# Choosing a Career **URL:** \ **Category:** Uncategorized\ **Created:** [August 10, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/choosing-a-career/119006 "2004-08-10T21:11:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![imagined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a87d85/32.png) [@imagined](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/imagined)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/choosing-a-career/119006/1 "2004-08-10T21:11:03Z")
I know lots of you are computer professionals and know a whole lot about the field. I would really appreciate your comments on this. My brother :mu: just graduated from high school last May and is about to enter college. This dude wants a shorts career, kinda like an Associate’s degree. And I tell him that 1. if he’s getting an Associate’s degree in something about computers, to make sure he gets certified, you know like CISCO, or like Java Cerfitied, or stuph like that. 2. and that if he’s getting a Bachelor’s, most probably finding a job will be easier. When I went to college, I also wanted a short career, so I got an Associates in Computer Electronics, but the teachers at that department totally suck. :sigh: I learned very little. Thanks God I got this job as a Webmaster Technician in a school district (making dumb sites was my hobby 😃 so I knew a lil). Now that I want to learn more, what should I do? a) go back to college and get my bachelors b) buy books and get certified c) take the Macromedia courses, and some other specific subject course What do you guys think? ---
**Author:** ![MTsoul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/91b2a8/32.png) [@MTsoul](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/MTsoul)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 9:27pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/choosing-a-career/119006/2 "2004-08-10T21:27:48Z")
I’d say you should go back to a college/university and finish what you didn’t. Getting a Bachelor’s Degree \> getting some certificate. If you have extra time, get certified with other stuff… eh. ---
**Author:** ![hificopymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@hificopymaster](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/hificopymaster)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/choosing-a-career/119006/3 "2004-08-11T01:59:30Z")
I would say both a and b, but since I’m still in school, maybe I’m not ready to be giving advice. 😛 All I know is, up until two years ago, it was rare for me to even score an interview for a job in web development, but then I got my Java certification, and a bit more experience in school, and yesterday I got offered a permanent position at my next co-op placement. Meaning, I basically have my fallback now, if I don’t get a really really cool job when I graduate 6 or 7 years from now. Wow, I sound like one those testimonials on TV… :crazy: ---
**Author:** ![krilnon](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/krilnon/32/34_2.png) [@krilnon](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/krilnon)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 4:03am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/choosing-a-career/119006/4 "2004-08-11T04:03:42Z")
A and B sound good. A good college background is something a lot of people look for when offering jobs. Certification is good, but not as important as A. ---
**Author:** ![CanadianGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@CanadianGuy](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/CanadianGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 4:26am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/choosing-a-career/119006/5 "2004-08-11T04:26:24Z")
I don’t know. Degrees and diplomas aren’t everything. I know a lot of HS dropouts that are doing great. One owns five night clubs and a t-shirt printing business, another owns a gas station and garage (very lucrative business), another is General Manager of a very popular club in Toronto, another one just got signed to a $1 million contract for his band. They’re all very happy with their station in life. One thing I do know is that a college education is what you make of it. I mean most of my graduating class aren’t working in careers that they went to college for. If you simply go to school just to get a piece of paper then that’s what you’re going to get. If you’re really passionate about learning something then success will naturally follow. That piece of paper stuffed in a drawer somewhere _scratches head, 'where did I put it?_ doesn’t mean anything to me now because I know I could’ve gotten the same thing if I’d coasted my way through school. Think of college as your stepping stone, an introduction to possibilities. I spent 3 years in a program that anyone could’ve learned in less than a year if they were really committed and now that I’m doing something that I really enjoy I’ve learned more on my own than most graduates in this field. ---
**Author:** ![krilnon](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/krilnon/32/34_2.png) [@krilnon](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/krilnon)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 4:35am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/choosing-a-career/119006/6 "2004-08-11T04:35:55Z")
A college education is good to have had if your initial choice for a profession falls through.