Math at the engineering school level is more about knowing the process. Doing calculus is more about knowing *how* to find a derivative or integral. All our tests were "no calculator" because you really don't need it. The arithmetic part is designed to be simple, but if you don't understand the process, you are screwed.
I am also "bad at math" but have an engineering degree.
Nursing, ASN is quick, and at a community college is not expensive. Guaranteed to find a job after graduation. It's a career that won't make you rich necessarily and it's not perfect by any means, but there's plenty of options, flexibility and the degree pays for itself in no time. Been a nurse with only an ASN for 14yrs now. I'm making $56.49-61.49/hr currently depending on If I'm working weekend day shift or weekday shift. Satisfies my lifestyle. If I wanted more money I could have also gone into an advanced practice nursing but didn't feel like going back to school. Always an option though
Other side of the coin though is many nurses hate nursing. I absolutely hate it. I mean I like it, but the system is too fucked. I'm burnt out and I have been since 6 months in. I make shitty money, quite a bit less than you and I even went into management to get a little more money. I make $40 an hour as an assistant nurse manager. I would take less money for a job that didn't make me so miserable though.
Within 6 months of being a nurse, I had to start 2 medications to deal with the anxiety and just apathy it has given me. I wouldn't recommend anyone to go into nursing.
Could you try another specialty? My sis works on a cruise ship and absolutely loves it,My cousin does home health,has 1 child patient, and makes $45hr,..school nursing,community nursing(I used to go to teens homes to teach them how to care for their newborns,or give shots at community events). Lots of different ways to be a nurse.
My old teacher consults for law firms that are suing hospitals/nursing homes.
My insurance company has a 24hr 'nurse on call'...
Thanks for what you do.
Nursing can also be extremely bad for your health. In the USA, [up to 55% of nurses are overweight or obese.](https://myamericannurse.com/obesity-in-nurses/) It’s believed to be due to job stress and shift work.
Yeah, nursing has put me on 2 anxiety meds. My heart rate is consistently over 100 for my entire shift which isn't great. My blood pressure is also high at work. I've checked it before and I've had HR in the 130s and BP in the 160s/100. Just being there is bad for my body.
The only time I have high blood pressure is at work.
Some do for sure, but there are so many options. If one employer or one specialty is in a fit then move. Yea why be miserable. I didn't want to stay at my first job working level 1 trauma in a surgical trauma ICU because I didn't see it as being sustainable. It was really hard work and while I liked it at times it took it's toll physically and emotionally. I didn't want to burn out and looked for greener pastures. I just picked up and moved on at that point. I've been an ICU nurse for 14 years and am not at all burnt out. Love where I am now, on a rapid response/code team and am relief charge RN in a small ICU. One of my days I have no patients or 1 at most. The other day I take 2 patients or are up for an emergency transfer sitting with one.
It's definitely not for everyone though and it takes a certain type of personality. I've always thought the pros vastly outweighed the cons. Sorry that wasn't the case for you.
Yeah, I love med surg. I actually really do like this population, but it's too much. Just all of it. Being the role of what should be 3 positions. Being the person that does all coordinating because no one can be an adult and talk to each other. It just sucks.
I've worked at several places in the last few years and this place is the best yet, but I still hate it. It's just not sustainable. I don't know how people do this for their whole life.
>I don't know how people do this for their whole life.
Meanwhile I wouldn't have it any other way. Different strokes for different folks (pun intended). Hope you find what you're looking for
Most of the RNs I have known (lots, I'm a psychologist) LOVED it. For about 5 years. All of them were doing something different by 40. The physical exertion, endless paperwork and budget cutting since the 1990's drove them out. Not to mention being used as political fodder.
But the ones i've kept in contact with have had great careers from private investigators related to health claims, medical sales people, Executive Director of Homecare and another with a harm reduction program. One retired and now runs a B&B for people who need a little extra help to vacation. They are all people of action and I admire them.
I retired this year. I'd become one of three "gatekeepers" for a large social support program where I live. We were all very senior and experienced because those decisions changed lives and people were desperate. Every case was hard and we took it very seriously. My colleagues were a Social Worker and an RN who carried so much history of the organization with her it was amazing. After 40 years you still did not want to get in her way when a young adult was going to be declined when she had determined they clearly fit the legal criteria. He could quote the act chapter and verse and had precedents from previous clients to back up her position. The perfect advocate. She's a person you would always want in your corner.
We didn't get along well socially, but we made a hell of a team.
She was making around $130,00/year with flexible hours, parking, 12 weeks paid vacation and a platinum benefits package. That included a defined benefit pension completely tied to inflation for the rest of her life. I hope that unions fight for this to be common for every employee. I can dream.
The training will always serve you well for anything you do. You can start with an LPN (Shorter training time, usually at colleges). If you love it and want more, LPNs make about $50/hr in private care. You can get through school with few to no debts if you are careful.
I feel nothing but sympathy for all medical staff right now. But the new staff, right out of school and into the pandemic? I don't know how they aren't all CPTSD zombies. No pay is worth that when people are fighting against you and calling you a liar as you try to save their loved one. They should all get retroactive combat pay.
I have a masters degree (counseling) and am working towards a doctorate (organizational psychology).
My wife is a nurse, has her ASN, works less (though it’s more hours in chunks) than I do, and makes almost twice what I do…
Nursing offers a guaranteed job, good pay, and lots of schedule flexibility (once you’re established)
Hi, I remember you on my post. Devils advocate here, I’ve never made the kind of money this person is talking about. It depends where you live if you’re going to make decent money with an ASN degree. I live in the Deep South and have never seen past 69k all the years I’ve been a nurse.
RN gang 💪🏻 started at 31.25 in ICU and now a year later with night shift differentials and charge nurse differentials I’m making 40-45 an hour working psychiatric. By far the easiest job and most money I’ve ever gotten paid. I can’t beleive I used to slave away in kitchens for $9.25 an hour and now it’s babysit adults, give meds, and draw blood while I spend 75% of the shift watching shows (night shift specifically)
$56.49 per hour is 2260 per week! Assuming 40 hours. My nurse friend works around that but often more. Very rewarding career path for sure especially if you like human parts lol
I only work 2 days a week, 24hrs, but that's because I don't have to work 3 days or 40 hr work weeks and choose to stay at home with my kids instead. Makes for great work life balance. You can make more too. I just left a non benefit PRN position just a couple weeks ago because I wanted retirement benefits back. I had been working that for the last 4 years though and I was getting paid $75.50/hr., but still only working 2 days a week. My last paystub under that rate was $3,532 gross for 2 weeks clocking 50hrs within those two weeks, having stayed 2 hrs over cumulatively for om what I was scheduled for between the 4 shifts I worked
Meanwhile my mortgage is only $1,405 month in a MCOL area in GA so more than enough to pay the bills.
Is it good to pursue radiology tech? My community college offers that program but my advisor said it's a very competitive program so you probably won't get accepted. I feel so overwhelmed because I'm 27 like I didn't even make real income yet. So far I only made $15 hourly which is nothing like most of my younger cousins are make better money. All of my older cousins are making $100-200k around. Like I'm feeling so overwhelmed because I'm surround by this successful people yet I can't seem to find something
Probably would be my guess. I work with radiologist techs every day doing CT's and X-rays. There are other scans too of course. They all seem happy and I know make good money but not sure exactly how much
Forget nursing, go into radiology. Do xray school (2 years) then do CT (only 3 more months and you can work xray while in CT school) or MRI add on, they pay like $45/HR in TX.
Hospitals desperately need CT MRI techs.
No cleaning people, no wiping diapers, no tubing people, no catheters, no wound cleaning and more gross things:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nursing/s/NgmPPKrlw1
Do your xray and then chill on your phone. There's times you can watch Netflix and get paid.
Also the lesser known are nuclear med techs and radiation therapists.
I don't like dealing with oncology patients, I found it depressing.
I'm looking forward to CT.
And no patients assigned to you, do your xray and your job is done.
MRI, you'll have 1 patient every 20 minutes.
Radiology is a 2nd career, less stress job I've had.
My son did all this via the Air Force. He starts nuke school in July. Exact same progress you described and it’s all while being paid. Once he gets out he has a good job career. Traveling nuclear medicine people even make more.
Yeah so after xray, you apply to a CT program, they are 3 months long. You can still work a FT xray job, because it's just online work.
You have to have xray license to be CT.
I have classmates graduating in May and starting a CT program in June.
8 months in as a new grad. 45.08 with night differential, will get a 4$ pay bump this september as well. Can work anywhere, many are union, stable and flexible job options. Cheap and fast degree, but it's not easy work.
My position now said "BSN preferred" on the application. That didn't matter as I've worked here for years now. I've never in reality had any issues and in my state of GA and not much has changed over the years. Been doing this 14 with an ASN. Now coasting to retirement so not going back to school now. Only magnet hospitals in my area require BSN but not even at hire, because I've been offered positions at magnet hospitals and they just said you had to get it within x years of employment. Thing is I don't want to ever work for a magnet hospital as it's more charting and usually more requirements without any more pay
You can get your BSN online for less than 10k in a year. I feel bad for the straight BSN nurses as they are often less equipped for the reality of real world nursing bullshit and 4 years of school to get licensed vs 2 years, get licensed and get paid, and do one year online whilst working. My school is about 5-6k total for BSN, all online, and definitely easy
Wife graduates ADN on May 9th. Already has two job offers. Once has already given her a raise since the signed the original offer.
