So if you don't have a college degree

[ThePresence]

You can get a license to drive a big rig and make nice money.

 

[dartworth]

Originally posted by: jadinolf
Let's see. Lower class jobs like:

Carpenter, plumber, electrician, sheet metal worker, steel worker, welder and other low (tee hee) paying jobs.

Lower class...

Thses lower class jobs pay pretty well...


I should know

 

[Reckoner]

I have a college degree, it hasn't helped at all. If I had to do it all over again, I would've went to a trade school. College was a big waste of time.

 

[MikeMike]

Originally posted by: dartworth

Originally posted by: jadinolf
Let's see. Lower class jobs like:

Carpenter, plumber, electrician, sheet metal worker, steel worker, welder and other low (tee hee) paying jobs.

Lower class...

Thses lower class jobs pay pretty well...


I should know

they pay QUITE well especially a good plumber.

my dad is managing 2 stores of a Plumbing supply company, and he also is the main salesman for their Fire Protection (he got it started), prior to that he was a car salesman (good money). and in a few years he will begin to run the company

 

[dartworth]

Originally posted by: nourdmrolNMT1

Originally posted by: dartworth

Originally posted by: jadinolf
Let's see. Lower class jobs like:

Carpenter, plumber, electrician, sheet metal worker, steel worker, welder and other low (tee hee) paying jobs.

Lower class...

Thses lower class jobs pay pretty well...


I should know

they pay QUITE well especially a good plumber.

my dad is managing 2 stores of a Plumbing supply company, and he also is the main salesman for their Fire Protection (he got it started), prior to that he was a car salesman (good money). and in a few years he will begin to run the company

which supply companys?

 

[djheater]

I'm an art school dropout.

I currently make about 68k working as a Systems Administrator.

I'll be going back to school in the next year... I've pretty much had it with this career, it was never what I wanted to do.

 

[MikeMike]

Originally posted by: dartworth

Originally posted by: nourdmrolNMT1

Originally posted by: dartworth

Originally posted by: jadinolf
Let's see. Lower class jobs like:

Carpenter, plumber, electrician, sheet metal worker, steel worker, welder and other low (tee hee) paying jobs.

Lower class...

Thses lower class jobs pay pretty well...


I should know

they pay QUITE well especially a good plumber.

my dad is managing 2 stores of a Plumbing supply company, and he also is the main salesman for their Fire Protection (he got it started), prior to that he was a car salesman (good money). and in a few years he will begin to run the company

which supply companys?

Cleveland Plumbing Supply Co.

 

[Rage187]

I barely got out of High School and ended up as a Software QA Engineer, I write scripts to test software functionality. Automation ftw!

And I do well and that $0 student loans helped me purchase my first house by 20.

 

[mugs]

Am I the only one who thinks jadinolf was being facetious?

 

[ViciouS]

Be good with a mop, or be ruthless about getting money, and hope to god you dont get sick or something and have to start all over. OR GO TO SCHOOL and garantee some sort of future.

 

[alien42]

less then 2 years of college and i am a server admin doing just fine. if i had the choice to go back in time i would probably get a degree in a science field and do something i enjoy.

 

[AbAbber2k]

Trade school?

 

[Imdmn04]

This thread is retarded. Only people doing well without the degree will post and brag how good they are doing. Why would anybody who isnt doing well without a degree post in this thread and tell you how sh!tty they are doing because they didn't goto college?

Not exactly representative of the general population.

 

[Lifted]

Originally posted by: Imdmn04
This thread is retarded. Only people doing well without the degree will post and brag how good they are doing. Why would anybody who isnt doing well without a degree post in this thread and tell you how sh!tty they are doing because they didn't goto college?

Not exactly representative of the general population.

There are plenty of morons at my job who have a degree and make 25-35k, and are lucky they make that. A degree will only get you an interview, and possibly an entry level position, but nothing makes up for being smart and trying to excel in your career.

Along with what you said, I'm sure there are just as many people here with a degree who are doing just as sh!tty as those without a degree. In the end, a degree never hurts and can open a lot of doors for you.

 

[Hyudra]

word, you really never know who ends up at the top of the corporate ladder. It could be the 2.0GPA kid sitting next to you in class that's sleeping all the time.

excelling in the real world is different.

 

[everman]

A degree can be good, but often not enough these days. If you got that far, a graduate degree is well worth an extra 1-3 years (depending on the program).

 

[AbAbber2k]

Originally posted by: 91TTZ

Originally posted by: tfinch2
What do you do for a living? Was it worth it for you to not goto college? Do you make enough money (not struggle day to day)

I work for IBM as a server admin. I make enough that I don't feel like working any harder. I'm not struggling at all. Not filthy rich, but not working overtime to pay bills, either.

