|
Forums >
General Industry >
Choosing the right career....
Choosing the right career can be tough...so I'd rather not leave all the thinking for the last minute since pretty soon I'll be filling out college applications. I was wondering if some of you would be nice enough to answer a few questions. ***Have any of you studied MARKETING? If so, pros & cons please.*** *What did you study in college? Did you or do you like it? Pros & Cons? *Have you studied one thing in college...yet ended up doing something completely different? (I know a few people that have.) *What did you enjoy the most about college and what did you or do you regret? ~~Thanks for taking the time to read and answer.~~ Aug 27 06 10:49 pm Link Lovely Little Lady wrote: I majored in communications..Broadcast Aug 27 06 10:58 pm Link Thanks! Really appreciate the info! -Geraldine E. Aug 27 06 11:17 pm Link I studied mathematics because I liked it and ended up as a Marine officer, then later an engineer. If I had it to do over again, I'd do exactly the same thing. I advise you to study what intrigues and excites you and ignore the concept that college is about getting a job. College is about learning. It's not a trade school. Follow your curiousity and the right job will find you. -Don Aug 27 06 11:55 pm Link Don, thanks. Wonderful advice. I'll remember that "Follow your curiousity and the right job will find you". -Geraldine. Aug 28 06 12:30 am Link Lovely Little Lady wrote: I studied Cultural Anthropology at University. The only company that recruited me was the CIA. I wound up being a chef for 11 years including the years I used it to put myself through school for two of my degrees, doing fine art landscapes on my own. and now I'm a Medical Photographer, who does Landscapes, them occasional Headshot, and now Nude Fine Art and Erotic Photography. Go Figure! Aug 28 06 12:39 am Link D. Brian Nelson wrote: I agree with you 100%. Aug 28 06 12:51 am Link I was on my way upward until hiting the bad crowd and then the fateful day when my brother made fun of me bringing books home to do homework. I would have been a good engineer. Creative but structured within logic. And that was after a few years of goofing off. What a fool I was? (never mind the present) Was great at sports but so disallusioned that I did not want to go to college to be on a "team" to stay. Started to study business management and one class in painting and one in photography. It did not seem like work. It does not seem like work. Except for editing. (can I just shoot?) And paperwork Especially chasing down money already deserved. One of the reasons I am a slow editor. I am spending time hunting down money that should already be delivered months ago. Aug 28 06 12:56 am Link Marksora wrote: -You studied business management...How was that? Was it an interesting course? Aug 28 06 01:13 am Link Went to school to be a slot machine technician in atlantic city, now I do wedding photography, models, family portraits , maternity/newborns, etc. Go figure. Only schooling I did for photography was in highschool in 1987 Aug 28 06 09:22 am Link I studied and got a degree in business management. I tooked some marketing classes and I was facinated with it. I considered changing to marketing or doing a dual major - but the time and cost was prohibitive. marketing might encompas more than you realize, but I think it is great knowledge -- that is beneficial to so many facets of life. Aug 28 06 09:28 am Link I picked up a BS in financial accounting with a minor in marketing from USC in 1986. The accounting helps with my books and gave me business insight, however the marketing has developed itself with the changing Internet and latest advertising campaigns, yet I was blessed with some very creative and ingenious professors for my marketing. U.S. statistics indicate that youâll change jobs 20 times in a lifetime and careers 5 times in a lifetime. If I had it to do all over again Iâd flip my major for my minor. Good luck! Aug 28 06 09:32 am Link Marksora wrote: Wow, does pretty much all that sound pretty familiar or what! My path was different. And similar. Quite similar. Aug 28 06 09:32 am Link D. Brian Nelson wrote: You won't get more valuable advice than that. Definately go to school and study your little heart out - in whatever interests you. Don't ignore your financial education though. That won't take place at college. Aug 28 06 09:39 am Link Don't know if this helps or not but . . . I barely made it out of high school. I mean by the skin of my teeth. I've just never done well in that environment. Had a small clothing line all through my twenties that let me scrape by. Learned a ton doing that and never had a steady paycheck for ten years. Built it up to $1.5M before it fell