Job advice for son

[Ian R]

Its not about what looks the best career its about fiding something you will enjoy doing. Your more likely to move uo the ladder in a job you enjoy than if you hate it.

[terribleturner]

I work in media, and to be honest it all depends on what sector he want's to go into. Television side, qualifications mean nothing and experience is everything. I'm not saying for him to leave now. He definalty should do A-levels but they're not neccassary, same with Uni. Infact my dad would never employ a uni grad over someone just out of school.

[Bobbeh]

Infact my dad would never employ a uni grad over someone just out of school.

 

Explain this, is he worried about having to pay more or the Uni person possibly leaving sooner?

[Pete]

Explain this, is he worried about having to pay more or the Uni person possibly leaving sooner?

Probably pay. I run an ISP and simply hire graduates as they have the underlying methodology and background understanding you simply don't get without formal training. Ok, so most of what you learn in an IT degree you can throw out the window, but the fundamental basics are still common. It's more a mind discipline thing.

Kids that come to me without any formal training usually have a very Gung Ho approach to things, don't understand fully what they're doing and generally 'hack' about until things work. A grad will always research and do it properly.

 

Of course their wage expectations are more, but generally if you treat them fair they'll hang around.

[Supragal]

Heres my thoughts. If he doesn't know what he wants to do then pick GCSEs based on what his strengths are because by the time he's at Uni GCSEs will be condenced into amount and grade and subject will be dropped so at some point it becomes irrelevant WHAT he got 5 A's in, it's more that he got 5 A's - if that makes sense.

 

Computer skills are essentila but career wise, lets face it it's getting flodded so if he's after big bucks then hopefully he's psychic and can predict the next big demand!

[Bobbeh]

Ok, so most of what you learn in an IT degree you can throw out the window, but the fundamental basics are still common. It's more a mind discipline thing.

 

I think this depends on what was studied as part of the degree. If its a technical related degree you may be correct to some extent, ie as some languages/skills die out but its the fundamentals skills that can be retained.

 

I see where you're coming from though, real world training is always going to be great too have.

 

I studied mainly project management in my computing degree and much of what I learned can still be applied to the work I do today, and in other jobs that arnt even IT related.

[GeordieSteve]

Echo what most have said here. No to the IT world. Too many "get a guarenteed 30k a year in IT" adverts on the TV so everyone has done it. Truth is there's not enough jobs, too many engineers and not enough bloody ca$h!

[terribleturner]

Explain this, is he worried about having to pay more or the Uni person possibly leaving sooner?

No, the thing is your still gonna have to teach both the Grad and non Grad from the same level. More or less everyone has to start as a runner on very low wages, and some people fresh out of uni feel they should be paid more because they've got a degree in film studies which when put into the real world of media means not alot. It's a very unusual field to work in but it's the way that 99% of it works.

[Bobbeh]

I guess it depends on the type of industry then. Thanks for explaining your point.

[CardiffSupra]

The amount of people i know who have been to uni doing IT or computing and not being able to get a job when they finish is silly, most of them have wasted 4-5 years of there life! The world is crying out for good plummers, I work doing suspended ceilings and office partitions and some times have to get plummers/sparkys in etc, cant find a good plummer anywhere, and if you do find one they never turn up on time tell him to buy a watch if he wants to be a plummer!

[sooper-supra]

i really think that he can get good gcse etc he just needs to work harder and listen more he is good in business as currently he runs his own online business on eBay which is a experience for him.

[Craig David]

I went from school, then did A-levels and on to uni as it was 'the thing to do'.

 

I wish I hadn't. I should have waited until I knew a degree course I wanted to do or just not bothered at all.

 

I work in the media now (I write for a national magazine). It's very hard work and stressful but quite interesting and crammed with drugs and pros etc.

 

If I was doing things again, I'd probably be a plumber for the cash / lack of stress. Just turn up at someone's house, have a few Stellars at lunch, go through the woman's underwear draw and then charge them exactly the same amount as the price of the jet ski I want to buy at the weekend.

[sooper-supra]

lol