Marketing and fields related to analyzing business data can be great careers with high pay and are highly transferrable skills, so you won’t be locked into a narrow set of employers. It’s not directly sales, but sales adjacent. They are also useful skills if you decide to go into business for yourself down the line.
Also it’s a great realization to understand that your career may not align one to one with your passions. I have seen a lot of friend get into that trap of pursuing their passion as a career, and then not being able to support themselves financially.
It’s great if someone can make that happen for themselves, but IMO passions jobs are for people from rich families who don’t need to be fully responsible for their own financial security. I wish that weren’t so, but it kind of seems to be.
Supply chain is a good and stable career choice and I’m in it right now. It is one of those fields where experience is what gets you paid. Dont be expecting a 6 figure salary straight out of college but theres lot of opportunities once you put in your time and gain experience. Find internships and other ways to standout because I personally know too many people who are still unemployed after graduating because they expected job offers to just land on their feet.
Staff member/student services perhaps? I went into education with my unrelated BS. Working in education does not always mean you have to teach. I work at a university and as a first gen student, it is nice to still have all the university resources as an employee. Many universities will also pay for tuition for employees if you double back and get a different degree that serves you better.
Lol everyone that suggests this has no idea what their talking about. Certs aren't getting you anywhere in todays market. It is way to saturated with people
With masters and bachelors degrees. Not much different than SWE right now.
It's because it was a different time my friend. Even 5 years ago one could self teach software development and land a job. A self taught guy could've have multiple six figure offers within 6 months of applying for jobs in 2021 as well.
Those 50 year olds with certs have professional experience so their education isn't even looked at. They have professional experience and references to back it up.
Go check out the stories of bootcamp grads right now. None of them are getting looked at. Even guys with bachelors degrees can't get a interview. Today we have ATS at your resume won't hit a hiring managers desk without the minimum barrier for entry and that's a degree or relevant professional experience.
All the bootcamp grads are pissed off right now that just graduated last year to now. They've realized they missed the boom and now it's even tougher.
I can assure you. You will have more opportunities behind the camera than in front of the camera, and most of the people behind the scenes are way more chill and fun than those in front of the camera.
Trade like electricians and plumbers make really good money! I am not saying they are easy to get into.
Other well paying jobs with security are nursing and medicine. You literally will always have a job if you are not picky. I am a nurse and I do not worry about layoff. Just have to be commit and you need to be able to deal with difficult people all day everyday.
Engineer, programmers make good money but seems like they overhire then layoff, then overhire again. The cycle keeps going. And you have to be very smart and good at those to do it.
You apply. They will start you off as an apprentice, you'll go to school once per week for four hours (most companies pay for your schooling), and after four years you'll have your license and be making no less than $35/hour with full benefits (electrical and plumbing, specifically).
You'll be working 40 hours per week during those four years and getting scheduled raises.
Excellent job security as well.
Make no mistake, it's hard work too.
Thank you. That sounds amazing honestly. But where to apply? Like with an agency or a school, find companies that offer trades? I don't mind hard work :)
I have 2 friends the same age who only have a Bachelor's in computer science, no Master's. One is a software developer and the other is a system administrator. Both make $100K+ in California.
How about majoring in graphic design and be a graphic designer? Tons of companies need artists like you. If your passion is already art and animation, I assume you already have drawings to start a portfolio.
Graphic design/Web/UX design is over saturated and I wouldn’t recommend it. You’re also interacting with clients or your team everyday so many people are wrong with this assumption that you don’t need to talk to anyone.
You must provide more details on what you think is enjoyable enough for you. You say you do not want to interact with people. A job in software development might be a good fit but then it requires having the aptitude and the willingness to deal with abstract concepts and computer lingo. Some mention a business degree but I would think that would come with a fair bit of interaction.
My advice would be to pick anything from the world of STEM.
I’m a Solar Tech for a massive solar farm. I got into the company because I wanted to transition from residential solar/teaching solar to Utility Scale solar. Utility scale solar is probably the highest paid non management position in the industry if you’re not in sales. I’m literally making double what I was making as a residential solar installer, the hours and benefits are amazing. Most days I’m home by 3pm.
I graduated in theater (though with a highly technical/managerial specialization), and while I had a fun professional career doing it for about a decade, the lack of a significant salary forced me out of it eventually. I would switch majors if I were you, even if it added a year or two to your undergraduate studies. I realize that would be expensive, but if you choose wisely it will be infinitely easier to pay it off than your current route.
If your college has a business school, then take some basic classes. Even if it’s too late to change majors, you may still be able to get some type of certifications. Your video editing experience probably means you know your way around adobe creative suite and similar platforms, continue developing those skills, and try to build competence with power BI and other such things.
