Packers Huddle

APB wrote: ↑

12 Jun 2020 10:10

Side note to @Waldo : when BF004 posted that job listing for a Packer data analyst, I almost immediately thought of you. Seemed right up your alley from your posting history here and at other sites. No interest in something like that?

Maybe when I was younger. Though I doubt the pay is great and you'd be pretty promotion capped. I think I'd be good at it, no doubt, but that is just a facet of the job I do now. My program employs non-fed data analysts like that position, I tell them what I need and then use that information in my decision making, I'm more like a coach now in that regard.

Low level design got pretty boring when I did it after a while, it would have been nice to change things up and do data analytics while still moving toward career advancement.

It sounds like you did something pretty similar to what I do now. Most fed jobs are pretty similar even if in different agencies, we are still beholden to the FAR and its variants and the overall federal budget process. I manage all the work going through a few air traffic control centers. Its a good gig, management, without actually managing people, only projects. Very little in the way of busy work, but lots and lots of meetings. In a cube, yes, but design engineering was that way too, now (well when not 100% teleworking) I spend a lot less time in my cube and a lot more in meetings, formal and informal.

Nothing beat the day to day job of Resident Engineering, every day at work was a different adventure and its very hands on. But its a 100% travel position, and that gets old real quick. The highs of being design lead were the best, where I'm coming up with new standard designs and practices, pushing systems into the future, but that was only like 5% of the work, and when you get a taste for that, ho hum design with no interesting problems to solve, that is the other 95%, gets really, really lame. Program manager is more like resident engineer without the hands on part, something different every day.

Yes and no.

Was a manager of a pizza place for about year in Kimberly back in the early 80's before I joined the Air Force. After the Air Force I started my own business, first, we did retail assembly for stores then we moved into painting.

In 1990 I got into life and health insurance. Still keep my fingers in the painting. Then I went to work for a national association and after that left to FL for flight school Where I met my wife. And even though flying for a living was an option, my wife and I decided that the two of us in one field was not a good idea. So I went back to Painting and when that slows down as it did after 2005 I go back to insurance. Currently painting doing insurance on the side.

Well, first three weeks in the books of my grad program in Manufacturing Engineering at Stout. The class is on risk and safety management. So far so good. Only taking one class this summer, to get my feet wet. Just missed an A on my first test (92.3%), but am doing OK with full credit on the 5 other assignments.

Just got done with the autoCAD class at the tech school. It is kind of fun doing the drawings, though I wouldn't want to do it all day every day. I start a blueprint reading class Monday. My dad read blueprints for over 40 years, maybe I just should have had him teach me.

I think I made the right decision going this route over business analytics at Whitewater. More to learn because it is so different from what I already know, but I find it all interesting and like what I am learning.

Yeah, I have. I am relatively young ( early 30s) but have changed careers a few times now.

I doubled majored in History and Geography and minored in Econ in undergrad. Then went on to get my masters in political geography. I chose these subjects because they covered topics I loved but also because there are surprisingly cool jobs in those fields. Primarily I wanted to work in the intelligence for the US Gov. I did that for awhile for a couple US agencies in D.C. ( Super cool job) but then soon realized I'd have to live in DC for the rest of my life to do that so I started to look for something else I could relay out of DC eventually.

I got lucky and one of the Senators from my home state hired me to work on a Committee for him. I did that for a few years and after a brief stint in fundraising, an energy company I met in that job hired me to do some lobbying and business development for them back in my home state. This was really new to me because while I covered energy issues for Congress i didn't have technically engineering knowledge or even a business degree. Engineering didn't interest me ( No offense to those of you who are engineers), so I went and did my MBA and that company paid for it.

Eventually a different energy company hired me and I love my job. They have been awesome sending me back to school and I am curranty doing another masters degree in sustainability/renewable energy. I hope to relay that into another career change some day ( hopefully with the same company) working primarily with renewable energy/energy storage.

So overall, I went from wanting to work at the CIA/FBI and dabbling in it to working for an energy company. It seemed daunting to make that level of change, but one thing I think you need to keep in mind is that good and smart companies are looking for people who are willing to work hard and learn. If you're thinking about going back to school, consider trying to find an organization that will financially support you doing it, even if it involves taking a lesser position and working your way up for a few years. Also keep in mind that while things are a bit different with COVID, this is a pretty great labor market in most places so they are more willing to support your training too.

Also if you like school, which obviously seems to be the case, I'd say just keep going. It's amazing the opportunities it opens up for you.

