PrinceNorthLæraðr "Only" $1200/year

@Sciborg i see (pun not intended)

"O N L Y" $1200/year

just for healthcare

Yes sorry hello I would like an allowance of "only" $1200

I think it can only be used for healthcare, pretty sure

"Miscellaneous allowance of up to $1,000 per academic year"

^

MISCELLANEOUS ALLOWANCE

Jesus on a jellybean

"Stipend paid at a rate of $25,000 - $38,000 a year depending on degree level "

That's ONTOP of a full scholarship

ffffsssss

Can I go back to college solely to have this scholarship

@Sciborg nyoes

Maybe I should start looking into STEM fields. sigh I've always been an Arts & Humanities guy though

try STEAM

Law, philosophy, music, and theology

It's tough because you know the joke about arts and humanities, they tend to be hard to find jobs for compared to STEM (which is hard enough)

right

I love music but I decided it was just a hobby because there's no way I could be employed as a pianist

Law is way too much work for me I think, even though it's a pretty solid career choice

Philosophy you can't get a job with

Music is extremely volatile

And theology is only good if you want to be a pastor. Except... I'm not looking to be a pastor

They're tough options. Law is a great career but you have to be willing to be, y'know, a lawyer

Yeah. solid 70% chance I'm not pursuing that

And philosophy is great but only if you want to be a philosophy teacher.

they have some stats! 323 awarded last year, which is 13% of applicants, with an average GPA of 3.76

Philosophy gets you a job as a philosophy professor. So wait until that 80 year old professor drops dead and then maybe you might have a chance

@bobble Is there small print where you have to work for the DoD for 10 years or so?

@PrinceNorthLæraðr or murder

@bobble True, but you might get Macbeth'd

@Sciborg You have to work for longer if you get higher degrees. I'll look for some exact year counts.

@bobble That's probably the strings attached. They'll tie you into working for them for a set number of years, and you can't negotiate salary or anything, nor can you leave.

Even if it's a great job, not having that flexibility is tough as heck.

Still, working for the CIA is pretty cool

"SMART is a one-for-one commitment; for every year of degree funding, the scholar commits to working for a year with the DoD as a civilian employee."

Damn

Ah, so four years of college = four years working for them.

If you're comfortable committing to that, commit to it, but that's a really big decision.

So if I want my PhD, that means I'll working for them for... six years....

Five years

"minimum of 1.5 years and a maximum of 5 years of funding"

@matt Funny joke

a) doesn't apply if you're "essential" - there's some emergency money kept for those people

More benefits always means more strings.

B) Be part of the Union

Depending on the job they may not have a union

True

Hah, I should be a teacher! (nope)

I don't mean to ward you off, but again, committing to the same job for four years is a big, big decision

My middle school band teacher has told me all the horror stories of being a teacher

We got really damn serious in this chat today didn't we, I should stop with the scary stuff

Puzzles are fun

Puzzles are very fun

We love puzzles

Why can't I be good at STEM (sniffles)

Hey, I was completely crap at computers when I arrived at college, and ta-da, I popped out a programmer :D

You can learn any skill, you don't have to be talented

It's more like "why can't I be interested in those fields"

What parts of STEM are boring?

the xylem and the phloem

@Avi I will kill you

@Sciborg MURDER IS ILLEGAL DON'T MURDER

@Sciborg but I am already dead

Okay, so you're not a math person. Build circuits! Do chemicals!

cs ez

@Sciborg Chemicals = math

@PrinceNorthLæraðr circuits =/= math

Circuits = math (cries) MATh MATH MATH maTh Math MAtH

@matt Electricity

is physics

Which is math ahhhhh

@PrinceNorthLæraðr what are some things you enjoy then besides philosophy stuff?

even art is math

everything is math. no job for you anywhere :P

lawnmowing!

it was all math all along

@LukasRotter Darn

@Avi = math

music = math

@matt :O

@bobble Noooooooo

HISTORY=MATH

EVERYTHING IS MATH

(music theory anyways)

MATH=MATH

IT'S ALL MATH

'=' = math

I mean genuinely North, you can learn just enough math to scrape by in chemistry and be totally fine. There's really not that much math involved.

I had chemistry last year. It wasn't all that interesting, tbh

Though, lab technicians are really cool

Look at microscopes and stuff

What is interesting to you? We can work with anything

magic

Human immune system. That's actually really cool

Heyyy okay! Immunology! That stuff is fun!

aCtUaL mAgIc

Biology doesn't even have much math, it's just a bunch of molecules and enzymes

You could try immunobiology?

Right. The only thing I'm scared about in immunology is seeing very gross pictures

I used to pass out when I saw blood, I had to slowly desensitize myself to get over it.

Once you get used to it, it's fine

Hm, I don't know

You must be super interested in something, everybody has a thing. You're giving me nothing to work with here :p

And thank you for obligatory xkcd, always appreciated

@Sciborg Well, like I said, I've always been a humanities guy :P

Which humanities that I can work with though? xP

Yeah. Rather difficult :P