Lost After Graduation

[HAULN-SS]

^this is if you're lucky and the housing market goes UP a couple percent a year and not down 20%..ask me how i know

[Evan]

btw Gerald, I think computer science is what I'm going to move to. the job prospects would give me so much flexibiliyy and options. quick look on indeed for cali or east coast cities all are looking fir developers and it guys.

you really have to love coding for it to be a fulfilling career and motivate you. IMO its easy to love, you build awesome shit with software, but everyone is different. A ton of CS majors I studied with hated it and either switched to CIS (lulz), or trudged through it and became network/system administrators. (not anything wrong with that, its just not coding)

Data Science is something to look into if youve got the math brain for it. IMO its incredibly interesting, youre taking large datasets and pulling out real world, useful information and conclusions. Its a new field and the amount of free, university quality online data science education is staggering.

[HAULN-SS]

you really have to love coding for it to be a fulfilling career and motivate you. IMO its easy to love, you build awesome shit with software, but everyone is different. A ton of CS majors I studied with hated it and either switched to CIS (lulz), or trudged through it and became network/system administrators. (not anything wrong with that, its just not coding)

It is true you have to love it. I have a friend who did CS as a major just because he thought it was the right thing to do. Moved out to bay area after not being able to find a job he loved around Richmond. Still hates his job, in the mecca of all tech jobs..so I'm pretty sure it's just a byproduct of him choosing the wrong field in general.

You can make another thread if you want to discuss computer science if you decide to go that route. I've done a fair share of all kinds of programming, and I think you gotta look for fields that are either costing people money, or making them a lot - high performance computing in the financial and energy sectors, if you have the brain for a lot of math, or in low level "cyber" operations/development if you're really interested in how computers work and securing or exploiting them, which mostly only takes a lot of curiosity and google-fu. Or you can join a west coast startup with the promises of riches to come if they ever let you sell your equity, but a lower pay for the work performed today.

[*insertusernamehere*]

CS is the shit that makes me want to bang my head into a wall until it turns to smush. Every time I see "Error" anywhere I just feel a little bit of rage build up inside me.

[Apoc]

If you become a Data Scientist, give me a shout.

[Ryan T]

Granted, I have seen plenty of people live in the same town as their families, grow up with their neighbors and their neighbors' kids, marry, breed and die generation after generation while living a fairly average and "low stress" life. That is fine, the world needs average people as well.

As if this thread doesn't have enough different views on life, I fall into this one. I lived in Harrisonburg for 7 years and enjoyed it but I couldn't wait to get back home after graduation. Since moving back I've traveled some for work and pleasure anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 weeks to various different cities and I always look forward to coming back home. I guess I'm just a homebody. After graduation and some low paying work in Harrisonburg I moved back home after getting a job in my preferred field (law enforcement) and spent about 5 years working my way up to the highest paying level (federal). Now I'm content to stick around here and work my way up the ranks. It's not for everyone, but the "low stress" life isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[Senor_Taylor]

How do you like Bristol? I never knew that place had much besides Thunder Valley.

[Ryan T]

How do you like Bristol? I never knew that place had much besides Thunder Valley.

I love it. It's just the right mix of job availability and not much competition. I was one of only like 10 people with a degree from a respected university when I applied for my current job. Competition here is pretty low. In less than 5 years I've been able to advance from local to small state, to big state, to federal with little more than working hard and interviewing well. One advantage of working in a smaller area is you can make yourself invaluable to local agencies with little more than being good at your job.

[Senor_Taylor]

I love it. It's just the right mix of job availability and not much competition. I was one of only like 10 people with a degree from a respected university when I applied for my current job. Competition here is pretty low. In less than 5 years I've been able to advance from local to small state, to big state, to federal with little more than working hard and interviewing well. One advantage of working in a smaller area is you can make yourself invaluable to local agencies with little more than being good at your job.

May I ask your Major/Degree and Job field now?

[Tyler.M]

also, i hate renting so i'd probably want to buy if i was planning to stay over 6 months

Dad's always told me to only buy if you're planning on owning the place for ~5 years. Renting gives you the freedom to up and leave whenever you want.

One of my business professors said if you want to buy you need to stay 3 years or your going to lose money on realtor fees when selling. Buying a house for 1-2 years is a bad investment.

I plan to never sell and just rent out, working with a local rental broker to keep the place in shape/ rented. Bought my first house at 22, plan to keep buying up real estate. wherever i move i'd like to buy,and keep the property in my portfolio. just need to buy smart.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Ryan T]

I love it. It's just the right mix of job availability and not much competition. I was one of only like 10 people with a degree from a respected university when I applied for my current job. Competition here is pretty low. In less than 5 years I've been able to advance from local to small state, to big state, to federal with little more than working hard and interviewing well. One advantage of working in a smaller area is you can make yourself invaluable to local agencies with little more than being good at your job.

May I ask your Major/Degree and Job field now?

I double majored in Psychology and History and I'm an officer for the U.S. Courts.

[Senor_Taylor]

I was hoping you'd say IT I had hope for me sticking around a small town.

[*insertusernamehere*]

Lol not just cause the majority of the jobs are elsewhere and you don't currently know anyone doing what you want in Lynchburg means you can't do it. Sometimes you kinda have to hunt and fight for what you want. I'm sure there are a few decent companies in town that could use IT people. You'll just have to really put yourself out there to get them. Aren't there colleges in Lynchburg? You might not be paid the most glamorous salary but universities use IT people, also for a small town you don't really need a massive paycheck. You just gotta make it what you want and be okay with any compromises, as long as you're happy.

[Senor_Taylor]

Car parts online cost the same no matter what the cost of living is in the area