career choices

[5150]

whats up hellions,

i'm now 18 and starting to plan out a career choice. so far i have three in mind

1.webmaster
2.programmer
3.systems administrator

i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on what would be a better career with factors such as stress, salaries, what would take more time to learn, fun, etc..

i was also wondering how each relate to one another and all around what would be a better job.

any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Palemoon]

My vote is for sys admin because you are into everything LOL. Really sys admin gets into many things sometimes they seem to have nothing to do with networks but in the long run do. Any of these areas are good I would also recommend that you choose an area that you wish to apply them as in if you know nothing of say the Engineering business you cannot be effective unless you have a good understanding of their computing needs, same goes with webmaster, or programmer. You have to relate to the business you support and their users to be effective, and most of all it should be fun and really it is all about supporting and protecting the company and users even from them selves at times. And hey what other job beside sys admin can you look at an owner and say don't do that LOL and not get fired?

[huntx7]

I voted programmer. But I read an article that SysAdmin and programmer are in the top of less stress. Programmer for learning and fun, and you havea great chance to succeed, you could end up writing some huge code and making millions, hey maybe billions. But SysAdmin is the least stressful out of those.

[c0m4nch3]

Being a webmaster would be my last choice. Unless you are selling something, being a webmaster has been EXTREMELY unprofitable since the Online Advertising business went down the drain.

Programming is a very broad topic, as there are many types of Programming. I'm told that getting a job in the gaming industry is very difficult, but if you wanted to do it, it would DEFINATELY help to have at least 4 years of college education on the subject. The leading academy for game programming is Digipen (more info at www.DigiPen.com). There they would teach you the main programming language for games: C++. The salaries range from 35k-135k a year.

I dont know much about being a sysadmin but I imagine that it would have the highest pay.

Anyway I hope this helps you in determining which career path to chose.

Good Luck =)

[TechieChick]

No matter what job you pick, you'll have stress. If you work for yourself, you'll have stress (trust me on that one! lol)

My point being, you have to go with what you want, one person may say sys admin, another programming etc but that's their calling. You have to decide in your heart what stirs your gut, what makes you want to do a particular job for the rest of your life. I'm speaking from the opposite end of the spectrum here and it's easy to give you pat answers but I'd just hate to see you make a career decision for the wrong reason. Money should not be the dominating factor. It's a necessary evil and you need it to pay the mortage etc but, if you're miserable in the job the money isn't going to mean anything.

[Palemoon]

Well starting out when I did there were not as many choices but I'd do one thing and this has not changed. Take your 3 choices head off to college then spend time as a student worker in different depts doing different tasks, doniate time to a non profit, this is an easy way to get an inside view of what these jobs call for. Oh and work study, internships all of it take advantage of the 4 years, much can be learned from these areas. As for stress any job has them, strike a balance in your professional and private life. In short have a life outside computers

[komo]

Well, I have heard some really good stuff about being a drunk,very little stress and stuff. Also were you going to go to university for this? Just wondering because it affects how much you get payed and you may want to base your choice on that. Because if you know enough, I know 2 people who are programmers who only went to high school, and they get payed well, but they are going to university now, to get payed more. They say its harder working and studying at the same time.

[intruder]

All time master one and only one .. a master programmer....
what do ya say.. ???

[fr0z3n]

i'm all two of three, and i'm 15.. webmaster & programmer here.

www.geeksarecool.com ---

i get stress, from idiotioc people emailing me but, other times, its usually really cool to hear about wut people think, wut they liked, didn't like.. you know.

but programming.. you do it however you want, where ever you want.

both of my choices involves creativity and i'm all about it. check my page out, its version five.=)

good luck 5150.

[blow]

I would go for programmer. I think its the most fun job and if you are very good at it probably the most profitable. Besides, if you choose the gaming industry making games is the best.
Good Luck