Career Options

Hello people. I just have a quick question that calls out all those that work in the fields or at least took some college classes on these things.

Here is my question. I'm entering my Junior year in HS, so obviously, it's about time I start thinking of what I would like to major in in college.

I have already begun my search for careers that may interest me. Here were the initial fields of work I chose:

Astronomy*
Geology*
Archaeology*
Ancient history
Molecular Engineering
Computers
Mathematics
Athletics

The majors with the asterisks are the ones I feel that I will find more appealing to me. All I ask of the members here is that, if anyone works in any of these fields... that they tell me how the job is, whether it is fun, boring, etc. I also ask that they suggest a possible College to go to and the classes that I should take my Senior year.

Right now, I have completed 2 college level classes. One was in Computer Apps and the other in Web Design. If I was to continue going to my old school, I would be taking 2 College maths, and 2 College Social Studies/History. I would have done the same my Senior year. At this new school, I may be able to only take 1 of each, each year. So knowing what level of classes I am getting at, can someone please help me out a little? (Also, even if you don't work in the field, but have a fairly good amount of knowledge on the subject, please respon also) I shall post this on IDalso to see if I can get responses there too.

THANKS for any help you guys can give!

Astronomy is something I like to call a 'Profligate Art', and there won't be anything left to dig up very soon so you could take geology. Also careers in technology are pretty much effortless, if you combine a technology career with the USAF it looks to be pretty good. Don't carry around the burden of being a civilian.

For the tech part, I was wanting to get into something that will have to do with nanotechnology. i figured since it should become huge within a decade, there would be plenty of jobs. Only problem is, is that the only College I've seen with a class realted to NanoTech is MIT.

Career Options

Hello people. I just have a quick question that calls out all those that work in the fields or at least took some college classes on these things.

Here is my question. I'm entering my Junior year in HS, so obviously, it's about time I start thinking of what I would like to major in in college.

I have already begun my search for careers that may interest me. Here were the initial fields of work I chose:

Black Helmet, I do not have a college degree in any of those disciplines, although I have been going to college more or less regularly since I graduated from high school forty-two years ago, and have taken courses in all of those except for molecular engineering (although I have taken a lot of engineering courses).

Here is my take on most of them, based on what little I know.

Astronomy*: (I took one general astronomy course and have a telescope that I play around with; the expert here would be Cmdrkeenkid). You’re not going to be doing any serious research or get tenure at a University unless you have a Ph.D. degree, and the jobs typically don’t pay much. There are a lot of different types of astronomy; all of them require intensive math and physics.

Geology* : I’ve taken three geology courses and my wife and I are avid amateurs, probably because we live in geology country (Arizona). Same career path as astronomy, unless you want to work with civil engineers in evaluating subsoil strengths, or with hydrologists, or (of course) working for an oil company as a petroleum geologist. Again, four or more courses in chemistry, including a couple of analytical chemistries, physics, and probably math through diffie-Qs.

Archaeology* We took an “Archaeology of the Southwest” course and it was great fun, but you can’t do much with just an undergraduate degree, and fieldwork (at least what we did on our trips) is backbreaking work. Again, no money, no settled home life. However, your best resource here is Ms. Byrd, one of the super-moderators; her knowledge (and advice) for that field would be far superior to mine.

Ancient history: My favorite, and absolutely the worst choice for a career. The woods are full of history majors, and most of them don’t ever use their degree. Those who do usually end up teaching in high schools. Even so, there’s a plethora of them, and unlike a math or science teacher, where you can pretty much pick your location, as a history teacher you will probably be glad to take whatever teaching position is offered, typically on the reservation or the inner city.

Molecular Engineering Even though my second degree is in logistics engineering, I haven’t a clue what a molecular engineer does outside of the fact that they try to mimic or replicate cytological processes or design and use nanostructures. Obviously, you’d need very strong backgrounds in cytology, organic and biochemistry, in addition to the basics such as statics, dynamics, strengths, structures, fluid dynamics, heat transfer, optoelectronics, and on and on. Certainly there’s a whole lot of potential for nanotech, but whether that will transfer into jobs on the undergraduate level is something I don’t know.

Computers: It depends on whether you’re talking about IT, systems design, or software engineering. The last mentioned, which involves designing and implementing software-hardware interfaces is a great future, especially in the aerospace and defense arena, and you can knock down about $60/hr as a salary in most big companies with just an undergraduate degree and a couple hears’ experience. If you’re thinking web design, I wouldn’t bother.

*****

I assume from your post that you’re fairly strong in math and haven’t a clue as to what you want to be when you grow up. Don’t worry, my son and I (ages 20 and 60 respectively) are in the same boat. My son finally settled on engineering as a major, and I am back getting an MBA so I can teach when I retire from my company next year!

Here’s some advice to think about. If your ongoing math track will have you completing your first calculus course by the time you graduate (not “pre-calc”, but actual calculus), you’re okay. If not, go to summer school. By the time you start college, you should have already taken first-semester calculus and the three basic high school sciences: biology, chemistry, and physics. If you’re not there, get there; otherwise, you’ll be starting off behind the learning curve.

Remember, you can always pick up various lit and history courses, and the prerequisites are not as critical. Go for the basic science education, with math through diffie-q’s, at least one more physics, two or three college chemistry (general, organic, and maybe analytical), one each geology and astronomy, and two or three life science courses (general biology, biochemistry and maybe genetics). At that point you will have had some first-hand knowledge of what the various science disciplines are like, whether you may have an aptitude or enjoyment of it, and will have also had a chance to talk with some of the practitioners. If you’re still not sure what you want to do, take some other exploratory courses like anthropology (usually a prerequisite for archaeology), paleontology, etc. If that doesn’t float your boat, do some history and lit courses.

Now is a great time to have a degree in Geology. I work for an oil service company doing geological interpretation. I have recently sent out my resume and I could have my choice of 4 or 5 other companies to work for. The problem with working in the oil biz is that you are either working in the field or Houston (if you live in the US). If you decide to go into the field of Geology (or any other science field) I recommend getting a Masters degree.
You can make a lot more money with a Masters. I also recommend staying away from the environmental field. It would be a fun job, but the pay is not very good.

I have not seen the stats, but I have heard the Universities are graduating fewer Earth science majors each year. So, there should be a high demand for experienced geologists in the next few years when you consider a lot of the work force that was hired in the boom of the '80's is getting close to retirement age.

Good luck in your career search!

Tupelo