.

[Captain Obvious]

Re: MA in English is no go; considering IT training

What do you want to do and enjoy doing? Just be mindful many companies want someone with a bachelor's in an IT field. An A+ or MCSE isn't going to cut it anymore.

 

[Ace]

Re: MA in English is no go; considering IT training

All I ever wanted to do was be a reporter, cover crime, etc., and amybe work my way to bigger papers or work my way up the editing chain. My wife is making nearly three times as much as I ever made as a reporter, so relocation for a lousy $20k a year in Paris, Texas, (sorry, YF, couldn't help it) ain't worth it. I've given up on the industry, so I'm trying to figure out something else. I thought teaching would be a good route, so I applied for the masters program. I got rejected. Now, I'm trying to put together plan C.

There are a lot of call centers in my area. I may try to get on with one and say so long to a career and settle for minimum wage.

On the plus side, I believe most call centers pay better than minimum wage -- and probably better than more newspaper starting salaries.

 

[Captain Obvious]

Re: MA in English is no go; considering IT training

All I ever wanted to do was be a reporter, cover crime, etc., and amybe work my way to bigger papers or work my way up the editing chain. My wife is making nearly three times as much as I ever made as a reporter, so relocation for a lousy $20k a year in Paris, Texas, (sorry, YF, couldn't help it) ain't worth it. I've given up on the industry, so I'm trying to figure out something else. I thought teaching would be a good route, so I applied for the masters program. I got rejected. Now, I'm trying to put together plan C.

There are a lot of call centers in my area. I may try to get on with one and say so long to a career and settle for minimum wage.

Try for a communications master if you like that, orvstick with English. There are online master's programs from reputable schools. For a lot of public universities, the tuition differential for residents and non-residents is minimal for online programs. I know Utah State offers an online master's in English that's affordable.

 

[Buck]

Re: MA in English is no go; considering IT training

If you still owe $20k on your first student, make sure you really look at the payout on a master's degree.
It's far from a guarantee of employment, and you could be blowing you debt up to $50k or more if you start looking at some of the online programs.
I'm not saying it's not worth it. I'm saying you have to realistic about your job prospects and salary when you come out the other side.

Community college is a more affordable route, but I don't know what the prospects are for a two-year IT degree.

 

[Tom Petty]

Re: MA in English is no go; considering IT training

or grow weed illegally?

 

[joe]

Re: MA in English is no go; considering IT training

Maybe you should just GET A ****ING HAIRCUT! [old SJ]

 

[Lugnuts]

Re: MA in English is no go; considering IT training


What's the school? Because they're ****in' dead to me.

Sorry, Bradley. I know I'm always needing IT help. I use my nephew, but he's quit taking my calls.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Re: MA in English is no go; considering IT training

The computer IT idea is a pretty good one, but beware. A lot of companies are outsourcing their IT departments to Asia for the cheap wages, so it may be hard to find a FT gig with little experience.

It might be a good idea if (channeling my inner-YF here), you plan on starting an IT freelance business where you'll have to take a lot of time to build a clientele of people and small businesses who need computer help, but you'll be able to charge a good amount of money for your service.

 

[Tom Petty]

Re: MA in English is no go; considering IT training

Maybe you should just GET A ****ING HAIRCUT! [old SJ]

****, i owe joe $20 and just realized it.

carry on.

 

[Captain Obvious]

Re: MA in English is no go; considering IT training

I was thinking about learning hardware repair. I'd like to learn it all, but laptops, tablets, and smartphones is probably the bulk of the business. People aren't buying desktops like they used to. Might be harder to outsource overseas, too. I doubt I've ever had a laptop go to India to have a logic board replaced.

At worst, I could be one of those Best Buy Geek Squad assholes. All you have to do, and I experienced this, is take a broken piece of equipment and replace it with a different piece of broken equipment someone else brought in. I had an iPod with a hard drive failure, and it was twice replaced by refurbished units with the same problem. I eventually talked them into swapping for a brand new unit.

Low-paying work, at best. Repair work is outsourced. Had an HP laptop shipped to Shanghai for repairs.

 

[PopeDirkBenedict]

Re: MA in English is no go; considering IT training

I was thinking about learning hardware repair. I'd like to learn it all, but laptops, tablets, and smartphones is probably the bulk of the business. People aren't buying desktops like they used to. Might be harder to outsource overseas, too. I doubt I've ever had a laptop go to India to have a logic board replaced.

At worst, I could be one of those Best Buy Geek Squad assholes. All you have to do, and I experienced this, is take a broken piece of equipment and replace it with a different piece of broken equipment someone else brought in. I had an iPod with a hard drive failure, and it was twice replaced by refurbished units with the same problem. I eventually talked them into swapping for a brand new unit.

Learn how to run/update/troubleshoot computer servers. You can get a job in school districts, courts, etc. -- anywhere that is going to have a lot of computers, they need someone to keep the network going and it is going to be onsite. Then learn some basic repair skills for when someone brings in a busted laptop.

 

[Fly]

Re: MA in English is no go; considering IT training

Info Sec is the field I would look at. Some of the certs are quite difficult to obtain but it's a still-growing part on the industry. Couple it with some hardware and networking skills, you'll nearly always be employable.