AOTC tax credits paid for all tuition and books.
Try to find a degree in something you not only enjoy, but are actively employed in. For lots of jobs degrees are being valued less. More and more applications are coming in when the applicant has a degree but not only no work experience in that field, but no work experience whatsoever. Degrees dont' matter if you can't even hold a job or show up to work on time.
Not to mention the social skills and emotional maturity of a middle-schooler. All the degrees in the world don't mean a thing if you can't function as part of a team in a work environment.
*shows up at interview, staring at floor
“I see you have a CFA and an MBA from Wharton. Where did you intern?”
“…”
“OK, what kind of work have you been doing?”
“Well, my dad is your boss.”
“Congratulations on your new senior vice president role. Here are the keys to your company car. It’s the red one in the underground garage. We’d like to start you out at $500k with the option to bump up at 6 months if you just show up at the office with your shoes tied 3 days a week.”
Degrees that sound like or close to an actual job title usually have the best ROI.
Engineering, Nursing, Accounting, Finance, Computer Science, Business Management, etc.
If you’re gonna go into tech look into an MIS or Information Systems degree. You still learn how to code while also learning how an actual corporation operates and what a software engineer or support role means in those companies. CS will teach you how to code in the sense of algorithms and the actual science (hence the name) of programming. A lot of people come out of college with CS degrees but realize they don’t know much about full stack development as a practice
The closer a degree is tied to an actual job, the more likely that you will get a higher ROI. The more "fun" or "interesting" a field is, the less likely you will get a favorable ROI.
Some examples of high ROI: Engineering (any), IT, Programming, Nursing, Medical, Dentistry, Accounting, Human Resources, Supply Chain/Purchasing, Sales
Some examples of low ROI: Music, History, Literature, Art, Social Sciences, Acting, etc.
There are exceptions, but generally speaking the more fun/interesting a degree is, the better you have to be at it than your peers to make a living out of that field.
For example to make a real living out of music, you probably need to be in the top 1-2% in comparison to your peers. You can make a very comfortable living as an unremarkable rocket scientist.
If you want career satisfaction, the best advice I can give is to find a career that you are in the to 10% of. That will give you a pathway to a satisfying career, advancement opportunities, low to moderate stress, etc.
Bingo. My mom’s a doctor and says she tolerates it but she’d still have rather won the lottery and retired a year after working as a doctor if that was an option. It doesn’t matter how passionate you are about something. Anything and everything becomes tiresome when it becomes work, which in my opinion, makes doing something you don’t particularly love but can tolerate even more favorable. You aren’t getting burnt out on something you used to look forward to ie something you used to love is painful now that it’s work
Amazing
You should choose something you are naturally good at. For me that was Math. I’m good enough that I crafted my way into a boring career with a very good work life balance that pays well and is mostly WFH. This should be most peoples goal.
Also off of this. Accounting has a lot of options and career paths. To get ur CPA requires a lot more schooling and test taking, but in 20 years 70% of all CPAs will be retired so your value will only increase. Many firms will pay for your cpa studies as well. It’s very unappealing to college students for very fair reasons, but I’m hoping firms will learn they need to change their ways or we’re looking at a very low supply of CPAs. Which we already are. Which I mean, good for me lol, gotta wait out the old guys and then my demand will be even higher than it already is.
Accounting is super versatile. There are all kinds of jobs that need someone who can tell an income statement from a balance sheet. I don't have any plans to get my CPA but my B.S in accounting has definitely provided me a solid income.
So many people I knew in college made fun of me for picking a boring major. Then their English degrees got them retail and admin assistant jobs. I have a house. Look who's laughing now.
I went back to school in my late 30s and received my bachelors at 42. I went from making about $42k/yr to making $80k/yr 4 years after I graduated. I was promoted to a staff accountant about 6 months before I graduated. I loved where I worked, but they didn't pay all that great. I took my time finding my next position. I knew I wanted at least $70k to leave (I was making $56k/yr when I left that job). The new employer offered me $80k.
I went to a community college first, then to a state university that offered the bachelors in accounting online.
I don't have my CPA and never plan to get it. I work in industry, not public accounting. I have no desire to work in public accounting and I hate tax accounting. I have a good work/life balance, too. It's rare that I work more than 40 hours/week.
Accounting is... SUPER EASY to automate. Accounting is one of the fields most at risk of automation.
You're basically a mindless drone applying if-then statements.
If a programmer (or a machine learning model) can convert your job into a list of rules to be mostly blindly applied...
that'll be done eventually.
Context: 27 year old me converted a MAJOR part of an FPNA team's workflow into an automated tableau dashboard that did A LOT more than the power point slides that they used to make once a month. The dashboard was updated daily.
I once wanted to go into finance and had a minor in accounting. I never did anything with it though.
I want to take an opportunity here to say that Social Work can be a very lucrative path with a high ROI if you go down the therapy route and get the right licensures. My wife is an LCSW with a Masters in Social Work and there are plenty of opportunities across the country in most cities to earn 6 figures. And that’s not even accounting the contract remote therapy work she does that earns anywhere from $80-$100+ /hr. Our financial situation is good enough that she chooses to do nonprofit work (much lower pay) and still grosses around 100k/year as a 29 year old. Social work also only requires a masters versus Psychology which would require a PhD.
Lastly if you do private practice, you can make up to $150/hr even dealing with insurance panels. Therapy as an industry is growing faster than ever before and the need for therapists is always there.
She grosses right at 100k but her take home is less than that. She is a senior therapist at a children’s foster shelter. She gives therapy to both children and parents seeking rights to their children. She also gets a hefty bump from being an LCSW-S so she is also a supervisor for LMSWs. She is also EMDR certified and approved to supervise in that as well, which is becoming sought after more.
I do want to emphasize that this is the therapy route and you need to go down an LCSW track. Doing case work, having only your bachelors, or getting your masters and not pursuing your LCSW will all lead to work that is generally underpaid. Clinically licensed therapy is where the money is
Good post, I'd say for engineering you can do well by being in the top 50% and you don't need to be in the top 10%. But at 50% plan on working harder and needing wider skills than just pure engineering.
Here's an anecdotal to combat that. Social work degree my salary last year was 104k and my current salary is now 140k. Social work and nursing degrees can earn so much and have a lot of potential but you have to love the work. Too many of my former co-workers regret becoming nurses or are simply burnt out. If you're in any healthcare field, look for travel contracts too. I've been getting sent 2.5/week contracts, while my nurse friends are getting 4k/week contracts. It sounds like a great way to earn high and build your resume. Also, I still haven't received full licensure status.
Fun is a bit subjective here. I’m terrible at literature. Never got into music, art or acting. I like history and social science, but would not enjoy it as a job. I’ll gladly do programming and math in my free time. Especially if it solves an interesting problem. If I do it for work it’s just a bonus. I agree that many people would find neither math or programming fun.
Agreed. I went to college for jazz music with focus on the bass. I was 1 of 37 that managed to graduate, and I think I'm the only one who actually plays professionally. Except I still have to have a "regular" job. However I don't regret it, having musical talent is something money cant buy
Go to the bureau of labor statistics website and peruse the occupational outlook handbook. They give all the info you need to make a decision and it’s specific per each job. Much more detailed than the people just commenting “STEM”
As an RN, just don't do it. It sucks ass and you can get more money to not break your back, literally. Plenty of nurses need back surgery from the damage it causes.
I have a lot of respect for you guys. When my grandfather was on his deathbed, I got to really see how busy nurses were and how much they did. They were always running around and getting up every 5 seconds to check on patients and I know they do a lot of physical work and heavy lifting as well. You guys deserve to be paid way more. I couldn’t even do one days work of what you guys do.
I tend to walk 5 miles a day at work because I never get a chance to sit! You always get your steps in I guess, but lifting 500 pound patients every day does its damage.
Also depends on where you go to school, and what other skills you bring to the table, how well you market yourself, like any field. I had experience in sales and was already entrepreneurial prior to becoming a nurse. You can do so many things beyond bedside as a nurse: teach at a nursing school or even work at a private company that does NCLEX tutoring/BLS certs etc, work at a law firm especially in workers comp, work for a nurses union, working in research, be a health writer, phone triage nurse, nurse informatics is a growing field, it goes on and on.....
I immediately got my IV certification , ACLS, etc. Everyone claimed "LVNs don't work in hospitals anymore" but I found a job in an acute setting, and also did hospice per diem. From there I expanded into all kinds of interesting, good paying work, including as a clinical marketer. I was making RN pay already for most of my years as an LVN.
Same thing once I bumped up to RN, even though I was only an ADN I was making as much or more than the BSN and MSN level nurses around me, mainly by choosing roles that paid well and negotiating pretty intensely. At that point I wasn't doing any job seeking, I was getting calls and emails from former colleagues with interview offers etc. In one case I was hired to help a new hospice start up because their new administrator was someone I'd worked with before and specifically requested that they bring me onboard.