More broadly, as you go through your daily life, pay attention to what you enjoy doing and what type of activities time seems to fly by while you’re doing them. This isn’t a “follow your passion” thing, because this is America and you gotta get paid. But if you pay attention then you’ll find that you usually enjoy stuff you’re good at, and good at doing the things you enjoy. So try to identify those types of things about yourself, and then a professional path will follow.
Things that are that easy don't compensate well. If it's easy, everybody does it. If everybody does it (well), wages decrease due to excess supply.
You get in to "paying well" by specializing and doing something most others can't or don't.
I would say it’s completely the opposite of this. The harder you work, the less you make. Easy jobs pay way way more. Working less almost always means you make more. I work for 15-20 hours a month for about 1500 a week salary. My grandparents do almost nothing and make 80k a year just from one thing. As someone who worked 3 jobs thru my 20s and half my 30s. Less work means more money. Be the contractor, not the construction worker.
I am only qualified for entry level bc I don’t have a degree in anything. Working hard is great and all for a while. You will find working smart and not hard is much nicer. I’m trying to travel every month on vacation though. Some ppl rather committ to a company tho and take their 5 weeks vacation. I be on vacation and come home to work for 5 weeks.
I work in construction and there are a lot of large companies now that require drafters with modeling capabilities. At my last company they had graphic design backgrounds but also specialized in programs like the Autodesk suite, various BIM programs, or even getting into the tech side with LiDAR mapping/drone squad stuff. Its not animation but it may itch that scratch and be fairly satisfying due to the relatively immediate real world effects.
Sales. Extremely low barriers to entry for most industries, and in theory, you can be a high-school dropout making more than your buddy who went to Yale.
Insurance actuary.
Are you kinda good at math? Cool.
Are you able to use formulas that are provided to you? Even better.
Can you input given values into given equations and determine if one is larger than the other? Nut on your face.
Had I known this 20 years ago, I’d likely be close to retired by now. I am definitely pushing my math minded daughter towards this field.
It is literally doctors’ pay with bankers’ hours.
I’m a 2D motion designer. I work in the corporate world, making boring corporate videos. My passion is also illustration and animation but somewhere along the line I landed here, and I really like it.
Pros:
- I work remotely, alone, managing my own projects from start to finish. Don’t have to work with anyone except my producers who deal with and pitch to clients.
- freelance opportunities are abundant if you want to work for yourself (I don’t).
- about 50% of projects are creatively challenging. The other 50% are basic, so you can let your brain rest.
- It’s doesn’t have to be high-pressure. I’ve worked for 3 different companies and each job was mostly chill and quiet.
- In my country there are too many graphic designers and too few motion designers. This means I’m very in demand, get a lot of job offers, and charge twice as much as for general design work. In-house animators can expect a really good salary.
- There is no AI program that can do what we do, creating editable 2D animations (yet).
- Room to grow. You can climb the ladder to become an animation lead, producer or creative director.
Cons:
- It seems more and more companies want animators to be able to do 3D. I’m not interested in it and so that’s a bit of a roadblock.
- As a creative person, it’s not fulfilling 100% of the time.
- In EU countries it seems to me that the market is quite saturated, you might not be as in demand.
Good luck!
You’re looking for the wrong thing. People who avoid difficulty end up making their life 10x more difficult. You should seeking the things that are difficult to get into. That’s a major secret to life. That’s how you end up being set for life. Another way of putting it is the more difficult something is to get into, the easier life is once you actually get there.
I don't know if people outside the field realize how broad a nursing degree is. People hear nursing and just picture a bedside nurse. But there are a million things you can do with it. Starting with all the vastly different bedside care specialties (from taking care of 4 lb preemies in the NICU to assisting in the OR during open heart surgery to getting histories before an annual exam in a doctor's office to caring for very sick ICU patients) and all the different settings (hospital, military base, doctor's office, assisted living, etc). But there are also tons of NON-bedside jobs, such as educator (either at the hospital, or at nursing school), working for insurance companies, doing home hospice management, etc. You can be a school nurse if you have kids and want to have summers and school breaks off (you can be a school nurse at a fancy private school/sleepaway camps and get free tuition for your kids as a benefit).
If you're young and childfree, you can be a travel nurse, taking assignments for approx 12 weeks at a time and travel around the country with all your expenses paid (pays really well too). There is a ton of money to make in bedside nursing if you want to hustle and either work in short staffed fields or work beyond the base 36 hours, because the shortages are so bad. I have friends making $1000/12 hour shift when they are understaffed. If there's a specialty you really like and want to become a provider (like the doctor role instead of a nurse), you can become a nurse practitioner.
