Ask Lemmy

Unless you have real and actual interest in software development and computers, I wouldn't go into it. I hire developers, and the good ones I don't gleven care what or where they studied, they're the ones that love tinkering with a raspberry pie, they're the ones who love to work on open-source projects, they're the ones that are self taught because they couldn't wait for school or university to teach them.

From what you're telling me, it sounds like a "well yeah I guess I could do that" which to me sounds like you don't love it. I love my job, I go programming on a Saturday morning because to me it's like building a puzzle. I love puzzles.

I might be mistaken here but I don't think you'd love your job very much if you'd be in IT

if you're vaguely interested in and understand basic programming you could get into software QA.

it's fairly easy to get into in my experience, you're generally not bombarded with ludicrous CS questions at interview and you can move into other software roles later if you wish.

confident coders in QA are like gold dust imo.

That said the tech job market is in kind of a slump atm though so do your research

Live it and love it, no matter where you find yourself; now and in the future.

Good luck.

Un mio amico è partito un po' di anni fabper l'Olanda con zero conoscenze di computer eccetto averne montati un paio, ha incominciato a fare IT per le aziende mentre si guardava filmati su youtube per risolvere i problemi che gli capitavano e pian piano ha imparato. Nel frattempo ha preso lezioni di programmazione e adesso gestisce la parte software di una startup. Ovviamente devi trovare una situazione che favorisca questa cosa e in Italia ahimè ce n'è poche.

Take a backpacking trip with one of those places that get you a job at hostel for sleep and food. It's a great way to travel around, explore and get to know yourself until you figure out what really interests you. It also connects you with variety of people for potential career and gives you perspective of how other people found their spark.

People often overlook this but having a genuine interest in your career subject is the key to sustainable success as you've probably noticed with your computer science studies.

The only danger here is getting trapped in a party loop but it's easy to avoid if you have temperance and are mindful of your goals.

Install Linux

Can confirm. Boring is the way. Accounting, economics, etc.

For me, I worked my ass off to be a person that works on movies and TV etc. Got lucky, held some dream positions, and even got to make my own thing.

However, if I could do it all again, I'd stay in the boring office job I had and share twice as much time with my family and friends.

Instead, I worked 80 hour weeks, made some decent money in respected roles, and then Covid took everyone and everything close to me. Money and respect mean nothing if you can't share it with those you love.

Boring is the way. Don't worry about liking your job in 10-20 years, worry about liking your life.

I was kind of lost in my late 20s and went to a career counselor. We did a bunch of exercises and I did a bunch of reading. After a few weeks with her help I narrowed it down to about 4-5 careers I was interested in. We then looked at job markets and education requirements and I picked a direction to go.

It's been about 10 years and it was a great decision.

Dont commit to a course of study unless you are following your passion, or have a realistic plan to monetise the skills you get out of it.

Even if university is cheap/free in your region, the opportunity cost is steep. You will spend the next 3-5 years on subsistence wages, and come out the other end with very few practical skills beyond those of your specific area of study.

As cliché as it may sound, take a year off and bum around the world doing casual/seasonal labour while you figure out where you actually want to end up, because no-one else can define your future.

Find your nearest shady Street and get to trick'n

Get a degree in accounting. The last person to ever get the axe when jobs start getting cut are the accountants. It will be a boring job but the thing is, boring is good! Boring means your needs are met and you aren't stressed out. Boredom is a first world problem. An easy, boring job that pays well is what I would tell my 27 y/o self to go for if I could. I've given my (now adult) kids this same advice FWIW.

can’t even imagine what type of job I’d love

Fun fact! Most of us don't love our jobs. We just do them to have a roof over our heads and food on our tables.

I'm 48. You have ages. Do it now or you'll be me remembering when I was you.

Jobs are just a means to live life. If you can make money doing something you love, great. But if you can't, use the money from work to pursue your hobbies and interests.

I travel (I'm on a flight to Queretaro, Mexico right now), paint, play music, run a D&D game, and snowboard. I also speak several languages like you. Use them or lose them, literally.

Live a full life; your job doesn't define you.

If you wouldn’t really want to do programming, don’t. That only gets worse for a lot of people. It’s something I enjoy and have done well at, and it can be tempting given the number of jobs and growth, and good pay. However the people I know who are most miserable are those who weren’t especially interested in the work but the jobs and the money.

