What would be a lasting job in computers/internet,etc in coming years?

Hi.
I couldn't find a forum in which to put this plea for career advice, so hope it will be seen by computer savy folks here. I have come on this site in the past for advice about workings of the computer, which I currently use for all types of information researching. I am older, self taught on the computer, and not at all computer literate compared to most on the site. I am needing in near future, about a year, to go back to work. I am seeing all over the net and elsewhere that many jobs in different professions/skills are going to be out in the coming years. I would like to know what careers in computers you might recommend for someone like myself who is starting out. I like to tinker with the computer as well as use it for research. I am open to anything that isn't subject to being phased out in the coming years. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Sheena

 

Technical Support.

I am dead serious. Just as there will always be a need for sites like this one, there will always be a need for paid professionals that are willing to patiently walk newcomers through how to copy and paste files, connect to the internet, et cetera. If you're after job security, and you are able to shrug off frustration without ever taking it personally, computer tech support, like police and ambulance paramedics, is a profession that is here to stay.

Oh yeah. You'll want to invest in some good anti-ulcer medication, and some kind of mediation technique.

Also, pick your employer carefully. The last thing you want is to be trapped in one of those horrible swing-door, minimum-wage call centers where they care more about your metrics than whether you helped the customer or not.

 

The tech world is so dynamic you have to constantly learn and diversify,nothing is forever,not Google,not Microsoft,they all have to adapt to survive no one knows what will be in or out in the coming years.If you'd have told me TV repairmen would be unemployed 15 years ago because TV's are too complicated to repair or too cheap to replace I wouldn't have believed you.

In tech support if you get a qualification in computers in 5-10 years the bulk of what you learned my already be out of date,other than the basics,you must be prepared to constantly learn and adapt to emerging technologies.I agree with Mimsy too choose your employer wisely,don't fall for any of the ads pasted all over the internet promising huge wages for things like tech support and marketing that can be done from home.

If stability is you 'number one' motivation there are more stable professions out there.

All my opinion of course.

 

More like 5-10 months! :banghead One of the reasons I am still with my employer is the time and training they offer to help us keep up. They actually pay me to read hardware reviews at work!

This cannot be said enough. Especially if you are in the US, where jobs are scarce and you may be depending on your employer for health insurance and retirement plans... do your research, try to find out from others who work for the company in question if they would recommend a friend to take a job there, that sort of thing. Research the company, especially if you're looking to build a career with them.

 

I think that a few fields to get into would be:

1. Social Networking - like it or not, looks like it's here to stay, and it's obviously very popular.

2. Mini-, micro-, and nano-technology - definitely the wave of the future, in all areas: communication, medicine, etc.

3. Environmental technology. (Talk about an oxymoron!)

 

Thanks to all of you who replied to my query about what jobs in computers might be worthwhile to pursue. In response to your query about my age, Tim; a woman who will tell her age will tell anything. However, the way things are going, it looks like many people, including myself, will have to work till we drop dead at 80, or 100.:cry

Sheena

 

Despite all appearances to the contrary, TimW is actually a genuinely helpful and nice guy, who asks questions like age or gender, only when it's something that he needs to know in order to be able to offer better help.

Or when someone pays him cake to do it.

 

Things have been rough... at the same time, my employer recently reinstated the matching contributions to our 401K. When the economy tanked completely they stopped matching our 401 contributions, but they were always saying that as soon as they start to make a regular profit again, they will start matching again. "Regular" means one profitable fiscal year, and that finally happened last year. They now match my contributions dollar for dollar, up to 5% of my paychecks before tax.

Remember I said you should pick your employer carefully?

 

Tim,
I wasn't offended at all. I was just kidding around.

Sheena of the jungle

 

Regarding government 'takeovers', some people on the internet, on fairly reliable sites, are saying not to keep precious items in your safety deposit box; that in hard times the government has been known to confiscate such items. :eek

Sheena

 

On what grounds? :confused

Unless you live in a very totalitarian nation, the government has to have good reason for taking your stuff, and they have to be able to show clear justification for that reason... like you're way overdue on paying bills, mortgage, taxes, or you stole the things they are confiscating. In modern democracies, the government has to let you keep your own property as long as you can prove it's yours and that they have no right to take it.

Don't believe everything you read online.

 

Why is my little eek symbol not raising its hair? The hair is supposed to rise straight up every few seconds.

sheena

 

Mimsy, I totally agree. The internet has everything, and nothing. You have to bring your own judgement. One site said this was done to gold that was kept in safety deposit boxes for no reason other than that it was needed, either for a war effort, or during the depression, just can't remember. However, the site was run by a financial advisor who was telling people not to put their gold into safety deposit boxes. You know, tho, government hasn't the right to reneg on pensions folks have paid into, but they do it. Of course, that could be said to be more in the category of not being able to pay one's bills, a fine line there.
Sheena

 

David,
What happens in a bank closure?

Sheena

 

I am by no means a financial expert, but I was under the impression that buying gold as an investment is a bad idea to being with...?

 

Gold is considered one of the most stable investments,when the world is in turmoil people put their money in gold because the price never drops but it is a low return investment.

I don't know what the contract is between the bank and safe deposit boxes though and what happens when the bank goes under,whether they have the right to cease the assets in the safe deposit boxes.I find it highly unlikely they have the right to what's in the safe deposit boxes as your simply renting space from them so the liquidators can have the box but not what's inside.I guess you could analogise it to a car parking company,if they go under the liquidators can take the space/land but not the car as at no point did the car parking company become the owner of the car,as at no point does a bank become the owner of what's in a safe deposit box.

 

Hi all.
I did some research and discovered that the idea that the government will seize precious assets in safety deposit boxes in times of 'national need' is an'internet folk rumor' according to Wikipedia. It seems Pres. Roosevelt did issue executive order 6102 authorizing the seizure of gold from safe deposit boxes and making it a crime to hoard gold, but this order was repealed. No actions were carried out under that order. So far as I can see, safe deposit items are safe from seizure. [If you don't claim the items within a certain time frame, the government can keep them.] Anyone who knows otherwise please let me know.

As for whether or not gold is a good investment: gold is considered a hedge against inflation. If the dollar becomes much reduced in value, then the value of one's savings goes down. If you have gold, or other precious metals such as silver or platinum you have currency you can buy or barter with that always has value, it seems to me. What do you think?

Sheena

 

I think the book was To Kill a Mockingbird in which a pig was signed as a personal check as payment for services - I know it was TKA Mockingbird in which Atticus Finch was paid with potatoes for his doctoral services.

I've started bartering with my computer services - got a great load of seasoned firewood a couple of months ago in return for a Windows reinstall.

People around here don't have a lot of dollars, much less gold, silver or platinum.

Which brings me to my point: maybe a lasting job in computers/internet, etc. would be to invent and maintain a web service for bartering for services instead of money. I'm sure it's been done, but has it been done in your area?

Might turn out to be a gold mine.

(BTW: here's a good read about 'token money')...

 

Caliban,
That is a very good idea, though not so confident about my computer skills. And your take on valuation is right in my view; in the end it has alot to do with perception.
I am not sure where you are, but I am in the us. Here the government gets into everything, and I am not sure how much interference there would be in the process of bartering. Anyone know, or know anything about the tax code in bartering situations in United States?
Sheena