Guidance

[Dagostino480]

Whats up guys, i know a lot of you more experienced men have some info that could help me out, so I thought i wouldn't hurt to ask.

Currently I am 20 years old and have obtained my high school diploma and a couple semester of college welding certs. I'm working in automotive and am not going to school right now due to working full time and being put on salary. I make about $2,000 a month and am tired of the 9-5 routine that makes me feel like I'm not going anywhere.

So i guess my questions are...

What career fields have big opportunities that are not being effected/ haven't been hit too hard by the current state that the economy is in?

Is it even worth going back to school? (I say this because i see a lot of graduations but the majority aren't getting jobs afterwards)

And what would be your advice, being older and more experienced, on what I should do.


Thanks guys

[yetijeff]

I was in the same boat as you. Look into machining. Like 3,5,7 axis cnc stuff. I'm a certified structural steel welder. I restored old domestics for a while, and then did general automotive repair for a while. Now I work for a company making aircraft parts. Even the lowest job on the totem pole (usually Deburr tech where I'm at) u can make decent money. Now I'm about to start school to get certified in machining (which my company is paying for) and after. The possibilities are pretty much endless. Almost every industry needs some type of precision machining. Oh and btw I can't think of one Industry not ill effected by our economy.

[Dagostino480]

Nice man thank you for your reply. I haven't yet looked into machining but will defiantly google search it. Do you like doing what you do?

[EnemyS15]

Three fields will always be around .... Law, fire, medical. I say you go back to school, get your nursing and from there you can branch out into so many different specialties, making 90k + a year. You are young. Get it done. Nurses make 50k starting, P.a. starting around 90k, Np 90-115 k. Crna and aa 135k starting.

Fire is a great career but the amount of people doing fire , at least in Florida, to the amount of jobs available is lop sided. Wouldn't recommend it unless you have family or hella high connections. Starting fire around me 44-46 k

Law as well. Good career, just lop sided with spots to candidate ratio. Pay is similar to fire. Benefit to fire and law, you get a pension after so long.

It all comes down to what you can see yourself doing, for the rest of your life, and be happy or at least settle with. Money is out there. A lot of it is in a diverse medical field.


Good luck young Jedi.

[DS562]

CNC. i ALWAYS see big companies looking for CNC operators.

[japslapsilvia]

Medical, But on the Business side, there is a LOT of money to be made as long as you know what the fuck you are doing.

Example

I have a degree in Marketing. My whole professional career has been in health care, the business side. I worked at the largest Wholesaler of pharma in the US (Mckesson) made decent money, after a year and a half moved to a much smaller company made 10K more, worked there in one role for ~18 months moved to a different position in the company made 7.5K more. Stayed in that role for ~2 Years, company was bought out, and i ended up with another role for same $$. did that for another ~2Years and am now working at a different company making 15.5K more.

Point 1 of the Story.
Get a professional degree, Business is super easy, skills to focus on are Excel, SQL, Access. you would be surprised at how many people have NO idea how simple a LOT of these programs are, PLUS google is your friend.
Employers like degrees, it shows them that you are capable of being taught and are able to apply what you are taught

Point 2
you are young find a company get your foot in the door, LEARN as much about your role and who is affected by what you do. Network with those people. by 18 months into a role plan on moving up or moving out. Try NOT to stay in the same role for more then 2 Years, it makes it harder to make more $$ and you can oftentimes get overlooked for promotions.

Obviously this is based on my PERSONAL experience, and should be taken as such.

[yetijeff]

Originally Posted by Dagostino480

Nice man thank you for your reply. I haven't yet looked into machining but will defiantly google search it. Do you like doing what you do?

Yea like I said I'm in the Deburr department right now now which is dirty, hard work. But lately I've been kinda helpin out after my shift learning how to do setups and such. I do like it alot. Way more than workin on cars for a living. Especially here in Cali. Every SOB with a dick and a toolbox thinks they're a mechanic so it's hard to compete with cutthroat half asses.

