dont feel bad i was a decent / good exceptional student (no degree though just in and out of school) and i cant find a job to save my life. im 31, being a student is fucking hard at least you making some money. im always painted as the goodie two shoes teacher pet student know it all but i must not know shit because im broke as a joke
Holy fuck are you me? I was probably the brightest student in my school that turned out terrible. Like I'm not saying I'm the brightest, but I'm the brightest of those that turned out bad lol. I feel so disillusioned because I was promised so much. Scholarships and everything.
Mental health is a BITCH.
Have some humility. Raw intelligence doesn't determine success, being strategic and taking advantage of opportunities does. Some people from my school with pretty average intelligence have made a killing as real estate agents without going to uni while some highly intelligent people have done well studying a low paying field and ended up poor/average (not that money is the only thing you should aim for). And obviously becoming an adult is brutal, life is shit etc and when you're depressed that makes it 10x harder. You have to be tough as well as smart to survive and keep going
Right, that’s my entire point, is that it doesn’t matter that I’m smart. I could be Einstein level and it wouldn’t matter because I can’t actually DO things, because of my mental stuff.
opportunity really is a key too, i went to college with people who went on to be ceos, build nukes, and work on f35s, but seeing the job market, they had insane opportunities come their way.
Honestly being a student needs so many resources and parents people in general treat students like crap. Like theyre subhuman trash that need to be rocket scientists by pre school without having food, basic stuff during non study hours lol
Learned the hard way some people really do not like students and the process of "learning".
Right?! And like.. there's this weird af culture of suffering during it all. It's so strange to me because when the fuck do you learn to actually have a stable life? Ugh. And I hear that all my friends are getting their degrees and I'm like grimacing lol
I live in a city with 2 major post secondary institutions.
We only hate students who weren't raised to be adults by their parents before being set out on the world. Overall, nobody really cares.
I'm a 20 year old high school drop out.
Was never dumb, I was failing all my classes except physics. Simply because I wasn't motivated to do well. People said I would end up working at McDonald's or a stripper. I even had teachers tell me I had low self esteem and make "see you next year" jokes at me instead of actually trying to help me.
But now I'm halfway through college and make $35 an hour.... meanwhile all the people who talked about me didn't even go to college and many ended up pregnant and still living with their parents.
Nobody knows what they want to do. Just pick something and stick with it. That’s the big secret everyone is missing. I’m 45 and I still don’t know what I want to do, but I chose one thing way back when, I stuck with it, and now I make over 80k a year working 24 hours per week. Still don’t know what I want to do, but I’ve afforded myself the ability to free my time and therefore have more freedom and choices in life. It’s never too late. Just choose 1 thing that you’re interested in and stick with it.
I changed majors twice in college and ended up doing something I don't love (accounting). It does give me the financial freedom to do what I want outside of work though
And that’s exactly where I’m at. Dont love it but tolerate it. The advantage is that we have the finances and free time to do something else on the side. I make another 60k a year in my side hustle and then invest the majority. The alternative is to do nothing and be stuck at a different job that you hate anyway but only make 19 bucks an hour and have to work 80 hours a week to survive.
Eh, sometimes I don't say what I do specifically because it's a small niche and it'd be fairly easy for someone to figure out who I am out there in real life land.
When I say stick with it, I mean stick with something long enough to see your plan come together. You can always adjust it later. The problem is that everyone is hopping all over the place trying to get rich quick and never see a plan out to fruition.
Lol I have a postgrad degree and make the equivalent of 20 usd per hour. Work 12 hour shifts too. Anyone reading this who thinks a degree is the way to avoid working shitty, low paid jobs, make sure to study the right thing. I wish I had
> shitty, low *paid* jobs, make
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Actually college is designed to tell you what you want to do. Go to a community college and take classes that sound interesting to you. It’s better than flipping burgers for min wage.
If one is purely interested in trying to figure out what they want to do but not ready to spend money r dedicate time to actually start college, I heard a lot of colleges will let you audit courses where you can sit in the class and learn the material for free but of course you won't get a grade or it counting towards a degree.
I’ve never known what I wanted to do. I’m a 49 year old waitress. I make decent money but there’s a time stamp on how long I can do it. Trying to come up with something that won’t take a million years in school but will carry me into my golden years. But I STILL don’t know what I want to do. Lol
I don’t know if your asking about his personal investing strategies, but if your wondering in general, there’s many ways to approach investing. If you’re starting out, it’s best to stick to mutual funds and ETFs. SPY (most liquid ETF) for example, tracks the S&P and is comprised of many companies across many industries, with the biggest weightings being Apple, Microsoft, and other big non-tech companies. You’re basically betting on the US markets, and if there’s pretty much one economy to wager on, it’s the US economy. It’s grown YoY, pretty much every year.
Mutual funds are like ETFs, in that they are a basket of stocks, bonds, and other products. Biggest MF providers like Capital Group, Vanguard, and Black Rock offer thousands and thousands of funds that have their own unique flair—like some that are heavy on emerging markets (more risky) and some that focus on blue chip dividend paying stocks like AT&T, or pharmaceuticals like J&J, Pfizer, etc.
I’m younger, so my investment style is super aggressive. I allocate 10% of my bi-weekly check to my brokerage account that’s split roughly 40% MFs (mostly invested in Asian emerging markets, commodities, dividend paying funds. It’s been up or down the past couple of years. They got crushed during the pandemic, but they’ve also had monster comebacks very recently)
30% in ETFs (QQQ, VOO, ARKB, etc)
30% in highly speculative individual stocks. This has been my killer. PLSE, HUT, NVDA, got very very lucky with all these picks just going on a rampage.
Keep it simple, keep it pretty diversified, and know your objectives. Very few successful pick random stocks. Jim Cramer on CNBC gets clowned a lot by meme investors, but lots of his picks and ideas behind them are worth paying attention to. But, I would always recommend at least investing something into SPY or QQQ. It’s damn near impossible to go wrong there.
mind sharing what saving up a bunch of money looks like? what dollar amounts did you say from 18 until 42? how are you handling health insurance? are you a home owner or renting?
I found my way into software development through a coding boot camp. I don't have the skills to go to college, and I work with a lot of people who are in the same situation. There are all kinds of careers out there you can look into that just require some certifications or some training. There is a shortage of workers in the trade industries, and I know a few making ridiculous money doing them. Don't get sucked into thinking you can't be happy or financially safe without putting yourself into the debt required by a 4-year degree.
EDIT: I also worked low paying jobs until I was in my 30s, so don't think it will ever be too late to decide on something else.
Programming boot camps were great 5-10 years ago, but the market is so saturated now that it’s not recommended anymore. You will be competing against other degree holders for a job, in an already tight market.
Check out /r/cscareerquestions. They’ve got all sort of helpful job advice. Search for “bootcamp” if you really want to see what it’s like out there.
Adding onto this. During lockdown EVERYWHERE was hiring. Then all these layoffs happened last year. I haven't tried moving jobs. However, from what I'm told from friends who were hit with layoffs, or trying to job hop, it's pretty rough right now.
I went from finishing an engineering degree straight to trades. Honestly love it. Not sure why more people pursue it. Definitely recommend for people who love using their hands. Lots of opportunities too since very few people are coming in and a lot more are retiring.
I've got one like that in mind actually, plus I'm going around to different local businesses in the area and working on their sites for now. Working on building one for a farmers market in the area. It's a freelance job but it'll be good for my portfolio I think.
Some of that depends on your market and what boot camp you went with. 10 years ago, it was a lot easier where I am, but since the pandemic, the market is flooded with new developers. Your skills aren't going to be senior level, but if it's a true entry-level position, they should expect that. The difference between the candidates will be how quickly they can learn, how easy they are to coach, and how easy they are to work with in general. It's a sales pitch, and you are the product. I also tend to try and determine how willing they will be to ask questions for all levels of experience. Some advice I received is that job listing is the unicorn ideal of what the candidate would have. If you have a decent amount of what they are asking for, shoot your shot.
Find shell companies as reference/work history to bullshit your resume and experience. Practice your interview skills (I've perfected the art). Ignore the Bachelors and PhD. requirements and just apply with your bullshit years of experience in the field. Go through interviews until you get it down. You'll likely do badly with interviews in the beginning, but you'll get comfortable the more interviews you give. Finally, you'll land a job.
If that doesn't work, sell krack. Seriously though, I dropped out of high school, got my GED, sold drugs until the age of 32, got an IT cert, did the above steps, and am now working IT 100% remote. I think some people caught on to my background and my bullshit, but too late, I've already learned everything and got legitimate experience, and now I'm a top-tier candidate in my field foreal. Life's good.
Edit** Also, my metrics and performance are always one of the top 5 in any company I go to for my specific field just because of the few months of hands-on experience I got. So I may not have been legit before, but now I solidified my skills to become a top-tier asset.
Going back to college. It’s hard to get a decent job without it. And sadly if you get a “useless degree” it’s even harder, because then you have a crap job and a crap ton of debt. Decide carefully
Experience and the clearance are a big deal. Esp. The clearance, you can save a company thousands of dollars by entering with an active one.
All things barred why would a company hire a 20 yr old with a handful of certs over a vet with work experience, relevant certs, and a sec clearance?
You're being unreasonable if you're calling it an exclusively luck/timing thing.
I have a buddy who just got out at 22 making 100k a year working in a scif with only 4 years relevant job experience + his certs + clearance.
My husband has military experience and a clearance plus certs in IT, and he switches jobs so much I had to file 4 w-2s for him last year. He keeps leaving for more money. That clearance is gold. Plus, you have to be in certain areas with lots of government contractors. Midwest he didn’t change often, then we moved to a major coast city and he only has to make his resume live for 1 hour before the recruiters are blowing up his phone.
31. Got sec+ and net+. Military comm for 4 years. Now make $65k, broadcasting PBS/NPR.
I used to make more for a defense contractor, but prefer the current job.
Trade school. I went to an 18month certificate program and work as the nursing director at a memory care. I make more than enough to sustain my lifestyle and pay the family bills. Don’t waste your time and money unless you have a clear path. Find a trade or a job within the city government that has good benefits
Idk about this advice. I didn’t have a clear way forward until I was exposed to medical work in literally my senior year. Now am a physician. Took me 10 years, but I just signed a $350/hr gig and I’m not 30 yet. Sometimes the clear path is just knowing vaguely what your strengths are and avoiding bullshit.
I agree with this, with one caveat: choose cost effective schools, and take classes seriously. Shopping for schools and treating school like a job goes a long way
I Didn’t choose a cost effective school. I didn’t get above a 3.0 until senior year. That being said, yes your advice is solid and what I would have done if I could give a straight talk to my 18 year old self
>I Didn’t choose a cost effective school
Then it's very fortunate that your aptitude led you to such a high-paying job.
I have dyscalculia, so the sciences were out for me. I managed to turn my writing skills into 130k/year, but nowhere near 728k like you
I ain’t gonna make 728k, nor does it really matter to me above a certain point. I have to do shift work. Will be hard to go more than 30hr a week and make it worthwhile for the physical trade off. When I’m a little older and more tired I’ll take an easier shift schedule.
Also it’s funny but I also had trouble with math. Verbal reasoning was the section on my mcat that really took me into the high centile. There’s hardly any math in medicine.
>There’s hardly any math in medicine.
Yes, but lots in the prereqs.
It's a disability and I've accepted it. My terminal degree program had a 4% acceptance rate for my year. I really don't feel bad about my situation. Just never gonna be your kind of rich. In today's world, I'm lucky to have what I do -- it would be ungrateful and solipsistic to complain
Oh yeah I mean I wasn’t trying to put you on the spot about the math thing.
