What to Consider if You're Considering College - Book Review

I found this book at Chapters and it (of course) piqued my curiosity, given the title and content.  Frankly, this was another book that made me reconsider my own quest in writing a book for high school grads, as this one covers a lot of good material.   Chapters discuss the importance of good choices, knowing yourself, different types of colleges and technical institutes, volunteering, travel, and other options and considerations for high school grads.

There are different editions of the book published for different markets.  Canadian and American editions exist (and potentially other regions as well) and there are also College and University editions.  I bought an American College edition in Canada (go figure).  It was almost 270 pages.

While the authors covered a lot of good content, I think I would have found the book a bit of a hard slog to finish if I was 18 years old.  Parts of it weren't as engaging as I would have expected, given the target audience.  If you're a more cerebral high school grad, and your trying to figure out what to do, this might be the book for you.  As the authors aptly point out in the book: 'College is an expensive place to get your head together.'

Musing on Careers - New and Old

I did an informational interview with a student from one of my SAIT classes earlier this week, and one of his questions got me thinking.  He asked me what it was like starting a career in Information Technology before Google went public - as he put it, 'when IT was a cool and cutting edge industry with browsers and technology changing and evolving all the time.'

I answered him as best I could.  I felt I started my IT career at the tail end of that whole 'gold rush' as it were.  In many ways it felt like a bit of a lottery - if you chose the right company to work for, you could get rather rich;  if you chose the right technology or language to become an expert in, you could also get rich.  But if you missed out on either of those choices, well, it might not be the fairy-tale experience we hear in so many stories.  I fortunately chose a good language to focus on (java) at that time, and that helped establish my career.

I was reflecting on that conversation this evening, and I realized that while I had managed to get into IT reasonable close to when new media started going main stream, I have also had the distinction of having a career in an 'industry in decline' - print media.  Specifically newsprint.  That was a different feeling.  It was not well paying.  There was shift work.  Certainly more dangerous.  In fact, I just realized tonight that when we did maintenance on the press, we never 'locked it out' - a standard safety practice in many industries I had learned over a decade earlier in the saw mill.  The support for education (getting a journeyman's ticket) in the industry was poor.  In fact, it was a bit of joke.  We ran huge presses that would hardly fit in a gym, and the journeyman course was on a press that would fit in a closet.

What is the lesson here?  .... I can hear you thinking.

I got into printing because an organization had a need and I was asked to fill it.  I was tired of formal education and learning theory without practical, hands on experience.  I wanted to feel productive.  Printing really scratched that itch for me.  I didn't care how much I was making.  The product of my labour was tangible - I could see it and I knew I was learning good things and getting experience, and that felt good.

There's a time though, when you need to examine where you are and what your doing with your life.  Ask yourself if you can continue doing this for another 10 or 20 years.  Does it make practical sense for you to do it for that much longer?  Will it affect your health and your quality of life down the line, etc.  That's what my wife and I did.  And as a result, we sold our house, moved, and I went back to school.

Lonely Planet - 'The Big Trip' Book Review

2nd Edition Cover

Lonely Planet's 'The Big Trip' is billed as Your ultimate guide to gap years and overseas adventures.  I got my 2nd Edition copy from the library and it was published in 2011.  I see the 3rd edition just came out in May 2015 (Buy it here).  If you are at all considering a gap year (traveling after high school or in between college years) I'd high recommend buying this book.  It's a fantastic reference for young adult travellers.

Both editions have pretty much the same table of contents.  I'm assuming that the updates are mainly to addresses, information, and internet links in the book to organizations and companies that are referenced.

The book has 4 main parts:

• Part 1 is all about planning.
• Part 2 discusses different types of trips you can do.
• Part 3 splits the world up in the different geographical regions and talks about each one - where to go, what to expect, what to do, etc.
• Part 4 is essentially an appendix of internet references to help travellers with planning their trip. 

There are other sections in the book as well:

• An intro that talks about why to consider a 'big trip'.
• A section inside Part 3 that I found interesting on 'traveller's tales' - real life stories from people who did a trip and what they found.
• A photo essay section to whet you appetite for 'Big Trip Experiences'.

The 2nd edition copy I have is over 330 pages, many with full colour pictures.  This book is a MUST for anyone considering a Gap Year trip.