apart. Took a job working nights and went to school for graphic design and did some work in that area. HATED it. But . . . in the art history portion of the program, I was so inspired that I saved for two years to afford a two month jaunt around Europe. Best two months of my life, hands down!! Got back, worked multiple jobs and jaunted around again the next year. That's what got me back into photography, back into school to study it and get better at it. Like Don says, this is my curiosity and I'm following it. Marketing . . . beware getting roped into the numbers and paper pushing end of it. The creative aspects of the four P's, product, price, placement and promotion, amount to more assembling the pieces of the puzzle. Coordinating all the efforts. Honestly, most of the time it seems that a business would benefit more by taking what they already have and do and making it more efficient rather than purchasing the results of a market study, focus group or some other bullshit. Every time I hear someone talk about their ROI, I want to kick them in the teeth. To me, marketing is serious smoke and mirrors work, devoid of expression or conscious and geared towards herding the lowest common denominator. Aug 28 06 10:10 am Link Chip Morton wrote: Agreed to some degree, but it's still hard to argue with a $150,000 - $500,000 annual income (my fiancee's level of marketing, anyway). Aug 28 06 10:48 am Link I have a BS in physics/mathematics. I decided my mathematical intuition wasn't up to graduate work and went to law school to become a patent lawyer. Now I'm general counsel to the largest coin-up game manufacturer in the world. It's a funny old thing, life. The advice I will add to "do what you love" is: whatever you study, take some logic courses. I mean either the real logic courses in the philosophy department or an introduction to mathematical logic. The ability to think logically and to logically analyze a problem is a jewel beyond price. I've done programming, network administration, patent drafting, litigation analysis, anything asked of me - and I've never had a great deal of difficulty with the basics of any field because I know how to think logically and find logical ways to analyze and solve problems. Nobody knows how to do everything, but if you know how to think logically, you can do anything (or find out who can.) M Aug 28 06 11:51 am Link Mayanlee wrote: Agreed. If you want to work for someone else for the rest of your life. That isn't necessarly a bad thing but it is important to understand the limitations and be aware of other options. Aug 28 06 12:28 pm Link ***Have any of you studied MARKETING? If so, pros & cons please.*** No and it was a mistake, I wish I had. *What did you study in college? Did you or do you like it? Pros & Cons? The way I did it is not way I would recommend. I began with a major in microbioogy, then switched to marine biology. After discovering I really hated science, I wnt through several other major, ending upp graduating with a doouble major in philosophy and psychology which I loved. *Have you studied one thing in college...yet ended up doing something completely different? (I know a few people that have.) Many did that, myself included. I ended up in a career which was unrelated to anything I studied in college. *What did you enjoy the most about college and what did you or do you regret? College is about learning. I took the interesting courses in one major, then switched to another. College is not about preparing for a specific job, it's about exploring possibilities and learning to understand the world. Many believe an entring freshman has to know in advance what they will do the rest of their life. It isn't, it's about finding out. Changing your major takes only minutes. Aug 28 06 12:33 pm Link D. Brian Nelson wrote: OOH RAH - Jarhead!!! Aug 28 06 12:40 pm Link Marksora wrote: u should've kicked your brother's ass for laughing at u. Aug 28 06 01:37 pm Link You guys have all given me valuable advice. All this time, I've been worried about "what will I major in when I get to college", but you guys are right, its not about working to get a job...it's about learning and living that experience to the fullest of my ability. Great advice guys! As for degrees making a difference, I've been told that throughout life. I've had teachers say it, my mother, my father, endless amount of people...and the older I get, the more I realize how true it really is. ~~Thanks for the advice~~ Aug 28 06 01:38 pm Link Vance wrote: Agree because that's what I'm taking in class now to add to my photography. digital media. This is the new photohgraphy. I'm also taking graphic design/illustration and advertisement. Aug 28 06 01:40 pm Link Mayanlee wrote: What? you dropped out? That's