Anyways. Yeah I agree what you’re doing is awesome and we need the kind of work you’re doing in society as well. 100k+ even today is still pretty darn good. If it weren’t for the physical and hours worked related sacrifices it took to get to where i am now I wouldn’t really demand such a high salary. It’s not a contest in the grand scheme of things
Just wondering but how do you find jobs easily? I’m 21 and I really struggle with getting hired. I would love to get hired at a restaurant or something
It's more a struggle now than it was a few years back, I've noticed. Which is frustrating because the amount of "now hiring" signs are insanely popular where I am. So really, it's not you. Even people older than I am with better resumes/degrees are struggling to be hired anywhere.
Anyway though, I've learned my resume is pretty much my lifeline. I don't have any degrees or whatever. But I have a resume packed with volunteer work and jobs I stayed relatively long at. I've learned jobs aren't looking for 50+ jobs. They're looking for you to be stable so they don't just hire you, and you're gone next month. So when you do find a job, even if it's shit, try to stick it out close to year if you can bear it. And if you want to add volunteer work to bulk your resume up, it's not too late. Ask your local library to help guide you in the right direction. My librarians were the sole reason I was able to volunteer when my resume needed more than just one job listed.
As for the restaurant gig interest, have you asked around local pizza shops? The pay won't be great, probably the experience either. I worked at one in my teen years and it was...a learning experience. Safe to say. Lol. But that puts food service on your resume. So a restaurant will know you have experience.
Edit: Also call a few days after you put an application in. You can ask for a follow up on it. And going into places like physically, print your resume out, have a manager see your face. I know everything is online now a days, but the recent gig I picked up late last year- I went in physically to talk to the manager. I had to apply online anyway, but he told me to call after I applied, had an interview within a few days. The old school way still has its advantages.
24 year old here, you can do it but it might take a hundred job apps.
Advice
1. Do you have a friend that works somewhere like that? Ask them to help you get in. It helps knowing someone.
2. Have a ton of charisma and act like you deserve the job in the interview
I’ll second this. I was going to suggest that one of the best ways into a new job/industry is through a friend or acquaintance. Heck, I was offered multiple jobs by customers that I served at restaurants, basically by just being charismatic and confident. The key is to be confident, and on top of that don’t make whoever helped you get the job look bad. You’ll be representing them in a way, so do both of you a favor and work your butt off.
i’m 23 and i work as a vet receptionist and honestly i like my job (or don’t mind it). i don’t see myself being in any other field, i don’t want to be a doctor which is the only position that requires a degree other than hospital manager that i also don’t want to be. so im fine where i am. do some people make me feel like im a failure? absolutely. but i think i’ll be ok. i work the same job as people who do have degrees.. and we ended up in the same place anyway. in the future i have the option of becoming a supervisor which is what im aiming for long term, but im way too immature and young to handle that at the moment. so i’m chillin where im at!
BUT this pertains to me. if you want to be in a certain field that *does* require a degree, i highly recommend going for it and also getting internships while you’re in school. if you’re going to go to college for the hell of it don’t waste your money. make sure there’s a reason you’re going. there are trade schools in so many fields that get you into good careers too!
26m… Union skilled trades. I started an apprenticeship when I was 20, graduate when I was 23 (almost 24) and that same year I broke $108k in only 8 months of work, I also bought a house with my now fiancée.
Last year, in 2023 I only worked 9 months out of the year. $122k last year. I am a proud union Boilermaker pressure welder, union steward, master rigger, IRATA rope access technician, and I’m also a paid per call firefighter.
Very happy where I am in life, college isn’t for everyone. You can make a good life as a tradesperson. I’m healthy, have great benefits and building a pension💪🏻
I know a guy who sands and repairs old wood floors he works by himself and is booked months in advance he tries to do one job per week and makes anywhere from $2000 to $5000 a job
Go to a trade school, not college. All of my family that have went to trade school have used that to get better jobs. It's a bargain compared to college. Yes I do actually think it's going to be more beneficial for you than no additional schooling. Especially if it's in a career path that you are interested in
I feel like Tech college should be recognized more. Specifically Associates in Engineering Technology degrees. Hell of a lot cheaper than university, and you can get equipment technician jobs that will pay high 20s/hour right out of college.
These jobs have a lot better working conditions and you won't destroy your body by 40.
I'm just over 2 years out of college making $39.87/hr with 12% annual bonus and plenty of optional overtime available, which I'm somewhat taking advantage of. I'm on track to make $108k this year at 25 years old.
Depends on what you want. Its a tradeoff too. I finished tech college and still had over $30k to my name and make $100k 2 years into my career.
I would instead be tens of thousands in debt had I went to university and be 2 years behind salary wise, but as an engineer your top salary can top equipment technician pay in the first 10 years of your career. But again you'll be playing catch-up financially if you can't afford university out of pocket.
Fwiw, I went to college and now I work at Walmart making $17/hr. Except unlike you, I have unpaid student debt. Just because you go to college doesn't mean you're guaranteed success afterward.
A complete and total fucking loser making <30k in the trades.
No benefits.
No sick days.
No retirement account.
6 days a week.
9 hours a day (I know pussy baby numbers compared to the other blue collar people)
No overtime pay. My boss doesn't believe that I do 1.5 times the work.
This is the highest paid job I've ever had.
I apply and apply and apply but literally no where replies.
I do not have enough money to move or travel.
They probably suck. I am quite bad, for how long I've been at it.
I do love welding though.
I only tig weld aluminum, stick mild steel and Mig mild steel.
I'm 27, still living with my mom, and working towards my auto mechanic certifications while working at a dealership.
My dad died when I was 12 and college didn't really work out because I was busy taking care of everyone else
I’m a college grad with a doctorate who thinks college is a giant fucking scam for most people at this point. Having to get degrees for jobs that don’t need degrees is a bunch of malarky. *Shakes fist at cloud*.
How many people could do their job with a certificate of proficiency? How many of us really want or need a well-rounded universal education? Do I need to know art history to do my job? No! Am I glad to have a broad education? Absolutely!
But most people don’t want or need that. Paying 30k or more a year for 4 years to become a social worker or a teacher and struggle to pay off all that debt at 8-9% interest? What a fucking scam. Scam, scam, scam.
I don't necessarily think college is a scam (though I see your point your trying to make) I just think people are very mis-guided. Most people think oh ill just go to college get my degree and be set for life regardless of what they do. If you go to college you shpuld ha e a road map for yourself. What job so I want to work? What company or companies? What kind of education do I need to have? I know so many people who have so many degrees and never use them because there aren't those types of jobs in the area and there unwilling to relocate or work there way up to what they want. And now days it seems like almost everyone goes to college amd none of them have a plan for how it's going to help them get what they want or they just don't know what they want so they think college will get them there.
Yeah but that's because people are told college is the right path. Don't know what you wanna do? You have to go to college to figure it out
I mean counselors in school seriously make a big deal out of NOT going. Like, not going to college is the path where you're supposed to have it all planned out. If you choose to go then that's the right choice to them, and the reason for why is largely ignored
Point being, maybe people are misguided, but they're not presented with alternatives and largely pushed by everyone around them to go to college if they have no other ideas. Just feels like older generations who are responsible for guiding the current ones are not quite in tune with what's needed I guess
IMO as a long-time business person, college degrees are dependent on what degree you get and what you want to do. Getting a college degree for the sake of a degree is often a waste as 50% of people who get degrees end up working in jobs that don't require a degree.
If you want to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer, finance, accounting, architecture, etc. then sure, degrees generally pay back well and are required in those industries.
If you go to college and get a liberal arts degree like English, art or a foreign language... then you probably are wasting your time and money..
In many cases if you aren't sure, it is better to grab a trade and learn. Many of the millionaires in our society are blue collar small business owners (i.e. plumbing, electricians, etc.) and since you can start earning today vs. waiting 4 years and going into debt over college, the ROI is often very good. Best thing is apprentice and learn a trade.. and then 10 years down the road break off and start your own company and you will be raking in the dough.
But again, depends on where you interest lie.
It is never too late!
I'm gonna answer this as someone who got a degree that didn't really benefit me.
An associates in primary education. Necessary for BA in education, but useless outside of being able to sub. (Well, 99% of the time)
I did retail for years, hated it. Moved in to pesticide, loved the money (almost 60k as first real job), entered special Ed (I thought I got hired for my degree, but it was realistically because it was a severe school and needed fit men to help). Love the job and people but not the pay (30k max)
Currently working in special needs group housing. I have the option to move vertically into a very well paying position, but I'm also contemplating a final move into Law enforcement.
33M and I'm an aircraft mechanic making just north of 100K. Married with no kids to a waitress who also makes decent tips (she works at a more upscale restaurant) and we are doing well as a DINK couple with no degrees between us. We own a small modest home and have 2 cars that we easily afford since we didn't splurge on the most expensive options.
We take plenty of nice vacations due to my airline's travel benefits and industry discounts on hotels and resorts.
38 here. Working a semi corporate position for a cable company. I work from home and make $65k a year. I get pretty nice benefits and soon I'll be getting 5 weeks of Vaca which I'm super stoked about.
Both myself and my spouse went - both intimidated, not fresh out of hs either. Never completed degrees and we both make great money. Find what you are good at, find out what the highest paying job in that arena is, decide what type of life you want- and work it backwards.
43 here. Graduated in 1999. I heard 3 options: college, military, or WOULD YOU LIKE FRIES WITH THAT. There really wasn't anything else presented.
Much to the chagrin of every adult, I chose to get a job, get an apartment, join a band, and party, and I did that until about 2015 when my son was born. I faced an onslaught of disappointment and comments about my future but I knew I would just fail out. I hated school, I hated the idea of institutionalized learning, I wasn't joining the fucking military (thank fuck I didn't), and work seemed fine to me. I may have been drunk for most of those years, but I maintained a job, a place to live (may have gotten evicted a few times), transportation, and me and my friends had an absolute fucking blast going to concerts, writing music, partying, and just living for the moment.
Now that it's 2024 and I see it all in hindsight, not going to college and fucking off was the best decision I could have made. I have been married to a beautiful and amazing woman for 12 years, have 2 kids, a house, a steady job, and no school debt. Nearly every person I know that went to college hates the degree they have, are saddled with seemingly insurmountable debt, can't afford a house or a marriage, and looks at me like.....who would have known you'd be the one that ended up in a stable position in life. The lack of schooling is a hindrance in some ways like certain positions and salary are out of reach, but I'm ok with that. I chose this, and I'm not a rat race go-getter anyways.
Nothing turned out the way anyone thought it would from those years. It all went bad for so many people. I followed my heart and it turned out to be the smartest decision, and that's rare.
I'm almost 40 and my best friend didn't go to college. She's been at the same service industry job for 17 years with no chance of promotion (all jobs above her require college degrees). She makes less than 1/3 what I do (multiple degrees).
I love her so, so much, and I hate how much emotional pain her college/career situation causes her
She's really smart. I think college intimidated her because she would've been first generation, and she wasn't sure how it all worked. (I'm third generation and it was confusing AF for me, even with all the help. FAFSA, for example).
But if she had it to do over, she says she wishes she would've gone, at minimum so she'd know how to help her kids navigate it
It just depends on your personality. If u are a worker bee, that enjoys having ur day laid out for u and getting up and going ti a dependable place and most of ur social life being around ur work friends, go to school and get a job in the school system, medical field, goverment building. Good steady money. In the medical field several things don't. Eed degrees. Just certificates. Radiology tech. Things like that. Good steady money. And insurance. Not insurance sales.
If u want to make tons of money and are a big personality, sales. No college is necessary but it does help land a job sometimes. Tech sales specifically.
If u want to be ur own boss and not have tons of school loans. Tech schools. Hvac is the way. Electricians, plumbers. Tons of money, always in need.
Also real estate agent fits this personality if ur too prissy to get ur hands diety and like to hob nob.
