Anyone without a college education here?

[Norris]

I think it very much depends on where you live. I could have a doctorate degree in this crummy part of the country and not be able to find a halfway decent job!

I absolutely agree about the sales jobs...most people don't have a clue how much salesmen make! My EX was always a salesman...there wasn't a Bachelor's degree he could get that would help him make any more money than he was making as a salesman. He always wanted to be an accountant but he would have had to spend tens of thousands $ on a college degree and take a huge pay cut.

 

[invidia]

It seems like the majority of those who can make good money without a college degree is doing sales or running/owning a business.

 

[Synomenon]

Yeah, most people making good money are in a trade, sales, own their own business or just really lucky.

Edit:
Where you live also makes a difference.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: Greenman
Like everything else, it depends on the market and what you want. I see the service and repair industry growing at a very fast rate because people today are more helpless than ever, lazy almost beyond belief, and feel that anything that might get them dirty is beneath them. It's pretty easy to make 70 to 80k in auto repair, 60 to 90k in the trades and a good contractor can pull down 150 to 200k without killing himself. The thing is you will get dirty, and you will sweat. In winter you will freeze your ass off and in summer you'll bake until your brain shuts down, you'll smash knuckles and cut yourself again and again. And for all of that, it's a great way to make a living.

QFT. I dropped out of high school to enlist in the USMC and go to Vietnam. I did get a GED after I got out, but that's it. I went into the trades as a Heavy Equipment Operator, (90% of the time as a Crane Operator) and consistently made VERY GOOD money, and MOST of the past 10 years, in the $80K to $95K range, PLUS my benefits on top of that. (figured at about $15/hour) including pension, health & welfare (medical, dental, optical) and about $3/hr vacation pay.
While MOST people should indeed try college because working heavy construction isn't for everyone, it CAN be a good way to make a living, but you WILL work hard and get dirty...