Advise for

[Danielsd]

Hello all!
Few weeks ago I returned from a nice holiday on Teneriffe island. Now come the big thinking.
I was mostly not wanting solutions on my problems I was wanting advises - it is the same now.
I remember that I started a thread called Business
I wanted to make a little fun, but I was really surprised from the answers I got. Very serious and good. Now I would like that here happen the same. This time I'm not starting this thread for fun, because your answers can lead my life in some positive or negative directions.
As I wrote in Business I'm 18 and soon will be 19 so I must decide what I want to learn.
Because I'm not good in phisics and chemistry I don't think that I will be good engineer .
But I'm good in math and I love computers. I'm thinking to learn informatics. So what do you think? I don't believe that all my life I will write software(I'm also not very good in that, but everything can be learned). Does informatics will give me enough big sphere of possibility for futur developement?
It is clear that most of the people are not working the same as what they learned in the university.
So can you give me some advises? What should I know before making my final decision. If you know some good books, please feel welcome to tell it to me.
So thank you for reading that and also for your futur answers!

[Aspman]

Hmm not sure about the whole field but BioInformatics is a growth area. You might want to make enquiries into that.

[nihil]

Hi Danielsd

You are quite right to be asking these questions at this time. I am afraid that I am too old to give you anything really specific, as the opportunities you have were just not there when I was your age.

To put that into perspective, life is far more difficult for you because you have so many more options to chose from.

OK having said that, here are a few ideas to think about:

1. Beware of specialising too early. The employment market is a very unpredictable thing. For example, there was a time when a good Sperry Mapper programmer could name his own price...........today I doubt if more than half a dozen people on this forum have even heard of it!

2. Stick with the mathematics, it is always good to have, but make sure you get some statistics, and matrix algebra with it.

3. Make sure that you get some business studies and finance in your studies. They are reality, and will give you an advantage over a person with equal or even better technical qualifications.

4. Brush up on your languages..............EU possibilities? and another advantage over someone who does not have them.

At your age having a broader knowledge and being able to demonstrate the ability to learn is the most important asset you can obtain.

Good Luck!