Wanting recommendations on course of study

[Brace]

I'm looking into getting a certificate or perhaps an associates and I'm wondering what will improve my earning power/chances of finding work the most. I intend to go back to school for a 4 year degree at some point, but first I have to find work, so if you could keep your answers in that context that would be helpful.

Some extra context:

- Will almost certainly be going here.
- Don't think I'm opposed to or incapable of anything
- Would prefer to avoid anything physical
- Ugly tranny

It's important that I ask because the last thing I want to do is go to the trouble of getting a certificate or degree only to find out it's useless. Here's a list of certificates offered. I'm considering the computer technician certificate most strongly atm. Any experiences you have to offer on the subject are appreciated, particularly if you're an employer and know first hand what sort of things employers look for. If you have to prioritize your answer towards either earning power or chances of finding work, slant it towards the second. I don't care how much it pays or if it's a terrible job, provided it's enough to afford a place to live, food, and other basic things of that nature, and to eventually someday even pay off the loans I'll have to take out to go.

[Ventanator]

I can't say much from the perspective that you really seem to want, but let me say this: you need to do something that you like.

Have you ever had a job? Somewhere like Burger King or the likes? Try that, and see how much you like it. (Hint: You won't) See, it won't really matter a whole lot if you're making insane cash if you hate going and doing it. Obviously you need money (who doesn't?) and are looking for a job that is easy to get, keep, and makes enough to afford to live. Thing is, even if you manage to get a job that you can never lose that makes $1,000,000 a year, if you hate it, you're not going to like it. "That won't matter, as long as I have enough money to live and have a little fun on my on time." See, that's where a lot of people (especially the people who have never held a little job at somewhere like Burger King) are dead wrong. If you work forty hours a week (and you'll probably work more) then most of your time is spent at work or asleep. The small amount of time that you spend 'having fun' you're either tired from work or pissed because you don't like work.

See, when you're working just to make a buck, your life revolves around work.

What I'm saying is, you would *almost* come out better not having a job than hating the one that you have. In my opinion, you should pick whichever one seems like the most fun, regardless of if jobs are super plentiful. Now, picking something that has one job for every ten million people probably isn't the best idea, but if that's all you'll be happy doing, go for it.

I know that the grammar was rather muffed up, but I hope you were still able to understand what I meant there. I'm not trying to be condescending, and my opinions are probably a little biased (just got off work from Burger King...), but I'm right.

[Brace]

Ventanator: I appreciate the sentiment, but I know what I want out of life. I've worked 40 hour weeks as a Fry cook, and also as a Night stocker. I definitely felt something like you're describing when I was doing the Night stocker thing, although it wasn't so terrible that I wouldn't have continued if I had a reason to do so.

I'm not sure you took my question in context, because I have been applying at the traditional minimum wage service jobs for the past year or so. Even had one person say he was hiring me and shake hands on it, before he promptly forgot about me. I need to find work that's in high enough demand for employers to actually hire an undesirable. The whole "having a terrible life" thing isn't that big a deal to me, for a number of reasons. My primary goal in life right now is getting together the 100k or so necessary to afford cryo. After that, I literally don't care if I work myself to death.

[JBJ]

Certifications can be double edged swords, especially in the computer field. They can be extremely useful to get your foot in the door, but you're probably not going to get much higher than 2x minimum wage to start. Figure around $30K average starting salary, most likely doing 1st level helpdesk or a GeekSquad type job if you want steady full time work. If you're open to contract work, you can make a lot more (in the $60-$80K range or higher) but the jobs are shorter duration and you'll have to go through the job hunt process every 3-6 months. Another downside to contract work is that your certifications need to stay current. If you land a job full time, you likely won't ever need to re-certify and you can build experience to advance.

As far as chances of finding work, a job search for "A+" certificates in the Denver area yielded about 10 potential jobs anywhere from $22K-$32K based on the ones that published salary info. The two contractor jobs were in the $40-$50K range, but they also had requirements for 3-5 years experience.

If you want better chances at finding a job, the medical field is always in high demand. A search for phlebotomy or nurse aides in the Denver area yielded 30+ jobs each. Pay is generally going to be a little lower and unlike the computer industry experience won't help build your career. If you want to advance in the medical field, you pretty much have to re-certify.

As for the others, things in the construction or CAD fields are pretty much worthless. Well, not worthless, but they won't help you get a job based on the certificate alone. They are really only valuable to people already working in that field to cross train or improve their skills. Especially with the current state of the housing market, you're not going to find a job in construction very easily. I can't speak much for the criminal justice or paralegal certificates. I only know one paralegal and I don't think she went the certificate route, she has a 4-year degree if I remember correctly. I can't think of anyone I know in the criminal justice fields except for one retired cop.

From personal experience, I got into the IT field through the certification route. I was already working in the field, doing 1st level helpdesk, which was really an entry level position. I BS'd my way through the interview and learned everything on the job. The 3 years experience I had in that job + an MCSE (back in 1999) got me a mid-level position in support (2nd/3rd tier), which I did for about 3 more years. That experience got me a more senior position, but still mid-level, at another company where I worked for 5 years building more experience and getting exposure to other areas of business. Now, I'm in a senior position where experience and accomplishments count more than anything else. I'm also back in school for a BS in CIS, and the classes are quite easy since it's stuff I've been doing for the better part of a decade.

From an employer's perspective, I've always been in the support arm of various companies. Desktop and network support for a company's internal users is a lot less demanding than support for the public. You'll have a lot more control and a more stable and standardized environment to learn in. For the people that I've been involved in hiring, certifications meant very little. They were never a make or break point for the job. A helpdesk manager I once interviewed had by his own admission very poor technical skills, but he had really good organization and communication abilities. At that time, that's what the job needed. Other people that I've interviewed, it's always been more about their rapport and thought process than technical ability. Actually, those who really stressed their certifications usually ended up not getting the offer. It has more to do with the attitude that they exhibited of "I learned it this way, so therefore it's the only way I will do the job" vs. "I learned this stuff to get certified and I can apply that knowledge, but I'm also willing and able to learn how you do it."

Still, as Ventanator said, you should still go for something you enjoy doing. A certificate or A.S. degree will get you more opportunities than you'll have without one, but still less than a 4 year degree or experience. Also, don't rely totally on a certificate to prepare you for a job. Every company is going to do things just a little bit different.

** Edit - I realized I didn't really address the way I looked at certifications on resumes and kind of jumped right into how I handled the interviews. When I looked at resumes for a tech position, a certification + 0 professional experience (most with no professional experience would often put school or hobby projects) was approximately equal to no certification + 1-2 years experience.

[LaserGuy]

I'm certainly no expert on the subject, but these certificates seem to be safe bets:

Activity Professional Training Certificate
Medical Office Technology Certificates
Pharmacy Technician Certificate
Energy Certificates

My reasoning is that:

First one (as well as Eldercare Specialist, but that one looks like BS to me) is generally focussed on helping seniors. Demographics working in your favour a lot here--there are a lot of seniors and many of them will be looking for assistance of this kind. Your concerns about appearance might come into play here though.

Next two are probably the best ones in my opinion. Lots of work around for medical professionals and the pay shouldn't be too bad.

Last one might be okay, but it depends a lot on where you live, I think. If you are in an area hit hard by recession, I doubt there will be many people looking to install this sort of technology in their homes or offices. Might involve physical labour, too.