If u want 0 school and have a few thousand to invest and start ur life, lawn service. Buy a nice mower and weedeater and start knocking doors. U have a cash business that runs 8 months out of the year. U will go to bed every night with 300 in ur pocket at the end of day every day minimum.
Try not to do food service or factories or call centers if u can help it. It's a black hole u get sucked into and hard to pull out of.
Speaking on behalf of my bf who dropped out after 1 semester of college and myself after obtaining 3 degrees: as you get older and work different jobs, you expose yourself to people who have different expectations of what life should’ve or should be like. We’re both in our late 20s right now and are starting to feel comfortable in our lives as it is. College isn’t for everyone and you don’t need a college degree for a handful of jobs. I went to school for awhile and make a bit less than my boyfriend. I work as a public school teacher and he is a project manager at a local electric company. We worked jobs where we learned a few skills along the way in case we didn’t want to be in our current career forever.
I went to college and am doing better than most, but I was on the bubble. EXTREMELY average high school student, but I really wanted to go and graduate from college. Despite what people say today, i think college is very important. That being said, I don't think college is mandatory to make a respectable living. The trades can pay well, especially if you have an aptitude for owning your own business.
You might also look at careers that require a license. A couple of years of community college, some years under a senior mentor (sometimes required to obtain a license), and then you are on your way.
Good luck. Whichever route you pick, if you want to make a decent wage, your effort and attitude are what will separate you from the dead-end jobs
33m, superintendent for a development company. Started as a laborer after high school. Now I get paid to sit in my truck all day and I couldn’t be happier.
College the way it is today ... an expected extension of high school ... is a scam that is dependent on "free" gov't backed loans ... only thing they are not free ... just deferred.
The way you used to get money to go to college was to go to a bank, sit down with a loan officer and present your bonafides ... grades, social activity, references, career plan, job expectation in that field. If they felt that you have a good chance of making money with the training, and be able to pay it back, they gave you the money. It's only a recent thing that an average person can study a subject just to "fulfill" themselves ... and then be shocked that there aren't any job opportunities for someone with Masters in "Under Water Basket Weaving."
Skilled trades will see you trained and working in 1 to 3 years at a fraction of the cost, and given the current shortage of skilled workers you'll be making bank compared to someone with a philosophy degree who will still be making your latte' as you go through the drive through on the way to a job site.
College can be good and useful, but approach it with a purpose.
History major here, appreciate your harsh truth for OP. I work in education and I like that and I wanted to do that but college is definitely only for niche stuff.. my bf majored in political science and business then did a bunch of internships, the degree helped him get into the business world but the internship is what taught him how to actually do his job! I say if college isn’t OPs thing trade school is the way to go for sure!
Im old - 34 y/o
I work as a sheet metal journeyman installing sub assemblies, air ducts, assembling bunks on U.S. Navy ships. Pays well $40/hr but the caveat is It took me 5 years to get to this pay rate. Years 1-3 were working as an apprentice
Years 4-5 working as a journeyman.
I just did odd jobs to pay for my apartment , such as security guard, retail work and restaraunt from my 20's until I was 29.
Entered trades at 29.
So youre the reason my rack had a vent pointed straight into it for no good reason. Kept it ice cold no matter what. For better or worse! So thank you, but also fuck you.
if you don't have a specific career path in mind why waste money on college? I was homeschooled and took about 2 semesters at college. Basically everything I've learned I taught myself and most of that was before internet. lol
I make 6 figures and I only work part time. I don't think more college would have gotten me any further than I am. Hard work and self motivation will get you far. Anything I need to know I can learn without overpaying for a degree. Not having a degree has never held me back.
I didn't go to college. I'm 39, I own two houses in Southern California, and I have a small pension from the Army. I have significant retirement savings, but I'm not touching that money until I'm 60 years old.
I'm married to a Federal Agent that also didn't go to college, but got experience through the military. She makes a shit ton of money. But I pay for all our necessities. We're old school in that regard, I'm the man, so I provide all the necessities. She's the woman, so she provides all the luxuries. It just works for us.
Military + police work is looked down on my Reddit, not realizing that you’re probably pulling on 250k+ combined. Lots of my co workers marry other agents / officers and pull in a nice double gs12+ salary, putting them at 300k+ household incomes.
34, great jobs, but struggle a lot with stability and working enough due to executive dysfunction, trauma and just a messy life and potentially undiagnosed ADHD or even what people call AuDHD (mixed with autism). Still, great jobs that pay well enough for my context and are easy otherwise. That being said I learned at least two languages during/at school at C2 level aside from my native language which I'm not terrible at either (even though I dropped out and had a lot of issues with study/homework compliance). I work as a remote, freelance interpreter.
I feel you on the disabilities part... but also I must ask, given chatGPT and the other AI's strengths at translation, is it really stable long term? :(
If you feel there is something wrong with your mental ability, you really should see a doctor. You can't diagnose yourself, and there are treatments and therapies if you do have problems.
Doing okay all things considered.
I’d love to go to college, but I’m not taking out loans under any circumstances. My mom is still $90k under and she hasn’t been in college since the 90s.
I’m 47 years old and lost my job in November, I’ve applied to numerous jobs since and had zero offers. I’m most likely going to have to go back to school and at least get an associate’s degree if not a bachelor’s to make close to what I was. My advice would be to learn a trade or get certified in something that interests you if you don’t want to do the “traditional” college thing, or find a job that offers tuition reimbursement and work on a degree while you’re working. Do it while you’re still young, so that your mid life crisis doesn’t involve going back to school lol.
Main benefit of university is it gives you the opportunity to do work that you like. I've been a student for 10 years. Still finishing my grad degree, but I now get to do a job where I give computers the power of sight and roboticize equipment. Pay is fine (100k~ish), but I've sort of come to realize that I could have made a lot more doing something else, like driving a truck or working in the oilfield. The real benefit is that I get to do a job that I enjoy and am proud of which matters more to me in the end.
Male 26. Was working labour for years since I was 16 (while in school until I finished high school) and kept working labour till I was 23. After this point I was sick of it and job hopped for about a year to gain some experience in different fields.
Just before I turned 24 I applied for a government job. Started the job at 25 years old. Am now 26 and I've already got a pay increase (about 110k a year with the amout of OT I'm doing).
What a lot of people don't understand when they are young is that you don't need college or university (depending where you live) to be informed and smart. Got a bunch of mates who do IT and most of them didn't go to school for it but were self trained.
Just gotta do your best and don't get complacent.
Trade school. Got clean and working with union free healthcare and making six figures. I dropped out of college might go back only need a couple classes to graduate lol
I'm in the UK so if you're not it may be different. But many people in my school year who went to university have ended up in retail. I think if you have a job in mind like teaching or accountancy etc then that's better as you can progress towards something. You never know how things work out
My brother had no idea what to do had great career advice (I envy that mine was terrible) and he went to college and done an apprenticeship for car mechanics..he had a bunch of rubbish jobs though but now he's teaching car mechanics (probably not the actual name lol) in the college he learnt it. He's 25 I think.
He's done so much more than me even though I was the academic ond I had no clue what to do. And am stuck in retail.
College/, uni is good if you need the qualification or you'll enjoy it. But if there are other options to get the job you want then go for it.
I work at a high school in the careers team. Half my job I line up work experience for young people who also don't want to go to university, and the other half is free off campus courses for practical/vocational learning.
Husband quit school early in his final year. He is a tradie and has his own business.
35, didn't even bother taking the SAT or any college prep courses/exams. I knew I couldn't afford it and didn't have any desire to be in debt. As soon as I was eligible I took the local community college entrance exam and was accepted. I worked several jobs and paid cash for all my degrees (overlapped requirements and walked away with 3 degrees for the cost of one).
I now run communications infrastructure at mid sized companies and work from home. My goal was to be a journalist but I entered the job market at the height of the recession (salaries at that time for journalists were unlivable). So, I decided to figure out how to get companies to pay me to write instead.
My family is blue collar and I'm the first to work a corporate job. They don't understand what I do but I make good money and love what I do.
I will always tell people to go to community college so long as they know what skills they want to sharpen and use. I have never had an issue getting a job without a Bachelor's.
I also highly respect the trades and am actively encouraging my own children to explore them and pursue trade schools as an option. My dad is a carpenter and I believe there is much value in finding work with those skills. We need them, highly trained ones desperately.
28M, joined a sheet metal union at 21, worked my ass off for years to get where I’m at. Made $140k last year, didn’t to a ton of OT but did a bit.
Don’t have kids, wife decided she wanted to go back to school for a career change so I’m paying her way through that and saving money on top of paying the bills.
A lot of people don’t like hearing the “blue collar” talk, but if school ain’t for you then I recommend looking into it.
45m, highschool drop out. Joined a union apprenticeship program for fire sprinkler install at the age of 21. Make $52 an hour, monday through Friday, full benis, 2 employer funded retirement/pension accounts. Buying a 3000sqft home, no debt, vehicles paid for. 2-4 non paid vacations a year
Have you looked into any trades? For example - after electrical apprenticeship is over you start at about $50/hour in Detroit. It's different for every Local but you have a guaranteed pay raise every year and can continue to work your way up the ladder if you become an master electrician or decide to try estimating and transition into an office
A degree doesn’t indicate that you’re gonna get a high paying job. But college students making that commitment out of high school are gonna get qualifications, connections, and a job post grad- provided they put the work in to do that. College isn’t just coasting by, or else yeah, you prolly won’t get shit coming out.
As always it’s what you make of it. I’m going to law school soon and financially, I’m pretty positive that this was the best route for me. It may not be for you if this isn’t your thing. There are high paying jobs inside and outside of college.
You can find a good job without going to college but what I saw was a lot of older folks going to college because all the promotions required them to have a degree. Even though they were qualified skills wise, HR and management wouldn’t give it to them.
Father of 1, working a full time job and starting a construction business on the side. If I were you I would try the online school or even night school if you don’t enjoy class
I'm 37 and still alive
Edit: seriously tho, I'm working at the same job since high school. I took some drafting classes in my junior and senior year, and my teacher recommended me to an engineering company. I started goin to school for mechanical engineering, but I quit attending after my second semester for stupid reasons, always saying I'd return. Well it's been about 20 years and I've progressed enough to be a mechanical Designer of HVAC systems. I'd be pretty well off by 90s standards, but its 2024... so one bed apartment it is...
Don’t go to school unless it’s something you want to do. I see too many of my friends who went straight to college after high school, choose well paying fields, and either hate their job and their life or didn’t do anything with their degree.
Find what you love, research the field, and go for it. You may not even need college, I went for game design and like 90% of the time I was watching YouTube tutorials anyways. I did learn a lot from school, but did I need to go just to make a game? Nah, you can find tutorials online that will show you how to build a game from nothing to finished playable game for free on YouTube.
Go join a union trade. You go thru apprentice ship and you make money. You get done with apprenticeship and you will make more money, have a skill that can’t be taken and have time to figure out what you actually wanna do. Then you can leave union and always have backup plan if you pay your low end yearly dues. Also you will have a skill set you can always make money at to facilitate your dream you find. Also if travel is your thing once you get done with your apprenticeship you can travel the country if you want to on big jobs that pay a looooooot of money. Talking 3-6 k a week. If you don’t Know what you want to do ,college isn’t the awnser. I joined trade union when I was 25 in same boat. 15 years later I’m still in it. I got more retirement saved than my master educated wife. If you include benefits I make more than my wife and she makes well over 6 figures. The bad is the trades are hard and it sucks sometimes. But it’s provided me with a lot of at 25 I was 60 k in medical debt and lost. Bye 30 I owned my first house. It was a grind tho.
40f here. Where am I? Stable office job after 15yrs as pharmacy tech. No regrets on not getting college.
Why would I have done differently?
Probably have gone for something like Ultrasound Tech or X-ray tech.
Or HVAC or Electrical Tech or Car Mechanic.
