Best Non-College Gigs?

[wokeuptiedup]

College isn’t for everyone, you can still be successful without it. Also, your AA degree DOES count for something. If anything, it shows that you have taken the iniative and are trainable/willing to learn (even though it seems like you’re not willing to learn).

1)Join the army or something

2)Learn a trade. Many people in skilled trades make more money than a 4 year college grad. You can learn many trades in less than 4 years (note: learning a trade and mastering it are two different things). If you get bit by the entreprenuerial bug, this easily transforms into your own business.

The rest are business-world type suggestions, because it seems like you want a desk job.

3. Critical experience. If you decide to work in the business end of things, you have to prove yourself w/o that bachelors. I’d suggest one where you actually work in the “revenue-generating” end of things. Making the money is the bottom line for most companies, if you help them do that, they’ll love you (and figures look good on your resume).

4. Training. If you’re not going for that degree, find a company that has been known to be a good training ground (research and a couple of questions at an interview can give you a general idea of this).

5. Brand yourself. At first try to get in with a well known company. Brands matter despite what anyone says. These companies generally have more opportunities internally and their halo rubs off on you (like going to Yale or something).

6. Flex your expectations. The world is not ideal, you can’t expect amazing work, great pay, good experience, balanced lifestyle, hot girls, a Mclaren, etc. Prioritize what is important to you and seek it out. Unless they were born rich, no one has it all this early in the game.

7. Be practical. Your options might be limited by lack of training and/or education (again, you have a leg up on someone w/ just a high school diploma). Don’t just sit and wait for that one great job to come along, it may never.

8. What are you? 20? 21? No one knows exactly what they want to do. Hopefully you have a lifetime to figure it out. You might even find that going back to school is a good idea (or hang around in night school like someone suggested.)

[HOV]

But a college degree dosn’t allways land you a good gig. In fact most of the rich people in this country are rich because they did it themselves. They didn’t use a degree to get them there. In fact most people with fancy degrees get stuck in middle management positions and they never get out. There is a lot of people with Masters or Doctorate degrees that can’t get hired because know one wants to pay them. So they become college professors and fill your head with crap because they have lived their life in a book and never been in the real world.

The above statement is what people say when they don’t get college degrees. The only thing I have to say to this is that a degree can never hurt and can usually help. It’s a matter of reducing risk, not a guarantee.

To the OP:

There is one thing you can do with your life right now that will have the most bang for the buck, and that is to finish your degree. A degree will give you the most flexibility in future career choices than ANY blue collar job you get now.

Here’s a deal for you: finish your degree, THEN take a few years off. At least you won’t have to go back to school when before you decide to start a “real” job.