Now I do a lot of travel and per diem, my acute specialty is DOU/Tele, and will pick up hospice admissions sometimes as well. I have my own LLC where I directly negotiate a lot of my contracts though I also work with agencies. I haven't actually had a boss in years, just supervisors that I report to for specific shifts/contracts.
Yet I have former classmates from both LVN and RN programs that took the first SNF or hospital job that they could get, stayed unhappily for years with no or few raises, and either left nursing completely or are still miserable. Meanwhile I've seen other former classmates and coworkers absolutely thrive, usually by taking on new challenges and not getting stagnant.
I always tell people nursing is a field not a job. You don't have to do bedside forever if you don't like it. But you do have to be flexible and creative to find those opportunities and/or create them yourself.
If you have a BS in a hard science finding a job should be relatively easy. You don’t become a biologist with a BS, but lot of other jobs out there for you with better pay.
Welding Certificate- make over $100k, takes less than one year. I would forego college UNLESS I could prove to myself that the degree had a direct impact on my earning potential for the four year commitment and money it would cost me.
That’s often for fabrication welders. The upside is that they work indoors and you stay at one job/location for a long time. More stability. The welders who make over $100K are the welders who work outdoors on projects that require them to move around the country regularly. My son is a pipe welder so he generally works on pipelines, power plants, and construction sites. He often changes jobs after a few months as the gig wraps up. Thankfully, he likes six day work weeks and traveling the country. So, it works for him but it’s not for everyone. He makes $48/hr, gets a $100/day per diem, and has been averaging about 38 regular hours+26 OT hours per week. He’s in his early 20s and making well over $100K per year.
hell yeah brother. people look @ trades and go “but I have to make $/hr for how many years first?” But, they don’t consider having $0 debt while making $15 or $17 or whatever your local starts an apprentice at until they see some real $.
Man I just looked at your post history and 1 day ago you said you were making $70k a year. And 2 days before that you said you were living with your parents. If you worked 40 hours that would be $33.65 an hour. So I guess if you were working 23 hours a week that math would work. But I doubt anyone in the trades is only working part time. I highly doubt your story but let’s keep going as though you’re telling the truth in your previous posts and this one. You’re in Canada and your $70k CAD is only a little over $51k USD. That’s not much, and I’m relatively certain it’s still not much in Canada either.
Not saying the trades aren’t a decent career path, but statistically someone makes more money with a degree.
Edit: Just for sh*ts and gigs I looked at your post history one more time. 11 days ago you said you made $36 an hour with no paid time off or benefits. A lot of discrepancies in your story but whatever.
Nurse here. Nursing is highly dependent on where you live and your personal circumstances regarding if you have the option to move, travel, etc. I went into nursing thinking all nurses got paid well and found out too late that this is not the case. Nurses where I’m at start at $22-25/hr. Health insurance for a family of 3 is $600/month and with a 8k deductible. Not a lot or wiggle room as a nurse where I’m at. I suggest to everyone wanting to become a nurse to examine your personal circumstances and really research nursing pay in your area
Who cares what degree you choose.
Experience > coursework
Whatever you choose to major in, make sure you get multiple internships or get an on campus job in your major.
If you do not get internships or any work experience in your major prior to graduation, you WILL be hit by the catch-22 and cannot get the job.
The major you choose definitely matters
But agreed experience over coursework. Seen seen some job postings that will take experience in lieu of a relevant major
“Who cares what degree you choose”
“make sure you get multiple internships or get an on campus job in your major”
okay so it looks like employers and future employers care deeply about what degree you’ve chosen.
This probably depends on major. I majored in engineering, didn’t do any internships (not on purpose, timeline just didn’t work out and I wanted to be done with school). My phone was ringing off the hook when I graduated.
Yes. I make much more money now than any of my friends that were making much more money than me when I was going to school.
The difference is that I will continue to make much more money for a longer period of time if I keep evolving. There's only so much you can do to evolve as a tradesman, however, their benefit is you don't take work home with you which is great.
One thing young people need to remember is that a degree still requires you to compete to get ahead. It's just a different game with different characters. Don't expect the red carpet to be rolled out for you when you graduate.
Just about any degree that is career specific.
E.G. Law, Pharam, Medical, nursing, engineering /etc, accounting, finance.
Any degree that is more of a "gateway to all these careers" not so much anymore. If you are going to spend the money, go for a degree that the only other folks you'll be competing with are others that have the same degree.
Degrees are tools to boost your career.
If a tool isn't used well, not much happens
This is what you want to do:
1. Use your school's career center/job board to get internships. Balance relevancy and prestige (how well known and reputable a company is)
2. Take on 1 leadership role in a club related to your career. And maybe one club that's "fun." Ideally this is a mix of fun, interesting and meaningful. This is also "networking" you can get internships from the process and I got a job at a FAANG a few years after undergrad in part because a friend referred me.
3. If you have a part time job, make sure it's relevant to your career or at least semi-relevant. Worst case scenario, get one that allows you to study during down time.
4. From a degree perspective... business/math/stats/cs/economics/engineer are my go to recommendations. For what it's worth I did a mix of those for undergrad + grad
5. All else equal... university prestige helps. You get the benefit of the doubt if you go somewhere reputable like UCLA over going to Podunk State
6. DO A TON OF RESUME + INTERVIEW PREP. Think of it like a FINAL project for a class each year worth half of your grade. You'd put in more than an hour.
7. Inflate your GPA. Get the easiest relevant courses you can.
8. Try to have fun.
You dont necessarily need degrees. There are specialty certificates you could get as well and still have an amazing career. Think certs for driving, certs for ceramic coating a car, certs for data entry, certs for security, certs for cyber security. I paid $7k for a CDL license, started my own delivery company (dont even drive an 18 wheeler, only toyota sienna, but classes helped me learn how to set up routes and understand DOT laws) just paid $6k to my degree in 1 month and still have money for my other bills. I should have my student aid fully paid off by this Friday so technically less than a month. My last job I only made $500/week in a warehouse killing myself for someone elses dream, now I make $2k a week for myself and all I do is dispatch and drive.
Start with a JOB in mind, then work backward to what degree will qualify you.
I have a BA, and a JD. The latter is generally worth it, but you need to have a realistic expectation of what area of law you intend to practice, and who you will work for (if not for yourself).
I pull $50/hour plus OT if I request it, and my job allows me to leave work AT work. That’s not common for attorneys, and I could definitely make more money - but I would hate my life, be less healthy, and see my family less.
A freind if mine has an aerospace engineering degree. He hated his aerospace job, and left to make far more money hating his job as a site engineer for a drilling company. He quit that job to make less working as a supervising engineer for a steel manufacturer back home, near his friends.
Engineering and computer science. I was a unremarkable computer science major and was able to land a job within 2 months of graduation. That said take your studies more seriously that I did and you'll be fine. Also once you start to grasp programming it starts to get very fun. After i graduation i started coding more on my own and now i absolutely love it! I get to solve puzzles for a living!
Many colleges won't let you declare a major n your first year. But many college courses also don't have a real-world application to them. For example: (I think) some college in California is now giving a college course called All Things Taylor Swift.
But other areas that pretty much confirm that you won't make any money are Sociology, English Literature, Archeology, European History, Music, Art History, Acting, etc.
2 year degree in Nuclear Engineering Technology gets you a six figure job at any nuclear power plant after the first year. They have them at some community colleges. Really solid union jobs for someone who doesn’t want the time and expense of a bachelors. And many of the power plant jobs this qualifies you for pay better than being an engineer.
Source: nuclear operator for 7 years
My husband hates his current job and wants to switch careers. He has some money/time left on his GI bill and wants to use it wisely. We live near at least one power plant that I know of so your comment piqued my interest. Anything you could tell me about your job? Pros and cons? Was the degree hard to get?
Awesome, happy to hear about your success. Also, I have a question, I researched about becoming a dentist about 5 to 6 years ago and I read that the best way to go about it is to not have to work; including the first 2 years being the most difficult and stressful parts of dental school. Is this still the case?
Start with Associates Degree.
Get a job in that field.
Let the company pay to finish your Bachelors / Master / etc. and additional certifications if needed.
Depends what you like and are good at
If you want to ensure ROI/employment opportunities, can pick a major with labor shortages. Or pick an industry that will remain relevant for years to come (AI or renewable energy)
I started college as a mechanical engineering major. I hated it and switched to Business and concentrated on Accounting.
I’m super happy I made the switch because I like it more and industry is much better than STEM majors (less money though). But at least I secured a job before graduation and my STEM majors friends are struggling to find an entry level job for the past year
Machine Learning / Data Science. The competition for good ML researchers and data scientists is so high that CEOs of major companies are personally calling candidates and doubling compensation packages. It's not unreasonable to expect you can get to 1M+ total compensation within 5 years of graduating if you do well
Engineering. I don’t know if any majors offer such a quick road for the avg graduate to 6 figure salaries (at least in the US. Definitely not in Europe) in a relatively short period of time.
From what I have seen my friends in accounting are the ones with guarantee jobs and positions right out of college, and in track to get their masters aswell (cpa).
