Help from career experts..Would a career change to programming or supply chain management a good move now?

I'm 32 have a bachelor degree in Civil Engineering which was a nightmare for me. I do take pride having an Engineering degree and I did benefit from studying engineering in many aspects, but civil was/is the last thing I ever wanted to do.it's a long story why did I take (forced into) that stream and why didn't I change earlier... we're today now.I 've a degree that I know for sure I cannot make use of it. in one semester i had an introductory course in programming (C++) and found myself very interested. also after graduation I took an introductory course in Visual Basic and again found myself very interested. I know they were only an introduction but I enjoyed solving assignments and how I'd try to write the code using the knowledge that I learned and try to reach a solution to the problem given the limited features I learned about the language. Perhaps because of my eternal love to mathematics, in a way, I felt programming is very related to mathematics. trying to think logically but at the same time creatively.

Now looking at the economy and having many computer science graduates not finding jobs or being laid off, will I be competent enough with only a college diploma as I can't afford right now to pursue a 4 yr bachelor degree. (money, age , family)..

Another thing I was thinking of is going into business maybe it has more career opportunities. but having an engineering background, I may not have what it takes to get into business studies as, from my point of view, it needs a different personality someone talkative, good in arguments, has good writing and memorizing capabilities while I can only think numbers or in a mathematical logic. I know accounting does have numbers. but I was thinking of merging business and programming when I was first introduced to ERP and supply chain management in a lecture I attended long time ago that was held by an Oracle professional (forgot to mention I took oracle developer course too) . he claimed that this path is promising now more than programming ( even more than the oracle developer path he was teaching us!!)

I'm really confused...don't know what to do or what to choose. Forget about my Eng. degree. I'm not going down that path. I ended up accepting a call centre job where they only need someone with high school qualifications!!!

Any experienced help and advice will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance for taking the time to read my long question and for any sincere advice.Help from career experts..Would a career change to programming or supply chain management a good move now?
Hello there. I read every inch of your ever so detailed question because I know I can help you out. I have a good friend who also completed an engineering degree. Don't fret about the call center job. You gotta do what you gotta do. Since you are so technically inclined, my first impulse, is that you are likely not fit to be self-employed (running own business), as business people generally have little patience for this kind of work, and are naturally inclined to outsource it.



What I would do, is, since you already have a low paying job, take a step up, and find one in the field you are MOST interested in. Checkout ERP, CRM, and ECOMMERCE. Decide what interests you most.



Then, take a look at the market, and then decide what you want to specialize in (and you should specialize).



Decide WHERE to learn this (many courses are available).



Work for someone else in the field to understand exactly how the production process works.



Decide if you are happy with this firm or want to switch.



Once you have enough experience, decide if you would rather work for yourself.



Weigh the pros, benefits, and cons; then make a final decision.



32 is still young.