I started college as a Computer Engineer. I wanted a job that would involve working with people. I switched to Management Information Systems. I wanted to do web design, and work with people. I took a job teaching computer basics classes at college, and loved it. I'm working at my internship at Microsoft this year.. and am not enjoying it as much as I thought I would. Its late in the game, as my 4th year of college is half-way complete. However.. I feel like I'm on the wrong train. I'm considering a change in career plans. It has been my dream to work abroad for as long as I can remember, but teaching English hadn't occurred to me until more recently. I've loved learning programming languages as much as I've enjoyed working on German and Russian, and feel more accomplishment in front of a class room than I have ever felt from behind a desk. I know this is probably the wrong place to ask.. but any ideas how could I make this happen? I've already spent some time looking into TESOL programs.. it seems almost deceptively simple. I'm just wondering if anyone has advice for what to do when you feel like you're doing the wrong thing. Thanks. [smile]

Dunno how long your college degree is, so I'll assume 5 years. My advice would be to tough it out and get your degree. It's only 1.5 year more and with a degree in hand you will have many more options. Then after you are done, if you still feel like it, get a language-teaching education, for example by taking classes in your free time while working. Teaching certifications can be had in 2-3 years, maybe even less.

But the point is, with the degree you have a rock-solid fallback in case teaching really isn't your thing anyway. With a degree you also have the option of taking a more people-oriented manager job.

Are you fresh (4 years, that is) out of high school? Because I was 3 years out of high school when I decided that IT was not it for me and I rolled an elf warrior (went for film studies). Now I do programming as a hobby on the side and I like it a lot. I can tell every now and then, however, that if I had to do this daily and from clock to clock, especially without the special merit of doing my own stuff, I would go crazy sooner rather than later.

IMO not choosing the right path the first time round, especially straight out of high school, is a perfectly normal thing (it happens to 99% of people) and it really takes courage and initiative to change your life by choosing something different. I was lucky to have been motivated by a couple of friends. Think of it this way: would you rather not bear the burden of studying something you're much more likely to enjoy for a few years or be discontent with your entire life and career thereafter?

I have a number of friends who, if you ask them how/if they like their job, say "it's okay" or "I can't complain". What they're really saying is "I don't like it/I have to make myself like it and there's no way for me to change that". In reality, of course they do have the option, but they do not have the courage or the initiative. Or in some cases a clue as to what they would really like to be doing.

Quote: Baz Luhrmann Lyrics - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)
Stretch. Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your
life… The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don't. Get plenty of calcium.

So, IMHO - if you're not satisfied with your choice, go for something else! Don't do it without thinking things through, though - finish your current studies first and get your "backup degree" since you're so close to the end. CS is a valuable asset and it's one of those fields where work never runs out - so if you find yourself high and dry at one point you can do computer stuff to avoid starving, but will still be able to look for a job you enjoy more in them meantime.

Quote: Original post by irreversible
Are you fresh (4 years, that is) out of high school? Because I was 3 years out of high school when I decided that IT was not it for me and I rolled an elf warrior (went for film studies). Now I do programming as a hobby on the side and I like it a lot. I can tell every now and then, however, that if I had to do this daily and from clock to clock, especially without the special merit of doing my own stuff, I would go crazy sooner rather than later.

IMO not choosing the right path the first time round, especially straight out of high school, is a perfectly normal thing (it happens to 99% of people) and it really takes courage and initiative to change your life by choosing something different. I was lucky to have been motivated by a couple of friends. Think of it this way: would you rather not bear the burden of studying something you're much more likely to enjoy for a few years or be discontent with your entire life and career thereafter?

I have a number of friends who, if you ask them how/if they like their job, say "it's okay" or "I can't complain". What they're really saying is "I don't like it/I have to make myself like it and there's no way for me to change that". In reality, of course they do have the option, but they do not have the courage or the initiative. Or in some cases a clue as to what they would really like to be doing.

Quote: Baz Luhrmann Lyrics - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)
Stretch. Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your
life… The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don't. Get plenty of calcium.

So, IMHO - if you're not satisfied with your choice, go for something else! Don't do it without thinking things through, though - finish your current studies first and get your "backup degree" since you're so close to the end. CS is a valuable asset and it's one of those fields where work never runs out - so if you find yourself high and dry at one point you can do computer stuff to avoid starving, but will still be able to look for a job you enjoy more in them meantime.

Yeah most sensible thing would be to finish getting degree because noone likes a quitter and just stopping that close to the end wouldn't look good at all when applying for jobs IMO.
Anyways, if you are willing to relocate there are plenty of programs that I know of that will even pay you to go to school to get your teaching credentials in exchange for working for a minimum number of years in a disadvantaged or low-income school district last time I checked.
In order to apply you need a bachelors degree minimum though.
Actually, knew someone that had opposite problem. They ended up working in schools and teaching after their CS degree due to their lack of programming experience and after a couple of years working for various schools he was finally able to land a programming job LOL!
So yeah you never know where life will lead you I guess I was trying to say and as you are young it's not like it's as big of a deal as if you were already working for 10 or 20 years already.

Quote: Original post by Chokki
I'm considering a change in career plans. It has been my dream to work abroad for as long as I can remember, but teaching English hadn't occurred to me until more recently.

There's plenty of programs and opportunities out there for people who want to teach abroad without a teaching degree. JET, for one, comes to mind. It might be a good idea to finish your degree and spend some time pursuing these kinds of opportunities, and then get a teaching degree if you want to make a career out of it.

FWIW, I've talked to people who have done TESOL programs (AEON, Nova, JET, etc) and they all uniformly loved it. None of them had teaching degrees. I wouldn't call it deceptively simple, because it is simple. The trade-off is that the pay usually isn't that great, and a lot of the positions aren't 'official' teaching positions. For example, in JET you'd likely be teaching assistant helping the actual English teacher.

Speaking of which, I applied to JET on a lark and got to the interview, which I botched (because I went in unprepared). I doubt you'd have much trouble finding somewhere that you'd like to work if you put in the work and effort.