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

I graduated from high school in 1975.I didn't have the money nor did my parents have the money for it either.At that time of my life I thought I would be doing farm work all my life.Also during that time period,college wasn't that big of a deal as it is now.You where more judged by your knowledge,skills and abilities back then.After a few years on the farm,I got tired of looking at the same old dirt and decided on something different.Went to work at the electric co-op building and maintaining powerlines.Did that for a few years and moved on to work at a large 15 acre building machine shop running a radial drill press working on oil well valves.When the oil business went bust in the early 80's,they shut the plant down,so back to farm work I went.Big change from working for $10.50 an hour to $4.10 an hour,but you have to do what you have to do because it was hard to find a job back then.That was the time period many people started going to college because you couldn't hardly find a job.I was fortunate enough to get a job with the state fish and Wildlife department in 1983.I stayed with my job for 32.5yrs before I retired.They had a mandatory retirement.Believe me it was tough getting by and really could have used the extra money I was forced to contribute each month.Over the years I worked my way up the ladder through my hard works even though I didn't have a degree.Today I probably wouldn't get hired because I didn't have a degree.Times have changed.The degree doesn't guarantee anything,but it may give you an opportunity.

Great thread guys. I love the ideas and varied ways to succeed. Pretty cool to learn more about you guys too.

He is a primary care physician, she is a pharmacist

A data driven response...

Google "College Measures". It is a research organization that helps state governments understand what degrees/credentials have the highest return on investment.

Focusing on their report for Florida, they identified 1300 degree programs in the state, and 488 produced graduates with median salaries above Florida's household incomes.

The credentials/degrees with the highest median earnings:
Elevator constructor/maint. (Apprentice) $106,900
Elec. and commun. engineering tech (Assoc. of Sci) $91,700
Millwright (Appr.) $82,500
Heavy Equip operator (Apprent.) $81,000
Fire prevention and safety tech. (Assoc. of Applied Sci) $76,400

Some degrees produced salaries less that $25,000: performing arts, cinematography, early childhood education, etc.

This report is also summarized in Money magazine, Jan /Feb 2108, which was my direct source of this information.

Lots of good jobs out there if someone is just willing to show up and work. I have a buddy who does nothing but post construction clean up at job sites and makes a killing. His biggest investments were a Bobcat and an old Chevy with a hydraulic dump bed. Also know lots of guys who work for city public works departments, prisons, etc who make good money, especially with overtime. A guy I know who retired from the California DOC is drawing a pension of $8500.00 a month. Might not be glamorous work, but it's a steady income.

I'll bet she makes more than he does.





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I have an uncle who is in social work and counseling but under his own, private shingle in a notoriously blue state. He is in his seventies and still working while his state-employed colleagues retired 5-10 years ago or more with an over-value pension. This is common in Democratically-run, blue states and has been/is a sap on the nation’s producing more affordable products and keeping tax rates down.

Another good example is the federally run Post Office where a high school grad passes a civil service exam, puts in 30 years, and retires with an over-value pension that many, many others can’t match while working longer and harder.

By “over-value,” I mean commensurate with their value to society as a whole during their productive years. Examples abound. This is not decrying these people or those jobs but it’s an artificially inserted value at the expense of all others.

Stepkid #1.............full ride.
Stepkid #2.............service............out and doing very well
Kid #1....................didn't want to go (honors grad)
Kid #2....................full ride (honors grad)
Kid #3....................almost a full ride (honors grad)..........surgeries, not yet healed...........lost big chunk of scholarship (will be going local university whenever she heals up).


Funny, all the people at work.............can't afford to send their kids to school, their kids not good students............and they have 250K homes and new vehicles.
But the union hires these kids, right out of school................and some of them show up now and then, can't run a machine...........but can surf their smartphones and call a commiteeman.

Lazy and or stupid parents..............lazier and or more stupid kids.
Should fire them all.

Democrats ............so whatdya expect.

Our Society created this mess, equal blame to go around. College is rammed down everyones throat , WTF happened trade schools or apprentice programs?