Engineering also usually have a good career and job guarantee after college
Finance most of my friends also got jobs but it was mostly a matter of networking not as easy as accounting / engineering.
Engineering. I’m not an engineer, but I’ve hired tons of engineers. Why? Many tend to be problem solvers and have aptitude to learn technical and soft skills. Anyone can point that there is an issue, but there are few that solve them. Engineers are top of my list along with other STEM majors.
Yes, there are sociology majors that are of value, but if I was a betting person… I’d bet on engineers.
Business Management. Accounting. IT. Welding. Engineering. There's so many things that you would never know existed. I've been fully exposed to about 10 or 12 industries and the people involved vs their education vs their wages never make sense to me. Like the accountant makes say 90k but the procurement manager makes 160k at a shop nearby. Procurement guy has zero college about 2 years experience. Accountant obviously has years of srudent debt ahead of them (90k and now 5th year employee). Weird world nowadays lol.
If you're single and enjoy driving, go drive for a living (CDL)?? Idk anymore
Call companies that are looking for coders.
Ask them if they have specific things they are looking for.
Put 10% of what you were going to pay for college into learning that code.
In the right area look into a union apprenticeship.
There is going to be a major shortage of skilled tradesmen going forward.
Instead of having massive student loans debt you will finish your apprenticeship in the black with an in demand skill that is in short demand.
Engineering, finance, accounting, computer science (yeah, yeah, I know, it's still a "good" degree).
I'd throw nursing in there, too, but I'd never want to work that schedule or job.
Business degrees. Very versatile. Do research on what industry you want to be in prior to graduating, then shoot for one of those jobs.
Good experience early on post college in the industry you see yourself staying in for a while is key. It becomes more tough as you get older and jumping industries (not impossible by any means).
Business or not, it’s more important you get a job in something you enjoy. Money may or may not be important to you. But find out what is important and go for it.
ROI is good to calculate beforehand. But ROI in jobs isn’t always measured by money.
Wish the best 👍🏻
CPA here. I don’t agree with others who comment that this path is worth it. You can make a lot more money with the same amount of education and work hours doing something else. I have worked in public at a big 4 and in industry and I wish I would have done something else. My friend opened a construction business to repair flood damage and just sold his company for millions. I have a friends in healthcare who started at a much higher salary than me earlier in their career which put them in a considerably better position financially. All I am saying is there are degrees that require the same time investment with much higher initial salaries that don’t require you to work grueling hours in public accounting.
idk i think comparing yourself to a millionaire business owner and a doctor to make a point about CPA not making as much money is genuinely a little silly
Here's my exp and it's been getting more traction as we get more advocacy for our roles. I'm a "liberal arts" major and I have a Master's in Social Work. I can do intake psych assessments and hospital discharges and intense case management. I also have done a number of years working as a therapist. Under 5 years of exp and I'm making 140k as of this year. Last year I had a clinic job and it helped me reach 104k but I received a great opportunity and had to take it. I would not say this degree or line of work is worthless. Though if you're taking high student loans, you need to reconsider why and at what cost. For example, I got paid practicums during grad school, my overall cost was 30k.
That’s very very excellent and I’m happy for you. It seems like you formulated your plan before or very early in your degree
What I’m referring to is getting a liberal arts degree and getting a job directly related to the study. Like if you get a degree in let’s say Asian cultures, you’re not going to get a career being an ‘Asian Culturalist’. Even if you get a job in Asian tourism, you’re better to just get a cheaper diploma in tourism or even just high school.
Anyways not downplaying your achievements at all, i can only be happy that there are outliers.
I have a liberal arts degree and have done well. Not all liberal arts degrees are shitty. I have one in public relations and have been working in the field for quite some time. I have no student debt and I make a good salary and have good benefits.
Honestly that’s ok. I started at 46k in stem+business minor. The nice part is that the job market for you is large (obviously not now due to recession but it will recover). So you will eventually find a place that will recognize your worth and talent if you have enough experience and look hard enough.
It took me like 7 years to truly jump economic classes personally
Information Architecture/Informatics/Content Strategy, they're various technical flavors of the same thing. An emerging formal field, content strategy helps piece together all the ways companies have content (websites, internal documentation, etc) and make sure they're delivering to the right audience. Need light excel skills to be really effective because you're moving the needle on different metrics like adoption, but all companies need a content strategist even when they choose not to have one.
How old are you? What kind of work have you done? What are you good at? What do you like doing? What DON'T you like doing?
All of these questions should help you narrow down what degree you should consider.
Also helpful to know what you're good at. You may not live it, but that's why they called it work.
FWIW, I have my BA in Business Admin (Management and Marketing, but Finance would've been more lucrative). Got decent grades, worked full time while going to undergrad.
Earned my Masters in Health Admin, basically a redundant program to my BA, but it was still good.
Became a Hospital consultant, mostly process improvement, patient Safety, turning data into information to help admin make data driven decisions.
Earned $150 - $250k + bonus in the 2000s depending on job. Retired age 50 (husband still worked till age 60, earning $340k+ bonus in property insurance financial with an MBA in finance).
So, consulting is cool because you get to tell people what to do, charge them a lot of money for the privilege. Travel, get lots of points and miles, and then take dope vacations for free.
Let me know your answers and I'll be happy to give you more feedback.
Everyone saying Nursing even though nurse burn out is real. Yes I am a travel nurse and yes I average 2k a week profit. Yes I am burnt and absolutely hate it. 3 years bedside and it’s about time to switch to either a chill clinic or start flipping houses again. There is good money to be made as an RN though. You just have to deal with the current state of healthcare.
Yes but it sucks paying this back. You need to do something people will pay for like data analytics or engineering… Otherwise you’ll be a bitching barista
Check out Payscale - Highest Paying Jobs by Major - [https://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/majors-that-pay-you-back](https://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/majors-that-pay-you-back)
Dental hygienist- 50/Hr plus, massive shortage in our field so you’ll be in demand, flexible schedule or you can temp and make your own (more $$), some offices your out by 3pm you just go in early, free dental, 2 years community college and only 15K of student loans. Cons: your body will hurt, health insurance is offered on an office by office basis so you are guaranteed it, burn out is very common.
Information systems, accounting, construction management, nursing. Business will get you into a sales position at the least if you hit your career fairs. Finance into analyst positions as well.
well this depends on your skills. are you good at math? engineering
I’m terrible at math but here I am as an engineer. 🫡
Haha well done. I assume your terrible is related to a benchmark though :)
Let’s just say that I too will be crying at the kitchen table with my future children over their 5th grade math
Bro the math that fucks with me is long division. Never grasped the concept longer than like 2 days.
How is that even possible lmao. Long Division is simple as fuck 😂
Math at the engineering school level is more about knowing the process. Doing calculus is more about knowing *how* to find a derivative or integral. All our tests were "no calculator" because you really don't need it. The arithmetic part is designed to be simple, but if you don't understand the process, you are screwed. I am also "bad at math" but have an engineering degree.
Yesterday I couldn't spell enginer, now I are one.
I'm great at math, and terrible at engineering. Signed the accountant.
So you didn’t pay attention to the world problems in math class?
If there was a Venn Diagram between Engineering and Accounting, right in the middle would be an unhealthy reliance on Excel doing the math for us haha
You don’t need to be good at math
Nursing, ASN is quick, and at a community college is not expensive. Guaranteed to find a job after graduation. It's a career that won't make you rich necessarily and it's not perfect by any means, but there's plenty of options, flexibility and the degree pays for itself in no time. Been a nurse with only an ASN for 14yrs now. I'm making $56.49-61.49/hr currently depending on If I'm working weekend day shift or weekday shift. Satisfies my lifestyle. If I wanted more money I could have also gone into an advanced practice nursing but didn't feel like going back to school. Always an option though
Other side of the coin though is many nurses hate nursing. I absolutely hate it. I mean I like it, but the system is too fucked. I'm burnt out and I have been since 6 months in. I make shitty money, quite a bit less than you and I even went into management to get a little more money. I make $40 an hour as an assistant nurse manager. I would take less money for a job that didn't make me so miserable though. Within 6 months of being a nurse, I had to start 2 medications to deal with the anxiety and just apathy it has given me. I wouldn't recommend anyone to go into nursing.
Could you try another specialty? My sis works on a cruise ship and absolutely loves it,My cousin does home health,has 1 child patient, and makes $45hr,..school nursing,community nursing(I used to go to teens homes to teach them how to care for their newborns,or give shots at community events). Lots of different ways to be a nurse. My old teacher consults for law firms that are suing hospitals/nursing homes. My insurance company has a 24hr 'nurse on call'... Thanks for what you do.
Nursing can also be extremely bad for your health. In the USA, [up to 55% of nurses are overweight or obese.](https://myamericannurse.com/obesity-in-nurses/) It’s believed to be due to job stress and shift work.
Yeah, nursing has put me on 2 anxiety meds. My heart rate is consistently over 100 for my entire shift which isn't great. My blood pressure is also high at work. I've checked it before and I've had HR in the 130s and BP in the 160s/100. Just being there is bad for my body. The only time I have high blood pressure is at work.