a damn shame. Funny, was talking to another about fine arts and there isn't any money in it. I'm a commercial/advertisement major currently in school. Fine arts is cool, but you'll have to have a niche market to be succesful in it. If applied correctly, can be a very powerful marketing tool. Aug 28 06 01:54 pm Link Don has basically said what I would say. Study what you love and enjoy. Don't worry about the job market, that is out of your control. If you like what you do, you will do well and automatically rise to the top of the field. Also, take the potential income out of the equation, you will make enough once you have a degree with a job (or become an entrepreneur) in a field that you love. The most important thing, afterall, is happiness. A good example is the difference between my brother and me. I am the "oldest son", and naturally has been more influenced by my parents, both scientists. Besides that, I was also a classically-trained singer and that is my love. I was in London and almost went to the Royal School of Music, but ultimately was defeated by the silly notion that an engineering job is more "secure" and went next door to Imperial College (like the MIT of the UK). Years went by, I got another Master from U of W and found a job that jaded me more than anything else. I was depressed for years until I quit and came back to school to get my PhD and teach, even though I made great money. I never stop singing and performing, and I picked up photography as a creative outlet. My brother is the opposite. He has been a music person since he was born, loving every minute with the piano and the cello. Initially he was going on a similar path like mine, to study Acoustic Engineering and minor in Music. After a year, he figured that he wouldn't enjoy doing engineering and wanted to drop it. My parents finally relented after I offered to pay for all of his tuition if they wouldn't; I didn't want him to follow my incorrect path. Fast forward to now, he received his B.A. in Music with highest Honour (yes, the British system), onto a full scholarship for his Master with his graduating piece played by the BBC Symphony. He is working on his doctorate now, happily, making barely enough but being flown around the world to conduct his own pieces or have his pieces played by some of the best orchestras and musicians in the world. You can see his grin from under a motorcycle helmet and you can see that money is not even a factor in his well-being. Just so you know as well, I just coached one of my students to drop engineering and left to do Comparative Literature and History. He was miserable, trying to meet his parents' expectation. He was damn close to giving up on life. One quarter after he switched, I met him on the bus again on campus. I could see a sea-change in attitude, his level of well-being, his high energy and his enthusiasm for finally doing something he loves (ok, he also likes all the girls in those department...  ). Just another example. It takes gut to live a full life that is satisfying and without regret. Or you can look for a job like the majority of sheeps that pays the bills. I would much like to take the former. Good luck. You are very smart to ask this question now, I wish I did. And you have received very very good advice. Aug 28 06 02:22 pm Link My major was communications, focus in advertising, my minor was marketing. I currently am a marketing manager. I love what I do. But I haven't had normal experiences. Feel free to message me and ask questions. Back to work  Edited to add: Consider being a tech ed teacher. I have a good friend who teaches archetecture at a local high school and loves it. This current school year he was also asked to pick up a class on gaming, as well as one of graphic design. The market for tech ed teachers is huge and growing, and the pay is good. Aug 28 06 05:43 pm Link There's a curious perception that those who choose a job path which is connected to Corporate America automatically translates to "settling for" or are referred to as "sheeple." Neither necessarily apply. Challenge and love can be found in any field. Success can be found in any field. However, the opportunity to take advantage of an education can certainly smooth the way, provide the foundation of discipline and start the base of networking that will carry one through life. It took 20 years before my life experience was deemed "equivalent" to a Bachelor's Degree, and still some won't even consider you without it, field experienced or not. Although I love the arts as a passion, it didn't suit me as a business endeavor. But that's personal. I do not ascribe to being a sheeple merely based on the fact that I like a certain lifestyle (which precludes starving). Aug 28 06 05:58 pm Link |