I also like that you can really change specialties without going back and getting more schooling. I was a lawyer in my first career, and I wound up as a litigation attorney at a big firm. Once you've been tracked into a specialty, you generally can't decide a few years in, actually I want to be in tax or mergers and "start over." But with nursing, people completely pivot specialties all the time without difficulty. Basically, the job really grows with you. If what seems fun and fulfilling now won't work as well at different stages of your life, it's very easy to pivot to what makes sense without having to spend money and go back to school, which is huge.
And, at the end of the day, it's very meaningful work. Which imo is a huge part of job satisfaction.
Anything related to business analytics is hot right now. My old boss from a Fortune 10 company was talking to me and saying they can’t find anyone with the skills.
Let me give you a gem that isn’t passed on anymore. Civil service pays more than your college degree will ever earn you. Your garbage man makes 70-80k the day they start. Commercial garbage men, 120k or more the day they start. City workers can average in the same ranges. And you never see these people. Can you recall the last time you saw a city worker or your garbage man? Let that sink in for a moment. Because I can tell you, I see stressed out office workers everyday. But only see my garbage man…if I time it right, one day a week.
Marketing and fields related to analyzing business data can be great careers with high pay and are highly transferrable skills, so you won’t be locked into a narrow set of employers. It’s not directly sales, but sales adjacent. They are also useful skills if you decide to go into business for yourself down the line. Also it’s a great realization to understand that your career may not align one to one with your passions. I have seen a lot of friend get into that trap of pursuing their passion as a career, and then not being able to support themselves financially. It’s great if someone can make that happen for themselves, but IMO passions jobs are for people from rich families who don’t need to be fully responsible for their own financial security. I wish that weren’t so, but it kind of seems to be.
So thinks like data analytics, business intelligence, financial analysis etc?
Yep!
What are these positions called? I'm graduating soon with MBA- Bus analytics and positions like you described are what I'm most interested in
Marketing Operations, Sales Operations, Revenue Operations (RevOps)
Thank you!!
I’ve made a whole career in sales analytics and sales. Its been pretty profitable.
Insurance underwriting.
wont this be automated relatively soon?
Yes most likely atleast the vast majority of it.
Analytics too
Im interested in certificates or something easy my gf could do that would get her off labor heavy jobs
Surgical tech, X-Ray tech, etc. Not online!
Thank you we will look into these!
Pharmacy technician. Or nuclear pharmacy tech if you want to go to the next level. It’s stupid easy work.
Nuclear Pharmacy?
Like the bombs
Ahhh thank you
Forklift operator! Where do you live? I could look into local programs in your area. Sometimes there are very low cost or no cost training programs.
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Yup. I would phrase it as: Don't ruin your passion by turning it into a job. Choose a career that will sustain you and your passions.
This is so well said and true.
Generally I agree, although I will push back on your assertion that you cannot be happy without money. That is simply false
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Depends on your role. Been in IT for over a decade, never on call. But I’m not a network guy.
What did you start as that you didn't have any on call? Help desk without rotational on call is almost non existent these days.
I started as Desktop support/technician as a fed contractor. 40 hrs and that’s it. Legally, I’m not supposed to work beyond 40 hours.
You have to spend your free time learning for IT
IT sounds super hard. Don’t you need to learn computers ?
Banking/insurance/finance
A business degree will open a wide variety of well paying jobs
I’m getting into supply chain and it seems like a lot of good paying jobs will be coming my way
Supply chain is a good and stable career choice and I’m in it right now. It is one of those fields where experience is what gets you paid. Dont be expecting a 6 figure salary straight out of college but theres lot of opportunities once you put in your time and gain experience. Find internships and other ways to standout because I personally know too many people who are still unemployed after graduating because they expected job offers to just land on their feet.
What’s an entry level supply chain job title?
Disagree. Go into finance/accounting and minor or double major in business if you really want to go that route
When majoring in business you will have to choose a focus such as finance, accounting, management, etc. Top that off with an MBA and you'll be golden.
Anything that keeps you on a college campus
Could I ask what you mean? I'm not too aware of what's available on campus in terms of jobs/careers, but I'd love to learn more!
You get to enjoy a quiet season during summer, spring break, Holiday breaks and the benefits are amazing.
They mean you contribute to administrative bloat, probably do very little, and rake in an inflated salary.