3rd Edition Cover

Undercurrents in My Job Journey

I have felt the pull of a couple of occupations even though I wasn't always 'involved' with them.  I think its important to acknowledge these undercurrents because they can sometimes turn into a 'mainstream' career path.  Be aware of the undercurrents in your life.  Keep them 'fed' if you can.  You never know when one can turn into a paying career that ends up being much more fulfilling and enjoyable than your current 9 to 5.

Some Job Journey Undercurrents I have are:

• Teaching.  In high school my brother and I thought we should both be teachers.  He could teach Physical Education, and I could teach band.  We could travel the world during our time off in the winters and summers.  It was a great dream, but never fully came to fruition.
  I believe my interest and passion here stems from my experience with piano and school teachers growing up.  Of all the teachers I've had, there were several who had an impact on me.  Betty-Anne was one of my piano teachers who left an indelible impression (see this post for more details).
  Learning must be fun but practical.  As I leaned into the 'undercurrent' of teaching and finding ways to practice it, more doors opened up for me.  I've taught piano and guitar lessons privately.  I've been teaching part-time at SAIT for the past 10 years now!
  
  Lessons I've learned with teaching:
• Be organized.  Have a plan.  Be prepared with your slides, curriculum, assignments and expectations (students leaving class, how marks will be allocated for assignments/tests, etc).  If you are confident and secure with your content, it will reflect in your teaching style and you'll ultimately be more effective.
• Privacy is important in a formal teaching context.
• Be patient.  Some people can pick things up quickly, others have to work hard at it (but when they get it, they'll never forget it).  Sometimes just the content itself can intimidate and create 'learner's block'.   Call it out - make your students aware of it.  Too many black notes on a music score or big new words in a new topic can be intimidating...
• Class discussion and real life stories are paramount to the learning experience.  When your students realize you can relate to them, everything becomes easier.   
• Get familiar with 'the outskirts.'  Find out what they aren't learning but they want or need to know.  Here is the place where you can move from good to great at teaching.  What do they want to learn?
• Marking is tedious
• Learning must be fun and practical.  You have to find a way to make the students see a reason for the mundane stuff (technique in playing an instrument).  

• Music.  As I mentioned above, even before leaving high school I thought I might become a band
  
  teacher.  I took a year of music in college but felt that I wasn't learning what I wanted to (I was also rather burnt out on formal education at the time).  In most of the places I've lived I've been involved in a volunteer capacity with some kind of music.  
  For years I thought I should have been a music pastor in a church.  However that door never opened for me.  I now see how that being a music pastor may have not been the best option for me - there's parts of that job description I would have been great at, but other responsibilities I would have bombed.  And then what would I have done?
  
  Lessons learned related to my involvement with music:
• What you sow is what you reap, garbage in, garbage out - even when you are talented.  Do your best, practice, and get better than 'good'.
• Opportunities for engaging involvement are around, maybe just not where you thought they were.  For years I was discouraged because I couldn't use my music the way I thought I should be able to.  Particularly with Music, people have preconceived ideas about how their 'career' should progress.  Let go of those and open your eyes and your mind to other opportunities.
• Keep it simple.  It took a long time for me to learn this lesson.  Its not about how busy or perfect you play.  Can you bring your emotions into the song?  Can you (yourself) feel and get lost in the music?
• Rests are important.  Too much of anything becomes noise.  
• Enjoy yourself and smile

• Writing.  I first got 'published' in high school.  Our school district put together a small book showcasing student writing, and I had two separate works published in to.  I've kept a journal since high school, and I've had a short humorous piece published in Reader's Digest.  I'd like to think that this blog is a stepping stone to a book called The Grad Gift.  Time will tell.  The biggest lesson I've learned with writing to date is
• Done is better than perfect.  Sigh.  Guess I'd better hit publish on this post then.