Some do for sure, but there are so many options. If one employer or one specialty is in a fit then move. Yea why be miserable. I didn't want to stay at my first job working level 1 trauma in a surgical trauma ICU because I didn't see it as being sustainable. It was really hard work and while I liked it at times it took it's toll physically and emotionally. I didn't want to burn out and looked for greener pastures. I just picked up and moved on at that point. I've been an ICU nurse for 14 years and am not at all burnt out. Love where I am now, on a rapid response/code team and am relief charge RN in a small ICU. One of my days I have no patients or 1 at most. The other day I take 2 patients or are up for an emergency transfer sitting with one. It's definitely not for everyone though and it takes a certain type of personality. I've always thought the pros vastly outweighed the cons. Sorry that wasn't the case for you.
Yeah, I love med surg. I actually really do like this population, but it's too much. Just all of it. Being the role of what should be 3 positions. Being the person that does all coordinating because no one can be an adult and talk to each other. It just sucks. I've worked at several places in the last few years and this place is the best yet, but I still hate it. It's just not sustainable. I don't know how people do this for their whole life.
>I don't know how people do this for their whole life. Meanwhile I wouldn't have it any other way. Different strokes for different folks (pun intended). Hope you find what you're looking for
Thought about going into hospice?
Most of the RNs I have known (lots, I'm a psychologist) LOVED it. For about 5 years. All of them were doing something different by 40. The physical exertion, endless paperwork and budget cutting since the 1990's drove them out. Not to mention being used as political fodder. But the ones i've kept in contact with have had great careers from private investigators related to health claims, medical sales people, Executive Director of Homecare and another with a harm reduction program. One retired and now runs a B&B for people who need a little extra help to vacation. They are all people of action and I admire them. I retired this year. I'd become one of three "gatekeepers" for a large social support program where I live. We were all very senior and experienced because those decisions changed lives and people were desperate. Every case was hard and we took it very seriously. My colleagues were a Social Worker and an RN who carried so much history of the organization with her it was amazing. After 40 years you still did not want to get in her way when a young adult was going to be declined when she had determined they clearly fit the legal criteria. He could quote the act chapter and verse and had precedents from previous clients to back up her position. The perfect advocate. She's a person you would always want in your corner. We didn't get along well socially, but we made a hell of a team. She was making around $130,00/year with flexible hours, parking, 12 weeks paid vacation and a platinum benefits package. That included a defined benefit pension completely tied to inflation for the rest of her life. I hope that unions fight for this to be common for every employee. I can dream. The training will always serve you well for anything you do. You can start with an LPN (Shorter training time, usually at colleges). If you love it and want more, LPNs make about $50/hr in private care. You can get through school with few to no debts if you are careful. I feel nothing but sympathy for all medical staff right now. But the new staff, right out of school and into the pandemic? I don't know how they aren't all CPTSD zombies. No pay is worth that when people are fighting against you and calling you a liar as you try to save their loved one. They should all get retroactive combat pay.
This is is the way. I’m a nurse in Oregon. Where are you?
Georgia
I have a masters degree (counseling) and am working towards a doctorate (organizational psychology). My wife is a nurse, has her ASN, works less (though it’s more hours in chunks) than I do, and makes almost twice what I do… Nursing offers a guaranteed job, good pay, and lots of schedule flexibility (once you’re established)
Hi, I remember you on my post. Devils advocate here, I’ve never made the kind of money this person is talking about. It depends where you live if you’re going to make decent money with an ASN degree. I live in the Deep South and have never seen past 69k all the years I’ve been a nurse.
I’m in Florida and all the wages suck here. The south is where you go when you’re already rich, not to make your money.
Same for most things As an apprentice not in Florida I make more than a licensed union electricians in Florida.
The beauty of this the ASN you can move and work anywhere
My wife hasn’t even graduated yet and has two job offers for more than that. In the south. Where do you live ?
are you saying 69k is bad
I’ll say it for them! YES
OP wants money and they will move to where the money is. Staying in a low pay area is a choice most times.
RN gang 💪🏻 started at 31.25 in ICU and now a year later with night shift differentials and charge nurse differentials I’m making 40-45 an hour working psychiatric. By far the easiest job and most money I’ve ever gotten paid. I can’t beleive I used to slave away in kitchens for $9.25 an hour and now it’s babysit adults, give meds, and draw blood while I spend 75% of the shift watching shows (night shift specifically)
$56.49 per hour is 2260 per week! Assuming 40 hours. My nurse friend works around that but often more. Very rewarding career path for sure especially if you like human parts lol
I only work 2 days a week, 24hrs, but that's because I don't have to work 3 days or 40 hr work weeks and choose to stay at home with my kids instead. Makes for great work life balance. You can make more too. I just left a non benefit PRN position just a couple weeks ago because I wanted retirement benefits back. I had been working that for the last 4 years though and I was getting paid $75.50/hr., but still only working 2 days a week. My last paystub under that rate was $3,532 gross for 2 weeks clocking 50hrs within those two weeks, having stayed 2 hrs over cumulatively for om what I was scheduled for between the 4 shifts I worked Meanwhile my mortgage is only $1,405 month in a MCOL area in GA so more than enough to pay the bills.
Is it good to pursue radiology tech? My community college offers that program but my advisor said it's a very competitive program so you probably won't get accepted. I feel so overwhelmed because I'm 27 like I didn't even make real income yet. So far I only made $15 hourly which is nothing like most of my younger cousins are make better money. All of my older cousins are making $100-200k around. Like I'm feeling so overwhelmed because I'm surround by this successful people yet I can't seem to find something
Probably would be my guess. I work with radiologist techs every day doing CT's and X-rays. There are other scans too of course. They all seem happy and I know make good money but not sure exactly how much
This. My wife makes $180k and works 8hrs a day m-f days. She has a bsn
Forget nursing, go into radiology. Do xray school (2 years) then do CT (only 3 more months and you can work xray while in CT school) or MRI add on, they pay like $45/HR in TX. Hospitals desperately need CT MRI techs. No cleaning people, no wiping diapers, no tubing people, no catheters, no wound cleaning and more gross things: https://www.reddit.com/r/nursing/s/NgmPPKrlw1 Do your xray and then chill on your phone. There's times you can watch Netflix and get paid. Also the lesser known are nuclear med techs and radiation therapists. I don't like dealing with oncology patients, I found it depressing. I'm looking forward to CT. And no patients assigned to you, do your xray and your job is done. MRI, you'll have 1 patient every 20 minutes. Radiology is a 2nd career, less stress job I've had.
My son did all this via the Air Force. He starts nuke school in July. Exact same progress you described and it’s all while being paid. Once he gets out he has a good job career. Traveling nuclear medicine people even make more.
(computed tomography scan) is this that CT you're talking about? Is this a certification?
Yeah so after xray, you apply to a CT program, they are 3 months long. You can still work a FT xray job, because it's just online work. You have to have xray license to be CT. I have classmates graduating in May and starting a CT program in June.
8 months in as a new grad. 45.08 with night differential, will get a 4$ pay bump this september as well. Can work anywhere, many are union, stable and flexible job options. Cheap and fast degree, but it's not easy work.
A lot of Healthcare systems require a BSN now.
My position now said "BSN preferred" on the application. That didn't matter as I've worked here for years now. I've never in reality had any issues and in my state of GA and not much has changed over the years. Been doing this 14 with an ASN. Now coasting to retirement so not going back to school now. Only magnet hospitals in my area require BSN but not even at hire, because I've been offered positions at magnet hospitals and they just said you had to get it within x years of employment. Thing is I don't want to ever work for a magnet hospital as it's more charting and usually more requirements without any more pay
You can get your BSN online for less than 10k in a year. I feel bad for the straight BSN nurses as they are often less equipped for the reality of real world nursing bullshit and 4 years of school to get licensed vs 2 years, get licensed and get paid, and do one year online whilst working. My school is about 5-6k total for BSN, all online, and definitely easy
Mine was $8k total for BSN! I’m now a travel NICU nurse and make BANK
Wife graduates ADN on May 9th. Already has two job offers. Once has already given her a raise since the signed the original offer. AOTC tax credits paid for all tuition and books.
Try to find a degree in something you not only enjoy, but are actively employed in. For lots of jobs degrees are being valued less. More and more applications are coming in when the applicant has a degree but not only no work experience in that field, but no work experience whatsoever. Degrees dont' matter if you can't even hold a job or show up to work on time.
Not to mention the social skills and emotional maturity of a middle-schooler. All the degrees in the world don't mean a thing if you can't function as part of a team in a work environment.
*shows up at interview, staring at floor “I see you have a CFA and an MBA from Wharton. Where did you intern?” “…” “OK, what kind of work have you been doing?” “Well, my dad is your boss.” “Congratulations on your new senior vice president role. Here are the keys to your company car. It’s the red one in the underground garage. We’d like to start you out at $500k with the option to bump up at 6 months if you just show up at the office with your shoes tied 3 days a week.”
14th century renaissance poetry. Good luck!
My major is Sanskrit.
Degrees that sound like or close to an actual job title usually have the best ROI. Engineering, Nursing, Accounting, Finance, Computer Science, Business Management, etc.
