Obessive Wowhead tendancies = lucrative employment skills ?

Post by Transducer

Sometimes it feels like I spend even more time on the Wowhead database(s) than on the game itself. Maybe it's even true. Sometimes I end up spending much much more time than I even really wanted to, because I want to refine and reorganize so many combinations of filters, or search through specific sub-sub-categories for analysis or comparison with other sub-sub-categories...

This is something I do elsewhere too, especially my computer desktop. I have a LOT of songs and art and other miscellaneous items, and sometimes I will just re-re-organize it all just BECAUSE. I would label and place dated under alphabetized under artist under records, just to be as precise as possible.

I also obsessively download mods and updates for various games, tweaking and adjusting in so many ways. Basically I end up doing this kind of stuff more than gaming or web browsing or anything else I'd RATHER do on the computer.

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Here are a couple examples of what I'm talking about... I could probably do better but I just want to get the idea across:

My current main is prot warrior doing heroics, though my guild isn't considering raids anytime soon. So I put together two lists of viable, optimized (apologies to crit and haste) sources of epics outside raids:
BoEs (raid drops, craftables)
Vendor gear (most of which may take insanely forever to get outside raiding, but I decided to leave the list as is)
I was able to optimize enough so that I could, say, leave out the engineering gems and unverified items (no drops) and 'relics', but couldn't take out things like The Twilight Blade. That's more to do with the limit on number of filters, though with time I might be able to work around that.

Cata 'of the Elemental' 4-stat randomly-enchanted items are another example. I put a lot of time into sorting out and organizing these, due to databases having misleading 3-stats atm. I even posted links on epic/rare/craftable cata random-enchant items, made a thread, etc.

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So recently I've been thinking... isn't this some kind of 'ideal' trait for certain jobs? I'm amazed I cannot pinpoint what it is I would want to consider or look into. Surely in the information age my obsessive hyper-analytical virtual-organization skills would be desirable?

I would be happy to take any suggestions...

Post by 160546

This post was from a user who has deleted their account.

Post by Squishalot

Post by Transducer

Filing documents in filing cabinets.
Running through lists of data and looking for errors / inaccuracies (e.g. looking for numbers formatted as dates, strings in fields that should be numeric, etc.).

...

That's basically about it, unfortunately. Although your process may mimic what a lot of researchers actually do, research work is much more tedious and boring and less about doing, and more about looking things up and reading.

Researchers. I see. That might be viable. Except... that sounds super elitist, 'researcher'. I'd imagine only scientists with super ultra bachelor degrees.. right?

That's basically what I'm trying to figure out, what kinds of jobs I'm supposed to be looking at. 'Running through lists of data and looking for errors' is what I've already described.

Any other ideas?

Post by Squishalot

Research work isn't necessarily guys in white lab coats and nerdy glasses. It's not that elitist either - it does require a certain mindset (which you appear to have), but it also requires a great deal of patience (which I don't know if you have, in a neutral sense, because I don't know you).

It's basically a process of searching for an answer to an unanswered question, usually by trawling through data and testing to identify links between the data and a result that demonstrates the answer you're hoping to find. It's challenging because you generally need to think 'outside the box' - to challenge what you learn in school and at uni, and look for a better solution. But it's also boring at times, because easily 50% of your time will be reading through other research papers and finding out what other people did.

You don't need to be super smart, you just need the right way of thinking and be capable of working hard. That'll get you your honours degree, then you move onto your Masters or PhD. Any field is possible - I've got an honours degree in finance, my girlfriend's doing hers in psychology, my best friend's wife did hers in ancient history and Egyptian studies (don't ask me what that involves, I have no idea :P).

Post by 327953

This post was from a user who has deleted their account.

Post by variable303

Maybe go for a MARA degree (Master's in Archives and Records Administration)? It's closely related to a Master's in Library and Information Science.

Here's a glimpse at a MARA program: http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/mara/

Post by Malgayne

Have you considered computer science? You clearly enjoy sifting through complicated data. Maybe there's a database programmer role out there for you.

Post by Interest

Have you considered computer science? You clearly enjoy sifting through complicated data. Maybe there's a database programmer role out there for you.

Hm. Actually, I'm gonna dive on this. How would you go about becoming that? What are the exact requirements?

Post by Squishalot

Comp sci degree, majoring in database structuring?

Alternatively, most business technology degrees offer significant database components.

From there, it's just about starting off as an entry level pleb and working your way up once you get experience.

Post by ArgentSun

Data analysis & database programming are things I find myself liking as well. I've asked myself the very same question you are asking here, and this is pretty much the answer I got to.

Post by Squishalot

They're pretty good skills to have generally anyway. I maintain a couple of databases at home for personal use - track expenditure and finances, keep records of favourite recipes. Combined with a bit of php programming and html, and you can generate a GUI for web access. Or take the copout route and do it in Excel. <insert comment here about how Excel is not a database program...>

Post by Transducer

I appreciate the feedback, lots of good advice.

On the downside, it sounds like this is another one of those jobs where they auto-ignore you if you don't have a shiny official college degree to back up any amount of proof of expertise... right? :(

Sounds like you should work for Wowhead.
And make filtered lists of things.

Lol, that'd be nice, :)
but I'm sure some of the team already does stuff like that.

Post by Squishalot

Most white collar jobs are the same. Shiny official college degrees aren't that difficult to get though, it feels like a lot of universities are practically handing them out, considering the capabilities of some people coming through them.

Unfortunately, for the most part, hobbies don't count as 'proof of expertise' for most positions. I work at a firm specialising in building and auditing Excel models for various tools. Although my WoW theorycrafting would be a great example of what I'm capable of doing, it's just a hobby, and much more weight gets applied to my previous work experience. It's the sort of thing that gives you the job if it's between you and another equally qualified person. But you need to be qualified to do the job in the first instance before it's useful.

Post by pelf

Internships (sometimes unpaid, often paid) are a pretty good way to get your foot into the IT world. They often require very little experience. They're also often fairly competitive, so YMMV. That said, an internship will give you something concrete to put on a resume and references for future employers to call.

Obessive Wowhead tendancies = lucrative employment skills ?

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