How a Bachelors degree only gets you $12.00 an hour

[Hookeye]

My kids did very well in HS.
I paid a lot up front (time, money, effort).
College.....one got a full ride, others 80%.
Youngest back at home, surgery.....still not healed up.
Screwed up scholarship, so will go local.
Adapt, move forward. Pay whatever it costs.
No big deal.

 

[PistolBob]

List of jobs I had with no vocational training, and no higher education:

1. Managed a fast food restaurant, as assistant manager. Lousy money, lousy hours, lousy boss.
2. Sold vacuum cleaners door to door in Eagledale. These sweepers were worth more than the cars in the driveway of my territory. Horrible pay, horrible hours, horrible boss.
3. Sold buyers club memberships, the buyers club was really a furniture store I found out. Virtually no pay, etc etc
4. Back in the restaurant management business, got transferred out of state, to a crappy city, low pay, no fun, never be an assistant manager.
5. Moved back...went to work hanging duct work and installing furnaces for a non-union outfit. Low pay, lots of miles on my truck, huge investment in tools. Company folded.
6. Got an insurance license and started selling life and health insurance...this was my first decent job. It lasted 18 months.
7. Worked for a major bank in their warehouse, low pay, low bennies, got married, had kids...quit and went into retail sales.
8. Retails sales, consumer goods, long hours, decent pay, crap bennies, taught my self some computer skills.

Then I got some education, and I have been doing what I do now for almost 40 years. My college degree was in computer technology...all it did was get my foot in the door. Every thing they taught me back then is for naught now...I have learned and forgotten more IT technology that I can shake a stick at. Working in IT requires being a student, always, and never get romantically connected with an operating system or computer platform...it's all going to be gone and replaced with something new about every three years. If you are a bad student, don't go the IT route. You won't last long.

IT Security is big and getting bigger. If I was a young pup starting out in IT today, I would go that route..if you want to command a career in that field you will need a Masters Degree in Computer Science, or System analysis. So find a job that has tuition reimbursement or score well enough on your ASVAB tests to get an IT security education in the Navy or Air Force.

 

[churchmouse]

List of jobs I had with no vocational training, and no higher education:

1. Managed a fast food restaurant, as assistant manager. Lousy money, lousy hours, lousy boss.
2. Sold vacuum cleaners door to door in Eagledale. These sweepers were worth more than the cars in the driveway of my territory. Horrible pay, horrible hours, horrible boss.
3. Sold buyers club memberships, the buyers club was really a furniture store I found out. Virtually no pay, etc etc
4. Back in the restaurant management business, got transferred out of state, to a crappy city, low pay, no fun, never be an assistant manager.
5. Moved back...went to work hanging duct work and installing furnaces for a non-union outfit. Low pay, lots of miles on my truck, huge investment in tools. Company folded.
6. Got an insurance license and started selling life and health insurance...this was my first decent job. It lasted 18 months.
7. Worked for a major bank in their warehouse, low pay, low bennies, got married, had kids...quit and went into retail sales.
8. Retails sales, consumer goods, long hours, decent pay, crap bennies, taught my self some computer skills.

Then I got some education, and I have been doing what I do now for almost 40 years. My college degree was in computer technology...all it did was get my foot in the door. Every thing they taught me back then is for naught now...I have learned and forgotten more IT technology that I can shake a stick at. Working in IT requires being a student, always, and never get romantically connected with an operating system or computer platform...it's all going to be gone and replaced with something new about every three years. If you are a bad student, don't go the IT route. You won't last long.

IT Security is big and getting bigger. If I was a young pup starting out in IT today, I would go that route..if you want to command a career in that field you will need a Masters Degree in Computer Science, or System analysis. So find a job that has tuition reimbursement or score well enough on your ASVAB tests to get an IT security education in the Navy or Air Force.

Do not make fun of Eagledale. I was raised there. I am the original Eagletuckian and still live just north of that area.
You most likely knocked on our door at some point.

Imply purple as needed.

 

[wtburnette]

IT Security is big and getting bigger. If I was a young pup starting out in IT today, I would go that route..if you want to command a career in that field you will need a Masters Degree in Computer Science, or System analysis. So find a job that has tuition reimbursement or score well enough on your ASVAB tests to get an IT security education in the Navy or Air Force.

Very much this. I ran an intern class for InfoSec interns at Anthem a few years back. The interns got hired in making very good money for just having a 4 year degree and no experience outside of the internship ($50 - $60k). Young guy I work with at my current company just a couple years or so out of college with no direct experience hired on making decent money (~$45k). Best of all, both Anthem and IU Health post the salary ranges for positions, so with hard work and experience you can be making close to or over $100k/yr in a reasonable amount of time. Great field to be in.

 

[JettaKnight]

Do not make fun of Eagledale. I was raised there. I am the original Eagletuckian and still live just north of that area.
You most likely knocked on our door at some point.

Imply purple as needed.

Eagledale? Is that like Eagleton, IN?

 

[rhino]

Hah! A few years ago $12 per hour would have been a step up for me. I was making $11.10 per hour at a temp job that required a bachelor's degree and at the time, glad to have it.

