[Hokahey]

Questions:
1. Have you/are you currently attending a post-secondary institute? If so, what are you studying, and to what degree? If not, what did you do after high school?

Yes, I did a year and a half at a community college back in 01 thru 03. I am currently after this semester two classes away from getting my current degree. Computer System Applications, previously I was in a general education degree and then switched to a Computer Programming degree.

2. If you have a job, what is it? Do you enjoy it? What credentials did you need?

I am currently unemployed.

3. What would your dream job be?



One where I walk in and feel bliss and can accommodate my basic needs for a wife and three kids.

4. If you could, would go go back and change anything in regards to your educational choices?

I might consider it, but I chose function over passion. :(

[expodentialfunction]

I realized early on. The School System, prepares one, to be a rat, for a race. That cannot be won. Every year after 5th grade reaffirmed my observations. I watched the school system produce some very healthy rats for the race. Most of them didn't know that. The cheese will always be out of reach. So I sat down one day and calculated what one needs to live a happy fullfilling life.

After 14 mths and $10,000 later I graduated Data Processing Repair ( I wanted to fix people But to endure 8-10-12, more years of soupy education, to be a medical specialist, deterred me from such ). Every encounter with doctors, hospitals and pharmacies, speaking with such people working in a corrupt system, I could see .. . . the challenges, frustrations, struggles and depression. I enjoy interaction with people as a side job but not to the degree I would have liked too.

It wasn't until I started my own company, when things really began to take off. It has been very rewarding and enjoyable. It is very difficult to get anywhere, working for someone else. There are too many people with private agendas. I enjoy being a Service Engineer for Electrical Discharge Machines(EDM)

Dream Job - Rid the world of torment.

I wouldn't, I have indeed learned much more about life than i could have ever imagined by the way it is currently playing out

[Jawz]

1. Have you/are you currently attending a post-secondary institute? If so, what are you studying, and to what degree? If not, what did you do after high school?

After my high school, I applied for 3 unis in 3 differing programs: Psych at McMaster. Administrative and Commerce Studies at Western .. and some random industrial co-op work degree at Windsor. Got into all 3. My initial interest was in Psych, but it was too far from home, and my parents could not afford it. So I decided to stay home and go to Western. Eventually dropped out of the ACS program and went into Sociology where my heart was reeeally into it. After Soc, I could not envision a very financially successful career. So I applied outside the country into an MBA program and completed it in 2005.

2. If you have a job, what is it? Do you enjoy it? What credentials did you need?

Since then, I've been doing various management and marketing jobs (in televisions and other corporates) and have been reasonably successful (despite having a crippling injury) - when I've put my mind to it. In fact, right now I'm into sales and business development - and apparently my bosses love me. But at the back of my mind, I know that this is not what I was built for - and more often than not, I end up wondering how different my life would have been if I had accepted the Psych program at McMaster.

3. What would your dream job be?

Anything where I can help people - especially teens and young adults. As a guidance cousellor / teacher .. anything. Eventually, once i have enough money, I plan to open up a small Education Guidance service (independent of any schools) and hire relevant people who could volunteer their time to helping shape up young minds and lives - so that they can be better prepared to make career decisions in the future. I will eventually get my psych degree someday.

4. If you could, would go go back and change anything in regards to your educational choices?

I think I've already answered this ... but I would add that since all the education decisions were my own (though influenced by other factors). I've decided to remain happy with my choices and stick to the consequences - because living with the consequences of your decisions is the most important thing in helping you become successful.

[Decoy24601]

Erm... I'm about to be a freshman in highschool this fall...

I want to get a masters or PhD in psychology and become a geological psychologist. What? that means I counsel rocks? lol jk. But, I do want to be a psychologist and do geology on the side.

[Finn Darkrider]

Erm... I'm about to be a freshman in highschool this fall...