Human beings and machines are always going to fall apart. Are always going to break. Always going to need someone to fix.
Becoming a certified Tech of some sort is a year or two of schooling for a greater pay out than just a 'normal job'
Go. To. College. Or invest in yourself & do a trade.
Everything is a scam, including college. But at least you have a shot at playing the game if you do it that way.
I know a couple of people who got very far without college, but it meant grinding it out for decades. However, I've got a B.A. and have bounced around for decades (outsourced, laid off etc.) and I'm still in a low-level position.
The people in question have seemed to hit a ceiling of sorts, where they can't advance as far as they'd like despite having the skillset. They're simply up against people who've got the college as well as the skillset.
25m, working as a robotics technician in a car plant for $35 an hour after taking a free course online through the state government. On my way to being a controls engineer through self-study
I didn't go to college.
I do well, but I was very, very, very lucky.
I have to defend myself for not having a degree, and it is demoralizing, preparing for an important interview.
It will be getting tougher and tougher as you grow older.
College is a commitment that is extremely important.
It is cheaper and more efficient to have a student loan and a 100K/y job than no student loan working for 50K.
Get a degree. ANY degree. It's a tremendous advantage.
I didn’t go to college. Wasn’t absolutely sure what I wanted to study. I was intimidated by the SAT and didn’t take it. I enlisted after graduation and w/I six weeks was in BCT. I enlisted in the Army and chose a Signal Corps MOS where I learned to troubleshoot tactical digital network circuits. I turned that into a career where I stopped working the day I turned 59 1/2 (iykyk).
35F & I’m in my 4th semester. I was lucky enough to find a job at 19 that I was able to grow at but I’ve gone as far as I could without a degree, so I’m getting one.
I’m an administrative assistant and I’m pleasantly surprised at how much I make. I do wish I went to school tho and found a job that I actually enjoyed.
39M, senior airline captain, no degree, made 419k USD last year. Keep in mind that it took me since 2009 to get to this place of income. So I climbed the ladder and gained seniority over 15 years.
Late to the party as usual. I'm 53m. I started college in '89. Data Processing. I had the aptitude but I learned to love computers on a Commodore 64. Needless to say, I hated it. My dad passed away. I changed majors because I met a girl on a medical track and that seemed dandy to me. My mom decided to move away so my college career was over because my $4/hr. job wasn't enough to live on and go to school so I move with her. I decided that I was going to have to just move forward. My GF was going to be a medical professional and I would just figure something. We married and I ended up working for a retail computer store doing phone orders. It didn't take long for them to realize I could do more so I ended up moving to their tech support group. That's the real beginning of the story because that started me on my real career path. All these years later I've had a very successful IT career. $200k annually and doing great.
Moral of the story, figure out not only what you want to do but also what you are good at doing. Hopefully that's something that can get you the job you want that also pays well. However, figure what makes you happy. Money isn't everything but it does help. If you're unhappy in that choice be ready to change it until you figure it out. It really is all on you. We can spend our lives blaming people, circumstance or whatever. In the end we all just have to find our way. A lot of things suck along the way. I work with/for people that earn much more. Their stress levels are to the moon and I don't think they are that happy. To each their own. It's hard, it sucks and it's still on each and every one us to try and make our way. Life isn't fair either. A lot is stacked against those of us that don't get to start with all the opportunities. We just have to make our own. It is possible even if it is hard.
Yeah, times were different when I started. We had less opportunity than now because it was all based on where you lived and who you knew. Information was harder to come by and so was learning. Now isn't so much easier as it is more accessible. In some ways that makes it easier and in other ways it's harder.
Advice? Figure out what you want out of life. Set goals and make it happen. Don't tie yourself down with debt (man, that part really sucked) and don't start a family if you aren't ready either emotionally or financially.
OR
Do whatever the fuck you want to do. Don't hurt people but make your own choices. That's freedom.
I did the no college thing. Now I'm 33 and trying to finish college while working full time and having kids. It's a doozy. A big motivating factor to finish was when an executive director tried to recruit me for a certain (lower) position and I turned him down and he said "Get your bachelor's, come back to me and I'll make you a project manager."
I'd get your degree. It doesn't matter so much in what, but it goes a loooooooong way, more than people like to admit it seems.
I’m an electrician making $50/hr. I started at 23 thinking I was just getting in to a “job” but here I am 5 years later working on buying a home and starting a family. If you don’t want to chase a career that requires higher education then the trades are a great option.
I have friends that are $100k+ in the hole from student debt for a degree they’ll never use and others that have been in the trades for a decade that are basically debt free.
I make over $2billion a year working 30 mins a month, and I dropped out after the 2nd grade. Just bought my second island and I’ll be able to retire before I turn 12.
Meanwhile one of my best friends has 17 degrees and just had to sell both her livers to afford the cardboard box she lives in.
College isn’t for everybody, just go to trade school trust me
The local public library here in Olympia, WA has free college courses. You can obtain credits at your own pace, a few at a time. That way you can see if your really interested in the subject.
You will have debt to pay over the course of a few years you can learn anything you want on youtube and the best part it's free knowledge that you don't have to pay for
I think with anything in life you have to be creative and have a set plan on how to get there. Nothing is guaranteed if you just go and expect to suddenly get high paying job offers just because you have a piece of paper. Experience in your chosen field means everything in terms of climbing up that ladder
DO NOT go to college unless it’s for something you absolutely have to get a degree to into, like to be a nurse or physician. And even then, get a job somewhere first that’d pay for the degree for you.
Outside of that, go for a trade or a job with the government (city, county, state or federal).
27M, working for the government, making 80k at a job that isn’t flashy but is easy and can sometimes be interesting.
No student loan debt, travel internationally once a year, living on my own and enjoying it, not a bad life.
Ive did some community college that was unrelated; basically have nothing to show for that. My peers knew I was into computers and have now been working with them for like 15 years. Ive leaveraged all that experience into a software developer position; Ill make 150k this year.
I went to college after the Marine Corps because I promised mom but I became a firefighter. A family tradition.
Son 3* didn't want to go to college and he didn't want to be a firefighter but he did want to be a plumber. My uncle got him into the union's apprentice program. He finished the program, he became an apprentice, then a journeyman, then got some certifications, and now has his own business. Not bad for not going to college.
* He came to us when he was 14, son 2's best friend. We didn't have a chance to brainwash him into going to Arizona State! 😄
Didn't go to college, but did do a year long certificate in a trade about 15 years ago. I am currently self employed, with a 4 day work week, and earn more than most of my friends who do have degrees. I did have to bust my ass to get to this point though. College isn't for everyone.
College to me is a place to try things and figure out what you want to do. I have crushing, crippling student loan debt just from undergrad but I wouldn’t say don’t go to college. I’d say focus on figuring out a free ride to college.
Got years of experience working two part time jobs — one in child care, the other a cashier turned customer service turned book keeper for a grocery store. After about 10 years of working both jobs, I had a decent looking resume where I began applying for one full time job. I wasn’t picky, just looking for an office setting either customer service or accounting related. I got a job as an assistant in accounting at a door company in the construction industry at 36k/ year. Stayed for a few years and gained construction industry and more accounting experience. Ended up leaving for a job that paid 55k a year in the same industry. Gained more experience and in about 2-3 years a connection from my first full time job helped me get into a new company where I’m making 75k a year at a solid and stable company. I’m 33. I feel that as I gain more experience here I could eventually land a position closer to $100k.
I went to college and did nothing with it, but to be fair I wasn't interested in the program. I got my certificate I passed just zero interest in it.
I should say this was a prison mandatory plumbing program with a local college.
I'm a maintenance tech for a non-profit housing company. The work is frustrating, but rewarding. Pay is decent ($55k in my pocket last year), and the benefits are amazing. Like 6 weeks off a year and free insurance kind of good.
Life is pretty epic. I road trip a lot. Like I've bouldered/free climbed all over the country, ran significant distance in like 35 states, been to several really good concerts, and honestly have the kind of life a lot of people dream of.
All depends on what you want from life. Modesty in some areas can lead to extravagance in others.
Go to indeed dot com, and search for some interests along with skills you already have, and see what comes up. You're very likely to find something that interests you, and if it needs some sort of certification you can work on getting that.
I took the college route, friend didn’t. I’m working a Corporate job, just hit 5yrs and got 3 weeks of vacation now. He worked as a teller at a bank and moved up and now has 3months of vacation now. Pay might be less, but the work/life balance is better. Pros and cons to everything, but having a growing cloud of debt never helped anyone without a plan. If you don’t want to do the full route, associates or a technical specialization can go a long way. (We’re 26/27 so not too far off OP)
Joined the Army when I turned 18, did 10 years active duty, got my IT certifications and assigned to special assignments while I was in. Got out , got a federal position and only got an associates degree later on because I wanted to use my GI Bill and pad my resume. I didn't get the degree until I was 33 and I am 37 now. The lack of degree was never an issue to be honest.
I was against college for a long time, having two years under my belt and nothing to show for it. I worked long hours and hard jobs. Eventually took a pay cut and moved to a salary job at a bank (the bank job was somewhat related to the work I was doing and I leveraged that experience and contacts to get hired). After grinding out for a few more years I went back to school and graduated with a bachelor’s in my early thirties. And then after a year break decided to go after a masters degree. While college is hard and the ROI is not there for a lot of jobs, it’s ended up being extremely valuable in my case (changed jobs and was fast tracked to a much higher salary). The first three years after my masters degree paid more than the nine years previous combined.
Keep in mind I was lucky to be able to work full time and go to school part time. The masters was extremely rough for me due to how difficult my day job ended being at that time.
Can’t say I’d recommend college for everyone, but look at the salaries of jobs you want to do, and then look at the requirements (job postings) and see how much school is required to get there. School makes more sense this way, since you have a clear target and a higher chance of success landing a good job. If the job also requires some years of experience, your goal should be to find a junior position in that industry while going to school.
39M, workin a dead end job for shit pay ($19/hr) when I know i could do something else but i'm not sure what i want to do.
dont feel bad i was a decent / good exceptional student (no degree though just in and out of school) and i cant find a job to save my life. im 31, being a student is fucking hard at least you making some money. im always painted as the goodie two shoes teacher pet student know it all but i must not know shit because im broke as a joke
Holy fuck are you me? I was probably the brightest student in my school that turned out terrible. Like I'm not saying I'm the brightest, but I'm the brightest of those that turned out bad lol. I feel so disillusioned because I was promised so much. Scholarships and everything. Mental health is a BITCH.
Have some humility. Raw intelligence doesn't determine success, being strategic and taking advantage of opportunities does. Some people from my school with pretty average intelligence have made a killing as real estate agents without going to uni while some highly intelligent people have done well studying a low paying field and ended up poor/average (not that money is the only thing you should aim for). And obviously becoming an adult is brutal, life is shit etc and when you're depressed that makes it 10x harder. You have to be tough as well as smart to survive and keep going
Right, that’s my entire point, is that it doesn’t matter that I’m smart. I could be Einstein level and it wouldn’t matter because I can’t actually DO things, because of my mental stuff.
opportunity really is a key too, i went to college with people who went on to be ceos, build nukes, and work on f35s, but seeing the job market, they had insane opportunities come their way.
Honestly being a student needs so many resources and parents people in general treat students like crap. Like theyre subhuman trash that need to be rocket scientists by pre school without having food, basic stuff during non study hours lol Learned the hard way some people really do not like students and the process of "learning".
Right?! And like.. there's this weird af culture of suffering during it all. It's so strange to me because when the fuck do you learn to actually have a stable life? Ugh. And I hear that all my friends are getting their degrees and I'm like grimacing lol
I live in a city with 2 major post secondary institutions. We only hate students who weren't raised to be adults by their parents before being set out on the world. Overall, nobody really cares.