My Career Quest/Job Journey Links

• Considering Careers with Diversity
• Part 1 My Plan After High School Graduation
• Part 2 Work Experience in School
• Part 3 On My Own - The Tradesman
• Part 4 Married, Working, and Living Overseas 
• Part 5 Searching for a Real Career
• Part 6 A Career Change
• Part 7 A Career in IT

A Career in IT (My Job Journey Part 7)

For some background on how I changed directions into an IT career, check out this post.  Working in

IT has been a great experience for me on several different fronts:

• It has given me a bit of financial freedom.  We don't have to live paycheque to paycheque counting pennies like we did when I was a printing pressman.  We can actually afford to go on holidays as a family now.
• It has given me the opportunity to start and run my own small business (in our 10th year of operations now)
• Because most industries need IT in some form or fashion, I have experienced work in many different businesses.  To date, my IT jobs and contracts have had me working with hospitality, utilities, energy, finance, health, legal, construction, fleet and freight, telecom, and entertainment industries, with private and public companies, and also in provincial and municipal government arenas.
• I have more job security.  Demand is high for experienced IT professionals.  

Some of the lessons that I've learned in IT (although I think many of them are transferrable across any career path) are:

• You've got to look out for yourself.  Companies are only concerned about one thing and its not you.  It their bottom line - are they making money.  Be aware of the health of the company, your company's industry, and the economy as a whole.  Compare benefits and wages when and where you can.  Payscale.com, glassdoor.com, wageindicator.org, and salary.com are good places to start.
• Soft skills are super important!  Manners, communicating clearly in emails, listening vs. talking in meetings, integrity, and a smile will open doors.
• There are lots of 'unknown, un-posted, unrealized' jobs out there. New ones are being created all the time.  Some IT jobs you've probably never heard of:  puppet master, ethical hacker, environment specialist, agile guru, search engine optimization engineer, spring team lead....etc.
• Be ready to learn.  It's always changing.  Visual Basic has gone the way of the dodo.  Ruby and Python are 'in'.  Companies need to say competitive.  Continuous learning will be a requirement of any professional regardless of career path in the future.
• Don't submit to fear and intimidation.  Eloquent people intimidate me.  New concepts with big names give me 'learner's block'.  Don't give in to this fear.  
• Volunteer to learn new things.  Early in my IT career, I hadn't work with Unix or Linux operating systems.  The company I was working with at the time was looking for volunteers on a project, and the volunteers needed to work with those operating systems.  I jumped at the chance and it spring-boarded me into many other opportunities.  I still use Unix and Linux every day at work.
• Listen to your thoughts.  I found that I preferred to have 'the big picture' when working in an IT shop.  Coding on a small piece of functionality for one specific application wasn't for me.  I needed to understand the 'lay of the land'.  As a result, I choose jobs that gave me that 'view', and I've been much more successful and satisfied in my IT work.  I find I'm always poking new avenues for my career path in IT.   Don't be afraid to experiment a bit.

My Career Quest/Job Journey Links

• Considering Careers with Diversity
• Part 1 My Plan After High School Graduation
• Part 2 Work Experience in School
• Part 3 On My Own - The Tradesman
• Part 4 Married, Working, and Living Overseas 
• Part 5 Searching for a Real Career
• Part 6 A Career Change
• Part 7 A Career in IT
• Part 8 Undercurrents in My Career Quest

A Career Change (My Job Journey Part 6)

My wife, my parents, even I knew that I wouldn't be in the printing industry forever.  With the advent of the internet, print media would never command the same influence or resources as it had previously.  While I was a pressman, I bought a book on HTML and tried to teach myself but couldn't get into it.  I was learning through a process of trial and error that I don't learn efficiently on my own. 

During that time my brother went through a 9 month intensive IT training course for people who already had university degrees.  I couldn't believe the job offers he got what he was finished.  He had two offers from companies in different countries at 60k+ USD a year.  This was more that I could hope to make in printing even after I got another promotion - I wouldn't see that kind of money for 20 or 30 years.

That was all we needed to convince ourselves to put our house up for sale and try to enroll me in the same school.  I had to see if I could qualify for admission.  I didn't have a degree, and that was one of the stated requirements for students.  Apparently they had taken students without a degree in the past, though.  These students had to write and exam and a paper as to why they felt they should be considered for admission.  When trying to gain admission to schools or even trying to get a job, 'no' doesn't always mean no.  Put differently, requirements are guidelines, not rules.  Don't disqualify yourself because you don't appear to 'qualify' at a first glance.  I wrote the exam and did the essay and was ecstatic to get accepted to the school.

