Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire jobs without degree

Probably something to that. Frugality is probably something that is passed on by parents. Or at least some degree of it.

I had a lot of really good cheapness training growing up. My grandfather was born in 23, my father born in 45.

The great depression really make an impact on my grandfather....and he passed that on to my father.

The Great farm recession in the 80's made an impact on my father and he passed that on to me.

Lots of kids of the 80's grew up in a time of easy credit, easy money and excess. That could be because their parents did without....so they really poured the presents on to the kids.

I was just the opposite. We lived like poor people in the 80's and early 90's.....I think because we never knew when the next crash was coming and did not want to get caught like that again.


A hell of a lot of locals went to the oil patch in North Dakota when she really heated up. Young and old alike.

They came back....almost to a man....with less than they went over with. Some of them stayed over there.....and are drowning in debt.



I hate to sound like a weirdo, but from a really early age we are taught to spend. Sure, an economy is based on spending.....but gawd almighty we sure go above and beyond!


When my dad was a kid he said he was taught to save, or at least that was the general thought.



I firmly believe that the last two years of high school should focus on money management. Learning about credit, debt, and saving. Living within your means.....learning to do without. Making sacrifices today.

Some folks I know went to the oil patch for the high wages. They spent beyond their means when they lived here.....and spend beyond their means over there.

Sheesh! Sorry to ramble on like that!

There's no need to go deep into debt to get a degree. You don't need to attend an Ivy League school to start with. There are lots of good public colleges out there that are far cheaper. Hasn't anyone heard of working their way through? Working while taking classes? I did that and still got through in 4 years with 0 debt. It wasn't easy but it can be done with some effort. So what if it takes 5 years or even 6? It's worth it at the end if the job you want requires a degree>

Was listening to supertalk radio ( MS talk radio) , there was a guy on from some national trucking organization. Said in 10 years there will be a shortage of 250k nationwide. Most in MS start at $50k and can make $100k.


Mike Rowe is big into the trades. His MIke Rowe Works foundation tries to push the point that there needs to be more folks seeking trades instead of getting a degree that isn’t needed.

Jim you're saying exactly what I have said before. We are taught to borrow and spend from day one and no one guides us otherwise unless you have great influences in your young life. Interesting what you say about those guys being broke after all that work and money.

My life experience has taught me that work is a fact of life. Finding work that fulfills your needs is necessary. Finding work that allows you to live your dreams is attainable but whether you are a farmer, driller or a soldier, hard work and being the very best is the only path to true success. You can do it if you want it enough.


mike r.

a lot of friends here in town are small business owners. Some in the building trades, some in the automotive business, others with restaurants, distribution, things like that. A lot of them are fairly well off. Nice homes, acreage, nice vehicles, put their kids through college, and of course, nice 'toys'.
None got there easily. All worked like dogs their entire lives. In their retirement, they are doing well, but they damn sure paid their dues.

I run the apprenticeship program for a large manufacturer for Maint. Electricians and Toolmakers. The company pays 100% of the schooling and they start out at 32K without OT, Health ins, vacation and 401K plus profit sharing twice a year. They graduate 4 years later at 45K without OT. And the bad part is it is very difficult to find applicants that want to take the plunge

Could do an apprenticeship in one of the trades, get paid to learn, get paid more when you've completed it.

I went to plumbers apprentice school, never been out out of work, made 103,000 last year. It’s been good to me.

Tough to do if one is chasing an engineering degree.

Ten years ago I walked onto a steel construction site an 18 year old greenhorn with no high school diploma. Kept my nose clean, busted my ass and actually listened to the smart old hands willing to teach me. Today I'm a Field Supervisor, have a very stable job, make six figures easily and have been paid to see more of the world than most. Careers are out there for those willing to start at the bottom and learn.

United States Navy for 21 years and now I'm a contractor for the navy flight simulators. Not the highest paying job but sure have been there and done .

I have a tech degree in Machine Tool Technology and the four year apprenticeship for Plastic Injection Mold set me in a good direction

32 years before that all started and I'm still a Journyman Mold Maker and make decent $$

Good on you.Thanks for your service.

I have two degrees,including a MS of Science, and I very strongly feel a "degree" is severely overrated..

It shouldn’t cost 100k to get a public university degree. It doesn’t here. If my kids were starting off in the work force today, I’d suggest general labor in construction, find your niche and work your way up. Discover which building trade you like or do the best. Everyone has to work their way up. I don’t care if you’re degreed or not.

Edit: I’ve washed dishes, fast food cook , prep cook, deli, math tutor, electrician helper, construction general labor, industrial plant summer intern , teachers assistant . These were before a bachelors in engineering.

I am kind of a jack of most Trades. Mechanical, Hydraulics, pneumatics, electrical, PLC, robotics There isn’t much I can’t take apart, fix and put back together.
You have to be able to do something that the next person can’t or won’t do. Any monkey can flip a burger or sit on an assembly line and put widgets together. I have taken a few college classes but no degree. I got out of the Airforce in 1993. I have not been out of work since that time. Even in the economic downturn in 08-09, I was working overtime.

If the only purpose of a college degree is to prepare you to make money, then I would agree with the tone of this thread. We should all be electricians, HVAC techs and oilfield welders. But I do not believe in that; my favorite phrase about college is that the purpose is "to make your mind a interesting place to live."

We can all find anecdotes about people who made it big without a college degree. Let me offer one on the other side of the ledger. My son (who shot 15 big game animals before he left for college, by the way) is finishing his Ph.D. at an East Coast med school specializing in neuropharmacology. He makes the molecules that later may become drugs. His Ph.D. research was testing the efficacy and safety of a new molecule to slow the onset of Parkinson's disease. He will finish up in few months and has already been hired by industry at about $150k/year---way more than I make in my chosen field after 30 years. And if you have had a loved one die of a neurodegenerative disease like Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, then your likely reaction to his work is "hurry up--I might be next!", not "too bad he didn't go into the oilfield."

I come from very blue collar stock--industrial butchers, refinery workers and the like. But my admiration for them, their talents and work ethic, does not mean I have to be judgmental toward people who have invested in developing their talents and knowledge.

So if we want the Chinese inventing and owning the technology behind the computer chip, or the French inventing and owning the human genomic code, or the Indians inventing and owning the technology behind cellular networks, or the Russians inventing and owning the technology behind the advanced composite materials that make military drones possible, then nobody needs to go to university. But those are American technologies.

While I agree completely, the folks usually doing the hiring and promoting have degrees.
I get tired of seeing the same thing. A degreed person doesn’t know how to do anything except come up with an idea they have no way of implementing.

UTAH...I see your point too and it's valid. But there aren't 50k of those jobs out there and most of us can't do the math involved and just aren't built to be able to do that job. The question I asked, I guess, should have included "where are the jobs for people who don't go to school and aren't built for construction and don't have the math brain for running a lathe"