Stay in Dublin & College vrs Boston & high paying job??????

LegacyUser

Hi,

I really need some help on this, Im still undecided. I have the opportunity to go to Boston & work with a good friend who runs his own company for the past 10 years (mainly Printing & Web Design) to do Web Design I have a regular contract we him working from home but he has asked me (from day one) to go over & stay as long as I want,
Im going into my second year in college (comp science) which I do enjoy but the work is getting in the way --> normally if it was any other job I'd forget the work & study but the money is outstanding & even more so if I go over.
All I ever really wanted to do was get my degree & earn loads of money doing something I'd enjoy, but from the looks of it the only thing I can get with a comp sci degree is a crappy paid job in tech support..... 22 --> 25K im sorry but 4 years studing & all you get is that, come you have to agree that is pretty bad........
I know there lots of different roads to go down, Database managment, coding etc.... But my main interest is in Hardware & networks which is not where all the money is so do I work my ass off for 3 more years and lose that opportunity or take the bull by the horns and go over.
Now that my mind has been side tracked with this job offer I dont know what to do, I love the work Web Design I really enjoy creating web sites......I just dont know what to do, Im still young 19 so I could still go back to college in a few years. please can you give me your advice on this.....

Thanks loads in advance..............

Lafortezza

Can you take a year out from college?
Then go over and work for a year in Boston, if you like it and you're earning a good living and there's a good future in it then happy days, otherwise you've had a year of good experience and you have a college course to come back to.

i_am_dogboy

Maybe you could try it out for a bit and if you don't like it or the prospects of promotion aren't great you could always go back to your degree. And as the computer industry is, the experience you get is only a good thing seeing as most employers want it.

Another thing to think about is what you'd prefer to do with the rest of your life, what i mean is whats the point in turning down a good opportunity for a degree that might not get you anywhere you want.

I'm in a computing degree as well(3rd year now) and I'd jump at an offer like that. Like you said you are still young, and theres nothing to stop you from returning to college, plus you get out of Ireland for a few years. I say go for it.

Don't know if this is good advice, but if it helps then all the better.

RicardoSmith

Never refuse a good thing!

Go to Boston, then do a part time course over there. Have your cake and eat it.

Commissar

First yr Comp Science at UCC: I wish I had your problems.
Speaking of which- A problem shared.......;)

Nuttzz

I agree with the above

Enjoy Boston, let us know how you get on..........

fitz

Take the year off, at least then you have to option to come back to college, head over, buy a CCNA book, study like mad, get your CCNA, maybe do the Checkpoint Firewall exam too, the CCSA.
Then you could try applying for network type jobs, or better still, take care of the companies network, hence giving you experience.
Then do more certification exams...makes you very saleable to employers.

Mighty_Mouse

Ok so you get a nice paid job for your early 20's. But I guarantee you this you will never make the big money without qualificaitons. Also if you are to make money you will be stuck in the same job for the rest of yourlife because you dont have the qualifications to go freelance and be a consultant etc..........

Its a crappy crappy decision to not at least get a degree if not post grad qualification.

You should be finished college in your early 20's whats the rush?

Victor

Can your friend wait until you have finished your exams in May? Go to Boston for the summer, get a feel for the job. Decide in August / Sept. whether to return to college or stay in Boston and do a course there.

PS It's really cold in Boston for the winter.

hedgetrimmer

Go to Boston

Even if you hate it after a year, you can go back to college. If it takes you 5 years, you can go back as a mature student.

You may never get another opportunity to work/ live in Boston

LegacyUser

Thats the plan Victor stay for the summer and see how it goes but Im sure I'll like, I get on great with the guy & the fact that im not really mad on Dublin its such a frigin rip off ((((((((((EVERYTHING))))))))))) is, I can see myself staying.

Thanks everyone for the advice........cheers

Victor

Get him to start working on your visa now, unless you can get a J1.

Zascar

If you can get the year off definitely do that... I wish I had an opportunity like that, I've got to creat one myself... Definitely go, it will be an amazing experience, and who knows what contacts you can make when you are over there! Degrees/Qualifications are important, but they are not everything. Experience is 10 times better that what education can teach you...

Kernel32

I agree with most and say do it and try and keep the door open to returning to Ireland to complete your education. I don't have a degree and I have worked in the states, about 100miles north of Boston, for the past 6 years, I started out in Ireland and worked there for around 2 and a half years. If you don't get your degree be prepared to explain why at every interview, I still get asked about my education. Try and get industry certs, MCSE, MCSD etc. You can do well in this business even without a degree but it will be a handicap not having one. I disagree with Might_Mouse about never making the big money. I do very well for myself without a degree and so do others like me, but it takes a combination of ambition and some luck to do it.

Good luck in Boston, its getting a little warmer this part of the world right now, somedays it even gets above 0C which is nice. If you get a chance during the summer take some trips farther north, New Hampshire and Maine(which is where I am) are very nice in the summer and autumn.