Looking for some advice ;p any help appreciated

[3dfx]

I don’t know if anyone remembers but I started a similar thread around a year ago, when I was just about to start my HNC in computing. I have now finished the course or to be exact I finished it about a month and a half ago.

Now I'm kind of unsure where to go from now, I have applied for an HND place at the same college and it concentrates on Networking. I'm not sure whether to continue to get my HND(another year) and then in due course my degree(again another year) or to look for work now.

I'm currently 18

Any advice is very welcome

Many Thx
Andy

[Evildead666]

I would go as far as you can.
I hacked through school and uni, and i only really found my true path at uni. If you can do the work, and it interests you, then do it. There will always be time to get a job.

I finished uni at 25 (some cock ups in the french system, and changing back to uk system, i had to go back twice, and took a year out.).

Maybe a year out would help you, but there's always the chance you'll get used to it. If you can't trust yourself to do one year out, and then back to college, then go straight to college/uni. If however, you are really undecided about going to uni, and want cash in your pocket, then get a job, and see how it goes.
Just keep in mind that if you don't go back to college/uni the next year, you probably never will.
My Computation degree was useful (except the french frown upon any certificate/degree gotten outside of france), and i feel like its a safety net. It may just be a bit of paper, but to me its 3 years of my life, and i worked very hard for it.
OK, so uni is a great doss the first year (spent a grand on booze in 1st term), but we went from over 600 students in 1st year, to lessthan 300 in 2nd year, to less than 70 in 3rd year.

If i hadn't done that degree at uni? I'd probably still be working at the local Safari Park for minimum wage. A-Levels are good, but they don't get you a job (outside of UK).
If you know your subject inside and out, then a degree is maybe not necessarily needed.

Maybe you should have a look around some companies this summer. If you have an idea of a job you would like to do now or in the near future, why not go and speak with a few people who are in that type of position? Get some inside info on what you could be doing to help yourself. You may just find out that it really isn't for you...

I hope i haven't rambled on too much, and that this will at least give you the benefit of my experience of studies, because the only person who can make this decision is you

[Brian Ellis]

My advice is keep on with the studying, as far as you're able. Working sabbaticals upset the will to work academically.

[GNEP]

Do the full degree. You won't regret it. (I think I said this in your original thread - no doubt whatever I said there is still valid).

[Chrono_Wanderer]

ya, do the full thing if u can afford it. i am doing it too, but in computer engineering.

[3dfx]

Many thanks for the replies guys .. it has helped me a lot.

Do you think I should pursue this HND in networking which leads onto a networking degree, do something else like software or does it really matter ? I'm thinking about how employable I'll be after I leave uni ..hehe I guess I'm just someone who worries a bit

[Sasq]

If you dont finish the schooling, it is still possible to get where you want to be, but it will take longer and a lot more effort.

I'm pushing 30, and only now am I where I wish to be. While your in the system stick with it, it is very hard to get back into it later.

*note, I never finished Uni (although I did go), to be honest I never finished H/S. It's a very hard path to tread if you want to get somewhere decent without the right papers.

[Brian Ellis]

Originally posted by 3dfx
Many thanks for the replies guys .. it has helped me a lot.

Do you think I should pursue this HND in networking which leads onto a networking degree, do something else like software or does it really matter ? I'm thinking about how employable I'll be after I leave uni ..hehe I guess I'm just someone who worries a bit

A degree is not an open-sesame in any job going in the subjects you studied, although they help, of course.

Much more important, it is an attestation that you were able to assimilate a host of subjects and you could learn other things, as required by your employer.

My formal education ended with a degree in radio engineering from Heriot-Watt. By keeping an open mind, although I started my career in radio engineering, I've gone through a whole gamut of subjects and been employed or commissioned for jobs requiring a whole load of skills:
chemist
physicist
metallurgist
atmospheric scientist
audio engineer
programmer (high level languages)
environmental engineer
polymer engineer
technical author
technical journalist
technical translator
etc.

This has given me a polyvalence well above my academic formation and, in fact, I haven't been involved in professional radio engineering since 1957!

[3dfx]

Again thanks for your replies and I believe my choice is made for the time being and that is to stay in education.

Many Thanks
Andy

Brian I noticed that you reside in Cyprus. I'm curious where are staying? I just went there for the first time with my parents a few weeks ago. We rented a villa in a place called Polis.
In fact my parents enjoyed it so much they are looking to buy something over there and may eventually move over to Cyprus entirely. I must admit that the local people were very nice and the lifestyle is one that is laid back. Is there anywhere you would recommend to look for property?

[Brian Ellis]

Originally posted by 3dfx

Brian I noticed that you reside in Cyprus. I'm curious where are staying? I just went there for the first time with my parents a few weeks ago. We rented a villa in a place called Polis.
In fact my parents enjoyed it so much they are looking to buy something over there and may eventually move over to Cyprus entirely. I must admit that the local people were very nice and the lifestyle is one that is laid back. Is there anywhere you would recommend to look for property?

This is really OT, and would possibly be better served by private e-mails.

However, briefly, my advice is keep well away from the coast: nice for holidays but hell to live (too many tourists, humidity levels too high). I'd aim at somewhere inland between 200 - 400 m altitude (sufficiently cooler and drier in summer to be tolerable but not too cold in winter). Useful not to be too far from Larnaka airport for communications, though. Obviously, a lot depends on interests.

Polis is the preferred place for scuba divers and suchlike, but the hinterland (Akamas and Paphos Forest) is much more beautiful and interesting for terrestial nature. However, I would never live in Paphos District because it is the target of the worst kind of Brit expats and therefore attracts more human sharks and crime (in any case, very low by Brit standards). Where I am, (in a small village in the Larnaca hinterland, in the foothills of the Troodos massif), we are free of this modern 'advantage' of 'civilisation' and could leave our front door unlocked without risk.

Hope this helps. If you want more detailed advice, I suggest it be done off-forum (unless the MURC Lounge wants to set up shop here )

[3dfx]

Yes sorry I was a little of topic with that .. thanks for the taking the time to reply