I have worked in research and/or engineering for the past 40+ years. But no, I have never switched careers or even technical fields within my career. However I did switch jobs 4 times. In retrospect every job change resulted in career building experiences which I did not know were happening at the time. The first 20+ years were with Fortune 500 corporations. During those first 20 years I continued my education via either night school or distance learning, and in retrospect those added diplomas resulted in career building experiences as well. I consider myself a lucky man to have endured multiple recessions, reorganizations, facility closures, consolidations, and lastly for me, the famous 2001 dot-com bubble burst/implosion that you can read about on Wiki. I never left a job for more money .......... only for either survival or a fresh start. Somehow it all worked out.

Now I have reasonable job security working for Uncle Sam. Not ready to retire yet nor am I in cruise control yet. Still pushing ahead trying to move the ball down the field for Uncle Sam as best I can.

GO PACKERS!!

Went to school for sociology/psychology 13 years ago. Came out of that feeling like I accomplished nothing with the bach. At one point in time I was always wanting to do something in counseling, somewhere along the way that changed and I never went further into a masters program. Have been working with computers/self taught for the last 7yrs. Actually going back to school hopefully in the spring, but haven't decided if it's going to be for computer science or computer information systems. I'm not sure in my life currently I could hack all the math computer science guys must do, it was my worst subject all the way back in grade school. Arguably still is.

I've been fortunate enough to have a decent paying job for awhile now - all on a worthless psych degree. Leaning towards the CIS and just putting together a pretty decent portfolio to at least open a little bit more for me.

So, not really a change in field... but a change of what I originally went to school for.

The math classes that were required for a computer science major was ridiculous. I had calculus my first semester in college after taking it in high school. Breezed through it, but I was always good at math. If I had gone the full computer science route I would have had to take something like Calculus 2 and some &%$@ hard math class called abstract math/algebra/calculus, whatever the name. That was funny as not a single programming class what I took even remotely came close calculus type of math. Now, if you were programming for NASA or something like that, sure, I could see the math being much more complex, but to require such a heavy math load for everyone...
[mention]TheGreenMan[/mention] I feel that pain man!

Pckfn23 wrote: ↑

30 Jul 2020 12:47

The math classes that were required for a computer science major was ridiculous. I had calculus my first semester in college after taking it in high school. Breezed through it, but I was always good at math. If I had gone the full computer science route I would have had to take something like Calculus 2 and some &%$@ hard math class called abstract math/algebra/calculus, whatever the name. That was funny as not a single programming class what I took even remotely came close calculus type of math. Now, if you were programming for NASA or something like that, sure, I could see the math being much more complex, but to require such a heavy math load for everyone...
@TheGreenMan I feel that pain man!

Well as someone with a degree in Math who has taken all of those classes and do all kinds of programming now, I can say the base level of math and statistics asked for a computer science is definitely relevant for logic/decision trees/machine learning/AI portions of computer science. I use the advanced mathemetical concepts all the time and I am definitely not working for NASA.

A computer science degree is nothing more than a joint specialized applied mathematics degree and 2nd language degree.

Pckfn23 wrote: ↑

30 Jul 2020 12:47

The math classes that were required for a computer science major was ridiculous. I had calculus my first semester in college after taking it in high school. Breezed through it, but I was always good at math. If I had gone the full computer science route I would have had to take something like Calculus 2 and some &%$@ hard math class called abstract math/algebra/calculus, whatever the name. That was funny as not a single programming class what I took even remotely came close calculus type of math. Now, if you were programming for NASA or something like that, sure, I could see the math being much more complex, but to require such a heavy math load for everyone...
@TheGreenMan I feel that pain man!

Totally. There's a lot of overlap between the course content in other related degrees (CIS, data science, software development) and they have nowhere near the level of math.

Back in the day I was doing Java and CSS on Dreamweaver. Simple stuff really, like little web pages. It was something I just did, because it interested me. Nowhere did I use a high level of math. Any class or course I've taken online has nowhere near the level of math they're looking for in a lot of the universities (you're probably thinking applied linear algebra, I know there's some other ones too).

I imagine most of the drops/subject change is due to the math. No doubt.

That being said, you'll be hard pressed to find an unemployed computer science major.

BF004 wrote: ↑

30 Jul 2020 13:19

Pckfn23 wrote: ↑

30 Jul 2020 12:47

The math classes that were required for a computer science major was ridiculous. I had calculus my first semester in college after taking it in high school. Breezed through it, but I was always good at math. If I had gone the full computer science route I would have had to take something like Calculus 2 and some &%$@ hard math class called abstract math/algebra/calculus, whatever the name. That was funny as not a single programming class what I took even remotely came close calculus type of math. Now, if you were programming for NASA or something like that, sure, I could see the math being much more complex, but to require such a heavy math load for everyone...
@TheGreenMan I feel that pain man!

