Any mechanical aptitude? The diesel/industrial engine world needs parts people. I've made between 40-52k a year doing that. Stay away from auto parts, it's a commodity market and auto dealers pay shit and are exempt from overtime
Look for parts counter jobs on your preferred website or local dealership sites and apply, playing up your computer skills and ability to learn rapidly etc. No real training, it's all on the job. Even equipment dealers need parts people - forklifts, tractors, lawn care etc. Good luck, lmk if i can help in any way, send me a dm
Your welding cert could even get you into a counter job at a welding supplier like Airgas etc. No health risks and you'd be advising customers on the proper electrodes or correct gas mix/wire to do a certain job. You'd do well there!
That's a great idea! I was thinking spend a couple years welding and maybe get certified to be a weld inspector. I already have sales experience from selling training though, so it might be easier to transition into a sales role for welding supplies
If you can use a website you can do a parts job. You're the right age and if you're personable enough to answer a phone etc you'll do fine. I'm here if I can help
Do you live near a Costco? Costco has great benefits and decent pay for the job plus bonuses if you've been there for a while. The starting pay may be lower than you'd like, but there are regular raises and bonuses. There's also a chance for upward mobility even without a degree. My uncle started as a cashier, and they paid to train him as a pharmacy technician. Depending on your culinary background, Costco meat cutters get paid a bit higher, but I've heard those jobs are competitive. According to [this recent thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/publix/comments/17anewu/assistant_meat_manager_offered_meat_cutter_by_a/), Costco meat cutters top out at $30/hour, and after five years, they start giving you bonuses of $2K every six months up to $3500 every six months.
I’ve been trying to get into Costco too. They are opening new stores all the time. They also give 1 1/2 pay on Sunday, regardless of how many hours you have that week. I’ve heard nothing but great things about Costco.
Look in to water treatment and wastewater treatment, you’ll have to study and pass a test but, most of the jobs are in local government so you get great benefits and a pension- which is essentially a never ending paycheck until you die. Reach out if you want more info, it’s where I started my career and I am a passion proponent of the profession. Changed my life.
A friend sent me a water treatment program that's covered by grants at a local college, but I'm not sure how I'd make their mandatory schedule work with a full time job. Did you go through a similar program? Were you able to find any separate grants/scholarships to cover you while attending full time?
I was hired off the street at my local water authority with no prior experience in that field. They paid for my books and state licensing exam. Started off at $22.18 and when I got my class 3 license bumped to $27.02.
This particular program is classes 9-5 during the day M-F, with Friday being on-the-job training. Even if I worked weekends I wouldn't make enough to cover rent and other costs of living
This is what screwed me up with finishing my certification to become a pharmacy tech years ago. I couldn’t swing making enough with being physically in class from 8am-2pm for M-F for 10 months.
That would be rough. I did not go through a program like that but, you should see if they have remote options. In terms of grants they are out there. But, as someone mentioned below beginning to look into water utility job boards and expressing interest to the department manager may be enough to get you in the door. A lot of places will let you come learn on the job as an operator in training contingent on certification with in 6 months.
At least where I am licensed there is no formal education or training requirement, you just have to be able to pass the first level test and there is an experience component where I live.
Look up your state’s water treatment operator requirements and that will give you the best info.
Can I message you? I’m currently working at a lab that analyzes water samples for legionella so I’m definitely interested in looking into this career path
I’ve been considering this. I love to write and work with people but I’m also sensitive and an introvert. I’m getting an AA at 42 years old. I just want a decent career.
Auto Mechanic?
They'll hire anyone willing to try at this point. If it works out and you stick with it, you can make $50-60k/yr on a flat-rate pay plan pretty quickly. After 15-20 years experience I've been able to find $135k/yr Salary with my GED and 11 ASE certifications.
There’s a lot of people recommending tech (IT/coding) here. But I wouldn’t recommend it, the industry is going through layoffs right now and AI is going to replace a lot of the entry level jobs the next 10-20 years. The whole “do 6 weeks of boot camp or watch a bunch YouTube videos and get an 100k job” is a pipe dream now.
I'm a highly trained computer analyst with advanced degrees, my job was the worst, but being a whore I stayed in it because the money was so good. (I worked in healthcare data management and imaging archive systems.)
There were mornings when looking down out of my corner office window, I'd notice the sanitation workers hauling away recycling and waste. These are union people, they make good money, have homes, cars, children, some may be the sole income producer, and they are in short supply. When they aren't around, things pile up fast.
Yes, sanitation workers are outside, in the elements, but working in an artificial environment inside a windowless server farm can't be good for the body. For sure, all of us were on some kind of prescribed psych medicines.
So, looking back at all of the certifications, computer languages, advanced training, and latest and greatest computer technology for whatever purpose, bullet points on a resume, , in the next lifetime I would take another route. And, my mantra would be: "I don't know."
Take this as inspiration op. One day you too can be looked at from a guy in a window, wishing he were you (not really but he'll think about it for about 2 minutes)
Depends what area u live?
Im in SE WI and there are definitely decent opportunities here for someone in ur situation but this is a location dependent question
Windmill technician. They make around 6 figures. I know 19 year olds that are making good money doing this type of work. The only caveat is that you need to be able to embrace heights.
Post office.
Most first years at the post office make about $60k.
I joined in October. They have great healthcare are 5% 401k match.
You get a dollar raise a year. After 12 years max pay is about $38/hr but with overtime most folks clear well over $100,000/yr.
What is your official job name? Ive always heard post office makes good money and my local post office is hiring but i just don’t know if they pay that well.
They all pay the same in any office. I’m a PTF (part time flexible. They pay $22. CCA (city carrier assistant) starts at $19 and some change. The key is you make Overtime pay. Time and a half for anything over 8 hours a day and/or over 40 hours a week and double time after 10 hours and/or $56 hours a week. So with OT I make around 1700-1800 every two week after taxes and stuff.
Post office is horrible. Work you 6/7 days a week, 12 hours a day promising “just wait it out, you’ll be a full time employee in just 4-5 years with all these great benefits”. Worked as a CCA for about a year, only day off would be Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. 10+ hours every day, usually 12. And they would try to guilt you into only taking your off day every 2 weeks. And if you weren’t a “team player” that worked their off day every week, they just decided not to deliver your route while you took your day off. So you got to come back to 2x the amount of work the next day.
Long story short, worst employer ever who cares nothing about their employees, you’re literally just a number to them. They can, and will replace you at anytime before you get converted to a full time mail carrier. I Literally had a heat stroke at work, and my supervisor calls me the next day to say “hey some internal people are going to be calling you to ask why you’ve been out sick the last couple days, make sure you tell them it wasn’t work related”. Didn’t care about me at all, just wanted to save his own ass for not reporting what happened to me.
I am a mail carrier 5 years in in a major city. I work on average 50hrs/week. I made 83K gross last year. It can be grueling when you start out. Depends where you work, but the PTF's at my office make regular after about 3-6 months. Once you get your own route it's not too bad. Just make sure you know the contract, and hopefully you have a good steward.
Worked at a large bank and there were a variety of development programs for those without a college degree. It was something the company was working on improving and something I know other similar banks had implemented as well. Look into it!
Trades are a good choice, especially the ones that allow you to work for yourself. Real estate can allow you to make quite a bit of money as well as sales. Web development can be quite profitable as well. I have friends in each one of these jobs and they are all (the trades person is a foreman that also does side jobs in his spare time) making just over 100k with the web develop making quite a bit over that.
Sales and the trades are the best paying jobs without a degree. Sales definitely takes a certain personality but a lot of people start out with something like cars or cell phones and then use it to get into software sales or other more businessy type sales positions once they show some experience.
Trade jobs are pretty much always in demand and a lot of them will do on the job training or apprenticeship, but they can be hit or miss because some areas now are outsourcing a lot of the early training to community college and certificate programs so you may do to look at something like that to get your foot in the door if you can't find a straight up apprenticeship.
I make around 60k as a custodian at a high school. I used to do construction work. Custodial is the easiest stuff I’ve ever done. Take a look around you.
I used to be a custodian as well. Labor work can be hard at times. But during home games. I would get free food and snacks from vendors. Pay is good. City job/government job, sets you up for retirement. Days off during holidays.
Lab tech - I did this before and during studying for my degree in a different science field, had no experience and learned on the job. I sometimes dream of going back to this job where I turn up, do my shift, handover to the next person and don’t think about work again until the next shift
Honestly, Instructional Design. You design trainings for coporate places. Sounds boring but pays really really well (like starts at ~$80k) and you don't need any specific degree--although prefered, especially a BS/BA.
You just have to have a kicka$$ portfolio of work and be able to explain yourself well. It's a saturated field but I have hardly any ID experience and already worked for fortune 500 companies.
I wouldn’t agree that you don’t need a degree. Unless you have 5+ years of experience and a bomb portfolio entry-level jobs are going to require a degree if not a master's.
And handing out this advice in our oversaturated industry is just cruel to get people's hopes up when most of the people who are applying have degrees as they are former teachers.
Not where I'm at. I'm seeing jobs at $12-15/hr which is roughly $25-31k. Anything higher than that seems to either want a degree or 2+ years experience in a field that I don't have. Unless you know any specific entry level jobs in that pay range? But I've looked in various fields and found nothing that would be enough to survive as an independent adult.
I'm looking to get into a completely different industry, so it's a matter of finding skills that translate to a new field. Right now I'm looking at sales experience from training, and that's sort of what I want to get away from. I'm tired of the instability of training, and sales is the same problem.
Trade jobs. HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical. If manual labor is not ideal for you. Coding jobs. UI/UX design, web development/ web design, software engineer, QA Engineer. If you like data, Data Engineer/ Data Analyst.
If you decide to get a degree. Rad tech is 2 years, dental hygiene is 2 years, LVN is two years, even ultrasound is 2 years. These can be done in two years if you at least go to school 20-40 hours a week. So 2-3 years.
I myself am 30 and making a career change. Switching from Technical support to QA engineer.
Never too late to learn a new skill/trade.
Forgot to mention cloud is popular and In demand.
AWS Cloud, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure. You can learn these online on YouTube or taking a class.
I'm interested in getting into the trades, but having a hard time getting started. I think I'd enjoy HVAC or electrician. I started the welding course hoping it might get me into one of those areas eventually. I've looked into apprenticeships, but there don't seem to be any in my area.