A very good read for the last hour as I am more than a little concerned about my youngest. I got a degree because it was either the UW or Vietnam. We have a a lot of manufacturing in our area and they were always looking for customer service people. Being personable and conscientious gets you trained very well on the inside, but it doesn't take long to realize that the guys willing to travel for the company in outside sales were the ones on the gravy train. I was training those guys and they were knocking down 3x my salary. I couldn't beat them so I joined them and realized that lots of the plants that I was calling on had jobs that they weren't getting qualified applicants for. Bottom line, industrial sales (not retail) pays really well for the least amount of education. Then when you are good at your job, be willing to move and use what you've learned to get an even better paying job.

The population is aging and there is more demand for people in the medical field. My first wife worked at a local hospital and said that if she had to do it all over again a two year degree as an x-ray tech makes really good money and there are not enough of them. A friend of mine bought a Lincoln welder and his son got some experience with it and now does very well welding and is always in demand. I went fishing with a guy who is the produce manager at a regional successful smaller grocery chain with profit sharing and he has big bucks in the bank, so a lot of it is getting started with a good company. Real estate for someone willing to work hard looks pretty lucrative. The wife's brother and sister-in-law relocated to the Dakota's at the start of the oil boom with a brokers licence and made seven numbers out there. They retired and have a MT. ranch now.

This is very true! There is a reason than most Linemen don't work until full retirement age. A self employed craftsman should start saving early for his retirement an future, and for those "rainy days". Really, so should everyone. My Wife and I have always carried some debt, but very little. Its hard to not pay cash for a car when you can. But it makes no sense to use money making between 4 an 20% when you can finance for less than 3%.

Another posted replied about how interesting this thread was and I agree.

And here I consider an office job a demotion... phug the desk, i flat hate desks and paperwork and dealing with people. Though its what I do.. maybe why I hate it... LOL. I"d rather be out in the field but I made the mistake....

The best parts of my careers were when I was working with my hands for myself as a contractor. Made more money later working for the local government but it involved a lot more stress and little satisfaction. A guy who is committed to learning and doing his very best can still do well in construction. Someone on the job site still needs to speak English, and he is usually the guy in charge.

My back and arms hurt all the time from work.
Pay is OK, insurance tolerable.
Not fun at age 54.........and summer really blows.
Rather use my brain. But that aint the gig.

Coworker lost a finger yesterday.
Had one killed a couple yrs back.

Dangerous place.

Of course I'm more likely to get wiped out by some millennial texting and driving on the road outside the plant.

Most of the folks in my plant on pain meds/crippled.Most smoke and drink heavy too. Redneck workforce...........burning candle at both ends.
Had to take physical to get in...........doc couldn't believe how good shape i was in.

Now they hire morbidly obese kids.

Guess that physical thing doesn't apply.

My buddy is 46 years old, co-owns a stainless steel fabrication shop, does a lot of sanitary piping in food plants. He said he realized he was too old to be a 'worker' a few years ago when he made the prettiest bead around a 2" stainless pipe. Raised his hood and saw he missed the joint by 1/4" all the way around. He has a couple dozen guys working for him now, but he turned in his hood and is an estimator and designer in their shop now.

I am 64 and going back to school on the G.I. Bill. Last night I got to spend 4 hours on an engine lathe. The last time I did that was in high school. The program is CNC machine operator. We had 15 slots for the class and we have 7 people in it. My counselor said they have a waiting list of companies that want CNC operators. 8 slots are going to waste for a guaranteed job at the end of the 2 semesters.

I won't be in the job market for long since I want to retire at 66 but I find it hard to believe those 8 slots went un filled. It's just 2 semesters to get someone in the door at a skilled job. Unbelievable.

kwg

congrats

you and the wife did well

AC, Plumbing, and Electrical are good trades to do side work- full time business. Sky is the limit.

My relatives worth more than $5M are invariant with respect to 4 year degrees.

Hard to say.I started out with a 2year associated degree and rose to a project manager making a good wage.Good work ethic put me there rather than the education which is darn hard to find in today younger generation.

My grandson has $250K in student loans and is an optomitrist .He had his own office, but got a job with the VA. They give him a chunk of money each year to help pay off his loan and in ten years they will forgive what left. He is ahard worker and has a good head on his shoulders.His sister,my grand daughter went to college and majored in communications, but only because she wanted to be on the majorette drill team.. She does not have as big a loan,but could not get a job.She went back to school to get her masters,and now has a job that pays about $35K a year.She still hasn't figured it out yet