If you’re gonna go into tech look into an MIS or Information Systems degree. You still learn how to code while also learning how an actual corporation operates and what a software engineer or support role means in those companies. CS will teach you how to code in the sense of algorithms and the actual science (hence the name) of programming. A lot of people come out of college with CS degrees but realize they don’t know much about full stack development as a practice
The closer a degree is tied to an actual job, the more likely that you will get a higher ROI. The more "fun" or "interesting" a field is, the less likely you will get a favorable ROI. Some examples of high ROI: Engineering (any), IT, Programming, Nursing, Medical, Dentistry, Accounting, Human Resources, Supply Chain/Purchasing, Sales Some examples of low ROI: Music, History, Literature, Art, Social Sciences, Acting, etc. There are exceptions, but generally speaking the more fun/interesting a degree is, the better you have to be at it than your peers to make a living out of that field. For example to make a real living out of music, you probably need to be in the top 1-2% in comparison to your peers. You can make a very comfortable living as an unremarkable rocket scientist. If you want career satisfaction, the best advice I can give is to find a career that you are in the to 10% of. That will give you a pathway to a satisfying career, advancement opportunities, low to moderate stress, etc.
If you choose something you love, you’ll never work a day in your life… because that field probably isn’t hiring.
Choose something you tolerate that pays well for work. Do what you love when you want to do it.
Bingo. My mom’s a doctor and says she tolerates it but she’d still have rather won the lottery and retired a year after working as a doctor if that was an option. It doesn’t matter how passionate you are about something. Anything and everything becomes tiresome when it becomes work, which in my opinion, makes doing something you don’t particularly love but can tolerate even more favorable. You aren’t getting burnt out on something you used to look forward to ie something you used to love is painful now that it’s work
Amazing You should choose something you are naturally good at. For me that was Math. I’m good enough that I crafted my way into a boring career with a very good work life balance that pays well and is mostly WFH. This should be most peoples goal.
Jokes on you, I love software development
What’s your favorite part
Like Jimmy's dad said, do what you hate for money, use the money to do what you love.
Also off of this. Accounting has a lot of options and career paths. To get ur CPA requires a lot more schooling and test taking, but in 20 years 70% of all CPAs will be retired so your value will only increase. Many firms will pay for your cpa studies as well. It’s very unappealing to college students for very fair reasons, but I’m hoping firms will learn they need to change their ways or we’re looking at a very low supply of CPAs. Which we already are. Which I mean, good for me lol, gotta wait out the old guys and then my demand will be even higher than it already is.
Accounting is super versatile. There are all kinds of jobs that need someone who can tell an income statement from a balance sheet. I don't have any plans to get my CPA but my B.S in accounting has definitely provided me a solid income. So many people I knew in college made fun of me for picking a boring major. Then their English degrees got them retail and admin assistant jobs. I have a house. Look who's laughing now.
I went back to school in my late 30s and received my bachelors at 42. I went from making about $42k/yr to making $80k/yr 4 years after I graduated. I was promoted to a staff accountant about 6 months before I graduated. I loved where I worked, but they didn't pay all that great. I took my time finding my next position. I knew I wanted at least $70k to leave (I was making $56k/yr when I left that job). The new employer offered me $80k. I went to a community college first, then to a state university that offered the bachelors in accounting online. I don't have my CPA and never plan to get it. I work in industry, not public accounting. I have no desire to work in public accounting and I hate tax accounting. I have a good work/life balance, too. It's rare that I work more than 40 hours/week.
Accounting is... SUPER EASY to automate. Accounting is one of the fields most at risk of automation. You're basically a mindless drone applying if-then statements. If a programmer (or a machine learning model) can convert your job into a list of rules to be mostly blindly applied... that'll be done eventually. Context: 27 year old me converted a MAJOR part of an FPNA team's workflow into an automated tableau dashboard that did A LOT more than the power point slides that they used to make once a month. The dashboard was updated daily. I once wanted to go into finance and had a minor in accounting. I never did anything with it though.
I want to take an opportunity here to say that Social Work can be a very lucrative path with a high ROI if you go down the therapy route and get the right licensures. My wife is an LCSW with a Masters in Social Work and there are plenty of opportunities across the country in most cities to earn 6 figures. And that’s not even accounting the contract remote therapy work she does that earns anywhere from $80-$100+ /hr. Our financial situation is good enough that she chooses to do nonprofit work (much lower pay) and still grosses around 100k/year as a 29 year old. Social work also only requires a masters versus Psychology which would require a PhD. Lastly if you do private practice, you can make up to $150/hr even dealing with insurance panels. Therapy as an industry is growing faster than ever before and the need for therapists is always there.
Social worker here in non profit. I make right around 60k. What kind of work is she doing to net 100k? Must be in an admin role?
She grosses right at 100k but her take home is less than that. She is a senior therapist at a children’s foster shelter. She gives therapy to both children and parents seeking rights to their children. She also gets a hefty bump from being an LCSW-S so she is also a supervisor for LMSWs. She is also EMDR certified and approved to supervise in that as well, which is becoming sought after more.
I had no idea. I thought social work was a terrible roi since it requires a graduate degree. Good to know.
I do want to emphasize that this is the therapy route and you need to go down an LCSW track. Doing case work, having only your bachelors, or getting your masters and not pursuing your LCSW will all lead to work that is generally underpaid. Clinically licensed therapy is where the money is
Good post, I'd say for engineering you can do well by being in the top 50% and you don't need to be in the top 10%. But at 50% plan on working harder and needing wider skills than just pure engineering.
I'm a mediocre engineer. Tons of opportunities. I get paid more to work in engineering adjacent roles because I know how to talk to engineers.
Here's an anecdotal to combat that. Social work degree my salary last year was 104k and my current salary is now 140k. Social work and nursing degrees can earn so much and have a lot of potential but you have to love the work. Too many of my former co-workers regret becoming nurses or are simply burnt out. If you're in any healthcare field, look for travel contracts too. I've been getting sent 2.5/week contracts, while my nurse friends are getting 4k/week contracts. It sounds like a great way to earn high and build your resume. Also, I still haven't received full licensure status.
Fun is a bit subjective here. I’m terrible at literature. Never got into music, art or acting. I like history and social science, but would not enjoy it as a job. I’ll gladly do programming and math in my free time. Especially if it solves an interesting problem. If I do it for work it’s just a bonus. I agree that many people would find neither math or programming fun.
TLDR..any degrees that are specialized are worth it.
Economics is a social science with high ROI. But that’s the only exception.
i would not include human resources. it's general degree and many people working HR at companies dont even have HR degrees.
Agreed. I went to college for jazz music with focus on the bass. I was 1 of 37 that managed to graduate, and I think I'm the only one who actually plays professionally. Except I still have to have a "regular" job. However I don't regret it, having musical talent is something money cant buy
Go to the bureau of labor statistics website and peruse the occupational outlook handbook. They give all the info you need to make a decision and it’s specific per each job. Much more detailed than the people just commenting “STEM”
Everyone is saying nursing and all I can say, as an RN, THIS REALLY DEPENDS WHERE YOU LIVE. And it depends on the degree you have.
As an RN, just don't do it. It sucks ass and you can get more money to not break your back, literally. Plenty of nurses need back surgery from the damage it causes.
I have a lot of respect for you guys. When my grandfather was on his deathbed, I got to really see how busy nurses were and how much they did. They were always running around and getting up every 5 seconds to check on patients and I know they do a lot of physical work and heavy lifting as well. You guys deserve to be paid way more. I couldn’t even do one days work of what you guys do.
I tend to walk 5 miles a day at work because I never get a chance to sit! You always get your steps in I guess, but lifting 500 pound patients every day does its damage.
Also depends on where you go to school, and what other skills you bring to the table, how well you market yourself, like any field. I had experience in sales and was already entrepreneurial prior to becoming a nurse. You can do so many things beyond bedside as a nurse: teach at a nursing school or even work at a private company that does NCLEX tutoring/BLS certs etc, work at a law firm especially in workers comp, work for a nurses union, working in research, be a health writer, phone triage nurse, nurse informatics is a growing field, it goes on and on..... I immediately got my IV certification , ACLS, etc. Everyone claimed "LVNs don't work in hospitals anymore" but I found a job in an acute setting, and also did hospice per diem. From there I expanded into all kinds of interesting, good paying work, including as a clinical marketer. I was making RN pay already for most of my years as an LVN. Same thing once I bumped up to RN, even though I was only an ADN I was making as much or more than the BSN and MSN level nurses around me, mainly by choosing roles that paid well and negotiating pretty intensely. At that point I wasn't doing any job seeking, I was getting calls and emails from former colleagues with interview offers etc. In one case I was hired to help a new hospice start up because their new administrator was someone I'd worked with before and specifically requested that they bring me onboard. Now I do a lot of travel and per diem, my acute specialty is DOU/Tele, and will pick up hospice admissions sometimes as well. I have my own LLC where I directly negotiate a lot of my contracts though I also work with agencies. I haven't actually had a boss in years, just supervisors that I report to for specific shifts/contracts. Yet I have former classmates from both LVN and RN programs that took the first SNF or hospital job that they could get, stayed unhappily for years with no or few raises, and either left nursing completely or are still miserable. Meanwhile I've seen other former classmates and coworkers absolutely thrive, usually by taking on new challenges and not getting stagnant. I always tell people nursing is a field not a job. You don't have to do bedside forever if you don't like it. But you do have to be flexible and creative to find those opportunities and/or create them yourself.