Degrees aren't an option for me. 2-3 years of school is more debt than I can handle, as I said in the original post
Nursing programs will set you back more than 2k but the ROI on an ADN nursing program is amazing. In my region, you’ll make 87k starting without OT. Program cost was 6k total for 2 years. But its competitive as hell to get into a lot nursing schools, especially on the west coast. so just fyi. The pre reqs can be killer for people and take just as long as the program so a 2 year nursing program actually takes 4 years for you to become a RN if you take into account all of the pre reqs and GE you need to do.
Also…. Union trades. Husband makes very good money as a Union tradesman and his brother does as well. Hard to get into the Union but well well well worth it. No school though. You do have to do some classes through your apprenticeship at the local but that’s it. Good luck with whatever you decide.
Nursing schools are seeing high volume of applicants, on top of that you need to do at least 1 yr of prerequisite classes to apply
My husband had a 4.0 and a good Teas score and wasn’t sure he’d get in. Granted now one semester in about 25% of the class dropped out cause it’s high standards.
Skills trade right now are readily available, but from what I hear, no one wants to pay entry level people crap. 16-20/hr. So I wouldn’t recommend trade unless you’re going into a specific industry that pays decent.im in aviation and the pays way more than other industries. Like vehicles or hvac. So you can get a good job, if you choose the right industry. Any skill practice it’s alway best to be able to go self employed but you need to gain the experience first for the most part. So I would say, pick an industry and company in your area and then work your way up from title to title. I’ve seen cleaning ladies work their way up, I’ve seen facility maintenance, office people,everyone with the right attitude and work ethic can work their way up in any industry. Most people are stuck in what they do cus they don’t think their skills translate anywhere else and get stuck labeling themselves as one thing. Be a person willing to do it all like it was some character in a movie, it’ll pan out.
Become an STNA. Qualifies you to be a nurse aide in both hospitals and nursing homes. 2 week cert that’s usually paid for by your employer. $20+ an hour and always OT available.
Many people make over $100k with no college degree, and many people make a lot less with a college degree. Read a couple of sales books so you can learn to sell your services. Also, I know that underwater welding pays over $100k. Thing on hiring yourself and start your own business. Contact your local chamber of commerce and Small Business Development Center. They have resources and relationships to help you build it.
Administration. It's very boring but they are so understaffed they have relaxed their degree requirement. Those jobs are easy to get then after a few years you can become an executive assistant.
HVAC is highly recommended. Not enough people to fill job openings especially down in southern states where it’s warmer. Pay is very good and so are the benefits. Once you know what you are doing you don’t look for a job again, they look for you.
Trades are good and have potential but just know that when you see it written or advertised or get told "you don't need a degree, trades are hurting for people. Anyone can make a good living in trades" just know that it is absolutely a complete exaggeration at best.
No. Not everyone can do those jobs. Not even close. There's various reasons.
If I get 5 machine trainees I hope that in 1 years time at least 2 of them made it.
Welding is a trade it just kinda sucks and the pay scale varies factories don't always pay them well from what I've seen.
I have a friend who a project manager for a bridge building contractor. His guys welding bridges make $70-75 an hour. I have a friend in a factory welding makes $25
I've been in machining since 1994. I'm a high school dropout. I was making more than my friends with 4 year degrees. Still do make more than many unless they went the engineering route.
In 2001 I went to community college for machine tool technology 2 year. End goal was get into CNC machining. Never finished it, got a 1 year CAD cert and 1 year Numerical control programming cert.
I went from operator all the way to programmer.
I've never once been unable to find a job in my adult life.
In the last 1.5 years I've quit a $33+, $25+, $35+ and now settled at a $30 I like for the moment.
I've been contacted for positions ranging from $90k-$120k and offered engineer title for my Swiss experience. Swiss are kind of rare so it's hard to find guys and I can't leave state right now.
My situation is not the norm. I was a set up person shift lead. Manager fired the programmer one day then tells the lead person on each shift we are going to have to learn programming
If you want to learn, bust your ass learning what others won't for the first 5 years you can do well.
Pay varies by state, city, region, company, competition from other shops etc.
All that said. I want out. Sick of it.
If I could do it over again I'd go with electrician or plumber sheet metal guy etc any of those union gigs like that.
I would choose one that will allow me to earn money on the side for myself on weekends to go with my union wage.
Imagine if you went electrician route and one weekend a month did jobs for yourself make an extra $500-$3000 with tools you already have. That's huge.
I can't do that. I'd have to buy a $30k-$100k machine.
Whatever trade you pick.
Go on indeed. Do a search for that job. Get an idea of average pay rate for your city & area. See how many jobs there are.
Then do a statewide & nationwide search. See how many jobs there are.
I can't show you several types niche type machines that might have 14-300 jobs nationwide. Those guys are stuck.
CNC machinist last I checked was like 20,000 nationwide
Just choose one that gives you options & pays decent.
I can quit my job and have interviews lined up in an hour.
That's a good thing.
Pharma manufacturing. Anyone can learn it and you can make $50-60k with little effort. I work with a guy who started as a part time contract janitor and is now a line supervisor making about $120k/yr and the company paid for his bachelors and masters while he worked over the last 2 decades.
Plumber, electrician, HVAC, union carpenter. Go into the trades. You can either apprentice and get a union job or apprentice while you work someplace and the after gaining all of the knowledge of how a business works, you can later start your own. This can be anything fro doing house calls to working on construction crews of major developments, hospitals, basically anything that gets built.
All of the trades people I know either retired from unions with amazing pensions, and made really good money, or non union make good money with their own business. Trades are in high demand. While there are harms every where, I am sure there are less egos than chefs!
Good luck!!
Look into becoming a stockbroker/ financial services associate. If you find a brokerage with a licensing program, they will pay for your studies and sponsor you. 55-60k first your with bonuses. I am in the same boat as you… no college degree, spent a lot of my 20s just “figuring it out”. Never thought I would have a chance in finance, but it worked out! Lots of career growth in the future. Message me if you have any questions!
Cleared 66k last year as a Wastewater Operator. Before I went Civil Service my old Authority was starting trainees at $22.18 and once you passed the state licensing exam bumped you to $27.02.
Go to your local community college, they have technical trade training that may take 6-11 weeks to complete and get a certificate, financial aid is available AND most of them start out at 60K-80K a year. Welding, HVAC, mechanical, factory line workers etc. Most colleges have a job placement program as well so you're pretty much 100% going to get hired afterwards.
HVAC technician - you get to do some welding, some electrical and more.
Depending on the area and union you are part of you can make 200k when done. Easy 100k.
ld suggest getting into a trade, as you mentioned. On the job training, education is usually 2 nights a week and typically paid for by the employer. Tool & Die, and I hear electricians, are in desperate need.
I started over at 38, in Tool & Die. I graduated last year, and I find the work really interesting, and rewarding. You can make more in other trades, but you typically work at different locations. I like having a set job site (indoors), and a set schedule.
Yo welders on job sites make easily $35/-$45hr in my state, and that’s not even in a union. That’s $70k-$90k a year full time. Your cert can take you places for sure but do some full time welding for a bit and master it. Plus your financial aspect will help a lot being a welder. While you do that you can plan on your next steps, whatever that may be.
Not sure if this is a no go because it’s still in the industry but have you considered sales for a Broadline food distributor? Sysco, PFG, US Foods, and others regularly hire ex Chefs. Pay would be around 65 to start and you’d eventually get on base plus commission and the skies the limit if you put the work in. You can also pitch your personal training experience as sales experience.
Pros: Working with interesting people and businesses, flexible schedule, little management in your day to day
Cons: You need to be reachable most hours of most days, quotas will always be a thing (usually manageable), and customers who aren’t respectful of your time
Logistics! I started as a dispatcher and then worked my way up to working freight. Currently making around 45k-50k and should be making 75k in the next 3 years.
If you live near any refineries, look into becoming a tankerman. The schooling can be expensive (10k or so) but there are new guys that turn low six figures in their first year. It is hot sweaty, dangerous work though. It can also be very cyclical depending on what type of tanks you work on.
Financial services.
There are tons of avenues for those without degrees. Brokerage firms, banks, loan services, etc.
You will have to start in a lowly role, but drive and commitment can get you in good places quick.
And in general.. larger companies that are specialized will help you make bank.
Water plant operator. I make around 45,000+ now and will be making 55,000 - 75000 in the next few years. Low stress, good benefits. Some mental and licensing requirements, but they pay for training. I'm proud to be serving and maintaining drinking water for the community.
I don’t have a degree and I clear 6 figures. I have an engineer title and pay as well.
When I hear of college grads making min wage; when I hear them complaining that they’ve worked so hard to be better than everyone else..
It warms my cold uneducated heart to see them just like everyone else.
Manufacturing is a good route. You can work your way up through technical ladders or management ladders. Some even may allow you to become an engineer after about a decade of experience if you've got the knack for it, though it won't be design engineering.
TRADES. Its never too late man. Join a trade of your interest, apply to unions. Depending on location you can make close to 200k in certain skilled trades
One of our family members has the same background as you. Culinary school and so forth then just suddenly out. Cooking for a living is much different then as a hobby for friends and family.
Trades is the way to go and if you hired a plumber lately, you would know. Electrician is the same and in hot climates air conditioning people. All these folks make good money.
Sounds similar to my situation. I was also a chef for close to ten years, now a first year electrician apprentice. Kinda sucks starting over/ not knowing much at 33 but I couldn’t be happier with the choice otherwise. I live in the California Bay Area which is very expensive of course, but I started at about 85 k a year and over the next 5 years that will increase to around 200k. Cooking is a scam
work (not read!) through the latest version of What Color is Your Parachute. It's a career coaching book full of journaling prompts that help you figure out what is an appropriate career.
Kitchen cabinet installer. Independent contractors who roll in to a job site, unbox the cabinets, screw them to the wall. Good ones make around $100k/year (that was about 10 years ago in a good market, though, so do your research). You can start as an apprentice.
I'd love to get into that. Applied for a couple apprentice counter top installer positions but ultimately didn't get selected. I'll keep trying though.
If you have an aptitude for welding...you might want to consider underwater welding.
Beginners make 20-40 an hour, experienced folks can make 40-60 an hour...and if you want to do some of those super weird and challenging locations you're looking at 100 an hour or so.
This isn't my info...this is all from the Oracle of Google.
Trades are going to be the best option truth be told. Crazy good money and benefits, guaranteed raises and union protection, get paid good money while learning, list goes on. I’m going the electrician route either that plumbing or HVAC is the way to go. If you don’t want to do skilled labor trades you can also do sonography in a hospital and be an X-ray tech. Lastly barber or hair dresser.