[yetijeff]

Also I agree with going back to school. With no college degree I can only make so much in the aircraft industry. But if I were to go back to school I could make ALOT more as an engineering or even just a programmer. Schools not for everyone IMO. Some people just can't do it. But if you know you can, then go. Just make sure u get a degree that is semi applicable to what u can see yourself doing as a career. Alot of these poor fucks I see get a degree in some shit they don't care about, want to do, end up jobless and 50k+ in debt wondering how the hell they got there.

[Dagostino480]

thanks guys for all of the info and stories... I think that this thread is gonna be helpful to alot of people.

[EnemyS15]

Alot of good info in here. Definitely make sure you go for something you will keep yourself in. I have friends that went to a 4 yr college, got a bs degree, and now work in bar tending or serving. They are in debt a 40k + and will never use their degree.

Japslap had another side of the medical that I didn't even consider. Medical field, in the business aspect, is ALWAYS booming!


To give you some perspective. My lady is 28. She has a bachelors in biology and had been accepted into med program. Whatever medical reasons she had at the time (this was way before we met), she reevaluated and went into nursing. Got her masters in nurse education and then continued into Nurse practitioner. She specializes in psych (which apparently no one in FL wants to touch.. ahem bath salts anyone!?.). Since there is a big demand for psych Nps, practices are throwing out 150k salaries.

Shes 28, sacrificed from HS through her 20's to get these degrees, and now she sits ridiculously pretty in the mid range 6 figure salary. She works 3 days a week with her nurse practitioner (4 hours a day) and cashes in. She is a nurse director of a nursing program for a private college and shows up to the campus 2.. maybe 3 times a week, since she can work from home. Between the 2 salaries, the world is her playground!!!!

What I am getting at is, you are young, you are smart enough to have reevaluated and see that what you are doing will not work forever. Sacrifice the 20's and get a bad ass degree. I fucked around and partied, thinking my 20's was gonna be my high lite of fun. Little did I realize, the real fun and your life doesn't start til you get into your 30's. Take advantage of your youth! Work hard now..... live easy, comfy and have all the fun you want for the rest of your life. No worries about bills, living paycheck to paycheck, or having to give up a dream cause you can't afford it. I only wish I knew what my fiance knew and did it the way she did. I wouldn't be 32, working as a medic / ff... at the same time going to school, to work my way from nursing to crna.

/end rant.

[godsmack]

I'm in the commercial HVAC field and it's a great career. I started off doing residential and just pushed more and more into getting into being a service tech. Got my opportunity and then just kept pushing myself to learn more and worked hard. Found a job for commercial service tech and haven't looked back since. Going to be going to school for some form of basic business degree so I can move up further in the company for more $$$.

Find what interests you the most and never give up. Just push yourself to be better than the next swinging dick.

[Dagostino480]

Wow man great rant haha

[AFSil80]

I agree with everything EnemyS15 said. Busting your ass in school while working in your 20's will set you up for success for the rest of your life. I went into the military for access to the GI Bill, and I'm using it to pay for school, but more importantly, the military gave me a skill set in the aerospace industry that has landed me jobs with Lockheed-Martin and now Gulfstream...both companies pay at the top scale of the industry standard, and have incredible benefits.

What I'm getting at is that you shouldn't ignore your machining/welding skills. Refine them, use them to get you a job while you finish school and SAVE YOUR MONEY. Don't be like of those fools with some worthless degree and tons of debt with nothing to show for it.

EDIT: Also, you can't always compare yourself to others when it comes to your successes and failures. Everyone walks a different line and has a different final destination. Worrying about someone else's problems means you're not focusing on your own life enough.

[Dagostino480]

Damn haha this is amazing info guys thank for pursueding me to go back to school. Although maybe not nursing, i will be looking at all of your suggestions.

[AFSil80]

Here's another thing to think about.

If you're making consistent money without having to break a sweat and it pays the bills, then just add school to the mix. I'm working a job that is low stress and doesn't require me to bring work home with me. Could I get a higher paying job in my company? Sure, but why run the risk of upsetting the balance between work and school when this meets my needs? I'm content with what I make for the next few years while I finish my degree.

Find a job that will allow you to get to school, and honestly, most employers will work around your school schedule.