I’m sure you could do programming, and you’d deal with it a few years, but it’s a specialty that not everyone will enjoy, and you may just get more and more miserable.

I Personally believe not enough people start from the other side, the subject matter interest. Pretty much every field needs programming or technical skills, and data science is exploding across many fields. Definitely an option to consider is whatever subject you like, but the technical skills to bring the automation or the data analysis. That going to be huge!

First: stay strong, you got this.

If you're "not really" into CS, I would think long and hard before committing to it. While it's very useful to pick up a few basic skills, studying theoretical computer science is a whole different level. I'd suggest you look at the basics, start programming on some of the websites people have suggested in the comments and do a few small projects for yourself. Then at least you'll know, if you have fun programming and problem solving.

I studied computer science without knowing much about it when I started, and it was a good decision for me - however it wouldn't have been for everyone.

So far, I found that many people underestimate the soft skills they bring. For many (not all) jobs the actual knowledge of the field you need to fulfill the job can be learned quite fast. But they need people that are good organizers or good communicators or good critics, or people that dive in and check every detail or people good in seeing the bigger picture. I sometimes think its more important to find a job fitting to your softskills than to your degree. In an ideal Job it would be both of course.

For example. My father switched fields from social worker to systems administrator. Most would say what a big shift, but he just loves to help people - no matter if its their daily life or their computers he can help with. But IT had better job opportunities. He is very happy.

Tell us more about your skills and maybe we have more specific ideas for you.

In my 20s I worked a lot of different jobs in a lot of different industries and learned something from each one. There is nothing wrong with making a living until you can make a career.

I think a problem is that many jobs exist in the world, and we don't even know that most of them exist or what they are. If there are any really large companies near you, see if you can get in doing something, anything. Once you are in, you can learn about the different types of jobs in the company and maybe start trying to work towards something that you like better, either within that company or in another company. Also just having co-workers or a boss to discuss these things with can be a big help and open you up to some new possibilities that you didn't know about. But yeah, don't worry about finding your perfect job right away. Having any job will open doors and connections, making it easier to land that perfect job in the future.

You won't love your job. Get a job you'd be good at and that pays well. Spend your free time doing what you love.

"Discover What You Are Best At" by Linda Gail.

I was about the same age as you are now when I found this book. It led me to a career I'd never even sonsidered before.

If you can afford it, just get a MBA and try to get a business job. It may not be the most exciting career path, but it's at least pretty guaranteed to get you a job that pays decently (of course salaries vary widely but this is one of the paths to least resistance) and opens up a ton of opportunities.

Again, this is advice for if you don't have an alternative career parh that excites and motivates you. It's just a decent way to get a decent paying (or even well paying) job. Better than nothing.

For me, a job is just a way to pay the bills and build wealth with the hope of retiring early. I get my satisfaction from my hobbies and family, not my job.

Can you speak italian, french, and english fluently and if so how common is that around you? If you can speak several languages fluently and its not a common thing then you may want to look at law.

The first option sounds to be fitting your interest the most, so why not go with that?

As it reads like another study course, the question is if the reasons for giving up your original course still persist. If so, deal with that first, I would suggest.

I can’t picture myself in 5/10 years from now and can’t even imagine what type of job I’d love, bc everything seems out fo reach and impossible

You're approaching this with 100% the wrong view and attitude. You sound like you're trying to define your life by what job you have. Your job should just be the way you fund your life.

Find out what you want out of life. Do you want a family? Do you want to travel? Make art? Build community? Learn what hobbies you enjoy, how you want to spend your days, who you like to surround yourself with. Then figure out what you need financially to make that happen to the best of your ability. (Nothing will ever be perfect, and you shouldn't expect that.) Then find a job that can fund the lifestyle you want.

Who cares what the job is? That's not what life is about. That's just how you pay for your life. Most people don't love their job. Hell, most people don't even like their job. It's just how we get food and shelter.

Since you're not sure what you want to do, I say don't pursue a specific career, but pursue a field that interests you. You might not have the luxury of finding a job opening for exactly what you want, even if you did have something specific in mind, but by having relevant skills you can get closer and eventually find something that works for you.

I went to school for a certain field, found a job that was in no way related, and eventually got a position there that did use my education (I was chosen because of it). 10 years later, found a new company in "my field" that uses both my education and the skills from the previous job that I thought would never be useful elsewhere. The more things you can put on your resume, the better, especially in a world where AI will be screening thousands of applications for the most keywords.