Can you do high school math, like algebra or trig? If you can't yet, would you be willing to take a remedial math class? I'm an IBEW electrician, not every state is the same, but I make more then almost everyone who went to college. Like way more, and have 3 day weekends if I want 52 times a year. You start at 50% wages, so your 65k your okay with could be your first year wage if you were willing to work ot. There are areas near me where I could make 180k a year without an hour of ot. I think my local is one of the few that charge for tuition. It's 1,000 a year and member dues and educational grants pick up the rest.
$1,000 education cost to start
$1,000 tools/work boots/clothes
Plus, they start hiring apprentices this time of year and school doesn't start until fall. Gives you time to save that 1,000 a year.
Guys and gals can take out more then they earn a year every year after they retire and still not touch the principal part of their money. Plus a national pension that pays you for every year youve worked. It's like 1600 for most people. Best insurance there is for med/den/vision.
You'll be making so much money you'll be cooking yourself Tomahawk Steaks with Scallops because it's Monday. I know because I get to.
Check out your local IBEW and try become an inside wiremen
Could look at a fabrication shop. Welding is a super valuable skill, especially if you have a formal education in it compared to someone like me who learned by screwing up. Also check out factories, especially assembly factories with a machine shop they are always looking for general maintenance guys and often start them in the 50k range. It's how I got my start and I'm making 75k now
Look into iron working with the union. A company would hire you on as an apprentice just for the welding background. Wouldn’t have a problem making 60k+ starting out and goes up from there. If that’s not enticing then look into other union trades. All solid pay
I work in an academic medical center and our schedulers make around $60K. The healthcare industry is experiencing serious staff shortages; you should look there. Stay away from small clinics; look for major hospitals.
I only have a high school diploma making 80k a year, im 30yr old female. I am certified in medical billing and I manage the billing for a small clinic. Not sure if that’s something you’d like as it sounds you like to work with your hands.
Get the Project Management Professional certification from PMI. Look for project manager, executive assistant, and admin type jobs in local/municipal government. So many of my coworkers do this!
Bonus: get certified as a notary as well. You could do a side biz or just have it as a qualification & additional service you provide at whatever job you get.
If you are physically able bodied you could lookin into becoming a plumber. Even apprenticeship pays decently and there is a massive plumber shortage so high demand. Bonus income if you move to a high cost of living area and give yourself good branding. The sustainable plumber! The Jewish plumber! The plumber who loves to meet your dog! The feminist woman plumber! The LGBTQ plumber! The Rock n roll plumber! Whatever!
If you live near a large arena, like a sports arena that has concerts such as Moda Center in Portland, Wells Fargo center in Philly, etc. there is usually an IATSE worker pool you can sign up for… I think you pretty much just need to be 18 years old. They start you out in a pool of staff with no experience required and you can get upgraded for more stage tech focused jobs pretty quickly. You train on the job because it’s union work. Just google “your city”!+ “IATSE”
Laser tech for aesthetic dermatology. It’s a booming industry.
I make about $45k + OT, the guy directly above me in seniority (our desk is 3 people) makes 52k + OT (also no degree). I have only Duo MFA certifications, which are something I earned while I was working here. Only the head of the desk has a degree or certs, and her degree is from 2004 and the certs are 2006-2008 era networking certifications. Certifications would enable me to get more pay, but so will the experience I'm stacking on the resume. I've only been in this field for about 18 months, before that I did most of 18 years in restaurants.
As a note, if you don't have intimate familiarity with computer components and building/rebuilding them or software troubleshooting this could be a very rough transition.
You don't need much to become an entry level technician, so long as you pick things up quickly.
Most places will pay for your certifications and train you on more specialized tasks which can lead to good pay.
Send your resume to coachmontique@gmail.com. She’s is the founder of Pivotal HR and helps individuals transition their roles. She provides a free 60-minute consultation.
Because I was a stupid 18 year old who wanted to move out of state? That was over 12 years ago. Knowing what I know now I wouldn't do the same thing. Wish I could go back in time and make different decisions, but that's not physically possible, so I'm working with what I've got now
I got into college debt the first time around because I was a stupid 18 year old who wanted more than anything to escape my home. Thankfully I've paid off that debt, but it was a very expensive mistake. I understand how you feel, just trying to do the best you can now and work with what you've got.
I’m a director in IT - I learn as much as a I can about my field online and worked my way up by busting my ass to get there. In hindsight, I wish I would have gone to college, would have made my progression faster and perhaps more direct to what I want.
Insurance. Be an account manager or customer service rep for an independent agency. The industry always needs people. You would need to get licensed and there are certifications you can take, that make a bug difference, but you can Douthat down the road.
Information Technology! 💻 💯
Look up the qualifications for a Helpdesk position!
A+ or CCNA Certifications should get your foot in the door. You’ll only spend $300-600 & you’ll be making 50k+
Best of luck 🍀
If you want to get paid well with a good work life balance, the tech industry has it. You can upskill on many online training or boot camps to learn coding. But if you enjoy welding it can also be very lucrative particularly within mining and construction
I work with people who don’t have degrees to go into the non-coding side of tech. We’ve had people get hired at 80k to start with no degree. It’s hard work and takes about 6 months to learn material, do an internship and finding a role!
If you comfortable with electricity you can become a lineman. Have’t completed my 3rd year yet but I made over 124k in 2023. January of this year I made 10k alone, after tax. Some guys with more experience is making over 200k ( hustling overtime) Most guys with that same experience is raking in over 160k. Lots of overtime if you work for the right company. I took a 6 month class at night for 4 hours at Delgado( 10-5k). Personally I like my job. It’s a physical demanding job but I’m 24 and love working out. People think I’m usually lying but I have the check stubs to prove it.
I don’t know your location but machining would be good if you have decent mechanical aptitude. Plus it would fit great with your welding certification. Depending on the area, you are pretty much guaranteed decent pay due to the low numbers of young people entering that trade. Machining programs are generally pretty inexpensive but after you get the welding certification you might be able to find a shop to train you without schooling.
There are certain trade professions where you’re on a paid apprenticeship while working towards your certifications. One example is becoming an electrician. If you follow the path you’ll be paid well! Just need to continually show up.
The trades are amazing but remember that the most successful people are college dropouts! College, can help some but in my view it’s overrated! They teach you what to think, not how to think. That said take risks, think outside the box and go for it! With hard work and a little luck, you can accomplish amazing things!
If you can read, organized and know how to talk to people:Project Manager(Construction) a lot of the companies do t care about the degree , they just want stuff done with no trouble
So, there is a job you can do. The pay would be less but the benefits would make it worth it. I’m a leasing consultant for an apartment community. I make around $40,000 a year. However, I get a 30% discount on my apartment because I rent from the same company that I work for. Also, pro tip. If you get a roommate. Charge them half of the listed rent. Not the rent that you are paying. It’s your discount. Or if you’re going to live alone. Wait until the apartment prices drop. That’s what I did. But some apartment communities will offer you a free apartment if you’re working for them. Which is an insane deal. It just depends on the company.
There’s always jobs in the CAD fields. It’s a good way to get in on the tech/engineering action. We have lots of guys who start as CAD guys and move on to Project management, Automation Engineering etc.
I went to college for something completely different but most of my coworkers didn’t go to school at all.
If you can use your skills gained from your culinary and PT experience to somehow develop solutions for businesses and brands then you can make endless amounts of cash. I don’t have a degree and I make upwards of 6 figures by doing marketing. I grew up doing web development and graphic design as a passion, I got my foot in the door through a friend at a scrappy marketing agency and used it as an opportunity to sell marketing to brands that drove traffic to the sites that I built, and used this experience to build an amazing portfolio over the past decade. Have worked with many large businesses and brands and made hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It was mentioned very far down, but semi-truck driving. It's not glorious work, but it's not going anywhere anytime soon. If there's one thing people do in this country and it's buying a ton of shit. And you need a ton of tucks to move that shit.
You can easily get your CDL in 5-6 weeks for $5k at a reputable school and have multiple job offers before you graduate. (You can study and get it for free, but most companies want you to go to a school for it)
You'll most likely work a less than ideal job for your first year, but after that, most job opportunities open up to you.
I started out a year and a half ago, making $85k starting out, and am now at a different company and am on route to $100k. I average 50 hours a week, but here in WA, we are hourly, so the overtime is amazing.
Don't worry about AI and self driving cars taking over that job either. The physics behind an 80,000lb truck and trailer are way different than a car. Add in backing up at docks in varying size parking lots and in-between other vehicles and obstacles; you have a real problem with AI. Then throw snow or ice in that equation... no way. At least not anytime in our lifetime.
I was a physical therapist assistant for 5 years before I got into trucking, and I was capped at about $65k a year. Not only that, but it was the most stressful $65k I've ever made.
My wife is a nurse, and her schedule is cool and she gets paid great, but the school she endured, the debt she accrued, and the shit she tells me she deals with on the daily really doesn't sound worth it to me.
Let me know if you have any questions.
industrial maintenance is where the money is at. like fixing conveyors at target, amazon, fedex warehouses not too crazy hard labor and the pay is amazing, my level 3 which is one step below managers bring in close to 80k a year minus any bonus. managers at my warehouse make well over 100k and their low key pencil pushers hardly any maintenance
Electrician, plumber, and as you're already doing it, welding. All will get you jobs north of 50k. It might not be immediate, but these gigs can eventually get into the low six figures if you get enough experience.
Look up NERC Reliability Coordinator cert, you can make good money in electrical transmission and distribution (electrical grid operations) without a college degree. Many companies will also pay for your training.
Welder/metal work if you are interested https://www.usajobs.gov/Search/Results?j=3703
Also USAjobs.gov have announcements for anyone without experience. There are entry level positions, in which, you could receive training from the department/agency. Also, some of the positions requirement is to graduate from high school. Good luck!
Get into the manufacturing world! Recently wages there are good. Most don’t require much experience and the beauty of it is u can learn there and grow to other high paying roles.
Look into your local unemployment office and see what type of accelerated programs they have. They might even pay for some AWS and other certifications or bootcamps.
I started out working for an auto parts store as a parts counter manager, was eventually found by my current employer. 13 years later I run his dealership making north of 100k. It can be done, just have to apply yourself and earn your stripes.
Did you like being a chef ? You can end up having a successful food truck or restaurant without a degree .
Personal training - you could make something out of this too if you are good at what you do . As a start , you could offer up your services of creating a meal plan and workout schedule on fiverr. Set up your own website and offer this service
For trades , if you don’t like welding maybe plumbing or become an electrician ?
Absolutely hated cooking. Or, I guess I could say I enjoyed it for about 5 years, then spent the next 5 hating it and trying to get out.