Well as someone with a degree in Math who has taken all of those classes and do all kinds of programming now, I can say the base level of math and statistics asked for a computer science is definitely relevant for logic/decision trees/machine learning/AI portions of computer science. I use the advanced mathemetical concepts all the time and I am definitely not working for NASA.

A computer science degree is nothing more than a joint specialized applied mathematics degree and 2nd language degree.

Well, maybe you should be then.

TheGreenMan wrote: ↑

30 Jul 2020 13:33

BF004 wrote: ↑

30 Jul 2020 13:19

Pckfn23 wrote: ↑

30 Jul 2020 12:47

The math classes that were required for a computer science major was ridiculous. I had calculus my first semester in college after taking it in high school. Breezed through it, but I was always good at math. If I had gone the full computer science route I would have had to take something like Calculus 2 and some &%$@ hard math class called abstract math/algebra/calculus, whatever the name. That was funny as not a single programming class what I took even remotely came close calculus type of math. Now, if you were programming for NASA or something like that, sure, I could see the math being much more complex, but to require such a heavy math load for everyone...
@TheGreenMan I feel that pain man!

Well as someone with a degree in Math who has taken all of those classes and do all kinds of programming now, I can say the base level of math and statistics asked for a computer science is definitely relevant for logic/decision trees/machine learning/AI portions of computer science. I use the advanced mathemetical concepts all the time and I am definitely not working for NASA.

A computer science degree is nothing more than a joint specialized applied mathematics degree and 2nd language degree.

Well, maybe you should be then.

Funny, I was actually in an aerospace engineering program for about two years. I really dreamed about working for a smaller private company like Blue Origin or SpaceX as the time as those were both just getting started.

Somewhat lost a passion for it and didn't necessarily like the idea of only being able to live and work in a small handful of cities.

BF004 wrote: ↑

30 Jul 2020 13:19

Pckfn23 wrote: ↑

30 Jul 2020 12:47

The math classes that were required for a computer science major was ridiculous. I had calculus my first semester in college after taking it in high school. Breezed through it, but I was always good at math. If I had gone the full computer science route I would have had to take something like Calculus 2 and some &%$@ hard math class called abstract math/algebra/calculus, whatever the name. That was funny as not a single programming class what I took even remotely came close calculus type of math. Now, if you were programming for NASA or something like that, sure, I could see the math being much more complex, but to require such a heavy math load for everyone...
@TheGreenMan I feel that pain man!

Well as someone with a degree in Math who has taken all of those classes and do all kinds of programming now, I can say the base level of math and statistics asked for a computer science is definitely relevant for logic/decision trees/machine learning/AI portions of computer science. I use the advanced mathemetical concepts all the time and I am definitely not working for NASA.

A computer science degree is nothing more than a joint specialized applied mathematics degree and 2nd language degree.

No, I agree with stats and basic level math, for sure. I was more talking about how those high level math classes weren't really necessary, not that math wasn't needed at all. Hell, when I was taking the classes, most CIS students took a double major on math because they only needed 2 more math classes.

Pckfn23 wrote: ↑

30 Jul 2020 13:36

BF004 wrote: ↑

30 Jul 2020 13:19

Pckfn23 wrote: ↑

30 Jul 2020 12:47

The math classes that were required for a computer science major was ridiculous. I had calculus my first semester in college after taking it in high school. Breezed through it, but I was always good at math. If I had gone the full computer science route I would have had to take something like Calculus 2 and some &%$@ hard math class called abstract math/algebra/calculus, whatever the name. That was funny as not a single programming class what I took even remotely came close calculus type of math. Now, if you were programming for NASA or something like that, sure, I could see the math being much more complex, but to require such a heavy math load for everyone...
@TheGreenMan I feel that pain man!

Well as someone with a degree in Math who has taken all of those classes and do all kinds of programming now, I can say the base level of math and statistics asked for a computer science is definitely relevant for logic/decision trees/machine learning/AI portions of computer science. I use the advanced mathemetical concepts all the time and I am definitely not working for NASA.

A computer science degree is nothing more than a joint specialized applied mathematics degree and 2nd language degree.