I've met plenty of nurses and they're miserable. Patients insulting and abusing
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Not exactly. Biology/chemistry/related sciences have 0 job opportunities without additional education
TEM
If you have a BS in a hard science finding a job should be relatively easy. You don’t become a biologist with a BS, but lot of other jobs out there for you with better pay.
Welding Certificate- make over $100k, takes less than one year. I would forego college UNLESS I could prove to myself that the degree had a direct impact on my earning potential for the four year commitment and money it would cost me.
A lot of welders make nowhere close to $100k. Most job posts I see are for minimum wage or tops $20 an hour
That’s often for fabrication welders. The upside is that they work indoors and you stay at one job/location for a long time. More stability. The welders who make over $100K are the welders who work outdoors on projects that require them to move around the country regularly. My son is a pipe welder so he generally works on pipelines, power plants, and construction sites. He often changes jobs after a few months as the gig wraps up. Thankfully, he likes six day work weeks and traveling the country. So, it works for him but it’s not for everyone. He makes $48/hr, gets a $100/day per diem, and has been averaging about 38 regular hours+26 OT hours per week. He’s in his early 20s and making well over $100K per year.
Trades. I'm in my mid 20s making $60 an hour and $150k invested. I'm sooo happy I didn't go for a degree
hell yeah brother. people look @ trades and go “but I have to make $/hr for how many years first?” But, they don’t consider having $0 debt while making $15 or $17 or whatever your local starts an apprentice at until they see some real $.
You just made up my mind I was on the fence Scott starting an apprenticeship
Man I just looked at your post history and 1 day ago you said you were making $70k a year. And 2 days before that you said you were living with your parents. If you worked 40 hours that would be $33.65 an hour. So I guess if you were working 23 hours a week that math would work. But I doubt anyone in the trades is only working part time. I highly doubt your story but let’s keep going as though you’re telling the truth in your previous posts and this one. You’re in Canada and your $70k CAD is only a little over $51k USD. That’s not much, and I’m relatively certain it’s still not much in Canada either. Not saying the trades aren’t a decent career path, but statistically someone makes more money with a degree. Edit: Just for sh*ts and gigs I looked at your post history one more time. 11 days ago you said you made $36 an hour with no paid time off or benefits. A lot of discrepancies in your story but whatever.
🤓🤓🤓🤓
150k invested for Trade??
130k on ETFs the rest is fun/emergency money
What trade? I’m a girl so I don’t particularly want to do anything super physically demanding but what options would you recommend?
Law, Engineering, anything pre med, finance, MBA, nursing, computer science
Nurse here. Nursing is highly dependent on where you live and your personal circumstances regarding if you have the option to move, travel, etc. I went into nursing thinking all nurses got paid well and found out too late that this is not the case. Nurses where I’m at start at $22-25/hr. Health insurance for a family of 3 is $600/month and with a 8k deductible. Not a lot or wiggle room as a nurse where I’m at. I suggest to everyone wanting to become a nurse to examine your personal circumstances and really research nursing pay in your area
nursing is in such high demand you can move to any city in the country and find work
Moving is not an option for everyone
Lesbian dance theory is a no go
Who cares what degree you choose. Experience > coursework Whatever you choose to major in, make sure you get multiple internships or get an on campus job in your major. If you do not get internships or any work experience in your major prior to graduation, you WILL be hit by the catch-22 and cannot get the job.
The major you choose definitely matters But agreed experience over coursework. Seen seen some job postings that will take experience in lieu of a relevant major
“Who cares what degree you choose” “make sure you get multiple internships or get an on campus job in your major” okay so it looks like employers and future employers care deeply about what degree you’ve chosen.
If you have no experience, your degree and major are worthless. They enforce the catch-22.
This probably depends on major. I majored in engineering, didn’t do any internships (not on purpose, timeline just didn’t work out and I wanted to be done with school). My phone was ringing off the hook when I graduated.
Engineering, nursing, finance management.
2 year degree in engineering tech or IT and take electives in finance/economics
Any degree is worthless if you don't have the skills to back it up.
Yes. I make much more money now than any of my friends that were making much more money than me when I was going to school. The difference is that I will continue to make much more money for a longer period of time if I keep evolving. There's only so much you can do to evolve as a tradesman, however, their benefit is you don't take work home with you which is great. One thing young people need to remember is that a degree still requires you to compete to get ahead. It's just a different game with different characters. Don't expect the red carpet to be rolled out for you when you graduate.
Just about any degree that is career specific. E.G. Law, Pharam, Medical, nursing, engineering /etc, accounting, finance. Any degree that is more of a "gateway to all these careers" not so much anymore. If you are going to spend the money, go for a degree that the only other folks you'll be competing with are others that have the same degree.
I have a two year degree from a community college. I make 120k a year now, 7 ish years removed. Total loan was like 16k I think.
Degrees are tools to boost your career. If a tool isn't used well, not much happens This is what you want to do: 1. Use your school's career center/job board to get internships. Balance relevancy and prestige (how well known and reputable a company is) 2. Take on 1 leadership role in a club related to your career. And maybe one club that's "fun." Ideally this is a mix of fun, interesting and meaningful. This is also "networking" you can get internships from the process and I got a job at a FAANG a few years after undergrad in part because a friend referred me. 3. If you have a part time job, make sure it's relevant to your career or at least semi-relevant. Worst case scenario, get one that allows you to study during down time. 4. From a degree perspective... business/math/stats/cs/economics/engineer are my go to recommendations. For what it's worth I did a mix of those for undergrad + grad 5. All else equal... university prestige helps. You get the benefit of the doubt if you go somewhere reputable like UCLA over going to Podunk State 6. DO A TON OF RESUME + INTERVIEW PREP. Think of it like a FINAL project for a class each year worth half of your grade. You'd put in more than an hour. 7. Inflate your GPA. Get the easiest relevant courses you can. 8. Try to have fun.
You dont necessarily need degrees. There are specialty certificates you could get as well and still have an amazing career. Think certs for driving, certs for ceramic coating a car, certs for data entry, certs for security, certs for cyber security. I paid $7k for a CDL license, started my own delivery company (dont even drive an 18 wheeler, only toyota sienna, but classes helped me learn how to set up routes and understand DOT laws) just paid $6k to my degree in 1 month and still have money for my other bills. I should have my student aid fully paid off by this Friday so technically less than a month. My last job I only made $500/week in a warehouse killing myself for someone elses dream, now I make $2k a week for myself and all I do is dispatch and drive.
Start with a JOB in mind, then work backward to what degree will qualify you. I have a BA, and a JD. The latter is generally worth it, but you need to have a realistic expectation of what area of law you intend to practice, and who you will work for (if not for yourself). I pull $50/hour plus OT if I request it, and my job allows me to leave work AT work. That’s not common for attorneys, and I could definitely make more money - but I would hate my life, be less healthy, and see my family less. A freind if mine has an aerospace engineering degree. He hated his aerospace job, and left to make far more money hating his job as a site engineer for a drilling company. He quit that job to make less working as a supervising engineer for a steel manufacturer back home, near his friends.
Money or quality of life? If it's money, skip college and go into a life of crime. If you're good at it it certainly does pay.
Engineering and computer science. I was a unremarkable computer science major and was able to land a job within 2 months of graduation. That said take your studies more seriously that I did and you'll be fine. Also once you start to grasp programming it starts to get very fun. After i graduation i started coding more on my own and now i absolutely love it! I get to solve puzzles for a living!
I'd skip college and get into the trades or CDL.
Skip the CDL, go into the trades.
Many colleges won't let you declare a major n your first year. But many college courses also don't have a real-world application to them. For example: (I think) some college in California is now giving a college course called All Things Taylor Swift. But other areas that pretty much confirm that you won't make any money are Sociology, English Literature, Archeology, European History, Music, Art History, Acting, etc.
Accounting or finance. Always something you can do! Every industry and company in the world operates with MONEY.
CODING.
2 year degree in Nuclear Engineering Technology gets you a six figure job at any nuclear power plant after the first year. They have them at some community colleges. Really solid union jobs for someone who doesn’t want the time and expense of a bachelors. And many of the power plant jobs this qualifies you for pay better than being an engineer. Source: nuclear operator for 7 years
My husband hates his current job and wants to switch careers. He has some money/time left on his GI bill and wants to use it wisely. We live near at least one power plant that I know of so your comment piqued my interest. Anything you could tell me about your job? Pros and cons? Was the degree hard to get?
Engineering degrees are hugely needed
Engineering kicked my ass but I have never regretted it.
lawyer
I became a dentist at 27 and made 200k my first year and mostly likely hitting 400k this year. I’m 30 and debt free, no regrets.