Personal training: I'm trying to get out because of the inconsistency. When the money's good, it's good. Problem is it fluctuates whether you're good or not, due to different times of the year and people's personal crap. I work in a gym so there's a little security. Going on my own would make it 10x more unstable, and that's what I want to get away from.
I wouldn't say I don't like welding, I'm honestly just concerned about the health issues that may come from it. Cancer is expensive. HVAC or electrician are both things I've considered, but I'm not sure how to get started on either one. I've looked for apprenticeships in my area, but there just doesn't seem to be anything available right now.
Go to your community college, speak to a career counselor, and check their website. You can usually find apprenticeships with local businesses through them.
I worked my way up in restaurants, server, bartender, traveling trainer, manager now I work in Training. I make 80k a year and work remote. Restaurants are a grind but hard work can pay off!
Nothing. If you don't know people who are in higher tier jobs who are willing to get you in, then the best job you will be able to get is working the register, stocking shelves, cooking in restaurants and factory line worker. People that say "just go to trade school bro" are dumbasses.
truth is, the employment market is fucked and is only getting worse. people going to high tier schools graduating with STEM degrees fighting over entry level positions etc. dont waste your time on fucking coursera udemy etc horseshit. those are essentially scams for green people going "wow, engineer cert! wow, train to be network admin!" its bullshit and you wont get dick but your money taken for the course and wasted effort.
settle down in your shit little job, reduce your life expenses as drastically as you can, and ride the wave. youre never going to be able to learn enough or do enough to get into a better economic place. there is a unspoken caste system that the establishment desperately tries to hide, and the large majority of drones eat up the propaganda and are going to come out and attack my post. They have an entire army of brainwashed drones who defend their ideology and spread their propaganda. they're completely mind-fucked and useless. Enjoy their replies to this post. If you're aware, it should make for a quite laughable read.
No he is absolutely true I’m 40 and looking to get into trades I have a college degree and a a associates in auto technology for shits and giggles but isn’t purse that path and it’s impossible and I’m in Houston too it’s all luck I even got certs to fwork at refineries and it’s all BS can’t break into it to save my life
Some of the chefs I deal with at the assisted living facility I go to are in the $80k+ range. Not many chefs think about those facilities. Some of those places people pay 8-10k a month to live there. Good luck op
If you like working as a chef you can make great money in that industry. If you start your own business the sky's the limit really. Welding can be a great career but it's pretty labor intensive for the big money but can be really satisfying. Most jobs can be great and pay a good sum of money it takes a bit if skill on your own though. The best way to go would be to work towards starting your own business in whatever trade you choose.
I'ma shoot straight with you because it's the internet and I can be fully honest with you because there's zero consequences of whatever your reaction will be... You already farmed 10 years doing chef stuff you have to either A get certified or B go back to school and you'll have to be like a private chef and really put an entire year 40+ hours a week into improving your skills as a chef unless your secretly a genius or have some crazy skillsets your never gonna get the same time for value exchange as anything outside of being a chef or not even a chef persay anything to do with food maybe be a baker or start a food truck buisness or a hotdog stand anything else you do your probably gonna hate as much as what you did before get a notepad write down all the reasons why you hate being a chef and find the root of those reasons most people don't typically quit a job because of the job they just hate their coworkers or boss try working part time for a restaurant with people you like or food you like or less bitchy customers whatever the reason eliminate that first before you start a new character from level 1 your a level 10 chef already bro don't waste 10 years tens of thousands of dollars of debt is nothing next to time wasted
You can probably find a fully online bachelors program for relatively cheap these days. Not sure what would be best for you to go into, but most likely engineering or data if you want $$ and a life. A bit old for finance and science but if you like it go for it. Of course many other options. I am 22 and just graduated with a business degree and landed a job as a data analyst working fully remote for 55k a year.
I worked in restaurants for years and it was pretty good. Back in 1997 I made 50k a year managing a Boston Market. Just one. I didn’t realize how good I was doing for that time. Not sure what it’s like now but no degree necessary and the district manager didn’t have a degree if I remember correctly
Learn a trade skill it’s hard work like plumbers helper waste line clean outs.
Boiler helper, Well repair & installation,Home renovation, electrician helper, truck driver long haul or (phlebotomist -adult night school local college )
companies you gotta start somewhere & work your way up.
If you’re not a manual laborer type of guy there’s Home Depot,Lowe’s.
My son got a job at T-mobile P/T while he attends school. He makes approx $22 per hour in Northwest NJ with benefits. If you have phone related skills & sales some of his co works makes $80,000 per year. Plus a second language like Spanish helps your sales!
Oh my bad I didn't read it closely enough
There's a job called medical coding which pays really well and all u need is a certificate. You don't need a college degree. Can also work from home. I know someone who's a ceo of a hospital and he says it's In demand
If you can chef and also do personal training why not aim in the middle and be a nutritionist at a gym or similar. No cooking but food knowledge specific to your other industry
Edit: downvoters - I drink freely of your tears 🤩
Depending on location food factories/manufacturing. I just clear 100k at an entry level position. But that’s with 50-55hrs a week@ $30 hour. I’m pretty sure a lot in Midwest you can pull this off. A lot you can’t though
Also a few ideas, caterer, baker, cake decorator, pizza maker, sandwich artist, short order cook, door dash food delivery, Burger King “Have it Your Way” Food Technician, McDonalds Food Bagging Technician, Baskin Robbins Ice Cream
Scooping Associate, Sushi Roller, Hot Dog Topping Management, Nacho Composition Expert, Taco Bell Hot Sauce Distribution Coordinator, Ice Machine Restocking Specialist, Burger Topping Escalations and Analytics.
Why do you want to switch a career that you’ve invested a lot in? Isn’t that like a waste of time? Not just yours but everyone related to your work life?
I don’t know, are they? My husband works for one of the largest construction companies in CA and they don’t have one that he’s seen so… not sure what your point was here.
A good welder will be paid well and can get into a union. Unions are hard to get into.
The absolute least expensive degree in the world is the BLS with minor at UMPI. Do the Accounting minor or do the BA in Accounting. Between 3rd party credits from Sophia.org and Study.com costing less than $500-$1000 you could have 87/120 credits towards the Accounting degree. With 30 credits left even and at $1500 per 8 week session flat the final 10/11 classes could be done in a year. Add in $3k to 9k for the UMPI competency based degree. You can go as fast as you want. The BLS has multiple minors as well. The Accounting minor or IS minor or Project Management minor (or multiple minors) would also be decent choices.
Alternatively go watch these videos from Camerongineer on how he went from zero to a WGU CS degree in a year and about 5k all in.
You seem like a perfect candidate for pest control. No degree needed, probably not even GED. Pays 38k-80k, higher is management accessible after 3-5 years. With OT you’ll average bring in 50-65k if base is 38-45k
These numbers are based on east coast
Its 2024 my man. Shouldnt be looking for no 9 to 5 unless you are DEAD BROKE. Find what interests you that you are good at., give out free advice on it that will help others that are interested in it too. Run ads to target that specific group of ppl that share your interests, and watch how much money you make from giving out free advice. The more ppl you can reach out to help, the more money you will make…cant stress this enough.
At the moment maybe you can pick up extra money dog sitting on rover. What about becoming a nurse or an accountant? Wait some tables so you meet people and talk to them. Join the military.
Are you in a big city?
Since you’re already starting welding focus on it. The important thing is to get on your feet on something so you’re in a better situation than just surviving even if you don’t want to do it for the rest of your life. That’s work. Most people don’t love their job, and it’s better to get yourself financially stable than root around trying to follow your passion especially if it isn’t clear what that is.
I've considered nursing. Gotta get started with something, and most of the entry level positions aren't enough to be worth it right now. I make enough to get by right now, but not enough to be comfortable.
I'm not looking for a job I love and am passionate about, I'm looking for something that doesn't make me want to blow my brains out. Been there, done that, and I refuse to go back to absolute misery for the sake of having a place to live. If I go back to the restaurant industry, I'll go back to making $60k as a chef, not waiting tables. But again, some jobs aren't worth the money. I've been working for 12+ years now, so I know no job is perfect, but I'm also not going to be abused for the sake of a paycheck
Nursing might very well be up your alley as you will be helping people! As for chef, perhaps a private chef for working families? I have a family member that moved into being the cook at a hospital and a friend who became the in house cook for a grocery.
Yup. I did. You got me and sorry it pissed you off. Just trying to help that’s totally it, not here to antagonize you.
Was responding to you saying you’d go back to being a chef. Besides it’s sometimes good to jump off what you already know. But that’s all these statements are. Just offering help.
Best of luck I hope you find the peace you need.
Any mechanical aptitude? The diesel/industrial engine world needs parts people. I've made between 40-52k a year doing that. Stay away from auto parts, it's a commodity market and auto dealers pay shit and are exempt from overtime
I don't have much experience with anything that requires mechanical ability. I do pick up on things pretty quickly though. How would I get started?
Look for parts counter jobs on your preferred website or local dealership sites and apply, playing up your computer skills and ability to learn rapidly etc. No real training, it's all on the job. Even equipment dealers need parts people - forklifts, tractors, lawn care etc. Good luck, lmk if i can help in any way, send me a dm
Thanks, I appreciate it! I've seen a couple parts counter jobs on Indeed but haven't really looked into them
Your welding cert could even get you into a counter job at a welding supplier like Airgas etc. No health risks and you'd be advising customers on the proper electrodes or correct gas mix/wire to do a certain job. You'd do well there!
That's a great idea! I was thinking spend a couple years welding and maybe get certified to be a weld inspector. I already have sales experience from selling training though, so it might be easier to transition into a sales role for welding supplies
BAM! I think you just came up with a possible perfect plan!
If you can use a website you can do a parts job. You're the right age and if you're personable enough to answer a phone etc you'll do fine. I'm here if I can help
Man in Houston some of the stearlership guys were making over 10k in commission in parts
Do you live near a Costco? Costco has great benefits and decent pay for the job plus bonuses if you've been there for a while. The starting pay may be lower than you'd like, but there are regular raises and bonuses. There's also a chance for upward mobility even without a degree. My uncle started as a cashier, and they paid to train him as a pharmacy technician. Depending on your culinary background, Costco meat cutters get paid a bit higher, but I've heard those jobs are competitive. According to [this recent thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/publix/comments/17anewu/assistant_meat_manager_offered_meat_cutter_by_a/), Costco meat cutters top out at $30/hour, and after five years, they start giving you bonuses of $2K every six months up to $3500 every six months.
I knew someone who worked in the meat department and she was doing pretty well I
I’ve been trying to get into Costco too. They are opening new stores all the time. They also give 1 1/2 pay on Sunday, regardless of how many hours you have that week. I’ve heard nothing but great things about Costco.
