Current Events > CE I need your help deciding my future career

(+) Yeah! (+)

I think I realized that mechanical engineering was completely unfulfilling and made me hate myself. After being fired in disgrace I am working towards a new career path and two options have presented themselves to me, construction or IT.

I am about ready to get certified as a project manager professional so that would allow me to land somewhere in a management/lead role, the trouble is I don't have real hands on experience with either construction or IT. Mechanical engineering is pretty much useless unless you want to do calculus and FEA all day, I only have surface level knowledge for the two careers.

So I could either

A: Work towards becoming a licensed home inspector, then a contractor, then start my own business. I would do volunteer construction to get actual hands on experience first.

B: lEaRn HoW tO cOdE. I know the basics of Python, I had to do some coding back in college, I understand how coding works well enough I am just not an expert in it. I would try to learn the prominent coding languages, networking, all that shit, and aim to become a manager/lead. So I wouldn't be the coding monkey, I'd be the clueless guy serving as a manager over the monkeys.

Or I could try to develop myself in both areas, I don't know how much crossover I could actually utilize if I did both though.

You might not have to learn how to code. There's a whole bunch of different areas in IT such as server infrastructure, databases, networking, etc. You wouldn't need to know how to code to be a project manager of those areas.
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learn/get some certs in some sort of agile methodology like Scrum and leverage that into a career as a DevOps PM. lots of money in it and you already have the PMP which is a big hurdle for most ppl
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Master_Bass posted...

You might not have to learn how to code. There's a whole bunch of different areas in IT such as server infrastructure, databases, networking, etc. You wouldn't need to know how to code to be a project manager of those areas.

Really? I had assumed you need to have some coding knowledge to at least know wtf you're doing, is networking not just coding in a different sort of language? The extent of my networking knowledge is fucking around with my wireless router lol

Romulox28 posted...

learn/get some certs in some sort of agile methodology like Scrum and leverage that into a career as a DevOps PM. lots of money in it and you already have the PMP which is a big hurdle for most ppl

You read my god damn mind man, after studying for the PMP I learned about agile/scrum and it seemed really interesting. I just have to look into the requirements for certification because all I have is the three years professional experience as a PM

clearaflagrantj posted...

Really? I had assumed you need to have some coding knowledge to at least know wtf you're doing, is networking not just coding in a different sort of language? The extent of my networking knowledge is fucking around with my wireless router lol

You use a command line prompt. There isnt really any coding involved in the base of the job itself. Although you could go that route once you get deeper into it.
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MegaTech posted...

clearaflagrantj posted...

Really? I had assumed you need to have some coding knowledge to at least know wtf you're doing, is networking not just coding in a different sort of language? The extent of my networking knowledge is fucking around with my wireless router lol

You use a command line prompt. There isnt really any coding involved in the base of the job itself. Although you could go that route once you get deeper into it.

Interesting

Are there any good resources for diving into the subject material? I figure I'd just go to the subreddit r/networking or whatever, reddit has everything usually.

Construction. Work towards being your own boss.
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Become a better person.
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EwokCommanda posted...

Construction. Work towards being your own boss.

This. Becoming your own boss is what this fucking country is about.
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Master_Bass posted...

You might not have to learn how to code. There's a whole bunch of different areas in IT such as server infrastructure, databases, networking, etc. You wouldn't need to know how to code to be a project manager of those areas.

To add to this, there's also Cybersecurity which is becoming a big field. More or less you run vulnerability scans on the environment and forward the results plus your recommendations to the appropriate people.

I work in server/storage infrastructure design and I do 0% coding. It would be worthwhile in my field to learn automation scripting though which is different from coding.
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clearaflagrantj posted...

Are there any good resources for diving into the subject material? I figure I'd just go to the subreddit r/networking or whatever, reddit has everything usually.

They probably have good sources on the subreddit. I used Cisco's self study store (learningnetworkstore.cisco.com) where they have programs to guide you through an online curriculum based on the cert you want. It worked well enough to where I passed ccent on my first try. I needed some structure so I shelled out the money for it. ($750) There are most likely other cheaper alternatives but might need more self discipline.
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MegaTech posted...

clearaflagrantj posted...

Are there any good resources for diving into the subject material? I figure I'd just go to the subreddit r/networking or whatever, reddit has everything usually.

They probably have good sources on the subreddit. I used Cisco's self study store (learningnetworkstore.cisco.com) where they have programs to guide you through an online curriculum based on the cert you want. It worked well enough to where I passed ccent on my first try. I needed some structure so I shelled out the money for it. ($750) There are most likely other cheaper alternatives but might need more self discipline.

Thanks fam

I have just completed the application for the PMP certification

Next step is to pass the damn exam and then I'm official :)