I should learn about IT security.

 

[yeahbaby]

In some respects you have to let your kids figure it out. Our oldest had no interest in college at all. Bounced around from job to job. Then one day he came to us and said I want to be a police officer. Had a department sponsor him and off to the academy he went. Been a cop now for 3 1/2 years. Married and going to be a daddy in about 8 weeks. Youngest went right to college. Graduated last May with a degree in Computer Science. He worked for me as a computer technician during the summers and during college breaks. Soaked up all the experience and knowledge he could. Had a job 2 weeks after graduating college.

 

[Tactically Fat]

I should learn about IT security.

Careful. You'll have to get home Internet access. And probably a smart phone, too.

 

[Tactically Fat]

My wife and I both went to college. She went on to get her Master's immediately after finishing her Bachelor's Degree. I just have a lowly BS. In a field that I've never worked in. But I digress.

Both of us came from "middle to low class income" families who's mantra was "If you want to go to college, (And you do, hint hint), you're going to help pay for it."

How I did it: I earned a half-tuition scholarship to the cheapest 4 year university in Indiana. I also earned 5-6-7 (details fuzzy) smaller private scholarships. This combination more than paid for my first year at school. I took out a small loan "just in case" for that academic year. That $ went straight into a savings account to be used if I needed it.

My 2nd year, I had a few of those private scholarships to use + my university scholarship, + a bit of that formerly secured loan $. My mom paid for a part of the remainder - as did my dad (divorced).

Year 3 - I got a job as an RA. This paid for my housing. My university scholarship paid for half of the academics. Mom, dad, and I paid the rest. Same scenario my 4th year - but we now earned a small stipend as an RA. Year 5 (ahem): was still an RA - but my university scholarship "ran out". I was at the academic hours limit halfway through that first semester. That meant a scosh bit more of loan $ for that + a bit more for the 2nd semester. To accentuate my income, I got an off-campus job at a local Christian bookstore. This $ plus my RA stipend took care of virtually all my food, gas, incidentals, etc etc.

I graduated with, I think, about $7k in student loans. In 2001. (It may have been $5k more than that. I honestly don't remember). Regardless, it was WAY under the national average of $20k student loan debt at the time.

I got a job earning about $25k. In Indianapolis. Which meant Indianapolis-area costs of living. I had all loans paid off within 2 years because I lived modestly - despite $500/month rent.

My Alma Mater is considerably more expensive now than it was when I started - but it's still the cheapest traditional 4-year college in Indiana. (The regional Big Name satellite schools are less expensive) But with the right campus job (Say - as an RA that not only pays for your housing AND pays you a stipend on top of that), it's possible to cut the total out of pocket cost way down. Especially if you realize this as you enter high school and realize that "mommy and daddy can't pay for this outright. If you want to attend college, you need to work on scholarships and that begins with your HS academics beginning in 9th grade.

If *I* can go to college with this avenue - anyone can.

 

[Wolfhound]

 

[HoughMade]

Personally, one of my favorite things is get lectured by millenials about how much harder they have it now than we ever did...a diatribe they can deliver without looking up from their 256g iPhone X ($1,149).

 

[femurphy77]

Personally, one of my favorite things is get lectured by millenials about how much harder they have it now than we ever did...a diatribe they can deliver without looking up from their 256g iPhone X ($1,149).

And as you're pointing out, if you can afford a freakin' 1200 dollar phone you don't know hard!

 

[actaeon277]

I remember looking for a job in 1991, they were a little hard to come by.
Anyway, one job wanted degrees, experienced in electronics, and Swedish as a second language.
For just above minimum wage.

 

[actaeon277]

Personally, one of my favorite things is get lectured by millenials about how much harder they have it now than we ever did...a diatribe they can deliver without looking up from their 256g iPhone X ($1,149).

Similar to people saying how bad the recession was. That it was worse than the great depression. That "never before in history" has a President been handed such a sad State. Or "never before" have kids grown into an environment worse than their parents. Ignoring of course multiple depressions, including the "great", or multiple world wars.

 

[Haven]

So my kid graduated high school (barely) in May/June. This week he started his first job. Since his grades were so bad during high school we didn't make him get a job so he could spend that time working on school work. This has been a learning experience for him. I have no idea how much he is making, but he is working over at Fed Ex as a package handler. The down sides, it is third shift. The upside, one of his best friends works there and he will be working with her, and they are going to car pool together.

Maybe I will get lucky and he can start paying some of the household bills as well, so I can pay off other debts we have faster.

 

[PistolBob]

in 1979 I was out of work and decided to see what the employment office had going on...I had an interview with a lady that sat there smoking, nodding, and shuffling papers...she finally asks me what kind of job was I looking for? I told her anything that paid $5/hr, I was willing to learn anything. She smirked and said "Kid, you and 10,000 other laid off factory workers want the same thing. You need to get better at something and fast."

I have never drawn a nickle of unemployment, food stamps, or other freebies (although I did get a brick of free cheese once)...I've been that fortunate....but what she said still echoes.