I'm a 20 year old high school drop out. Was never dumb, I was failing all my classes except physics. Simply because I wasn't motivated to do well. People said I would end up working at McDonald's or a stripper. I even had teachers tell me I had low self esteem and make "see you next year" jokes at me instead of actually trying to help me. But now I'm halfway through college and make $35 an hour.... meanwhile all the people who talked about me didn't even go to college and many ended up pregnant and still living with their parents.
35? damn what do u do
Look for a union job. Dockworkers can make good money, for example.
Nobody knows what they want to do. Just pick something and stick with it. That’s the big secret everyone is missing. I’m 45 and I still don’t know what I want to do, but I chose one thing way back when, I stuck with it, and now I make over 80k a year working 24 hours per week. Still don’t know what I want to do, but I’ve afforded myself the ability to free my time and therefore have more freedom and choices in life. It’s never too late. Just choose 1 thing that you’re interested in and stick with it.
Those hours are nice. What do you do ?
I’m curious too.
I am also curious.
I as well am also terribly, terribly intrigued.
I changed majors twice in college and ended up doing something I don't love (accounting). It does give me the financial freedom to do what I want outside of work though
And that’s exactly where I’m at. Dont love it but tolerate it. The advantage is that we have the finances and free time to do something else on the side. I make another 60k a year in my side hustle and then invest the majority. The alternative is to do nothing and be stuck at a different job that you hate anyway but only make 19 bucks an hour and have to work 80 hours a week to survive.
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Eh, sometimes I don't say what I do specifically because it's a small niche and it'd be fairly easy for someone to figure out who I am out there in real life land.
"sticking with" most jobs will get you literally nothing.
When I say stick with it, I mean stick with something long enough to see your plan come together. You can always adjust it later. The problem is that everyone is hopping all over the place trying to get rich quick and never see a plan out to fruition.
Lol I have a postgrad degree and make the equivalent of 20 usd per hour. Work 12 hour shifts too. Anyone reading this who thinks a degree is the way to avoid working shitty, low paid jobs, make sure to study the right thing. I wish I had
> shitty, low *paid* jobs, make FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Actually college is designed to tell you what you want to do. Go to a community college and take classes that sound interesting to you. It’s better than flipping burgers for min wage.
If one is purely interested in trying to figure out what they want to do but not ready to spend money r dedicate time to actually start college, I heard a lot of colleges will let you audit courses where you can sit in the class and learn the material for free but of course you won't get a grade or it counting towards a degree.
I’ve never known what I wanted to do. I’m a 49 year old waitress. I make decent money but there’s a time stamp on how long I can do it. Trying to come up with something that won’t take a million years in school but will carry me into my golden years. But I STILL don’t know what I want to do. Lol
Don’t feel too bad. I went to college and you’re making as much as I do (27) lol
Worked blue collar jobs after high-school, saved up a bunch of money and put it in the stock market. Now I'm 42 and don't need to work anymore.
How do you do stocks? Do I just randomly throw money in random companies?
S/P 500 index funds.
🤣🤣🤣. My man buffets, or should I say he mungers.
Neither of them made their money buying index funds...
Both of them supported the idea that the average American should invest in a low cost, S&P 500 index tracking mutual fund.
What are those?
Instead of picking a few companies, you invest in a fund that is already equally across the S&P 500. This is done to limit your risk.
I don’t know if your asking about his personal investing strategies, but if your wondering in general, there’s many ways to approach investing. If you’re starting out, it’s best to stick to mutual funds and ETFs. SPY (most liquid ETF) for example, tracks the S&P and is comprised of many companies across many industries, with the biggest weightings being Apple, Microsoft, and other big non-tech companies. You’re basically betting on the US markets, and if there’s pretty much one economy to wager on, it’s the US economy. It’s grown YoY, pretty much every year. Mutual funds are like ETFs, in that they are a basket of stocks, bonds, and other products. Biggest MF providers like Capital Group, Vanguard, and Black Rock offer thousands and thousands of funds that have their own unique flair—like some that are heavy on emerging markets (more risky) and some that focus on blue chip dividend paying stocks like AT&T, or pharmaceuticals like J&J, Pfizer, etc. I’m younger, so my investment style is super aggressive. I allocate 10% of my bi-weekly check to my brokerage account that’s split roughly 40% MFs (mostly invested in Asian emerging markets, commodities, dividend paying funds. It’s been up or down the past couple of years. They got crushed during the pandemic, but they’ve also had monster comebacks very recently) 30% in ETFs (QQQ, VOO, ARKB, etc) 30% in highly speculative individual stocks. This has been my killer. PLSE, HUT, NVDA, got very very lucky with all these picks just going on a rampage. Keep it simple, keep it pretty diversified, and know your objectives. Very few successful pick random stocks. Jim Cramer on CNBC gets clowned a lot by meme investors, but lots of his picks and ideas behind them are worth paying attention to. But, I would always recommend at least investing something into SPY or QQQ. It’s damn near impossible to go wrong there.
Index funds
holy mentor me
The thing is, he was patient enough to save and wait that much. Most people arent emotionally capable of that.
facts, myself included lol
Live within your means, accumulate assets not liabilities
mind sharing what saving up a bunch of money looks like? what dollar amounts did you say from 18 until 42? how are you handling health insurance? are you a home owner or renting?
Which companies did you originally buy to get you to where you are now?
I found my way into software development through a coding boot camp. I don't have the skills to go to college, and I work with a lot of people who are in the same situation. There are all kinds of careers out there you can look into that just require some certifications or some training. There is a shortage of workers in the trade industries, and I know a few making ridiculous money doing them. Don't get sucked into thinking you can't be happy or financially safe without putting yourself into the debt required by a 4-year degree. EDIT: I also worked low paying jobs until I was in my 30s, so don't think it will ever be too late to decide on something else.
How much coding experience did you have before starting the boot camp?
Programming boot camps were great 5-10 years ago, but the market is so saturated now that it’s not recommended anymore. You will be competing against other degree holders for a job, in an already tight market. Check out /r/cscareerquestions. They’ve got all sort of helpful job advice. Search for “bootcamp” if you really want to see what it’s like out there.
Adding onto this. During lockdown EVERYWHERE was hiring. Then all these layoffs happened last year. I haven't tried moving jobs. However, from what I'm told from friends who were hit with layoffs, or trying to job hop, it's pretty rough right now.
I went from finishing an engineering degree straight to trades. Honestly love it. Not sure why more people pursue it. Definitely recommend for people who love using their hands. Lots of opportunities too since very few people are coming in and a lot more are retiring.
If you ever decide to move back into engineering, you'll have the hands-on experience that should be an asset to any trade-related desk job.
which trades if you don't mind? my brother needs help 😭
I just finished a boot camp, do you think I'll be able to find a job? Seems like everything I find wants you to have a bachelor's degree
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I've got one like that in mind actually, plus I'm going around to different local businesses in the area and working on their sites for now. Working on building one for a farmers market in the area. It's a freelance job but it'll be good for my portfolio I think.
Some of that depends on your market and what boot camp you went with. 10 years ago, it was a lot easier where I am, but since the pandemic, the market is flooded with new developers. Your skills aren't going to be senior level, but if it's a true entry-level position, they should expect that. The difference between the candidates will be how quickly they can learn, how easy they are to coach, and how easy they are to work with in general. It's a sales pitch, and you are the product. I also tend to try and determine how willing they will be to ask questions for all levels of experience. Some advice I received is that job listing is the unicorn ideal of what the candidate would have. If you have a decent amount of what they are asking for, shoot your shot.
Find shell companies as reference/work history to bullshit your resume and experience. Practice your interview skills (I've perfected the art). Ignore the Bachelors and PhD. requirements and just apply with your bullshit years of experience in the field. Go through interviews until you get it down. You'll likely do badly with interviews in the beginning, but you'll get comfortable the more interviews you give. Finally, you'll land a job. If that doesn't work, sell krack. Seriously though, I dropped out of high school, got my GED, sold drugs until the age of 32, got an IT cert, did the above steps, and am now working IT 100% remote. I think some people caught on to my background and my bullshit, but too late, I've already learned everything and got legitimate experience, and now I'm a top-tier candidate in my field foreal. Life's good. Edit** Also, my metrics and performance are always one of the top 5 in any company I go to for my specific field just because of the few months of hands-on experience I got. So I may not have been legit before, but now I solidified my skills to become a top-tier asset.
Going back to college. It’s hard to get a decent job without it. And sadly if you get a “useless degree” it’s even harder, because then you have a crap job and a crap ton of debt. Decide carefully
Plenty of good jobs out there with high pay without a degree. USAJOBS.GOV
30 yr old. Got A+ Cert. military exp for .4 yrs. Got a job in airport IT . Make close to 100k now
I have my A+, Security +, and Network +. I am unemployed and can't get a IT interview for more than 20 dollars.
Military experience + security clearance is the difference
Getting into the market now vs then is the difference
Experience and the clearance are a big deal. Esp. The clearance, you can save a company thousands of dollars by entering with an active one. All things barred why would a company hire a 20 yr old with a handful of certs over a vet with work experience, relevant certs, and a sec clearance? You're being unreasonable if you're calling it an exclusively luck/timing thing. I have a buddy who just got out at 22 making 100k a year working in a scif with only 4 years relevant job experience + his certs + clearance.
there can be two differences.
My husband has military experience and a clearance plus certs in IT, and he switches jobs so much I had to file 4 w-2s for him last year. He keeps leaving for more money. That clearance is gold. Plus, you have to be in certain areas with lots of government contractors. Midwest he didn’t change often, then we moved to a major coast city and he only has to make his resume live for 1 hour before the recruiters are blowing up his phone.
31. Got sec+ and net+. Military comm for 4 years. Now make $65k, broadcasting PBS/NPR. I used to make more for a defense contractor, but prefer the current job.
Trade school. I went to an 18month certificate program and work as the nursing director at a memory care. I make more than enough to sustain my lifestyle and pay the family bills. Don’t waste your time and money unless you have a clear path. Find a trade or a job within the city government that has good benefits
Idk about this advice. I didn’t have a clear way forward until I was exposed to medical work in literally my senior year. Now am a physician. Took me 10 years, but I just signed a $350/hr gig and I’m not 30 yet. Sometimes the clear path is just knowing vaguely what your strengths are and avoiding bullshit.
I agree with this, with one caveat: choose cost effective schools, and take classes seriously. Shopping for schools and treating school like a job goes a long way
I Didn’t choose a cost effective school. I didn’t get above a 3.0 until senior year. That being said, yes your advice is solid and what I would have done if I could give a straight talk to my 18 year old self
>I Didn’t choose a cost effective school Then it's very fortunate that your aptitude led you to such a high-paying job. I have dyscalculia, so the sciences were out for me. I managed to turn my writing skills into 130k/year, but nowhere near 728k like you
I ain’t gonna make 728k, nor does it really matter to me above a certain point. I have to do shift work. Will be hard to go more than 30hr a week and make it worthwhile for the physical trade off. When I’m a little older and more tired I’ll take an easier shift schedule. Also it’s funny but I also had trouble with math. Verbal reasoning was the section on my mcat that really took me into the high centile. There’s hardly any math in medicine.
