BigDavyG

To be honest you obviously have more exposure to the US system than myself and I don't want to get deep into conversation on this as to be honest i think most Batchelors from most uni's (regardless of the country of origin) aren't worth tuppence ha'penny anyway.
Its a shame that a degree is now something that most students feel they HAVE to do, rather than something they WANT to do or may be beneficial to them. I blame employers and governments for this, but that's just my opinion.

Drebin

Aye, fair play. At the last place I worked in the UK actually, the two best people there had no relevant education past GCSE level. Conversely some people doing the exact same job had PhD's!

Plus I'd say 95% of the people who I graduated with on my CS degree I doubt could hold down a job more advanced than call-center work, or being a bullshitting IT 'suit'.

Swings and roundabouts I guess. I just think the US comes off a touch unfairly when comparisons of this type are made on this board.

BigDavyG

I can identify with that.
In my last job I got shafted salary wise cos I have no IT degree and ended up having to train experienced IT graduates to do the job they were being paid 50% more than me to do.
In the end I stopped doing it saying that "i didn't feel comfortable being asked to train people who are supposedly better qualified and more knowledgeable than myself".
Seeing my tl run around trying to find a replacement when I point blank refused to give a new PM an overview of the project architecture helped to dull the pain a bit.

Still he probably has had the last laugh - my current job involves implimenting CMM

Eskimo

back on topic

Australias too far away, the animals look strange and kill you , they let in anyone with a CSE in woodwork, shake a family tree and a ball and chain falls out, its too hot and humid, the wine is shit, and most of my mums family live there :scared: Also a lot of the expats on the Aus fourm seem to want to leave so that can't be good

snowbunny

OP:

what are you looking for in a place to live? Do you like where you live now? If so, why? If not, why?

Where you live in the US and Oz will markedly determine your experience as they are, as others have pointed out, huge countries.

If I was looking at it from a life experience point of view, I would say US, because it is so damned hard to get a chance to live and work here.... and relatively easy to get into Oz. You can go there later in life if you like.

LeedsGirl

Elvira

Same here. In the UK, my sons attended a London comprehensive that had lost its head, who had been the driving force behind the school's achievements. Here, they attend high school in a small college town where pushy college-educated parents call the shots. (A fair proportion of them are uni profs...)

However, ON AVERAGE, UK schools are far superior to average US schools.

Elvira

I feel your pain...

The other day I did a bit of surfing to identify companies to which I might offer my services. I'm not looking for a permanent position, just freelance consulting work, but I looked at their Careers section. I found that the sort of position I would want to apply for IF I was interested in a permanent position, all require a F'ing PhD, or at the very least an MBA .

I don't have that - just a quarter of a century of experience at all levels in my field. I know that no PhD could possibly help me do my job better. But I also know that, here in the US, I probably wouldn't stand a chance...

Eskimo

Yep - we live in a small city with 5 highly rated universities - exactly the same story, still not sure of the averages though - Im trying to find a Sunday Times article my mum sent me that basically said US high schools/universities where better than the UK

Bob

Hound paul..

Bob

http://nei.gfunk.org/ direct downloads for home and away and neighbours

Bob

I went to a very good state school, cost me bugger all...and anyway, Eton is cheap at around £7K a year, compared to D'verbrookes at £20K, but then that is a rather nice little school.

Bob

Where MIL teaches, when the school banned guns, the kids went on strike *lol*

Bob

same problems over here though ain't it...it all depends on where you go...and the uni thing...well i don't know, but the missus went to a really good one in the US, and doing a masters through Kings College London, and well, her essays although good and done in a US style were basically rated as shite because they didn't show thought to political fronts but were just resumations of class work *l*

Oh, and 5-7 years in college....drinking degrees are just as big over here as they are in the UK.

woodsey

omg.. :scared: I have a friend that teaches at a secondary school in Manchester, they have to let students of any age out of class to have cigarette breaks..