LebGeeks

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#1 April 30 2019

Ari
Member

need your advice for my bachelor degree

hello all, i am seriously in need of an expert advice. i started my university life late, and will be graduating at the age of 30 doing ITM as my major, but lately, my university announced that they will be opening a minor in data analytics. my question is, should i invest extra 6 months and 10k$ for this minor or i wont be needing it for the job market in Lebanon as ITM degree alone is sufficient  ? will this increase my chances of getting a job ?

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#2 April 30 2019

duke-of-bytes
Member

Re: need your advice for my bachelor degree

No need .. you're old..start working

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#3 April 30 2019

Ari
Member

Re: need your advice for my bachelor degree

i OWN two private businesses  but i am sick of it and i want a stable job from 9 to 5  to see my wife and kids on the weekends at least, don't worry i am working

Last edited by Ari (April 30 2019)

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#4 April 30 2019

Elitism Guru
Member

Re: need your advice for my bachelor degree

duke-of-bytes wrote:

No need .. you're old..start working

You make it sound like life has enough guarantees, while its the complete opposite
"this is how you do things at X age" is correct to very small extents.

Last edited by Elitism Guru (April 30 2019)

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#5 April 30 2019

Kareem
Member

Re: need your advice for my bachelor degree

Ari wrote:

i OWN two private businesses  but i am sick of it and i want a stable job from 9 to 5  to see my wife and kids on the weekends at least, don't worry i am working

There is no stable job. I thought I worked for the most stable companies before I ended up leaving because obviously it wasn't as stable ( the companies )

Now there's always insecurities, non-satisfaction, unstable work no matter what you do, be prepared. After few years everything will be boring, specifically the " stable job"...   

if you'd be seeking job in Lebanon, it's a very challenging decision.. You need to find a job first, then see if the minor is going to help you if anything.

Now the funny thing is that according to the norm, the places I've been, a 2 years master degree will give you $200 increase in salary. That's it.

Experience comes first...I mean the connection to find a job, but yeah....

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#6 April 30 2019

duke-of-bytes
Member

Re: need your advice for my bachelor degree

Elitism Guru wrote:
duke-of-bytes wrote:

No need .. you're old..start working

You make it sound like life has enough guarantees, while its the complete opposite
"this is how you do things at X age" is correct to very small extents.

Oh sorry i thought you're just studying
In the Lebanese market certifications are best after a bachelor or a master
Those 10k can get 3 or 4 good certificates

I work in a stable job yet thinking about starting my own gig

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#7 May 1 2019

sero
Member

Re: need your advice for my bachelor degree

If you don't mind answering, why and what are the 2 business that you own? Do they provide enough income to you and your family?
If yes, I strongly suggest you keep them instead of finding a 9-5 job.

The economy in Leb is not in its best shape. You may struggle to find a job with an ITM degree at age 30 with no work experience. and in case you find one, you'll get paid as a 22 year old junior that wouldn't be enough to support your family.

In my opinion minor in data analytics wouldn't bring any added value. Instead I would spend the 10K to invest in your business or as duke-of-bytes mentioned certifications.

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#8 May 1 2019

Ari
Member

Re: need your advice for my bachelor degree

i own a touristic (artisanat) shop and accessories shop. the work is fine as long as Lebanon is stable. but with the sound of one bullet, our business vanishes. it used to be very lucrative business but nowadays we only work on summers ,if the country is stable, and we sit all winter doing nothing. this jobs consumes you, with no stable work-hours. sometimes i keep spending +12 hours at the shop.
both i and my wife work and i admire the fix income she has :')
as for itm  beginner salaries, do you have an idea how much are they? if i start freelancing, will that be counted as experience? will the university that i am graduating from effect job finding ?
and lastly, if anyone is in the field, what are the best certificates that i can obtain to increase my value ? and do you know any institution that provides those?

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#9 May 1 2019

rolf
Member

Re: need your advice for my bachelor degree

Ari wrote:

hello all, i am seriously in need of an expert advice. i started my university life late, and will be graduating at the age of 30 doing ITM as my major

Good! Nice to hear that.
Good luck, whatever path you choose.

Ari wrote:

i OWN two private businesses  but i am sick of it and i want a stable job from 9 to 5  to see my wife and kids on the weekends at least, don't worry i am working

OK, I will give you my opinion related to my experience.

The world is becoming more competitive. If you want a good 9 to 5 or to be employed outside the country (immigration, etc), a scenario for which you sound like a good candidate, qualifications are becoming more and more important.

10 years ago, you could have a look at development job postings and all they would ask for is someone who knows PHP and MySQL.

Nowadays I see a lot of requirements such as, for example:
- Commercial experience in React or other modern framewrok
- Degree in IT or related
- 3 years experience in development

Note the "degree in IT". Traditionally, IT and programming was a field where people could come from different backgrounds, the degree was a bit of an optional things for many jobs. However nowadays I feel like it is being required more and more, and not only that, but specifically a related degree, not any degre.

It is safe to say, that there is a trend towards specialization and normalization in this field.

Now it is also my experience that, to get a degree, you must be somehow well motivated in what you are studying, which is another thing to consider.

A degree is not the only way. You can also build experience. It must be targeted experience, for example to specialize in X or Y framework (which is in demand and expected to remain so in the foreseeable future).

I tried to give you information which will increase your chance to land good jobs.

Because if you already have a business (and a family) you would not want to leave it for any job, nor should you - nothing worse than a crap job.

Freelancing counts as experience, but you will have to show some of your work, and will have to list some of your customers to prove that freelance is not just a cover up for "mostly did nothing".

However I suggest you be careful about freelancing until you reach later stages of your career and want to maximize your income and know what you want.

If you freelance in earlier stages, you run the risk to "drift away" from mainstream trends, and you will become less employable, because employers usually do not want to hire someone who "does their own thing" but more someone who "ticks all the boxes" and these boxes are often different than the boxes that the freelancer customer would want.

Good luck!

Last edited by rolf (May 1 2019)

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#10 May 1 2019

sero
Member

Re: need your advice for my bachelor degree

ITM is a very broad program
Certifications depend on your topic of interest (networking/security/software programming/web programming/design/business...)
The most famous institutions are new horizons and formatech

University name plays a role, but being good in what you do and preparing well for interviews are more important.

As for Salary I think it will be in the range of 1500$ (let's see what others have to say in this point)

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