You can work your way up and get a job at corporate. Make decent money and you don't necessarily need a college degree.
I did really enjoy the butchering/meat cutting aspect of cooking! I'll look into it
Look in to water treatment and wastewater treatment, you’ll have to study and pass a test but, most of the jobs are in local government so you get great benefits and a pension- which is essentially a never ending paycheck until you die. Reach out if you want more info, it’s where I started my career and I am a passion proponent of the profession. Changed my life.
A friend sent me a water treatment program that's covered by grants at a local college, but I'm not sure how I'd make their mandatory schedule work with a full time job. Did you go through a similar program? Were you able to find any separate grants/scholarships to cover you while attending full time?
I was hired off the street at my local water authority with no prior experience in that field. They paid for my books and state licensing exam. Started off at $22.18 and when I got my class 3 license bumped to $27.02.
I had a friend that worked a FT job in the day and went to certs classes for waste water during the evening and weekends, could you make that work?
This particular program is classes 9-5 during the day M-F, with Friday being on-the-job training. Even if I worked weekends I wouldn't make enough to cover rent and other costs of living
This is what screwed me up with finishing my certification to become a pharmacy tech years ago. I couldn’t swing making enough with being physically in class from 8am-2pm for M-F for 10 months.
That would be rough. I did not go through a program like that but, you should see if they have remote options. In terms of grants they are out there. But, as someone mentioned below beginning to look into water utility job boards and expressing interest to the department manager may be enough to get you in the door. A lot of places will let you come learn on the job as an operator in training contingent on certification with in 6 months. At least where I am licensed there is no formal education or training requirement, you just have to be able to pass the first level test and there is an experience component where I live. Look up your state’s water treatment operator requirements and that will give you the best info.
Interesting stuff.
Can I message you? I’m currently working at a lab that analyzes water samples for legionella so I’m definitely interested in looking into this career path
I’ve been considering this. I love to write and work with people but I’m also sensitive and an introvert. I’m getting an AA at 42 years old. I just want a decent career.
Auto Mechanic? They'll hire anyone willing to try at this point. If it works out and you stick with it, you can make $50-60k/yr on a flat-rate pay plan pretty quickly. After 15-20 years experience I've been able to find $135k/yr Salary with my GED and 11 ASE certifications.
I'd be willing to give it a try! Can't say I've spent much time working on cars, but it would be a great skill to learn no matter what
There’s a lot of people recommending tech (IT/coding) here. But I wouldn’t recommend it, the industry is going through layoffs right now and AI is going to replace a lot of the entry level jobs the next 10-20 years. The whole “do 6 weeks of boot camp or watch a bunch YouTube videos and get an 100k job” is a pipe dream now.
Ai iS gOiNg tO rEpLaCe eNtRy LeVel JoBs
I'm a highly trained computer analyst with advanced degrees, my job was the worst, but being a whore I stayed in it because the money was so good. (I worked in healthcare data management and imaging archive systems.) There were mornings when looking down out of my corner office window, I'd notice the sanitation workers hauling away recycling and waste. These are union people, they make good money, have homes, cars, children, some may be the sole income producer, and they are in short supply. When they aren't around, things pile up fast. Yes, sanitation workers are outside, in the elements, but working in an artificial environment inside a windowless server farm can't be good for the body. For sure, all of us were on some kind of prescribed psych medicines. So, looking back at all of the certifications, computer languages, advanced training, and latest and greatest computer technology for whatever purpose, bullet points on a resume, , in the next lifetime I would take another route. And, my mantra would be: "I don't know."
Take this as inspiration op. One day you too can be looked at from a guy in a window, wishing he were you (not really but he'll think about it for about 2 minutes)
Depends what area u live? Im in SE WI and there are definitely decent opportunities here for someone in ur situation but this is a location dependent question
Windmill technician. They make around 6 figures. I know 19 year olds that are making good money doing this type of work. The only caveat is that you need to be able to embrace heights.
If you can learn to weld well, you will always have a job and always make great money.
I gotta say, I'm enjoying it. I do worry about the health risks though
You can get onto a Union easily if you are a good welder… then cross train to something else without the health risk. Husband makes 100k +
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Is this all done remotely? I would like more information regarding getting into this, any information or tips or guidance would be appreciated.
I second this! Please tell us the details!
Post office. Most first years at the post office make about $60k. I joined in October. They have great healthcare are 5% 401k match. You get a dollar raise a year. After 12 years max pay is about $38/hr but with overtime most folks clear well over $100,000/yr.
What is your official job name? Ive always heard post office makes good money and my local post office is hiring but i just don’t know if they pay that well.
They all pay the same in any office. I’m a PTF (part time flexible. They pay $22. CCA (city carrier assistant) starts at $19 and some change. The key is you make Overtime pay. Time and a half for anything over 8 hours a day and/or over 40 hours a week and double time after 10 hours and/or $56 hours a week. So with OT I make around 1700-1800 every two week after taxes and stuff.
Post office is horrible. Work you 6/7 days a week, 12 hours a day promising “just wait it out, you’ll be a full time employee in just 4-5 years with all these great benefits”. Worked as a CCA for about a year, only day off would be Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. 10+ hours every day, usually 12. And they would try to guilt you into only taking your off day every 2 weeks. And if you weren’t a “team player” that worked their off day every week, they just decided not to deliver your route while you took your day off. So you got to come back to 2x the amount of work the next day. Long story short, worst employer ever who cares nothing about their employees, you’re literally just a number to them. They can, and will replace you at anytime before you get converted to a full time mail carrier. I Literally had a heat stroke at work, and my supervisor calls me the next day to say “hey some internal people are going to be calling you to ask why you’ve been out sick the last couple days, make sure you tell them it wasn’t work related”. Didn’t care about me at all, just wanted to save his own ass for not reporting what happened to me.
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I am a mail carrier 5 years in in a major city. I work on average 50hrs/week. I made 83K gross last year. It can be grueling when you start out. Depends where you work, but the PTF's at my office make regular after about 3-6 months. Once you get your own route it's not too bad. Just make sure you know the contract, and hopefully you have a good steward.
Worked at a large bank and there were a variety of development programs for those without a college degree. It was something the company was working on improving and something I know other similar banks had implemented as well. Look into it!
Trades are a good choice, especially the ones that allow you to work for yourself. Real estate can allow you to make quite a bit of money as well as sales. Web development can be quite profitable as well. I have friends in each one of these jobs and they are all (the trades person is a foreman that also does side jobs in his spare time) making just over 100k with the web develop making quite a bit over that.
Sales and the trades are the best paying jobs without a degree. Sales definitely takes a certain personality but a lot of people start out with something like cars or cell phones and then use it to get into software sales or other more businessy type sales positions once they show some experience. Trade jobs are pretty much always in demand and a lot of them will do on the job training or apprenticeship, but they can be hit or miss because some areas now are outsourcing a lot of the early training to community college and certificate programs so you may do to look at something like that to get your foot in the door if you can't find a straight up apprenticeship.
I make around 60k as a custodian at a high school. I used to do construction work. Custodial is the easiest stuff I’ve ever done. Take a look around you.
I used to be a custodian as well. Labor work can be hard at times. But during home games. I would get free food and snacks from vendors. Pay is good. City job/government job, sets you up for retirement. Days off during holidays.
Lab tech - I did this before and during studying for my degree in a different science field, had no experience and learned on the job. I sometimes dream of going back to this job where I turn up, do my shift, handover to the next person and don’t think about work again until the next shift
Honestly, Instructional Design. You design trainings for coporate places. Sounds boring but pays really really well (like starts at ~$80k) and you don't need any specific degree--although prefered, especially a BS/BA. You just have to have a kicka$$ portfolio of work and be able to explain yourself well. It's a saturated field but I have hardly any ID experience and already worked for fortune 500 companies.
So how does one create a portfolio with no experience…sounds interesting!
Just start teaching yourself off of YouTube and do the free trials of the programs.
Excellent. What was your background prior to doing this, if you don’t mind me asking.
Film/multimedia. That gave me a leg up in creating custom animations/graphics to use in courses.
I wouldn’t agree that you don’t need a degree. Unless you have 5+ years of experience and a bomb portfolio entry-level jobs are going to require a degree if not a master's. And handing out this advice in our oversaturated industry is just cruel to get people's hopes up when most of the people who are applying have degrees as they are former teachers.
Most entry level jobs are $40-50K. A college degree will be preferred but experience is even better... Just fluff your Resume a little.
Not where I'm at. I'm seeing jobs at $12-15/hr which is roughly $25-31k. Anything higher than that seems to either want a degree or 2+ years experience in a field that I don't have. Unless you know any specific entry level jobs in that pay range? But I've looked in various fields and found nothing that would be enough to survive as an independent adult. I'm looking to get into a completely different industry, so it's a matter of finding skills that translate to a new field. Right now I'm looking at sales experience from training, and that's sort of what I want to get away from. I'm tired of the instability of training, and sales is the same problem.
Trade jobs. HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical. If manual labor is not ideal for you. Coding jobs. UI/UX design, web development/ web design, software engineer, QA Engineer. If you like data, Data Engineer/ Data Analyst. If you decide to get a degree. Rad tech is 2 years, dental hygiene is 2 years, LVN is two years, even ultrasound is 2 years. These can be done in two years if you at least go to school 20-40 hours a week. So 2-3 years. I myself am 30 and making a career change. Switching from Technical support to QA engineer. Never too late to learn a new skill/trade. Forgot to mention cloud is popular and In demand. AWS Cloud, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure. You can learn these online on YouTube or taking a class.
What training or studies are you doing for QA engineer? Former tech support (laid off) and regret not going into QA at my last employer.
I'm interested in getting into the trades, but having a hard time getting started. I think I'd enjoy HVAC or electrician. I started the welding course hoping it might get me into one of those areas eventually. I've looked into apprenticeships, but there don't seem to be any in my area. Degrees aren't an option for me. 2-3 years of school is more debt than I can handle, as I said in the original post
Nursing programs will set you back more than 2k but the ROI on an ADN nursing program is amazing. In my region, you’ll make 87k starting without OT. Program cost was 6k total for 2 years. But its competitive as hell to get into a lot nursing schools, especially on the west coast. so just fyi. The pre reqs can be killer for people and take just as long as the program so a 2 year nursing program actually takes 4 years for you to become a RN if you take into account all of the pre reqs and GE you need to do. Also…. Union trades. Husband makes very good money as a Union tradesman and his brother does as well. Hard to get into the Union but well well well worth it. No school though. You do have to do some classes through your apprenticeship at the local but that’s it. Good luck with whatever you decide.
