Career Choices

Hey Yall

Hey guys I'm in 5th year now and I have not made up my mind exactly as to what I want to do .. I know I have yet to have much/serious discussions about it but I want a pretty clear goal of what to reach. My subjects are English Irish Maths as standard with Construction Studies, Engineering , DCG , Physics and Applied Maths. Those are all at higher level and most of them will stay that way for the forseeable future. Its obvious I'm heading towards an engineering route but I don't exactly know what I want. I am interested in Marine Engineering, There are a lot of jobs in the business with little trained people and a nice fat pay cheque even at junior level not to mention the luxuries of being on board cruise ships sailing round the world (Spare me the difficulty with family bit please). But apart from Marine engineering I have not really much of a clue as to what else I want. I was thinking if anyone could recommend to me some careers which pay well i.e 50K Up and I would be suited to .. I would like to know aswell is becoming an architect or Woodwork/Metalwork teacher a doomed search for jobs?

djpbarry

Hey Yall wrote: »

I was thinking if anyone could recommend to me some careers which pay well i.e 50K Up and I would be suited to ...

You don't think you're going to walk into a job on €50k just after doing a degree, do you?

spurious

You would be mental to go into teaching if you want to make money.
It takes 25 years to reach the top of the scale - that's if you manage to get a full-time job. Far more likely to be on about 15-20k maximum for the first number of years.

LooksLikeRain

The senad might suit as it will still be there when you finish.

longhalloween

Engineers regularly get 30k starting if you get a decent degree. A few years experience could get you 50k and the skies the limit if you want to go into management or form your own company. Marine engineering might be a bit specialised, but you could start in Mechanical or Mechatronics and go from there. Interesting stuff if you get into it and since your skills are portable you could really go anywhere with them.

Pick up a few engineering hobbyist books if you want a flavour of the subject. O'Reilly publishing have dozens of books, including MAKE magazine.

Hey Yall

Haha 50k at around 22 years old with 0 Experience? Ya No I know I will be doing well if I get 25-30K when I start out .. Ive recently started reading a Java Coding book as I have some interest in becoming a software developer.. Anyone want to inform me on the situation with that field? The pay looks pretty good with experience and jobs look a plenty too .. Ireland is only after recently gotten into computers and companies are only now starting to set up here so by the time I get out I reckon the computer industry will have increased even more .. Anyone want to correct me in anything im saying or add ? also will the software developement course in CIT be sufficient enough to become a software developer/engineer or am I looking at the wrong course?

LooksLikeRain

Many of the IT jobs in Ireland are subsidised by the IDA, mainly the multinationals. This normally means for many postions after two years or less you will be let go so as the company can hire someone else and get another subsidy from the IDA.
The agenda in ireland is to have as many people as possible trained in IT related areas so as the wages can be lowered, they call it the smart economy but really it is the slave economy.
There is one American IT multinational which always claims to have over 100 vacancies which it cannot fill. I enquired about a job with them which required a degree and fleuncy in two languages. At the time I wanted to move out of Dublin to Galway for a change. I also have many years experience. The starting salary was € 18k, which was subsidised by the IDA. Its no wonder they cant fill the positions.

djpbarry

LooksLikeRain wrote: »

There is one American IT multinational which always claims to have over 100 vacancies which it cannot fill. I enquired about a job with them which required a degree and fleuncy in two languages. At the time I wanted to move out of Dublin to Galway for a change. I also have many years experience. The starting salary was € 18k, which was subsidised by the IDA. Its no wonder they cant fill the positions.

Meanwhile, I’ve just been emailed an advert for a contract role in Dublin (Java, 4-5 years experience) paying €250 - 360 per day.

Sitting here in London, salaries for developers in Dublin look very attractive.

LooksLikeRain

comparing contract rates with salaries opens up a whole other area

djpbarry

LooksLikeRain wrote: »

comparing contract rates with salaries opens up a whole other area

I just used it as an example. Point is you can make very good money as a developer in Ireland (Dublin in particular). Here some examples of full-time posts:

http://jobview.monster.ie/J2EE-Java-Developer-2-5-years-with-Job-Dublin-Dublin-Ireland-125547731.aspx
http://jobview.monster.ie/Lead-Java-Developer-Job-Dublin-Dublin-Ireland-126430721.aspx

There’s no way €18k is the norm for someone with 5 years’ experience – that’s nonsense.

LooksLikeRain

Point taken.
I am just making the point that in reality the IT jobs market is currently distorted for political reasons and soundbites from multinational CEOs complaining about unfilled vacancies need to be treated with caution.
The most important thing about career is to enjoy what you do, that way it is easy to get to the top, and the big bucks!

djpbarry

LooksLikeRain wrote: »

Point taken.
I am just making the point that in reality the IT jobs market is currently distorted for political reasons and soundbites from multinational CEOs complaining about unfilled vacancies need to be treated with caution.

Sure - the term "IT" is applied very liberally these days, to the point that new call centres are being hailed as new "IT jobs".

Hey Yall

So jobs are a plenty and with experience the money is huge is what im getting from you guys .. Would it be worth my time doing a Software Development course at CIT so? Its seems like a good route to go down .. sure theres negatives but you can look at any job and theres negatives .. Its Ireland after all

djpbarry

Hey Yall wrote: »

So jobs are a plenty and with experience the money is huge is what im getting from you guys .. Would it be worth my time doing a Software Development course at CIT so?

Back up a second - you were talking about marine engineering in your first post, now we've moved to software development? Ignoring for a moment that the ability to code is going to be useful in a variety of industries, it's not a good idea for you to be basing your choice of third-level education on what the jobs market in Ireland looks like today, because it's likely things will have changed quite a bit by the time you graduate. It would be far more advisable to focus on what you enjoy doing and base your decision on that.

Hey Yall

This thread was about discussing Career choices .. So I dont see why the topic changing is a problem .. and if you read my previous post I was predicting the computing/It industry in Ireland to have increased in the future so Im not fully basing it off now .. I enjoy working with technology , I enjoy carpentry and engineering .. Im a practical person .. I cant sit down and work I find it extremely dull .. So This Engineering route is where I want to go .. Something that has to do with Technology or Practical skills .. I was just wanting people to maybe suggest to me some careers around that area that would be worth studying

djpbarry

Hey Yall wrote: »

.. I cant sit down and work I find it extremely dull ..

Then you definitely don't want to be a software developer.

Engineers also spend a considerable amount of time sitting in front of a computer.

longhalloween

djpbarry wrote: »

Then you definitely don't want to be a software developer.

Engineers also spend a considerable amount of time sitting in front of a computer.

If you try electronic or mechanical engineering you'll get to build physical objects.

Nothing better than designing a circuit, writing the code and building a finished product that you can hold in your hand.

djpbarry

longhalloween wrote: »

If you try electronic or mechanical engineering you'll get to build physical objects.

Not necessarily. What you'll definitely be doing is designing. With a computer.

longhalloween

djpbarry wrote: »

Not necessarily. What you'll definitely be doing is designing. With a computer.

It's a poor course that doesn't have you working with circuits, cutting wires, placing components and physically measuring voltage and current.

djpbarry

longhalloween wrote: »

It's a poor course that doesn't have you working with circuits, cutting wires, placing components and physically measuring voltage and current.

I'm not talking about the course though. I'm talking about what an engineer does professionally.

Hey Yall

Electronic Engineering is actually very appealing too .. You get to work with technology .. create it assemble it see how it works .. Pays is pretty good too .. Seems to be as good as any other Engineering jobs in that area .. but is there many jobs in the area? Obviously doing an electronic engineering course opens up huge job opportunities in all areas