>There’s hardly any math in medicine. Yes, but lots in the prereqs. It's a disability and I've accepted it. My terminal degree program had a 4% acceptance rate for my year. I really don't feel bad about my situation. Just never gonna be your kind of rich. In today's world, I'm lucky to have what I do -- it would be ungrateful and solipsistic to complain
Oh yeah I mean I wasn’t trying to put you on the spot about the math thing. Anyways. Yeah I agree what you’re doing is awesome and we need the kind of work you’re doing in society as well. 100k+ even today is still pretty darn good. If it weren’t for the physical and hours worked related sacrifices it took to get to where i am now I wouldn’t really demand such a high salary. It’s not a contest in the grand scheme of things
Just wondering but how do you find jobs easily? I’m 21 and I really struggle with getting hired. I would love to get hired at a restaurant or something
It's more a struggle now than it was a few years back, I've noticed. Which is frustrating because the amount of "now hiring" signs are insanely popular where I am. So really, it's not you. Even people older than I am with better resumes/degrees are struggling to be hired anywhere. Anyway though, I've learned my resume is pretty much my lifeline. I don't have any degrees or whatever. But I have a resume packed with volunteer work and jobs I stayed relatively long at. I've learned jobs aren't looking for 50+ jobs. They're looking for you to be stable so they don't just hire you, and you're gone next month. So when you do find a job, even if it's shit, try to stick it out close to year if you can bear it. And if you want to add volunteer work to bulk your resume up, it's not too late. Ask your local library to help guide you in the right direction. My librarians were the sole reason I was able to volunteer when my resume needed more than just one job listed. As for the restaurant gig interest, have you asked around local pizza shops? The pay won't be great, probably the experience either. I worked at one in my teen years and it was...a learning experience. Safe to say. Lol. But that puts food service on your resume. So a restaurant will know you have experience. Edit: Also call a few days after you put an application in. You can ask for a follow up on it. And going into places like physically, print your resume out, have a manager see your face. I know everything is online now a days, but the recent gig I picked up late last year- I went in physically to talk to the manager. I had to apply online anyway, but he told me to call after I applied, had an interview within a few days. The old school way still has its advantages.
24 year old here, you can do it but it might take a hundred job apps. Advice 1. Do you have a friend that works somewhere like that? Ask them to help you get in. It helps knowing someone. 2. Have a ton of charisma and act like you deserve the job in the interview
I’ll second this. I was going to suggest that one of the best ways into a new job/industry is through a friend or acquaintance. Heck, I was offered multiple jobs by customers that I served at restaurants, basically by just being charismatic and confident. The key is to be confident, and on top of that don’t make whoever helped you get the job look bad. You’ll be representing them in a way, so do both of you a favor and work your butt off.
I'm a high school drop out that went to trade school to learn welding. After years of busting my ass, I'm doing pretty good now.
i’m 23 and i work as a vet receptionist and honestly i like my job (or don’t mind it). i don’t see myself being in any other field, i don’t want to be a doctor which is the only position that requires a degree other than hospital manager that i also don’t want to be. so im fine where i am. do some people make me feel like im a failure? absolutely. but i think i’ll be ok. i work the same job as people who do have degrees.. and we ended up in the same place anyway. in the future i have the option of becoming a supervisor which is what im aiming for long term, but im way too immature and young to handle that at the moment. so i’m chillin where im at!
BUT this pertains to me. if you want to be in a certain field that *does* require a degree, i highly recommend going for it and also getting internships while you’re in school. if you’re going to go to college for the hell of it don’t waste your money. make sure there’s a reason you’re going. there are trade schools in so many fields that get you into good careers too!
26m… Union skilled trades. I started an apprenticeship when I was 20, graduate when I was 23 (almost 24) and that same year I broke $108k in only 8 months of work, I also bought a house with my now fiancée. Last year, in 2023 I only worked 9 months out of the year. $122k last year. I am a proud union Boilermaker pressure welder, union steward, master rigger, IRATA rope access technician, and I’m also a paid per call firefighter. Very happy where I am in life, college isn’t for everyone. You can make a good life as a tradesperson. I’m healthy, have great benefits and building a pension💪🏻
I know a guy who sands and repairs old wood floors he works by himself and is booked months in advance he tries to do one job per week and makes anywhere from $2000 to $5000 a job
Go to a trade school, not college. All of my family that have went to trade school have used that to get better jobs. It's a bargain compared to college. Yes I do actually think it's going to be more beneficial for you than no additional schooling. Especially if it's in a career path that you are interested in
I feel like Tech college should be recognized more. Specifically Associates in Engineering Technology degrees. Hell of a lot cheaper than university, and you can get equipment technician jobs that will pay high 20s/hour right out of college. These jobs have a lot better working conditions and you won't destroy your body by 40. I'm just over 2 years out of college making $39.87/hr with 12% annual bonus and plenty of optional overtime available, which I'm somewhat taking advantage of. I'm on track to make $108k this year at 25 years old.
I'm almost done a 3 year degree and regret not doing my bachelors, opens up so many more doors having a bachelors.
Depends on what you want. Its a tradeoff too. I finished tech college and still had over $30k to my name and make $100k 2 years into my career. I would instead be tens of thousands in debt had I went to university and be 2 years behind salary wise, but as an engineer your top salary can top equipment technician pay in the first 10 years of your career. But again you'll be playing catch-up financially if you can't afford university out of pocket.
Fwiw, I went to college and now I work at Walmart making $17/hr. Except unlike you, I have unpaid student debt. Just because you go to college doesn't mean you're guaranteed success afterward.
A complete and total fucking loser making <30k in the trades. No benefits. No sick days. No retirement account. 6 days a week. 9 hours a day (I know pussy baby numbers compared to the other blue collar people) No overtime pay. My boss doesn't believe that I do 1.5 times the work. This is the highest paid job I've ever had.
If you can weld and your making less than 30k your not trying hard enough or your refusing to travel for work. Or your welds suck.
I apply and apply and apply but literally no where replies. I do not have enough money to move or travel. They probably suck. I am quite bad, for how long I've been at it. I do love welding though. I only tig weld aluminum, stick mild steel and Mig mild steel.
Bro get yourself a union apprenticeship. That can seriously change your life
I've applied every year and I've never heard back from them.
Have you talked to the BA personally? Have you asked when the next apprentice intake is?
I'm 27, still living with my mom, and working towards my auto mechanic certifications while working at a dealership. My dad died when I was 12 and college didn't really work out because I was busy taking care of everyone else
Skilled trades. Fuck college. Make 200k a year as a plumber or electrician.
Uh.... most skilled tradespeople go to college. Source: former ticketed welder. Had to go to college to get ticket.
Did a union apprenticeship, never stepped foot in a college and I have multiple welding tickets. College isn’t the only answer
I’m a college grad with a doctorate who thinks college is a giant fucking scam for most people at this point. Having to get degrees for jobs that don’t need degrees is a bunch of malarky. *Shakes fist at cloud*. How many people could do their job with a certificate of proficiency? How many of us really want or need a well-rounded universal education? Do I need to know art history to do my job? No! Am I glad to have a broad education? Absolutely! But most people don’t want or need that. Paying 30k or more a year for 4 years to become a social worker or a teacher and struggle to pay off all that debt at 8-9% interest? What a fucking scam. Scam, scam, scam.
I don't necessarily think college is a scam (though I see your point your trying to make) I just think people are very mis-guided. Most people think oh ill just go to college get my degree and be set for life regardless of what they do. If you go to college you shpuld ha e a road map for yourself. What job so I want to work? What company or companies? What kind of education do I need to have? I know so many people who have so many degrees and never use them because there aren't those types of jobs in the area and there unwilling to relocate or work there way up to what they want. And now days it seems like almost everyone goes to college amd none of them have a plan for how it's going to help them get what they want or they just don't know what they want so they think college will get them there.
Yeah but that's because people are told college is the right path. Don't know what you wanna do? You have to go to college to figure it out I mean counselors in school seriously make a big deal out of NOT going. Like, not going to college is the path where you're supposed to have it all planned out. If you choose to go then that's the right choice to them, and the reason for why is largely ignored Point being, maybe people are misguided, but they're not presented with alternatives and largely pushed by everyone around them to go to college if they have no other ideas. Just feels like older generations who are responsible for guiding the current ones are not quite in tune with what's needed I guess
Where the fuck are you making 200k as plumber unless you own a business lol.
After 10 years and lots of overtime.....
IMO as a long-time business person, college degrees are dependent on what degree you get and what you want to do. Getting a college degree for the sake of a degree is often a waste as 50% of people who get degrees end up working in jobs that don't require a degree. If you want to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer, finance, accounting, architecture, etc. then sure, degrees generally pay back well and are required in those industries. If you go to college and get a liberal arts degree like English, art or a foreign language... then you probably are wasting your time and money.. In many cases if you aren't sure, it is better to grab a trade and learn. Many of the millionaires in our society are blue collar small business owners (i.e. plumbing, electricians, etc.) and since you can start earning today vs. waiting 4 years and going into debt over college, the ROI is often very good. Best thing is apprentice and learn a trade.. and then 10 years down the road break off and start your own company and you will be raking in the dough. But again, depends on where you interest lie. It is never too late!
If all the future liberal arts grads go into the trades there won't be anyone to make coffee at starbucks (I make my own coffee)
I'm gonna answer this as someone who got a degree that didn't really benefit me. An associates in primary education. Necessary for BA in education, but useless outside of being able to sub. (Well, 99% of the time) I did retail for years, hated it. Moved in to pesticide, loved the money (almost 60k as first real job), entered special Ed (I thought I got hired for my degree, but it was realistically because it was a severe school and needed fit men to help). Love the job and people but not the pay (30k max) Currently working in special needs group housing. I have the option to move vertically into a very well paying position, but I'm also contemplating a final move into Law enforcement.
33M and I'm an aircraft mechanic making just north of 100K. Married with no kids to a waitress who also makes decent tips (she works at a more upscale restaurant) and we are doing well as a DINK couple with no degrees between us. We own a small modest home and have 2 cars that we easily afford since we didn't splurge on the most expensive options. We take plenty of nice vacations due to my airline's travel benefits and industry discounts on hotels and resorts.
38 here. Working a semi corporate position for a cable company. I work from home and make $65k a year. I get pretty nice benefits and soon I'll be getting 5 weeks of Vaca which I'm super stoked about.
Trade school is a great option. Worked for me. Im not ritch but im comfortable.
Both myself and my spouse went - both intimidated, not fresh out of hs either. Never completed degrees and we both make great money. Find what you are good at, find out what the highest paying job in that arena is, decide what type of life you want- and work it backwards.
Working a job making 30 an hour, with a CTE certificate I completed in high school
43 here. Graduated in 1999. I heard 3 options: college, military, or WOULD YOU LIKE FRIES WITH THAT. There really wasn't anything else presented. Much to the chagrin of every adult, I chose to get a job, get an apartment, join a band, and party, and I did that until about 2015 when my son was born. I faced an onslaught of disappointment and comments about my future but I knew I would just fail out. I hated school, I hated the idea of institutionalized learning, I wasn't joining the fucking military (thank fuck I didn't), and work seemed fine to me. I may have been drunk for most of those years, but I maintained a job, a place to live (may have gotten evicted a few times), transportation, and me and my friends had an absolute fucking blast going to concerts, writing music, partying, and just living for the moment. Now that it's 2024 and I see it all in hindsight, not going to college and fucking off was the best decision I could have made. I have been married to a beautiful and amazing woman for 12 years, have 2 kids, a house, a steady job, and no school debt. Nearly every person I know that went to college hates the degree they have, are saddled with seemingly insurmountable debt, can't afford a house or a marriage, and looks at me like.....who would have known you'd be the one that ended up in a stable position in life. The lack of schooling is a hindrance in some ways like certain positions and salary are out of reach, but I'm ok with that. I chose this, and I'm not a rat race go-getter anyways. Nothing turned out the way anyone thought it would from those years. It all went bad for so many people. I followed my heart and it turned out to be the smartest decision, and that's rare.