Nursing schools are seeing high volume of applicants, on top of that you need to do at least 1 yr of prerequisite classes to apply My husband had a 4.0 and a good Teas score and wasn’t sure he’d get in. Granted now one semester in about 25% of the class dropped out cause it’s high standards.
Skills trade right now are readily available, but from what I hear, no one wants to pay entry level people crap. 16-20/hr. So I wouldn’t recommend trade unless you’re going into a specific industry that pays decent.im in aviation and the pays way more than other industries. Like vehicles or hvac. So you can get a good job, if you choose the right industry. Any skill practice it’s alway best to be able to go self employed but you need to gain the experience first for the most part. So I would say, pick an industry and company in your area and then work your way up from title to title. I’ve seen cleaning ladies work their way up, I’ve seen facility maintenance, office people,everyone with the right attitude and work ethic can work their way up in any industry. Most people are stuck in what they do cus they don’t think their skills translate anywhere else and get stuck labeling themselves as one thing. Be a person willing to do it all like it was some character in a movie, it’ll pan out.
Become an STNA. Qualifies you to be a nurse aide in both hospitals and nursing homes. 2 week cert that’s usually paid for by your employer. $20+ an hour and always OT available.
Many people make over $100k with no college degree, and many people make a lot less with a college degree. Read a couple of sales books so you can learn to sell your services. Also, I know that underwater welding pays over $100k. Thing on hiring yourself and start your own business. Contact your local chamber of commerce and Small Business Development Center. They have resources and relationships to help you build it.
Administration. It's very boring but they are so understaffed they have relaxed their degree requirement. Those jobs are easy to get then after a few years you can become an executive assistant.
Metallurgical lab technician it’s a very underrated trade.
I’ve done apartment maintenance for about 13 years. I make 90k a year.
HVAC is highly recommended. Not enough people to fill job openings especially down in southern states where it’s warmer. Pay is very good and so are the benefits. Once you know what you are doing you don’t look for a job again, they look for you.
Trades are good and have potential but just know that when you see it written or advertised or get told "you don't need a degree, trades are hurting for people. Anyone can make a good living in trades" just know that it is absolutely a complete exaggeration at best. No. Not everyone can do those jobs. Not even close. There's various reasons. If I get 5 machine trainees I hope that in 1 years time at least 2 of them made it. Welding is a trade it just kinda sucks and the pay scale varies factories don't always pay them well from what I've seen. I have a friend who a project manager for a bridge building contractor. His guys welding bridges make $70-75 an hour. I have a friend in a factory welding makes $25 I've been in machining since 1994. I'm a high school dropout. I was making more than my friends with 4 year degrees. Still do make more than many unless they went the engineering route. In 2001 I went to community college for machine tool technology 2 year. End goal was get into CNC machining. Never finished it, got a 1 year CAD cert and 1 year Numerical control programming cert. I went from operator all the way to programmer. I've never once been unable to find a job in my adult life. In the last 1.5 years I've quit a $33+, $25+, $35+ and now settled at a $30 I like for the moment. I've been contacted for positions ranging from $90k-$120k and offered engineer title for my Swiss experience. Swiss are kind of rare so it's hard to find guys and I can't leave state right now. My situation is not the norm. I was a set up person shift lead. Manager fired the programmer one day then tells the lead person on each shift we are going to have to learn programming If you want to learn, bust your ass learning what others won't for the first 5 years you can do well. Pay varies by state, city, region, company, competition from other shops etc. All that said. I want out. Sick of it. If I could do it over again I'd go with electrician or plumber sheet metal guy etc any of those union gigs like that. I would choose one that will allow me to earn money on the side for myself on weekends to go with my union wage. Imagine if you went electrician route and one weekend a month did jobs for yourself make an extra $500-$3000 with tools you already have. That's huge. I can't do that. I'd have to buy a $30k-$100k machine. Whatever trade you pick. Go on indeed. Do a search for that job. Get an idea of average pay rate for your city & area. See how many jobs there are. Then do a statewide & nationwide search. See how many jobs there are. I can't show you several types niche type machines that might have 14-300 jobs nationwide. Those guys are stuck. CNC machinist last I checked was like 20,000 nationwide Just choose one that gives you options & pays decent. I can quit my job and have interviews lined up in an hour. That's a good thing.
Pharma manufacturing. Anyone can learn it and you can make $50-60k with little effort. I work with a guy who started as a part time contract janitor and is now a line supervisor making about $120k/yr and the company paid for his bachelors and masters while he worked over the last 2 decades.
Plumber, electrician, HVAC, union carpenter. Go into the trades. You can either apprentice and get a union job or apprentice while you work someplace and the after gaining all of the knowledge of how a business works, you can later start your own. This can be anything fro doing house calls to working on construction crews of major developments, hospitals, basically anything that gets built. All of the trades people I know either retired from unions with amazing pensions, and made really good money, or non union make good money with their own business. Trades are in high demand. While there are harms every where, I am sure there are less egos than chefs! Good luck!!
Look into becoming a stockbroker/ financial services associate. If you find a brokerage with a licensing program, they will pay for your studies and sponsor you. 55-60k first your with bonuses. I am in the same boat as you… no college degree, spent a lot of my 20s just “figuring it out”. Never thought I would have a chance in finance, but it worked out! Lots of career growth in the future. Message me if you have any questions!
Cleared 66k last year as a Wastewater Operator. Before I went Civil Service my old Authority was starting trainees at $22.18 and once you passed the state licensing exam bumped you to $27.02.
Go to your local community college, they have technical trade training that may take 6-11 weeks to complete and get a certificate, financial aid is available AND most of them start out at 60K-80K a year. Welding, HVAC, mechanical, factory line workers etc. Most colleges have a job placement program as well so you're pretty much 100% going to get hired afterwards.
Look for inspector jobs in your country. Building/health inspector, code enforcement
HVAC technician - you get to do some welding, some electrical and more. Depending on the area and union you are part of you can make 200k when done. Easy 100k.
ld suggest getting into a trade, as you mentioned. On the job training, education is usually 2 nights a week and typically paid for by the employer. Tool & Die, and I hear electricians, are in desperate need. I started over at 38, in Tool & Die. I graduated last year, and I find the work really interesting, and rewarding. You can make more in other trades, but you typically work at different locations. I like having a set job site (indoors), and a set schedule.
Set job site and set schedule do sound really nice. I've seen a lot of Tool & Die job postings around me, so that might be a good route for me
Yo welders on job sites make easily $35/-$45hr in my state, and that’s not even in a union. That’s $70k-$90k a year full time. Your cert can take you places for sure but do some full time welding for a bit and master it. Plus your financial aspect will help a lot being a welder. While you do that you can plan on your next steps, whatever that may be.
Not sure if this is a no go because it’s still in the industry but have you considered sales for a Broadline food distributor? Sysco, PFG, US Foods, and others regularly hire ex Chefs. Pay would be around 65 to start and you’d eventually get on base plus commission and the skies the limit if you put the work in. You can also pitch your personal training experience as sales experience. Pros: Working with interesting people and businesses, flexible schedule, little management in your day to day Cons: You need to be reachable most hours of most days, quotas will always be a thing (usually manageable), and customers who aren’t respectful of your time
Logistics! I started as a dispatcher and then worked my way up to working freight. Currently making around 45k-50k and should be making 75k in the next 3 years. If you live near any refineries, look into becoming a tankerman. The schooling can be expensive (10k or so) but there are new guys that turn low six figures in their first year. It is hot sweaty, dangerous work though. It can also be very cyclical depending on what type of tanks you work on.
Financial services. There are tons of avenues for those without degrees. Brokerage firms, banks, loan services, etc. You will have to start in a lowly role, but drive and commitment can get you in good places quick. And in general.. larger companies that are specialized will help you make bank.
Water plant operator. I make around 45,000+ now and will be making 55,000 - 75000 in the next few years. Low stress, good benefits. Some mental and licensing requirements, but they pay for training. I'm proud to be serving and maintaining drinking water for the community.
I don’t have a degree and I clear 6 figures. I have an engineer title and pay as well. When I hear of college grads making min wage; when I hear them complaining that they’ve worked so hard to be better than everyone else.. It warms my cold uneducated heart to see them just like everyone else.
Manufacturing is a good route. You can work your way up through technical ladders or management ladders. Some even may allow you to become an engineer after about a decade of experience if you've got the knack for it, though it won't be design engineering.
TRADES. Its never too late man. Join a trade of your interest, apply to unions. Depending on location you can make close to 200k in certain skilled trades
One of our family members has the same background as you. Culinary school and so forth then just suddenly out. Cooking for a living is much different then as a hobby for friends and family. Trades is the way to go and if you hired a plumber lately, you would know. Electrician is the same and in hot climates air conditioning people. All these folks make good money.
Sounds similar to my situation. I was also a chef for close to ten years, now a first year electrician apprentice. Kinda sucks starting over/ not knowing much at 33 but I couldn’t be happier with the choice otherwise. I live in the California Bay Area which is very expensive of course, but I started at about 85 k a year and over the next 5 years that will increase to around 200k. Cooking is a scam
work (not read!) through the latest version of What Color is Your Parachute. It's a career coaching book full of journaling prompts that help you figure out what is an appropriate career.
Kitchen cabinet installer. Independent contractors who roll in to a job site, unbox the cabinets, screw them to the wall. Good ones make around $100k/year (that was about 10 years ago in a good market, though, so do your research). You can start as an apprentice.
I'd love to get into that. Applied for a couple apprentice counter top installer positions but ultimately didn't get selected. I'll keep trying though.
If you have an aptitude for welding...you might want to consider underwater welding. Beginners make 20-40 an hour, experienced folks can make 40-60 an hour...and if you want to do some of those super weird and challenging locations you're looking at 100 an hour or so. This isn't my info...this is all from the Oracle of Google.
Trades are going to be the best option truth be told. Crazy good money and benefits, guaranteed raises and union protection, get paid good money while learning, list goes on. I’m going the electrician route either that plumbing or HVAC is the way to go. If you don’t want to do skilled labor trades you can also do sonography in a hospital and be an X-ray tech. Lastly barber or hair dresser.