Tuition was expensive, so I also had to take out a student loan.  Getting out of high school, I was mortally afraid of getting into debt for an education that I wasn't sure was 'me.'  Now, with a family to support, I was doing just that.  Going back to school at the age of 30.  It was high stakes and I simply had to make it work and 'go for broke.'   Want some motivation in evaluating your direction in life?  Put a lot on line...

Vancouver, BC

I started school in January 2001 and that spring saw the beginnings of the 'dot.bomb' era in the stock market.  Up to this point, investors had been bullish (enthusiastic) about investing in IT companies.  However several large IT companies had posted questionable numbers that spring (Nortel being the main Canadian example) and the dot.com bubble burst causing stocks to slide.  As a result many IT companies went into receivership...  including the IT school I was going to.  While our school was closed, the receiver kept the Vancouver school open.  They gave us a living allowance and had us finish school there.  Because of all this I knew the IT job market was going to be tough to get into for a 'newbie' like me.  I consequently tried to get a certification in Java programming while I was still in school.... and I failed that test.  I resolved to write the test again after school was done (and I had more time to study for it).  Upon finishing school, I studied for two weeks, wrote the test and passed.   Significant personal investments of time or money have a way of pushing you to work hard.

Returning back home, I spent most of the next 10 months looking for work.  I called every software company in the yellow pages listings one by one, and asked for a job.  When I was turned down, I learned to ask if they knew of any other companies that were hiring.  I got a 2 month contract this way, but I completed it with no further opportunities.  We had been living off of our student credit line and in the end I had to take a job framing houses with a friend to make ends meet.  This felt terrible, kind of like a surrender.  However, after 4 weeks of framing houses, I got a call from a large IT consulting company who was interested in hiring me because of the Java certification I had persisted in obtaining after school.  If you have a goal, don't let failures or set backs stand in your way.  Persist, focus, and determine to accomplish it.

As badly as I wanted that java developer position, I managed to get lost driving to the interview.  (This was before the days of Google Maps)  Realizing I was going to be late, I phoned to let them know I was lost and confirmed the directions to the office.  I learned a big lesson there:  For important meetings and interviews, always double check the address and location of the meeting place.  Give yourself extra time to get there and never assume you know the way.  Fortunately, I did well on the interview and they offered me the job.

For the rest of my Job Journey and to read other career profiles, check out my Career Path Profiles page here or follow the links below:

• Considering Careers with Diversity
• Part 1 My Plan After High School Graduation
• Part 2 Work Experience in School
• Part 3 On My Own - The Tradesman
• Part 4 Married, Working, and Living Overseas 
• Part 5 Searching for a Real Career
• Part 6 A Career Change
• Part 7 A Career in IT
• Part 8 Undercurrents in My Career Quest

Searching for a Real Career (My Job Journey Part 5)

Returning from Poland, (see this post for background) my first priority was to get work so I could sponsor my wife to become a landed immigrant.  My Dad found me a job at the OSB (Oriented Strand Board) plant he was working at.  I was hired on as a general labourer.  Here's an outline of the lessons I learned there:

OSB Plant, paid by the hour (fall 1995 - spring 1997)

• Shift work is not easy - frankly, it can be dangerous. It's not for everyone.  I worked 12 hour shifts, 4 days on, 4 days off, and switch from days to nights every set of off days.  Shift transition 'hangover' between shifts were challenging.  Many times I fought to stay awake on the drive home from work.
• Think twice before you do something where you could get hurt.  I started as a general labourer doing cleanup.  The winter we had some large icicles from on the roof of one of the buildings.  Thinking they were a safety hazard, I tried to knock them down with a shoved.  I miscalculated their size and what they'd do when broken off, and one knocked off my hard hat and hit me in the head.  I had to go to the hospital for stitches.  
• Back injuries affect everything.  After some time I moved up to running a 'waferizer' - essentially a blender for wood.  Using pickaroons, we had to ensure the wood blocks entered the waferizer at a proper angle.  These wood blocks could be heavy and I strained my back trying to move one.  After getting home that night, the pain was so bad I could hardly breathe and I could feel it every move I made.   
• Unionized work isn't for everyone.  It can lead to some silly situations turning petty differences into a dispute that could terminate your employment.  You'll rarely reach your full potential working in a unionized plant/factory.  Promotions and/or better positions are based on seniority (how long you've worked at the plant).  The longer you've worked there, the more seniority you have.

