Spec me a job

itchy · 6 Jun 2015 at 23:13

If I could go back I would go with my passion and interests.

If you want a good job, don't grind for the money but love the job!

Unfortunately that job I cannot find, as full time gimps are not on good rates!

dowie · 6 Jun 2015 at 23:18

Also there are part time/distance learning masters courses

some examples of online/distance learning masters courses:

http://maths.york.ac.uk/www/OnlineMSCMathFin
http://www.open.ac.uk/postgraduate/qualifications/f04
https://www.shef.ac.uk/maths/prospectivepg/taughtpg/pgstats/msc

US programs:
http://quants.columbia.edu/
http://www.omscs.gatech.edu/

Part time - if you were to move to London for work - Statistics or Financial Engineering - the commodities module is taught by a very well respected academic
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/study/2015/postgraduate/programmes/TMSSTAPP_C/
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/study/2015/postgraduate/programmes/TMSFIEGG_C/

zookopf · 6 Jun 2015 at 23:18

In reply to 'dowie' (don't know how to quote individual portions). The reason I was vague in specifying masters type is that I'm not quite sure what I want to do as a career yet. I have been told that in many companies, there are practical limits on how 'high up' you can go without a masters of some sort, and as I am somewhat ambitious, I do not wish to be capped. As far as a PHD goes, I would be perfectly happy to do one but I am afraid of specialising to much and boxing myself into something I may not enjoy in the long term. My current conception is that a masters degree is more adaptable than a PHD, and that it may be more useful to me, should I decide to switch careers, etc. Keeping in mind that I'm only one day out of college, my plan was to save for a masters while working at whatever and try to decide what type of masters to do in the mean time.

zookopf · 6 Jun 2015 at 23:22

And thanks for the links, checking them out as we speak.

dowie · 6 Jun 2015 at 23:24

I think you're better off just finding something you're interested in doing and pursuing that... if what you're interested in doing requires a masters then you do a masters... but some vague notion that there is some glass ceiling and you need a 'masters' in general to progress in companies is complete ****. If you later find your career would be helped by one (perhaps if it is a highly quantitative role you're after) then you do one at that point either on a year off or part time - but doing a masters certainly isn't a requirement to progress in general.

IMO find what you're interested in doing and do that, ditch the misguided quest to do a random job to fund a masters because someone once told you about a mythical glass ceiling. The CEOs of the previous two companies I worked for didn't have masters degrees.

zookopf · 6 Jun 2015 at 23:36

Thanks for the advice dowie, definitely something to think about. I've got a lot of soul searching to do yet, and I think I will probably flip flop another few times before I find something that fits. But sure, no harm there either I suppose.

itchy · 6 Jun 2015 at 23:42

zookopf said:
Thanks for the advice dowie, definitely something to think about. I've got a lot of soul searching to do yet, and I think I will probably flip flop another few times before I find something that fits. But sure, no harm there either I suppose.

Go with your guts and not your head. Go with something you really like to do, it will pay in the end if you have the passion!

I would love to be in your position now!

Monty python quote:

"You lucky B`stard" Good luck on whatever path you take!

zookopf · 6 Jun 2015 at 23:47

itchy said:
If I could go back I would go with my passion and interests.

If you want a good job, don't grind for the money but love the job!

Unfortunately that job I cannot find, as full time gimps are not on good rates!

Not sure about England, but if its anything like Ireland, there are probably ways and means of getting undergraduate studies funded, should you choose to go to college.

I personally didn't even finish second level, but I managed to get myself into a college access scheme, and I am much happier since I committed to further study.

Sure, college isn't for everyone, you have to be willing to put in a serious amount of work and survive on very little money, but I wouldn't trade the experience for all the rosary beads in Lourdes

or whatever.

zookopf · 6 Jun 2015 at 23:51

itchy said:
Go with your guts and not your head. Go with something you really like to do, it will pay in the end if you have the passion!

I would love to be in your position now!

Monty python quote:

"You lucky B`stard" Good luck on whatever path you take!

Thanks, much appreciated.

Now, off to work out the carry capacity of a European swallow =D

Judgeneo · 7 Jun 2015 at 00:06

I work in Cyber Security in the SE, and we hire lots of graduates of decent (non fiance levels unfortunately) salaries with similar backgrounds to you. We also treat additional qualifications quite seriously, for example, by boss has a PhD in String Theory, and several grad level colleagues are getting paid to study masters courses part time whilst working.
As you are posting on overclockers, I assume you have some interest in IT. What areas interest you in particular? Feel free to trust me for specifics btw.

zookopf · 7 Jun 2015 at 00:35

Judgeneo said:
I work in Cyber Security in the SE, and we hire lots of graduates of decent (non fiance levels unfortunately) salaries with similar backgrounds to you. We also treat additional qualifications quite seriously, for example, by boss has a PhD in String Theory, and several grad level colleagues are getting paid to study masters courses part time whilst working.
As you are posting on overclockers, I assume you have some interest in IT. What areas interest you in particular? Feel free to trust me for specifics btw.

Hi Judgeneo, I never really thought about Cyber Security as a possibility, sounds interesting; though I have no idea what the field entails

As far as IT goes, it is a term I have always struggled with. I have an interest in computing and have owned a computer from a young age. I would imagine that I am somewhat lacking in practical computing infrastructure knowledge, though how much so, is difficult to quantify.... That being said, I am always happy to learn new things and to build upon my personal knowledge base.

I joined overclockers because I took the notion to build myself a computer, rather than pay a premium for an inferior system. I stayed because I enjoyed reading the forums.