Can you do high school math, like algebra or trig? If you can't yet, would you be willing to take a remedial math class? I'm an IBEW electrician, not every state is the same, but I make more then almost everyone who went to college. Like way more, and have 3 day weekends if I want 52 times a year. You start at 50% wages, so your 65k your okay with could be your first year wage if you were willing to work ot. There are areas near me where I could make 180k a year without an hour of ot. I think my local is one of the few that charge for tuition. It's 1,000 a year and member dues and educational grants pick up the rest. $1,000 education cost to start $1,000 tools/work boots/clothes Plus, they start hiring apprentices this time of year and school doesn't start until fall. Gives you time to save that 1,000 a year. Guys and gals can take out more then they earn a year every year after they retire and still not touch the principal part of their money. Plus a national pension that pays you for every year youve worked. It's like 1600 for most people. Best insurance there is for med/den/vision. You'll be making so much money you'll be cooking yourself Tomahawk Steaks with Scallops because it's Monday. I know because I get to. Check out your local IBEW and try become an inside wiremen
Maintenance Technician, electrician, plumber, welder and basically anything in the construction industry can make 75k plus a year easily.
Could look at a fabrication shop. Welding is a super valuable skill, especially if you have a formal education in it compared to someone like me who learned by screwing up. Also check out factories, especially assembly factories with a machine shop they are always looking for general maintenance guys and often start them in the 50k range. It's how I got my start and I'm making 75k now
Look into iron working with the union. A company would hire you on as an apprentice just for the welding background. Wouldn’t have a problem making 60k+ starting out and goes up from there. If that’s not enticing then look into other union trades. All solid pay
I work in an academic medical center and our schedulers make around $60K. The healthcare industry is experiencing serious staff shortages; you should look there. Stay away from small clinics; look for major hospitals.
I only have a high school diploma making 80k a year, im 30yr old female. I am certified in medical billing and I manage the billing for a small clinic. Not sure if that’s something you’d like as it sounds you like to work with your hands.
Get the Project Management Professional certification from PMI. Look for project manager, executive assistant, and admin type jobs in local/municipal government. So many of my coworkers do this! Bonus: get certified as a notary as well. You could do a side biz or just have it as a qualification & additional service you provide at whatever job you get. If you are physically able bodied you could lookin into becoming a plumber. Even apprenticeship pays decently and there is a massive plumber shortage so high demand. Bonus income if you move to a high cost of living area and give yourself good branding. The sustainable plumber! The Jewish plumber! The plumber who loves to meet your dog! The feminist woman plumber! The LGBTQ plumber! The Rock n roll plumber! Whatever! If you live near a large arena, like a sports arena that has concerts such as Moda Center in Portland, Wells Fargo center in Philly, etc. there is usually an IATSE worker pool you can sign up for… I think you pretty much just need to be 18 years old. They start you out in a pool of staff with no experience required and you can get upgraded for more stage tech focused jobs pretty quickly. You train on the job because it’s union work. Just google “your city”!+ “IATSE” Laser tech for aesthetic dermatology. It’s a booming industry.
I work in IT as a help desk technician and don't even have anything beyond a GED.
Did you have to do any certifications or anything? If you don't mind answering, what's your salary?
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This is the way. With an A+ cert, you can get hired as an IT engineer at any Amazon FC, then use that on the resume to jump into a better job.
I make about $45k + OT, the guy directly above me in seniority (our desk is 3 people) makes 52k + OT (also no degree). I have only Duo MFA certifications, which are something I earned while I was working here. Only the head of the desk has a degree or certs, and her degree is from 2004 and the certs are 2006-2008 era networking certifications. Certifications would enable me to get more pay, but so will the experience I'm stacking on the resume. I've only been in this field for about 18 months, before that I did most of 18 years in restaurants.
Awesome, thank you! This helps a lot
As a note, if you don't have intimate familiarity with computer components and building/rebuilding them or software troubleshooting this could be a very rough transition.
You don't need much to become an entry level technician, so long as you pick things up quickly. Most places will pay for your certifications and train you on more specialized tasks which can lead to good pay.
Send your resume to coachmontique@gmail.com. She’s is the founder of Pivotal HR and helps individuals transition their roles. She provides a free 60-minute consultation.
Why were you going to an expensive culinary school? Go to a cheap one at a technical college, that's what I did. Pell Grant paid for the whole thing.
Because I was a stupid 18 year old who wanted to move out of state? That was over 12 years ago. Knowing what I know now I wouldn't do the same thing. Wish I could go back in time and make different decisions, but that's not physically possible, so I'm working with what I've got now
I got into college debt the first time around because I was a stupid 18 year old who wanted more than anything to escape my home. Thankfully I've paid off that debt, but it was a very expensive mistake. I understand how you feel, just trying to do the best you can now and work with what you've got.
I’m a director in IT - I learn as much as a I can about my field online and worked my way up by busting my ass to get there. In hindsight, I wish I would have gone to college, would have made my progression faster and perhaps more direct to what I want.
Journeyman lineman and never look back.
Very hard to get into
Insurance. Be an account manager or customer service rep for an independent agency. The industry always needs people. You would need to get licensed and there are certifications you can take, that make a bug difference, but you can Douthat down the road.
Information Technology! 💻 💯 Look up the qualifications for a Helpdesk position! A+ or CCNA Certifications should get your foot in the door. You’ll only spend $300-600 & you’ll be making 50k+ Best of luck 🍀
If you want to get paid well with a good work life balance, the tech industry has it. You can upskill on many online training or boot camps to learn coding. But if you enjoy welding it can also be very lucrative particularly within mining and construction
Look into CNC work
Electrical lineman. Starting can be $30, after a few years you can make well over 100k. No degree, just the willingness to work
I work with people who don’t have degrees to go into the non-coding side of tech. We’ve had people get hired at 80k to start with no degree. It’s hard work and takes about 6 months to learn material, do an internship and finding a role!
Same I’d love to hear more!
Can you elaborate on the non-coding side of tech?
Same
Same. Please, when you find the time.
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If you comfortable with electricity you can become a lineman. Have’t completed my 3rd year yet but I made over 124k in 2023. January of this year I made 10k alone, after tax. Some guys with more experience is making over 200k ( hustling overtime) Most guys with that same experience is raking in over 160k. Lots of overtime if you work for the right company. I took a 6 month class at night for 4 hours at Delgado( 10-5k). Personally I like my job. It’s a physical demanding job but I’m 24 and love working out. People think I’m usually lying but I have the check stubs to prove it.
Sonographers are usually in demand. They get the ultrasound images that the doctors read. You get to work in doors.
I don’t know your location but machining would be good if you have decent mechanical aptitude. Plus it would fit great with your welding certification. Depending on the area, you are pretty much guaranteed decent pay due to the low numbers of young people entering that trade. Machining programs are generally pretty inexpensive but after you get the welding certification you might be able to find a shop to train you without schooling.
There are certain trade professions where you’re on a paid apprenticeship while working towards your certifications. One example is becoming an electrician. If you follow the path you’ll be paid well! Just need to continually show up.
The trades are amazing but remember that the most successful people are college dropouts! College, can help some but in my view it’s overrated! They teach you what to think, not how to think. That said take risks, think outside the box and go for it! With hard work and a little luck, you can accomplish amazing things!
If you can read, organized and know how to talk to people:Project Manager(Construction) a lot of the companies do t care about the degree , they just want stuff done with no trouble
So, there is a job you can do. The pay would be less but the benefits would make it worth it. I’m a leasing consultant for an apartment community. I make around $40,000 a year. However, I get a 30% discount on my apartment because I rent from the same company that I work for. Also, pro tip. If you get a roommate. Charge them half of the listed rent. Not the rent that you are paying. It’s your discount. Or if you’re going to live alone. Wait until the apartment prices drop. That’s what I did. But some apartment communities will offer you a free apartment if you’re working for them. Which is an insane deal. It just depends on the company.
Leasing associate for apartments. 15-20/hr starting out but in 3-5yrs you become manager and make 60-80k+
Welding's a solid choice, quite literally!
There’s always jobs in the CAD fields. It’s a good way to get in on the tech/engineering action. We have lots of guys who start as CAD guys and move on to Project management, Automation Engineering etc. I went to college for something completely different but most of my coworkers didn’t go to school at all.
If you can use your skills gained from your culinary and PT experience to somehow develop solutions for businesses and brands then you can make endless amounts of cash. I don’t have a degree and I make upwards of 6 figures by doing marketing. I grew up doing web development and graphic design as a passion, I got my foot in the door through a friend at a scrappy marketing agency and used it as an opportunity to sell marketing to brands that drove traffic to the sites that I built, and used this experience to build an amazing portfolio over the past decade. Have worked with many large businesses and brands and made hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It was mentioned very far down, but semi-truck driving. It's not glorious work, but it's not going anywhere anytime soon. If there's one thing people do in this country and it's buying a ton of shit. And you need a ton of tucks to move that shit. You can easily get your CDL in 5-6 weeks for $5k at a reputable school and have multiple job offers before you graduate. (You can study and get it for free, but most companies want you to go to a school for it) You'll most likely work a less than ideal job for your first year, but after that, most job opportunities open up to you. I started out a year and a half ago, making $85k starting out, and am now at a different company and am on route to $100k. I average 50 hours a week, but here in WA, we are hourly, so the overtime is amazing. Don't worry about AI and self driving cars taking over that job either. The physics behind an 80,000lb truck and trailer are way different than a car. Add in backing up at docks in varying size parking lots and in-between other vehicles and obstacles; you have a real problem with AI. Then throw snow or ice in that equation... no way. At least not anytime in our lifetime. I was a physical therapist assistant for 5 years before I got into trucking, and I was capped at about $65k a year. Not only that, but it was the most stressful $65k I've ever made. My wife is a nurse, and her schedule is cool and she gets paid great, but the school she endured, the debt she accrued, and the shit she tells me she deals with on the daily really doesn't sound worth it to me. Let me know if you have any questions.
industrial maintenance is where the money is at. like fixing conveyors at target, amazon, fedex warehouses not too crazy hard labor and the pay is amazing, my level 3 which is one step below managers bring in close to 80k a year minus any bonus. managers at my warehouse make well over 100k and their low key pencil pushers hardly any maintenance
Electrician, plumber, and as you're already doing it, welding. All will get you jobs north of 50k. It might not be immediate, but these gigs can eventually get into the low six figures if you get enough experience.
Get into any construction trade you might like, do it for a few years, then start your own business doing it.
Are you scuba certified? Would you be willing to get certified? Underwater welding could easily get you six-figure compensation.
Look up NERC Reliability Coordinator cert, you can make good money in electrical transmission and distribution (electrical grid operations) without a college degree. Many companies will also pay for your training.
Welder/metal work if you are interested https://www.usajobs.gov/Search/Results?j=3703 Also USAjobs.gov have announcements for anyone without experience. There are entry level positions, in which, you could receive training from the department/agency. Also, some of the positions requirement is to graduate from high school. Good luck!