[drift freaq]

Whatever the fuck you do make sure its something you really like. Get the Degree in something that makes you happy. Oh and don't be afraid of doing aptitude testing if you are not sure. Aptitude testing shows you what are naturally good at. Which will usually make you happy as well.

Now granted some degrees might not make you much money like for instance teaching. The thing is life is not always about the money. Its about being able to be happy. Granted if you want to have kids you have to make money but that does not mean you have to do a job you don't like.

I had too many friends who got there 4 year degree,because it was the thing to do. Then they figure out the field they selected they weren't really happy in.


I have two friends though that both went after mechanical engineering degrees. One went to Cal State Northridge undergrad. Then went to work for Swift racing and then went to Oxford for his Masters. He is now on the Lotus Renault F1 team!!

The other one I want to say Berkeley but it may have been both Berkeley and Santa Cruz i.e UC. He now works at Northrop Grumman . Oh and ya both were 240 owners and fellow Zilvian's.

Oh wait I forgot a third who also did the Berkeley route for M.E. and he is off somewhere well employed as well. Another Zilvian I might add.

Key is they are all happy.

Me? I just went to automotive tech school started my own Japanese engine and transmission business then went to Sound Engineering school and now just do both car stuff and Music Production.

Thing is I can't complain, I am happy. Perhaps would be a bit more if the person in my avatar was still alive but that is life. I am sure I will find someone else.

Oh and still can't decide what to do with my 240 LOL. Sell it? Keep it? Who the hell know's.

[BoredEE]

Engineering is a good degree/career, if you can hack it.

[Dagostino480]

Originally Posted by drift freaq

Whatever the fuck you do make sure its something you really like. Get the Degree in something that makes you happy. Oh and don't be afraid of doing aptitude testing if you are not sure. Aptitude testing shows you what are naturally good at. Which will usually make you happy as well.

Now granted some degrees might not make you much money like for instance teaching. The thing is life is not always about the money. Its about being able to be happy. Granted if you want to have kids you have to make money but that does not mean you have to do a job you don't like.

I had too many friends who got there 4 year degree,because it was the thing to do. Then they figure out the field they selected they weren't really happy in.


I have two friends though that both went after mechanical engineering degrees. One went to Cal State Northridge undergrad. Then went to work for Swift racing and then went to Oxford for his Masters. He is now on the Lotus Renault F1 team!!

The other one I want to say Berkeley but it may have been both Berkeley and Santa Cruz i.e UC. He now works at Northrop Grumman . Oh and ya both were 240 owners and fellow Zilvian's.

Oh wait I forgot a third who also did the Berkeley route for M.E. and he is off somewhere well employed as well. Another Zilvian I might add.

Key is they are all happy.

Me? I just went to automotive tech school started my own Japanese engine and transmission business then went to Sound Engineering school and now just do both car stuff and Music Production.

Thing is I can't complain, I am happy. Perhaps would be a bit more if the person in my avatar was still alive but that is life. I am sure I will find someone else.

Oh and still can't decide what to do with my 240 LOL. Sell it? Keep it? Who the hell know's.

That is deep man, thank you

[redline racer510]

Was in the same boat as you until about 3 months ago. Found someone that works in the field of work I like and had them help me get a job.I started college but later decided it wasn't for me. BTW got accepted by chevron and waiting for training to start in a few weeks, starting pay after probation is roughly 80k after state,federal tax,medicare,insurance etc. which is way better than anyone I know with a 4 year degree from a accredited university (UC Davis, UC Berkeley etc). Be creative and be positive. Money doesn't equal more happiness rather you should have a balance of both prosperity and at the same time being content with what you have. Remember you work to live not live to work. Sure you can buy lots of things with more money but it also means new sets of problems as extra baggage.

[Dagostino480]

Thank you guys, for all the input. Redline do you know if chevron is still hiring? And drift freaq I will be doing an aptitude test cause idk what I like besides going fast and upgrading cars

[Dagostino480]

Im looking into machining right now, anyone knows what kind of money they usually make? salary saids average of only 40k :/