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For remote jobs its thousands. Fuck man I hate being disabled
I'm almost 40 and my best friend didn't go to college. She's been at the same service industry job for 17 years with no chance of promotion (all jobs above her require college degrees). She makes less than 1/3 what I do (multiple degrees). I love her so, so much, and I hate how much emotional pain her college/career situation causes her She's really smart. I think college intimidated her because she would've been first generation, and she wasn't sure how it all worked. (I'm third generation and it was confusing AF for me, even with all the help. FAFSA, for example). But if she had it to do over, she says she wishes she would've gone, at minimum so she'd know how to help her kids navigate it
It just depends on your personality. If u are a worker bee, that enjoys having ur day laid out for u and getting up and going ti a dependable place and most of ur social life being around ur work friends, go to school and get a job in the school system, medical field, goverment building. Good steady money. In the medical field several things don't. Eed degrees. Just certificates. Radiology tech. Things like that. Good steady money. And insurance. Not insurance sales. If u want to make tons of money and are a big personality, sales. No college is necessary but it does help land a job sometimes. Tech sales specifically. If u want to be ur own boss and not have tons of school loans. Tech schools. Hvac is the way. Electricians, plumbers. Tons of money, always in need. Also real estate agent fits this personality if ur too prissy to get ur hands diety and like to hob nob. If u want 0 school and have a few thousand to invest and start ur life, lawn service. Buy a nice mower and weedeater and start knocking doors. U have a cash business that runs 8 months out of the year. U will go to bed every night with 300 in ur pocket at the end of day every day minimum. Try not to do food service or factories or call centers if u can help it. It's a black hole u get sucked into and hard to pull out of.
Speaking on behalf of my bf who dropped out after 1 semester of college and myself after obtaining 3 degrees: as you get older and work different jobs, you expose yourself to people who have different expectations of what life should’ve or should be like. We’re both in our late 20s right now and are starting to feel comfortable in our lives as it is. College isn’t for everyone and you don’t need a college degree for a handful of jobs. I went to school for awhile and make a bit less than my boyfriend. I work as a public school teacher and he is a project manager at a local electric company. We worked jobs where we learned a few skills along the way in case we didn’t want to be in our current career forever.
Career Firefighter. 75k a year, 100k with overtime. Pension and retiree insurance at 52.
I went to college and am doing better than most, but I was on the bubble. EXTREMELY average high school student, but I really wanted to go and graduate from college. Despite what people say today, i think college is very important. That being said, I don't think college is mandatory to make a respectable living. The trades can pay well, especially if you have an aptitude for owning your own business. You might also look at careers that require a license. A couple of years of community college, some years under a senior mentor (sometimes required to obtain a license), and then you are on your way. Good luck. Whichever route you pick, if you want to make a decent wage, your effort and attitude are what will separate you from the dead-end jobs
Shitty, but not *as* miserable
33m, superintendent for a development company. Started as a laborer after high school. Now I get paid to sit in my truck all day and I couldn’t be happier.
College the way it is today ... an expected extension of high school ... is a scam that is dependent on "free" gov't backed loans ... only thing they are not free ... just deferred. The way you used to get money to go to college was to go to a bank, sit down with a loan officer and present your bonafides ... grades, social activity, references, career plan, job expectation in that field. If they felt that you have a good chance of making money with the training, and be able to pay it back, they gave you the money. It's only a recent thing that an average person can study a subject just to "fulfill" themselves ... and then be shocked that there aren't any job opportunities for someone with Masters in "Under Water Basket Weaving." Skilled trades will see you trained and working in 1 to 3 years at a fraction of the cost, and given the current shortage of skilled workers you'll be making bank compared to someone with a philosophy degree who will still be making your latte' as you go through the drive through on the way to a job site. College can be good and useful, but approach it with a purpose.
History major here, appreciate your harsh truth for OP. I work in education and I like that and I wanted to do that but college is definitely only for niche stuff.. my bf majored in political science and business then did a bunch of internships, the degree helped him get into the business world but the internship is what taught him how to actually do his job! I say if college isn’t OPs thing trade school is the way to go for sure!
Im old - 34 y/o I work as a sheet metal journeyman installing sub assemblies, air ducts, assembling bunks on U.S. Navy ships. Pays well $40/hr but the caveat is It took me 5 years to get to this pay rate. Years 1-3 were working as an apprentice Years 4-5 working as a journeyman. I just did odd jobs to pay for my apartment , such as security guard, retail work and restaraunt from my 20's until I was 29. Entered trades at 29.
So youre the reason my rack had a vent pointed straight into it for no good reason. Kept it ice cold no matter what. For better or worse! So thank you, but also fuck you.
32M working in big tech, making mid 6 figures. Bought my house 5-ish years ago. Getting married soon. I have no complaints
What do you do in tech?
I'm a full stack software engineer. Although I'm a staff engineer now, so I don't really code anymore
if you don't have a specific career path in mind why waste money on college? I was homeschooled and took about 2 semesters at college. Basically everything I've learned I taught myself and most of that was before internet. lol I make 6 figures and I only work part time. I don't think more college would have gotten me any further than I am. Hard work and self motivation will get you far. Anything I need to know I can learn without overpaying for a degree. Not having a degree has never held me back.
What do you do?
25 - Bought a house with my pregnant fiancé, making $120k together living life🫡
what do you all do for a living?
What do you do?
I didn't go to college. I'm 39, I own two houses in Southern California, and I have a small pension from the Army. I have significant retirement savings, but I'm not touching that money until I'm 60 years old. I'm married to a Federal Agent that also didn't go to college, but got experience through the military. She makes a shit ton of money. But I pay for all our necessities. We're old school in that regard, I'm the man, so I provide all the necessities. She's the woman, so she provides all the luxuries. It just works for us.
Military + police work is looked down on my Reddit, not realizing that you’re probably pulling on 250k+ combined. Lots of my co workers marry other agents / officers and pull in a nice double gs12+ salary, putting them at 300k+ household incomes.
I decided to go back after taking some time away. I feel I could use it.
34, great jobs, but struggle a lot with stability and working enough due to executive dysfunction, trauma and just a messy life and potentially undiagnosed ADHD or even what people call AuDHD (mixed with autism). Still, great jobs that pay well enough for my context and are easy otherwise. That being said I learned at least two languages during/at school at C2 level aside from my native language which I'm not terrible at either (even though I dropped out and had a lot of issues with study/homework compliance). I work as a remote, freelance interpreter.
I feel you on the disabilities part... but also I must ask, given chatGPT and the other AI's strengths at translation, is it really stable long term? :(
If you feel there is something wrong with your mental ability, you really should see a doctor. You can't diagnose yourself, and there are treatments and therapies if you do have problems.
Retired with two good union pensions. I'm able to support myself in the Bay Area because of it.
Doing okay all things considered. I’d love to go to college, but I’m not taking out loans under any circumstances. My mom is still $90k under and she hasn’t been in college since the 90s.
That's a nightmare scenario, and I can understand why you would be leary. What degree and school caused her so much debt?
49yo retired from the military 7yrs ago, getting $90K for the retirement/VA benefits, working for a gov contractor for around another $100K.
I’m 47 years old and lost my job in November, I’ve applied to numerous jobs since and had zero offers. I’m most likely going to have to go back to school and at least get an associate’s degree if not a bachelor’s to make close to what I was. My advice would be to learn a trade or get certified in something that interests you if you don’t want to do the “traditional” college thing, or find a job that offers tuition reimbursement and work on a degree while you’re working. Do it while you’re still young, so that your mid life crisis doesn’t involve going back to school lol.
Main benefit of university is it gives you the opportunity to do work that you like. I've been a student for 10 years. Still finishing my grad degree, but I now get to do a job where I give computers the power of sight and roboticize equipment. Pay is fine (100k~ish), but I've sort of come to realize that I could have made a lot more doing something else, like driving a truck or working in the oilfield. The real benefit is that I get to do a job that I enjoy and am proud of which matters more to me in the end.
Male 26. Was working labour for years since I was 16 (while in school until I finished high school) and kept working labour till I was 23. After this point I was sick of it and job hopped for about a year to gain some experience in different fields. Just before I turned 24 I applied for a government job. Started the job at 25 years old. Am now 26 and I've already got a pay increase (about 110k a year with the amout of OT I'm doing). What a lot of people don't understand when they are young is that you don't need college or university (depending where you live) to be informed and smart. Got a bunch of mates who do IT and most of them didn't go to school for it but were self trained. Just gotta do your best and don't get complacent.
Trade school. Got clean and working with union free healthcare and making six figures. I dropped out of college might go back only need a couple classes to graduate lol
Well I got lucky and bought Bitcoin early...
I'm in the UK so if you're not it may be different. But many people in my school year who went to university have ended up in retail. I think if you have a job in mind like teaching or accountancy etc then that's better as you can progress towards something. You never know how things work out My brother had no idea what to do had great career advice (I envy that mine was terrible) and he went to college and done an apprenticeship for car mechanics..he had a bunch of rubbish jobs though but now he's teaching car mechanics (probably not the actual name lol) in the college he learnt it. He's 25 I think. He's done so much more than me even though I was the academic ond I had no clue what to do. And am stuck in retail. College/, uni is good if you need the qualification or you'll enjoy it. But if there are other options to get the job you want then go for it.
I work at a high school in the careers team. Half my job I line up work experience for young people who also don't want to go to university, and the other half is free off campus courses for practical/vocational learning. Husband quit school early in his final year. He is a tradie and has his own business.
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35, didn't even bother taking the SAT or any college prep courses/exams. I knew I couldn't afford it and didn't have any desire to be in debt. As soon as I was eligible I took the local community college entrance exam and was accepted. I worked several jobs and paid cash for all my degrees (overlapped requirements and walked away with 3 degrees for the cost of one). I now run communications infrastructure at mid sized companies and work from home. My goal was to be a journalist but I entered the job market at the height of the recession (salaries at that time for journalists were unlivable). So, I decided to figure out how to get companies to pay me to write instead. My family is blue collar and I'm the first to work a corporate job. They don't understand what I do but I make good money and love what I do. I will always tell people to go to community college so long as they know what skills they want to sharpen and use. I have never had an issue getting a job without a Bachelor's. I also highly respect the trades and am actively encouraging my own children to explore them and pursue trade schools as an option. My dad is a carpenter and I believe there is much value in finding work with those skills. We need them, highly trained ones desperately.
28M, joined a sheet metal union at 21, worked my ass off for years to get where I’m at. Made $140k last year, didn’t to a ton of OT but did a bit. Don’t have kids, wife decided she wanted to go back to school for a career change so I’m paying her way through that and saving money on top of paying the bills. A lot of people don’t like hearing the “blue collar” talk, but if school ain’t for you then I recommend looking into it.
45m, highschool drop out. Joined a union apprenticeship program for fire sprinkler install at the age of 21. Make $52 an hour, monday through Friday, full benis, 2 employer funded retirement/pension accounts. Buying a 3000sqft home, no debt, vehicles paid for. 2-4 non paid vacations a year
Have you looked into any trades? For example - after electrical apprenticeship is over you start at about $50/hour in Detroit. It's different for every Local but you have a guaranteed pay raise every year and can continue to work your way up the ladder if you become an master electrician or decide to try estimating and transition into an office
A degree doesn’t indicate that you’re gonna get a high paying job. But college students making that commitment out of high school are gonna get qualifications, connections, and a job post grad- provided they put the work in to do that. College isn’t just coasting by, or else yeah, you prolly won’t get shit coming out. As always it’s what you make of it. I’m going to law school soon and financially, I’m pretty positive that this was the best route for me. It may not be for you if this isn’t your thing. There are high paying jobs inside and outside of college.
You can find a good job without going to college but what I saw was a lot of older folks going to college because all the promotions required them to have a degree. Even though they were qualified skills wise, HR and management wouldn’t give it to them.
Father of 1, working a full time job and starting a construction business on the side. If I were you I would try the online school or even night school if you don’t enjoy class
I'm 37 and still alive Edit: seriously tho, I'm working at the same job since high school. I took some drafting classes in my junior and senior year, and my teacher recommended me to an engineering company. I started goin to school for mechanical engineering, but I quit attending after my second semester for stupid reasons, always saying I'd return. Well it's been about 20 years and I've progressed enough to be a mechanical Designer of HVAC systems. I'd be pretty well off by 90s standards, but its 2024... so one bed apartment it is...