Back when I was in school I was ahead of the class, so things aren't much different now. In the end, a degree is a piece of paper and you must use your mind to get ahead. If you were successful at outsmarting people before, you're probably still good at it now.

If I were to do it again I'd probably get a degree because it opens up some doors and can only make life easier, but you have to understand that the majority of people on this forum are college age kids and it's a big part of their life right now, so they'll overstate the importance.

I'm still in college but I more or less agree with you. To be honest, when I graduate (with a Bachelors in Kinesiology) I'll probably start out working as a Personal Trainer in a health club... something you really don't need a college education for (though it makes it easier to get into "ritzier" establishments). However, my education, like you said, opens doors to other fields like physical therapy and physical education. Fields such as athletic training or collegiate strength training are also within reach (and pretty much anything having to do with sports medicine), though require some additional specific education as well as testing. Eventually, when all's said and done, I'd like end up working as some kind of fitness educator, primarily in some kind of youth program, but otherwise with people of all ages (lots of baby boomers out there trying to get fit and stay young).

Anyone that tells you that you HAVE to go to college to be successful is blowing smoke up your ass. Neither of my parents went to college, and while they're not rich by any means, they aren't doing everything they can to save a penny here or work an extra hour there just to pay the bills. One is an accountant/book-keeper and the other was a sheet metal worker (now comfortably retired).

 

[Coquito]

It's all about who you know, who you can impress, & who you can make believe.
Until then, I work paycheck to paycheck.

 

[TStep]

Although I do very well without a degree in the heavy construction industry, I would have to say it's probably more beneficial to have one. For the most part, you either make money for the company or you don't, and that is what you'll ultimately be judged upon. A degree will provide opportunity and allow you to prove yourself quicker though.

 

[Lola]

i work for a large insurance company. i enjoy what i do very much most of the time and one day soon hope to open my own agency.
At this point, i am making more without a degree that i could have if i kept my schooling going and got the degree i was planning on.

 

[electricJ]

Originally posted by: mugs
Am I the only one who thinks jadinolf was being facetious?

No, you're not. Must have taken a college degree to get that

 

[isasir]

My cousin does pretty well for himself w/o a college degree. He does purchasing for a lumber company and was always and outgoing, smooth talker. That skill is something many with college degrees don't have and can get you much further in life.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: Descartes

Originally posted by: jadinolf
Let's see. Lower class jobs like:

Carpenter, plumber, electrician, sheet metal worker, steel worker, welder and other low (tee hee) paying jobs.

The sad reality is that those jobs will likely earn more for the talented worker than your white-collar job.

Keep enjoying your perceived notions of class and you'll find yourself at the bottom.

What's so sad about it? Those who are in those trades and make a good living just didn't step off the street and start making good money, most had to go to 4 years of apprentice school and had on the job training which is the equivelent of going to college without having to take BS classes in subjects they'll never use.

 

[sourceninja]

I never went to college. Now I am a major programmer at a college near my home where I customize their finance system and teach students about logic flow charts and programing. College helps, mostly it helps show you know how to learn (the subject matter is not important), but its not a requirement. You just have to work your way up. It took me 5 years of software support and software analyst work to get a intro level programming gig. Luckly I entered the work force during the 90's, which ment I had a huge tech bubble to jump around it. Kids today are not so lucky.

I see a lot of kids today talk about how we dont cater to buisness. How a CS degree wont teach you any real world skills, and how a programming cert or a mcse is better for your job. I'd like to go on record and state that its not about the degree. Its about showing you learn tech concepts like AI, programing languages, etc very quickly. Most buisness's know that the tech world changes quickly. Your MCSE could be worthless in 2-3 years if MS decided to do something radical. Your A+ (which I've taught classes on getting, even though I dont have one) is worthess because it covers mostly outdated topics. But they both show the same thing your worthess CS degree with cobalt classes show. That you can quickly learn tech concepts. The difference with a degree is you can show you are dedicated to the long haul (You have chosen to make a career out of it instead of a job. I mean, you put 4 years into it.)

Anyways, I know a chemist for the waste treatment plant who didn't even finish highschool. My take is that you can do anything you want if you live long enough and try hard enough. My wife and I's combined income is over 110k (not exactly sure where, but its less then 120.) Neither of us have ever been to college. And for indiana, >110k is very livable. Hell, in indiana you would do quite nice on 40-50k.

 

[yllus]

The richest guy I know is a cattle guy. A number of the rather well to do I know are skilled tradesmen.

If you're going to go into an area like hardware or software development, it's best that you get a degree because it pulls you at least even with the rest of the people you'll probably be competing against. But it's not necessarily the degree that makes or breaks you.