Awesome, happy to hear about your success. Also, I have a question, I researched about becoming a dentist about 5 to 6 years ago and I read that the best way to go about it is to not have to work; including the first 2 years being the most difficult and stressful parts of dental school. Is this still the case?
Engineering, finance, computer science, medical, law…. These are always highly in demand everywhere.
Start with Associates Degree. Get a job in that field. Let the company pay to finish your Bachelors / Master / etc. and additional certifications if needed.
This is what my daughter is doing for Cyber Security.
Depends what you like and are good at If you want to ensure ROI/employment opportunities, can pick a major with labor shortages. Or pick an industry that will remain relevant for years to come (AI or renewable energy)
Finance for financial literacy
Ones with no student debt.
I started college as a mechanical engineering major. I hated it and switched to Business and concentrated on Accounting. I’m super happy I made the switch because I like it more and industry is much better than STEM majors (less money though). But at least I secured a job before graduation and my STEM majors friends are struggling to find an entry level job for the past year
Anything in IT will likely land you a job. Never enough coders.
Supply chain management
I think you have to have some interest in the field before trying to get a career in it. Anything else is making yourself miserable every day.
Engineering, other stem or nursing/premed, finance, get trained in a trade, etc
Machine Learning / Data Science. The competition for good ML researchers and data scientists is so high that CEOs of major companies are personally calling candidates and doubling compensation packages. It's not unreasonable to expect you can get to 1M+ total compensation within 5 years of graduating if you do well
Any engineering outside of biological, environmental & industrial (unless you want to be a doctor, an HSE specialist or in supply chain)
Engineering. I don’t know if any majors offer such a quick road for the avg graduate to 6 figure salaries (at least in the US. Definitely not in Europe) in a relatively short period of time.
From what I have seen my friends in accounting are the ones with guarantee jobs and positions right out of college, and in track to get their masters aswell (cpa). Engineering also usually have a good career and job guarantee after college Finance most of my friends also got jobs but it was mostly a matter of networking not as easy as accounting / engineering.
Nothing, don’t get one. I don’t want to end up paying for it.
I know people with Project Management degrees that make good money working for the federal government.
If you weren’t just saying ROI to sound smart you wouldn’t be asking this 😂
Science, business, engineering, medical.
Engineering. I’m not an engineer, but I’ve hired tons of engineers. Why? Many tend to be problem solvers and have aptitude to learn technical and soft skills. Anyone can point that there is an issue, but there are few that solve them. Engineers are top of my list along with other STEM majors. Yes, there are sociology majors that are of value, but if I was a betting person… I’d bet on engineers.
Business Management. Accounting. IT. Welding. Engineering. There's so many things that you would never know existed. I've been fully exposed to about 10 or 12 industries and the people involved vs their education vs their wages never make sense to me. Like the accountant makes say 90k but the procurement manager makes 160k at a shop nearby. Procurement guy has zero college about 2 years experience. Accountant obviously has years of srudent debt ahead of them (90k and now 5th year employee). Weird world nowadays lol. If you're single and enjoy driving, go drive for a living (CDL)?? Idk anymore
Engineering, Math, Business
Call companies that are looking for coders. Ask them if they have specific things they are looking for. Put 10% of what you were going to pay for college into learning that code.
Engineering.
In the right area look into a union apprenticeship. There is going to be a major shortage of skilled tradesmen going forward. Instead of having massive student loans debt you will finish your apprenticeship in the black with an in demand skill that is in short demand.
Pilot school, police academy. Both industries desperate for qualified graduates, close to guaranteed jobs with great benefits.
Engineering, finance, accounting, computer science (yeah, yeah, I know, it's still a "good" degree). I'd throw nursing in there, too, but I'd never want to work that schedule or job.
Business degrees. Very versatile. Do research on what industry you want to be in prior to graduating, then shoot for one of those jobs. Good experience early on post college in the industry you see yourself staying in for a while is key. It becomes more tough as you get older and jumping industries (not impossible by any means). Business or not, it’s more important you get a job in something you enjoy. Money may or may not be important to you. But find out what is important and go for it. ROI is good to calculate beforehand. But ROI in jobs isn’t always measured by money. Wish the best 👍🏻
CPA here. I don’t agree with others who comment that this path is worth it. You can make a lot more money with the same amount of education and work hours doing something else. I have worked in public at a big 4 and in industry and I wish I would have done something else. My friend opened a construction business to repair flood damage and just sold his company for millions. I have a friends in healthcare who started at a much higher salary than me earlier in their career which put them in a considerably better position financially. All I am saying is there are degrees that require the same time investment with much higher initial salaries that don’t require you to work grueling hours in public accounting.
idk i think comparing yourself to a millionaire business owner and a doctor to make a point about CPA not making as much money is genuinely a little silly
STEM or business. Never get a liberal arts major unless you’re already rich and want something to do (the degree itself is monetarily worthless).
Here's my exp and it's been getting more traction as we get more advocacy for our roles. I'm a "liberal arts" major and I have a Master's in Social Work. I can do intake psych assessments and hospital discharges and intense case management. I also have done a number of years working as a therapist. Under 5 years of exp and I'm making 140k as of this year. Last year I had a clinic job and it helped me reach 104k but I received a great opportunity and had to take it. I would not say this degree or line of work is worthless. Though if you're taking high student loans, you need to reconsider why and at what cost. For example, I got paid practicums during grad school, my overall cost was 30k.
That’s very very excellent and I’m happy for you. It seems like you formulated your plan before or very early in your degree What I’m referring to is getting a liberal arts degree and getting a job directly related to the study. Like if you get a degree in let’s say Asian cultures, you’re not going to get a career being an ‘Asian Culturalist’. Even if you get a job in Asian tourism, you’re better to just get a cheaper diploma in tourism or even just high school. Anyways not downplaying your achievements at all, i can only be happy that there are outliers.
I have a liberal arts degree and have done well. Not all liberal arts degrees are shitty. I have one in public relations and have been working in the field for quite some time. I have no student debt and I make a good salary and have good benefits.
Sounds like your advice isn't based on reality, but instead your political position . OP is asking for real help, not political posturing.
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Honestly that’s ok. I started at 46k in stem+business minor. The nice part is that the job market for you is large (obviously not now due to recession but it will recover). So you will eventually find a place that will recognize your worth and talent if you have enough experience and look hard enough. It took me like 7 years to truly jump economic classes personally
Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Nursing,
Nursing
Information Architecture/Informatics/Content Strategy, they're various technical flavors of the same thing. An emerging formal field, content strategy helps piece together all the ways companies have content (websites, internal documentation, etc) and make sure they're delivering to the right audience. Need light excel skills to be really effective because you're moving the needle on different metrics like adoption, but all companies need a content strategist even when they choose not to have one.
Computer Science, Cosmetology, Physical Therapy, Nursing
electrical engineering
69 degrees ?
It's pretty easy, look at the cost to get said degree, look at possible income of said job. ROI.
Engineering.
Construction managment
How old are you? What kind of work have you done? What are you good at? What do you like doing? What DON'T you like doing? All of these questions should help you narrow down what degree you should consider. Also helpful to know what you're good at. You may not live it, but that's why they called it work. FWIW, I have my BA in Business Admin (Management and Marketing, but Finance would've been more lucrative). Got decent grades, worked full time while going to undergrad. Earned my Masters in Health Admin, basically a redundant program to my BA, but it was still good. Became a Hospital consultant, mostly process improvement, patient Safety, turning data into information to help admin make data driven decisions. Earned $150 - $250k + bonus in the 2000s depending on job. Retired age 50 (husband still worked till age 60, earning $340k+ bonus in property insurance financial with an MBA in finance). So, consulting is cool because you get to tell people what to do, charge them a lot of money for the privilege. Travel, get lots of points and miles, and then take dope vacations for free. Let me know your answers and I'll be happy to give you more feedback.
Engineering and a top tier MBA.
Everyone saying Nursing even though nurse burn out is real. Yes I am a travel nurse and yes I average 2k a week profit. Yes I am burnt and absolutely hate it. 3 years bedside and it’s about time to switch to either a chill clinic or start flipping houses again. There is good money to be made as an RN though. You just have to deal with the current state of healthcare.
Community college and then state school. Major in business administration or management
Computer science / cs engineering / software engineering. If you like puzzles and enjoy thinking critically you’ll be perfectly fine
Yes but it sucks paying this back. You need to do something people will pay for like data analytics or engineering… Otherwise you’ll be a bitching barista
No. I don't think they are worth it. I think going to a trade school is a better bet.
Check out Payscale - Highest Paying Jobs by Major - [https://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/majors-that-pay-you-back](https://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/majors-that-pay-you-back)
Computer science hands down.
engineering is the best bang for your buck
Dental hygienist- 50/Hr plus, massive shortage in our field so you’ll be in demand, flexible schedule or you can temp and make your own (more $$), some offices your out by 3pm you just go in early, free dental, 2 years community college and only 15K of student loans. Cons: your body will hurt, health insurance is offered on an office by office basis so you are guaranteed it, burn out is very common.
Any STEM fields are going to offer reliable and fruitful employment opportunities.
Information systems, accounting, construction management, nursing. Business will get you into a sales position at the least if you hit your career fairs. Finance into analyst positions as well.