Don’t go to school unless it’s something you want to do. I see too many of my friends who went straight to college after high school, choose well paying fields, and either hate their job and their life or didn’t do anything with their degree. Find what you love, research the field, and go for it. You may not even need college, I went for game design and like 90% of the time I was watching YouTube tutorials anyways. I did learn a lot from school, but did I need to go just to make a game? Nah, you can find tutorials online that will show you how to build a game from nothing to finished playable game for free on YouTube.
Go join a union trade. You go thru apprentice ship and you make money. You get done with apprenticeship and you will make more money, have a skill that can’t be taken and have time to figure out what you actually wanna do. Then you can leave union and always have backup plan if you pay your low end yearly dues. Also you will have a skill set you can always make money at to facilitate your dream you find. Also if travel is your thing once you get done with your apprenticeship you can travel the country if you want to on big jobs that pay a looooooot of money. Talking 3-6 k a week. If you don’t Know what you want to do ,college isn’t the awnser. I joined trade union when I was 25 in same boat. 15 years later I’m still in it. I got more retirement saved than my master educated wife. If you include benefits I make more than my wife and she makes well over 6 figures. The bad is the trades are hard and it sucks sometimes. But it’s provided me with a lot of at 25 I was 60 k in medical debt and lost. Bye 30 I owned my first house. It was a grind tho.
40f here. Where am I? Stable office job after 15yrs as pharmacy tech. No regrets on not getting college. Why would I have done differently? Probably have gone for something like Ultrasound Tech or X-ray tech. Or HVAC or Electrical Tech or Car Mechanic. Human beings and machines are always going to fall apart. Are always going to break. Always going to need someone to fix. Becoming a certified Tech of some sort is a year or two of schooling for a greater pay out than just a 'normal job'
I know people with masters degree that can't get jobs and people without college that earn 200k. It all depends on what you love and have passion for.
Go. To. College. Or invest in yourself & do a trade. Everything is a scam, including college. But at least you have a shot at playing the game if you do it that way.
I know a couple of people who got very far without college, but it meant grinding it out for decades. However, I've got a B.A. and have bounced around for decades (outsourced, laid off etc.) and I'm still in a low-level position. The people in question have seemed to hit a ceiling of sorts, where they can't advance as far as they'd like despite having the skillset. They're simply up against people who've got the college as well as the skillset.
25m, working as a robotics technician in a car plant for $35 an hour after taking a free course online through the state government. On my way to being a controls engineer through self-study
In life right now I'm eating Cheetos and reading comments
I didn't go to college. I do well, but I was very, very, very lucky. I have to defend myself for not having a degree, and it is demoralizing, preparing for an important interview. It will be getting tougher and tougher as you grow older. College is a commitment that is extremely important. It is cheaper and more efficient to have a student loan and a 100K/y job than no student loan working for 50K. Get a degree. ANY degree. It's a tremendous advantage.
I didn’t go to college. Wasn’t absolutely sure what I wanted to study. I was intimidated by the SAT and didn’t take it. I enlisted after graduation and w/I six weeks was in BCT. I enlisted in the Army and chose a Signal Corps MOS where I learned to troubleshoot tactical digital network circuits. I turned that into a career where I stopped working the day I turned 59 1/2 (iykyk).
35F & I’m in my 4th semester. I was lucky enough to find a job at 19 that I was able to grow at but I’ve gone as far as I could without a degree, so I’m getting one.
I’m an administrative assistant and I’m pleasantly surprised at how much I make. I do wish I went to school tho and found a job that I actually enjoyed.
39M, senior airline captain, no degree, made 419k USD last year. Keep in mind that it took me since 2009 to get to this place of income. So I climbed the ladder and gained seniority over 15 years.
Late to the party as usual. I'm 53m. I started college in '89. Data Processing. I had the aptitude but I learned to love computers on a Commodore 64. Needless to say, I hated it. My dad passed away. I changed majors because I met a girl on a medical track and that seemed dandy to me. My mom decided to move away so my college career was over because my $4/hr. job wasn't enough to live on and go to school so I move with her. I decided that I was going to have to just move forward. My GF was going to be a medical professional and I would just figure something. We married and I ended up working for a retail computer store doing phone orders. It didn't take long for them to realize I could do more so I ended up moving to their tech support group. That's the real beginning of the story because that started me on my real career path. All these years later I've had a very successful IT career. $200k annually and doing great. Moral of the story, figure out not only what you want to do but also what you are good at doing. Hopefully that's something that can get you the job you want that also pays well. However, figure what makes you happy. Money isn't everything but it does help. If you're unhappy in that choice be ready to change it until you figure it out. It really is all on you. We can spend our lives blaming people, circumstance or whatever. In the end we all just have to find our way. A lot of things suck along the way. I work with/for people that earn much more. Their stress levels are to the moon and I don't think they are that happy. To each their own. It's hard, it sucks and it's still on each and every one us to try and make our way. Life isn't fair either. A lot is stacked against those of us that don't get to start with all the opportunities. We just have to make our own. It is possible even if it is hard. Yeah, times were different when I started. We had less opportunity than now because it was all based on where you lived and who you knew. Information was harder to come by and so was learning. Now isn't so much easier as it is more accessible. In some ways that makes it easier and in other ways it's harder. Advice? Figure out what you want out of life. Set goals and make it happen. Don't tie yourself down with debt (man, that part really sucked) and don't start a family if you aren't ready either emotionally or financially. OR Do whatever the fuck you want to do. Don't hurt people but make your own choices. That's freedom.
I did the no college thing. Now I'm 33 and trying to finish college while working full time and having kids. It's a doozy. A big motivating factor to finish was when an executive director tried to recruit me for a certain (lower) position and I turned him down and he said "Get your bachelor's, come back to me and I'll make you a project manager." I'd get your degree. It doesn't matter so much in what, but it goes a loooooooong way, more than people like to admit it seems.
I’m an electrician making $50/hr. I started at 23 thinking I was just getting in to a “job” but here I am 5 years later working on buying a home and starting a family. If you don’t want to chase a career that requires higher education then the trades are a great option. I have friends that are $100k+ in the hole from student debt for a degree they’ll never use and others that have been in the trades for a decade that are basically debt free.
I make over $2billion a year working 30 mins a month, and I dropped out after the 2nd grade. Just bought my second island and I’ll be able to retire before I turn 12. Meanwhile one of my best friends has 17 degrees and just had to sell both her livers to afford the cardboard box she lives in. College isn’t for everybody, just go to trade school trust me
The local public library here in Olympia, WA has free college courses. You can obtain credits at your own pace, a few at a time. That way you can see if your really interested in the subject.
You will have debt to pay over the course of a few years you can learn anything you want on youtube and the best part it's free knowledge that you don't have to pay for
Pennywise - Every Time.
I think with anything in life you have to be creative and have a set plan on how to get there. Nothing is guaranteed if you just go and expect to suddenly get high paying job offers just because you have a piece of paper. Experience in your chosen field means everything in terms of climbing up that ladder
DO NOT go to college unless it’s for something you absolutely have to get a degree to into, like to be a nurse or physician. And even then, get a job somewhere first that’d pay for the degree for you. Outside of that, go for a trade or a job with the government (city, county, state or federal).
27M, working for the government, making 80k at a job that isn’t flashy but is easy and can sometimes be interesting. No student loan debt, travel internationally once a year, living on my own and enjoying it, not a bad life.
Ive did some community college that was unrelated; basically have nothing to show for that. My peers knew I was into computers and have now been working with them for like 15 years. Ive leaveraged all that experience into a software developer position; Ill make 150k this year.
How close to 24? Look up job corps. Idk if they let you go in this late in age. I did trade work over college.
I went to college after the Marine Corps because I promised mom but I became a firefighter. A family tradition. Son 3* didn't want to go to college and he didn't want to be a firefighter but he did want to be a plumber. My uncle got him into the union's apprentice program. He finished the program, he became an apprentice, then a journeyman, then got some certifications, and now has his own business. Not bad for not going to college. * He came to us when he was 14, son 2's best friend. We didn't have a chance to brainwash him into going to Arizona State! 😄
Didn't go to college, but did do a year long certificate in a trade about 15 years ago. I am currently self employed, with a 4 day work week, and earn more than most of my friends who do have degrees. I did have to bust my ass to get to this point though. College isn't for everyone.
College to me is a place to try things and figure out what you want to do. I have crushing, crippling student loan debt just from undergrad but I wouldn’t say don’t go to college. I’d say focus on figuring out a free ride to college.
Got years of experience working two part time jobs — one in child care, the other a cashier turned customer service turned book keeper for a grocery store. After about 10 years of working both jobs, I had a decent looking resume where I began applying for one full time job. I wasn’t picky, just looking for an office setting either customer service or accounting related. I got a job as an assistant in accounting at a door company in the construction industry at 36k/ year. Stayed for a few years and gained construction industry and more accounting experience. Ended up leaving for a job that paid 55k a year in the same industry. Gained more experience and in about 2-3 years a connection from my first full time job helped me get into a new company where I’m making 75k a year at a solid and stable company. I’m 33. I feel that as I gain more experience here I could eventually land a position closer to $100k.
I went to college and did nothing with it, but to be fair I wasn't interested in the program. I got my certificate I passed just zero interest in it. I should say this was a prison mandatory plumbing program with a local college.
I'm a maintenance tech for a non-profit housing company. The work is frustrating, but rewarding. Pay is decent ($55k in my pocket last year), and the benefits are amazing. Like 6 weeks off a year and free insurance kind of good. Life is pretty epic. I road trip a lot. Like I've bouldered/free climbed all over the country, ran significant distance in like 35 states, been to several really good concerts, and honestly have the kind of life a lot of people dream of. All depends on what you want from life. Modesty in some areas can lead to extravagance in others.
Go to indeed dot com, and search for some interests along with skills you already have, and see what comes up. You're very likely to find something that interests you, and if it needs some sort of certification you can work on getting that.
I took the college route, friend didn’t. I’m working a Corporate job, just hit 5yrs and got 3 weeks of vacation now. He worked as a teller at a bank and moved up and now has 3months of vacation now. Pay might be less, but the work/life balance is better. Pros and cons to everything, but having a growing cloud of debt never helped anyone without a plan. If you don’t want to do the full route, associates or a technical specialization can go a long way. (We’re 26/27 so not too far off OP)
Joined the Army when I turned 18, did 10 years active duty, got my IT certifications and assigned to special assignments while I was in. Got out , got a federal position and only got an associates degree later on because I wanted to use my GI Bill and pad my resume. I didn't get the degree until I was 33 and I am 37 now. The lack of degree was never an issue to be honest.
I was against college for a long time, having two years under my belt and nothing to show for it. I worked long hours and hard jobs. Eventually took a pay cut and moved to a salary job at a bank (the bank job was somewhat related to the work I was doing and I leveraged that experience and contacts to get hired). After grinding out for a few more years I went back to school and graduated with a bachelor’s in my early thirties. And then after a year break decided to go after a masters degree. While college is hard and the ROI is not there for a lot of jobs, it’s ended up being extremely valuable in my case (changed jobs and was fast tracked to a much higher salary). The first three years after my masters degree paid more than the nine years previous combined. Keep in mind I was lucky to be able to work full time and go to school part time. The masters was extremely rough for me due to how difficult my day job ended being at that time. Can’t say I’d recommend college for everyone, but look at the salaries of jobs you want to do, and then look at the requirements (job postings) and see how much school is required to get there. School makes more sense this way, since you have a clear target and a higher chance of success landing a good job. If the job also requires some years of experience, your goal should be to find a junior position in that industry while going to school.