So for engineering stuff, idk man.

Mangement is huge.

even if you aren't managing a team, being able to have a conversation with your manager on their level is huge.

Ok, in detail, what does it take ? What do I have to study to be at least on a "good enough " level ?

Really depends.

I'm reading through the personal MBA

personalmba.com

it's designed to be read through once or twice, and then used as a reference guide.

My situation is such : I've been in college for 6 years already, since 2009. It's not working out too well. Like I fail class, retake it 2 -3 times, pass, rinse and repeat with another class. So far I work as work-study in student computer labs - basically front desk. It's nice and all, but it really is linked to my GPA, which just keeps dropping

what kind of engineering are you studying?

(I have no college experience)

Electrical. Which isn't too difficult compared to civil or mechanical. But I am failing , basically. Half of the professors I had just either don't explain clearly, or start wacking with the advanced topics on our heads right off the bad. I decided to do minor in Computer Science eventually, and it was nice and dandy up until this semester: I am basically being beaten down with the requirements even though my programs work and turned in on time

I'm considering jumping over to CIS minor ( Computer Information Systems )

So I'm not sure what your CIS entails, but from what I'm looking at for my local college, looks pretty interesting. csuohio.edu/undergradcatalog/bus/cisbs/cis.htm

msudenver.edu/cis/academics/majorrequirements

Basically , what I want to do is slowly get out into the real world. Start somewhere in IT. I'm now even talking engineering or CS anymore. I've done a huge mistake when I went for 4 year degree straight off the bat. So I need to get out, just start working with something technical. I am not going to drop out of college, but I need to do something with my life. Basically . . .

(Sorry, I had to take care of a crisis at work)

@Serg So my recommendation would be to get involved with a startup.

no rush, work first :)

You're in denver?

yessir

there's a ton of startups in Denver.

OK, so if I'm looking through ads on say monster.com or something, what should I look for ?

I think i know some people in denver who are doing startups... i'll drop them a note tonight and see what is going on.

Also, what sort of skill set I should be improving

IDK. I'm not familiar with the denver scene.

if you were here in cleveland, i'd say python(django)/ruby(rails)/R data analysis.

angel.co/denver | builtincolorado.com | denver.startups-list.com

there's some places to start

and thats if you were looking to do software development

if you're looking to do more of a IT position, then i'd look around the different companies, who is involved, etc and see what tech seems to be dominant.

OK, I'm python-illiterate yet. So far I only have C and some Java classes on my resume . . . well, and shell scripting on AU . . . I'm guessing that won't take me far, will it ?

OK, I'm writting down the sites

It's less about what you know, and more how you think.

I got the full-time job (was originally a little short-term contract thing) I have now not because I knew the programming language that we're using (ruby), but because I could get inside the previous developers head and figure out what was making him tick when he was writing this terrible code.

So . . . . basically speaking design and problem solving skills ?

Yeah