No, I agree with stats and basic level math, for sure. I was more talking about how those high level math classes weren't really necessary, not that math wasn't needed at all. Hell, when I was taking the classes, most CIS students took a double major on math because they only needed 2 more math classes.

Definitely.

Pckfn23 wrote: ↑

30 Jul 2020 13:36

BF004 wrote: ↑

30 Jul 2020 13:19

Pckfn23 wrote: ↑

30 Jul 2020 12:47

The math classes that were required for a computer science major was ridiculous. I had calculus my first semester in college after taking it in high school. Breezed through it, but I was always good at math. If I had gone the full computer science route I would have had to take something like Calculus 2 and some &%$@ hard math class called abstract math/algebra/calculus, whatever the name. That was funny as not a single programming class what I took even remotely came close calculus type of math. Now, if you were programming for NASA or something like that, sure, I could see the math being much more complex, but to require such a heavy math load for everyone...
@TheGreenMan I feel that pain man!

Well as someone with a degree in Math who has taken all of those classes and do all kinds of programming now, I can say the base level of math and statistics asked for a computer science is definitely relevant for logic/decision trees/machine learning/AI portions of computer science. I use the advanced mathemetical concepts all the time and I am definitely not working for NASA.

A computer science degree is nothing more than a joint specialized applied mathematics degree and 2nd language degree.

No, I agree with stats and basic level math, for sure. I was more talking about how those high level math classes weren't really necessary, not that math wasn't needed at all. Hell, when I was taking the classes, most CIS students took a double major on math because they only needed 2 more math classes.

Yep, sounds like you are proving my point that’s it’s basically a specialized math degree.

BF004 wrote: ↑

30 Jul 2020 13:48

Pckfn23 wrote: ↑

30 Jul 2020 13:36

BF004 wrote: ↑

30 Jul 2020 13:19

Well as someone with a degree in Math who has taken all of those classes and do all kinds of programming now, I can say the base level of math and statistics asked for a computer science is definitely relevant for logic/decision trees/machine learning/AI portions of computer science. I use the advanced mathemetical concepts all the time and I am definitely not working for NASA.

A computer science degree is nothing more than a joint specialized applied mathematics degree and 2nd language degree.

No, I agree with stats and basic level math, for sure. I was more talking about how those high level math classes weren't really necessary, not that math wasn't needed at all. Hell, when I was taking the classes, most CIS students took a double major on math because they only needed 2 more math classes.

Yep, sounds like you are proving my point that’s it’s basically a specialized math degree.

Well, better than being lumped into "IT" and "so you can fix my computer?" because computer science.

No, I'd put a ticket in and clock out for lunch.

Well, I decided to skip the second bachelors and just go for the masters in CIS.

TheGreenMan wrote: ↑

04 Aug 2020 10:04

Well, I decided to skip the second bachelors and just go for the masters in CIS.

Good for you. Getting the MS is almost always the better move than a second Bachelors.

Have you been out of school a while? Where are you doing the MIS?

I feel fortunate to find the MS engineering program I did (manufacturing engineering). There are not a lot of online engineering programs (and fewer yet that I could afford), and almost all of them require a bachelors in engineering. My PhD in biomechanics got me in, it is close to biomedical engineering and has some electrical as well.

wallyuwl wrote: ↑

04 Aug 2020 14:14

TheGreenMan wrote: ↑

04 Aug 2020 10:04

Well, I decided to skip the second bachelors and just go for the masters in CIS.

Good for you. Getting the MS is almost always the better move than a second Bachelors.

Have you been out of school a while? Where are you doing the MIS?

I feel fortunate to find the MS engineering program I did (manufacturing engineering). There are not a lot of online engineering programs (and fewer yet that I could afford), and almost all of them require a bachelors in engineering. My PhD in biomechanics got me in, it is close to biomedical engineering and has some electrical as well.

I've been out of school for about 8 years now. Talking to people who have two bachelors and those who went masters instead... with the last shove coming from the wife and school advisors, I was convinced.

Either plan on going to somewhere local here, BU or UNO. Nothing too fancy. I did attend South Dakota back in the day, but that was before I was adulting. Thought about branching out to a more credited university, but not sure I'm wanting to spend that kind of money.

Honestly, it just feels good applying. I've been talking about going back for the last two years, and really, I'm just eager to get started.

What are BU and UNO? South Dakota state universities are a good value for out of state online students. Sent you a PM.

wallyuwl wrote: ↑

04 Aug 2020 21:33

What are BU and UNO? South Dakota state universities are a good value for out of state online students. Sent you a PM.

Sent you a pm wally!