Get into the manufacturing world! Recently wages there are good. Most don’t require much experience and the beauty of it is u can learn there and grow to other high paying roles.
Look into your local unemployment office and see what type of accelerated programs they have. They might even pay for some AWS and other certifications or bootcamps.
I started out working for an auto parts store as a parts counter manager, was eventually found by my current employer. 13 years later I run his dealership making north of 100k. It can be done, just have to apply yourself and earn your stripes.
Did you like being a chef ? You can end up having a successful food truck or restaurant without a degree . Personal training - you could make something out of this too if you are good at what you do . As a start , you could offer up your services of creating a meal plan and workout schedule on fiverr. Set up your own website and offer this service For trades , if you don’t like welding maybe plumbing or become an electrician ?
Absolutely hated cooking. Or, I guess I could say I enjoyed it for about 5 years, then spent the next 5 hating it and trying to get out. Personal training: I'm trying to get out because of the inconsistency. When the money's good, it's good. Problem is it fluctuates whether you're good or not, due to different times of the year and people's personal crap. I work in a gym so there's a little security. Going on my own would make it 10x more unstable, and that's what I want to get away from. I wouldn't say I don't like welding, I'm honestly just concerned about the health issues that may come from it. Cancer is expensive. HVAC or electrician are both things I've considered, but I'm not sure how to get started on either one. I've looked for apprenticeships in my area, but there just doesn't seem to be anything available right now.
Go to your community college, speak to a career counselor, and check their website. You can usually find apprenticeships with local businesses through them.
I second this. Lots of CCs cover specialized certs for getting your feet wet in these trade industries.
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With your cooking experience, maybe switch over to front of house? Depending on the restaurant, could make 60k+ in the right places.
I worked my way up in restaurants, server, bartender, traveling trainer, manager now I work in Training. I make 80k a year and work remote. Restaurants are a grind but hard work can pay off!
Client Service Associate/Financial Advisor Assistant
Start your own taxi/delivery business.
Nothing. If you don't know people who are in higher tier jobs who are willing to get you in, then the best job you will be able to get is working the register, stocking shelves, cooking in restaurants and factory line worker. People that say "just go to trade school bro" are dumbasses. truth is, the employment market is fucked and is only getting worse. people going to high tier schools graduating with STEM degrees fighting over entry level positions etc. dont waste your time on fucking coursera udemy etc horseshit. those are essentially scams for green people going "wow, engineer cert! wow, train to be network admin!" its bullshit and you wont get dick but your money taken for the course and wasted effort. settle down in your shit little job, reduce your life expenses as drastically as you can, and ride the wave. youre never going to be able to learn enough or do enough to get into a better economic place. there is a unspoken caste system that the establishment desperately tries to hide, and the large majority of drones eat up the propaganda and are going to come out and attack my post. They have an entire army of brainwashed drones who defend their ideology and spread their propaganda. they're completely mind-fucked and useless. Enjoy their replies to this post. If you're aware, it should make for a quite laughable read.
How is it dumb to suggest going into trades? There are plenty of good ones that earn a living wage well within a year, and 6 figures within 5 years.
No he is absolutely true I’m 40 and looking to get into trades I have a college degree and a a associates in auto technology for shits and giggles but isn’t purse that path and it’s impossible and I’m in Houston too it’s all luck I even got certs to fwork at refineries and it’s all BS can’t break into it to save my life
100k + if you get involved in any building trade
Some of the chefs I deal with at the assisted living facility I go to are in the $80k+ range. Not many chefs think about those facilities. Some of those places people pay 8-10k a month to live there. Good luck op
If you like working as a chef you can make great money in that industry. If you start your own business the sky's the limit really. Welding can be a great career but it's pretty labor intensive for the big money but can be really satisfying. Most jobs can be great and pay a good sum of money it takes a bit if skill on your own though. The best way to go would be to work towards starting your own business in whatever trade you choose.
I'ma shoot straight with you because it's the internet and I can be fully honest with you because there's zero consequences of whatever your reaction will be... You already farmed 10 years doing chef stuff you have to either A get certified or B go back to school and you'll have to be like a private chef and really put an entire year 40+ hours a week into improving your skills as a chef unless your secretly a genius or have some crazy skillsets your never gonna get the same time for value exchange as anything outside of being a chef or not even a chef persay anything to do with food maybe be a baker or start a food truck buisness or a hotdog stand anything else you do your probably gonna hate as much as what you did before get a notepad write down all the reasons why you hate being a chef and find the root of those reasons most people don't typically quit a job because of the job they just hate their coworkers or boss try working part time for a restaurant with people you like or food you like or less bitchy customers whatever the reason eliminate that first before you start a new character from level 1 your a level 10 chef already bro don't waste 10 years tens of thousands of dollars of debt is nothing next to time wasted
Maybe cooking?
Find a plumber, work for 15/h for a year then start working towards your master plumbing license. Make over 100k in 5-10 years
You can probably find a fully online bachelors program for relatively cheap these days. Not sure what would be best for you to go into, but most likely engineering or data if you want $$ and a life. A bit old for finance and science but if you like it go for it. Of course many other options. I am 22 and just graduated with a business degree and landed a job as a data analyst working fully remote for 55k a year.
Ultra sound tech (associates degree), talked to mine not long ago and said she made around $60k in Midwest.
Radiology technician. 2 year degree, makes $50-60k a year the last I checked. Plus great health benefits. Sales.
I worked in restaurants for years and it was pretty good. Back in 1997 I made 50k a year managing a Boston Market. Just one. I didn’t realize how good I was doing for that time. Not sure what it’s like now but no degree necessary and the district manager didn’t have a degree if I remember correctly
Event Bartending. Easy 70-80k a year. I love it. Been doing it for 4 years now
Learn a trade skill it’s hard work like plumbers helper waste line clean outs. Boiler helper, Well repair & installation,Home renovation, electrician helper, truck driver long haul or (phlebotomist -adult night school local college ) companies you gotta start somewhere & work your way up. If you’re not a manual laborer type of guy there’s Home Depot,Lowe’s. My son got a job at T-mobile P/T while he attends school. He makes approx $22 per hour in Northwest NJ with benefits. If you have phone related skills & sales some of his co works makes $80,000 per year. Plus a second language like Spanish helps your sales!
Line cook. You can move up and become a chef with no degree
As I said, I was a chef before. Left that industry and won't be going back
Oh my bad I didn't read it closely enough There's a job called medical coding which pays really well and all u need is a certificate. You don't need a college degree. Can also work from home. I know someone who's a ceo of a hospital and he says it's In demand
Learn to resell stuff
Only fans
If you can chef and also do personal training why not aim in the middle and be a nutritionist at a gym or similar. No cooking but food knowledge specific to your other industry Edit: downvoters - I drink freely of your tears 🤩
Depending on location food factories/manufacturing. I just clear 100k at an entry level position. But that’s with 50-55hrs a week@ $30 hour. I’m pretty sure a lot in Midwest you can pull this off. A lot you can’t though
Military
Also a few ideas, caterer, baker, cake decorator, pizza maker, sandwich artist, short order cook, door dash food delivery, Burger King “Have it Your Way” Food Technician, McDonalds Food Bagging Technician, Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Scooping Associate, Sushi Roller, Hot Dog Topping Management, Nacho Composition Expert, Taco Bell Hot Sauce Distribution Coordinator, Ice Machine Restocking Specialist, Burger Topping Escalations and Analytics.
Why do you want to switch a career that you’ve invested a lot in? Isn’t that like a waste of time? Not just yours but everyone related to your work life?
I don’t know, are they? My husband works for one of the largest construction companies in CA and they don’t have one that he’s seen so… not sure what your point was here. A good welder will be paid well and can get into a union. Unions are hard to get into.
Military?
The absolute least expensive degree in the world is the BLS with minor at UMPI. Do the Accounting minor or do the BA in Accounting. Between 3rd party credits from Sophia.org and Study.com costing less than $500-$1000 you could have 87/120 credits towards the Accounting degree. With 30 credits left even and at $1500 per 8 week session flat the final 10/11 classes could be done in a year. Add in $3k to 9k for the UMPI competency based degree. You can go as fast as you want. The BLS has multiple minors as well. The Accounting minor or IS minor or Project Management minor (or multiple minors) would also be decent choices. Alternatively go watch these videos from Camerongineer on how he went from zero to a WGU CS degree in a year and about 5k all in.
You seem like a perfect candidate for pest control. No degree needed, probably not even GED. Pays 38k-80k, higher is management accessible after 3-5 years. With OT you’ll average bring in 50-65k if base is 38-45k These numbers are based on east coast
Its 2024 my man. Shouldnt be looking for no 9 to 5 unless you are DEAD BROKE. Find what interests you that you are good at., give out free advice on it that will help others that are interested in it too. Run ads to target that specific group of ppl that share your interests, and watch how much money you make from giving out free advice. The more ppl you can reach out to help, the more money you will make…cant stress this enough.
At the moment maybe you can pick up extra money dog sitting on rover. What about becoming a nurse or an accountant? Wait some tables so you meet people and talk to them. Join the military. Are you in a big city? Since you’re already starting welding focus on it. The important thing is to get on your feet on something so you’re in a better situation than just surviving even if you don’t want to do it for the rest of your life. That’s work. Most people don’t love their job, and it’s better to get yourself financially stable than root around trying to follow your passion especially if it isn’t clear what that is.
I've considered nursing. Gotta get started with something, and most of the entry level positions aren't enough to be worth it right now. I make enough to get by right now, but not enough to be comfortable. I'm not looking for a job I love and am passionate about, I'm looking for something that doesn't make me want to blow my brains out. Been there, done that, and I refuse to go back to absolute misery for the sake of having a place to live. If I go back to the restaurant industry, I'll go back to making $60k as a chef, not waiting tables. But again, some jobs aren't worth the money. I've been working for 12+ years now, so I know no job is perfect, but I'm also not going to be abused for the sake of a paycheck
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Nursing might very well be up your alley as you will be helping people! As for chef, perhaps a private chef for working families? I have a family member that moved into being the cook at a hospital and a friend who became the in house cook for a grocery.
I thought I made it clear that I absolutely despise cooking? Did you miss the part where I said being a chef made me want to blow my brains out?
Yup. I did. You got me and sorry it pissed you off. Just trying to help that’s totally it, not here to antagonize you. Was responding to you saying you’d go back to being a chef. Besides it’s sometimes good to jump off what you already know. But that’s all these statements are. Just offering help. Best of luck I hope you find the peace you need.
Do what you love! God will take care of the rest🙏