I want to get a masters or PhD in psychology and become a geological psychologist. What? that means I counsel rocks? lol jk. But, I do want to be a psychologist and do geology on the side.

I don't know... I've known several people that talk to rocks for one reason or another and if the people were anything to judge by the rocks are in need of some pretty serious help.

[ukinfj]

1. Have you/are you currently attending a post-secondary institute? If so, what are you studying, and to what degree? If not, what did you do after high school?
I did a bachelors in English and Film and started an MA in Documentary Film Making as an editor and sound engineer. Loved my first degree but the second one was too stressful (the people there rather than the work - lots of egos and bullying). I got so stressed I became really ill and had to leave.

2. If you have a job, what is it? Do you enjoy it? What credentials did you need?
Content writer/journalist. I hate it. It's boring and stressful and there's no work/life balance. It's also very poorly paid (I'm in the UK, though. Graduates in the UK are poorly paid, particularly in the media. I don't know what it's like in the US.) The only credentials I needed for my job was a first class or high 2.1 degree - again, I don't know if this is the same qualifications you get in the US. First class is the highest degree, 2.1 is the second highest.

3. What would your dream job be?
Comedy writing. Slowly getting there...

4. If you could, would go go back and change anything in regards to your educational choices?
If I could change anything I would go back and choose to do an MA in Cultural and Critical Theory as this was my favourite subject at uni and the one I was best at. This would have no impact on my career, though. It just would have been fun.

Remember that I'm coming from a UK perspective and it might be very different in the US, but if I could give you any advice with this stuff it would be this: Do what you enjoy at uni if you don't know exactly what job you want. I realise it's quite expensive to go to uni in the US (although they've just raised the tuition fees to extortionate levels here...) but if you don't know what you want to do in a career, then don't choose a vocational degree. You should enjoy university and work out what you want to do as you get older. If you took a degree in electrical engineering and then decided you didn't want to be an electrical engineer, you might be a bit stuck, but if you do a degree in something less specific that you will enjoy then you have the uni credentials employers like but you can choose your path and you've had a good few years doing something you like.

Also (and this is another potentially UK-specific thing), don't expect to come out of uni and into a graduate job. Most people in the UK (particularly if they did humanities subjects) do school-leaver jobs on minimum wage first (secretaries, admin staff, waitresses) because graduate jobs are very hard to come by. You can minimise the number of years you have to do this by getting plenty of work experience while you're at uni. In the UK, interns are unpaid, so if you come out of uni and you don't have direct experience in the job you want to do, you have to do it for free outside of paid work (unless you're rich and you can afford to just do free work!) Make sure you do it uni, because it'll be easier when you graduate. Depends what degree you're doing, though. Some have internships attached.

Good luck!

[Marijke90]

1. Have you/are you currently attending a post-secondary institute? If so, what are you studying, and to what degree? If not, what did you do after high school?
I'm currently finishing up my bachelors degree in Psychology (@ University) (I'm actually doing this instead of writing the results section of my BA thesis lol).

Next year I'm going to do a Masters in Psychology and Law, and after that I want to do a Master in Clinical Neuropsychology.

2. If you have a job, what is it? Do you enjoy it? What credentials did you need?
I do not have a job yet. But I need one!

3. What would your dream job be?
Eh, well I actually want to start a business
But I also want to work with the police in some sort of task-force (risk assesment/sexual offenders / cyber crime) or teaching at the police academy.
OR I want to work as a Clinical Neuropsychologists in some sort of hospital. Preferably finding a cure for Alzheimer/dementia.
OR I want to teach (psychology?).

My dream job is combining these 4, with being a mother of 2. (which I am not yet, but hey, I'm still young!)

4. If you could, would go go back and change anything in regards to your educational choices?
Hm, No. I guess not. Even though the chances of work are a tad bit low in the psychology field.
I'd change the fact that I haven't really worked in my field yet. Because you really need some sort of experience starting out on the job market. But I wasn't really in the position to do so sadly.