Accountant...?
After several months in the OSB plant, I could not see myself working there for the rest of my life.  I started to search for a 'real career' - something I could see myself doing for the next 30-40 years.  At first, accounting seemed like a great option.  Every business, no matter the industry, needs accountants and I was good with numbers.  I discovered I could start taking accounting classes from home through the University of Athabasca.  I enrolled in a beginning accounting course and started working on assignments.  What I didn't 'account for' (pardon the pun) was how difficult with would be to do the course work alone and dealing with a shift work transition 'hangover.'  This was one of my first lessons in understanding my 'learning style'.  I eventually dropped the course and tried not to see it as a failure.  I had to move on and find something else....

Air Traffic Controller...?
Not long after that, I found a advertisement in the paper that NavCanada was looking to hire Air Traffic Controllers.  There was a preliminary math test candidates needed to write, and if they passed that and a subsequent personal interview, NavCanada would hire them and pay for their training.  I applied for the position, wrote the math exam and passed it.  I read plane magazines, books, and practiced more trigonometry to prepare for my interview.  When the time came, I met with couple of air traffic controllers and they grilled me on more math questions and why I was interested in the job.  After one particularly hard math question, they asked me 'are you sure?' and I said 'I think so.'  Apparently the lack of commitment and conviction in that answer sealed my fate.  Air Traffic controllers need to be firm, definitive, and exact.  My hesitant 'I think so' didn't cut it.

Printing Pressman...?
Searching through the paper again (this was before job postings were put on the internet), I found a posting in a nearby city in which a company was looking to hire another shift of pressmen.  I applied and after a lengthy process a group of us got hired.  Three weeks after starting work there, the contract they hired us for fell through and they laid us all off.  I had left a secure job at the OSB plant and moved to a new city for this position, so I wasn't very happy.  I called their head office (in the States) and nicely told them that I didn't think we had been treated very well.  After some back and forth with them over a period of a couple of weeks, they agreed to pay us a better severance package.  Through this I learned that workers should stand up for their rights and sometimes the little guy can get heard.  It was a good thing too, because I couldn't find another paying job for several months after that.

Printing was a skill I had the most expertise in at the time, so it made sense for me to try and find another job as a pressman.  I eventually found one, and I ended up working there for three and half years.

This is a Goss Community web press configured
in a similar way to what we ran.  There's a
web splicer on the right, a '4-high' stack on printing
units in the middle, and an anvil folder just to
the left of that.  Our press had 5 splicers, 2 anvil
folders, and 18 printing units.

Pressman, 1997-2001  paid by the hour ($14.50 - $18.63/hr) This newspaper printing outfit was some of the most intense work of my life.  My mind was so engaged during this time that I still dream about working here over 15 years later.

• Initially I didn't have enough experience for the position I was hired for.  This made things a bit stressful for everyone at first.  I was in fact demoted and had to wait extra long for a pay raise because of this.
• This print shop wasn't unionized, so we worked hard, sometimes through lunches.  
• I was pushed to learn a lot, and that's exactly what I did and I felt good about everything I accomplished there.  I made it back to the position I was hired for and I was respected for the work that I did.  
• It was dangerous work as the press was old and there were pinch points everywhere.  You had to clean the press while it was on.  Paper rolls where hundreds of pounds.
• A good attitude and a willingness to forgive can open doors.  There was a lot of frustration when I started because I couldn't pull my own weight.  A running joke on the team was everyone would ask me 'Are you dumb, yet?'  With all the hearing protection we had to wear, I would hear 'Are you done, yet?' and nod my head.  Hard work, a smile, and a willingness to learn helped me gain the respect of everyone and be a good influence there.

For the rest of my Job Journey and to read other career profiles, check out my Career Path Profiles page here or follow the links below:

• Considering Careers with Diversity
• Part 1 My Plan After High School Graduation
• Part 2 Work Experience in School
• Part 3 On My Own - The Tradesman
• Part 4 Married, Working, and Living Overseas 
• Part 5 Searching for a Real Career
• Part 6 A Career Change
• Part 7 A Career in IT
• Part 8 Undercurrents in My Career Quest