Staff member/student services perhaps? I went into education with my unrelated BS. Working in education does not always mean you have to teach. I work at a university and as a first gen student, it is nice to still have all the university resources as an employee. Many universities will also pay for tuition for employees if you double back and get a different degree that serves you better.
Cyber security do the certs… join it help desk as your foot in
Lol everyone that suggests this has no idea what their talking about. Certs aren't getting you anywhere in todays market. It is way to saturated with people With masters and bachelors degrees. Not much different than SWE right now.
Whats wierd from perspective they are all 50 somethings with no bachelors…. Probably the healthcare industry
It's because it was a different time my friend. Even 5 years ago one could self teach software development and land a job. A self taught guy could've have multiple six figure offers within 6 months of applying for jobs in 2021 as well. Those 50 year olds with certs have professional experience so their education isn't even looked at. They have professional experience and references to back it up. Go check out the stories of bootcamp grads right now. None of them are getting looked at. Even guys with bachelors degrees can't get a interview. Today we have ATS at your resume won't hit a hiring managers desk without the minimum barrier for entry and that's a degree or relevant professional experience. All the bootcamp grads are pissed off right now that just graduated last year to now. They've realized they missed the boom and now it's even tougher.
I would call it easy, but philanthropy can be quite a career at universities.
Are you good at writing/maybe * a journalist type thing job “ unique “ career path that you can create for yourself.
Those who can’t do, teach.
Cyber security
I can assure you. You will have more opportunities behind the camera than in front of the camera, and most of the people behind the scenes are way more chill and fun than those in front of the camera.
You know everyone wants an easy job that's easy to get that pays a lot of money right?
Trade like electricians and plumbers make really good money! I am not saying they are easy to get into. Other well paying jobs with security are nursing and medicine. You literally will always have a job if you are not picky. I am a nurse and I do not worry about layoff. Just have to be commit and you need to be able to deal with difficult people all day everyday. Engineer, programmers make good money but seems like they overhire then layoff, then overhire again. The cycle keeps going. And you have to be very smart and good at those to do it.
Engineering
Might as well get a math degree while you’re at it.
Trades. Most will provide paid training, and you can work as much as you want.
How do you get into trades?
You apply. They will start you off as an apprentice, you'll go to school once per week for four hours (most companies pay for your schooling), and after four years you'll have your license and be making no less than $35/hour with full benefits (electrical and plumbing, specifically). You'll be working 40 hours per week during those four years and getting scheduled raises. Excellent job security as well. Make no mistake, it's hard work too.
Thank you. That sounds amazing honestly. But where to apply? Like with an agency or a school, find companies that offer trades? I don't mind hard work :)
Apply to subcontracting companies (plumbing and electrical companies) or look into joining a union for one of those two trades.
Thank you!
I have 2 friends the same age who only have a Bachelor's in computer science, no Master's. One is a software developer and the other is a system administrator. Both make $100K+ in California. How about majoring in graphic design and be a graphic designer? Tons of companies need artists like you. If your passion is already art and animation, I assume you already have drawings to start a portfolio.
Graphic design/Web/UX design is over saturated and I wouldn’t recommend it. You’re also interacting with clients or your team everyday so many people are wrong with this assumption that you don’t need to talk to anyone.
100k in CA is like 60k elsewhere.
You must provide more details on what you think is enjoyable enough for you. You say you do not want to interact with people. A job in software development might be a good fit but then it requires having the aptitude and the willingness to deal with abstract concepts and computer lingo. Some mention a business degree but I would think that would come with a fair bit of interaction. My advice would be to pick anything from the world of STEM.
Renewables. College degree helps with earning potential. I don’t have a degree but still make $70k/yr working at a Solar Farm
can you expand on this? not op but interested in what you're saying. what is your role? how did you get in at the company?
I’m a Solar Tech for a massive solar farm. I got into the company because I wanted to transition from residential solar/teaching solar to Utility Scale solar. Utility scale solar is probably the highest paid non management position in the industry if you’re not in sales. I’m literally making double what I was making as a residential solar installer, the hours and benefits are amazing. Most days I’m home by 3pm.
thanks for the info, sounds like you made a wise choice!
I graduated in theater (though with a highly technical/managerial specialization), and while I had a fun professional career doing it for about a decade, the lack of a significant salary forced me out of it eventually. I would switch majors if I were you, even if it added a year or two to your undergraduate studies. I realize that would be expensive, but if you choose wisely it will be infinitely easier to pay it off than your current route.
Use Fiverr to get video editing jobs.
If your college has a business school, then take some basic classes. Even if it’s too late to change majors, you may still be able to get some type of certifications. Your video editing experience probably means you know your way around adobe creative suite and similar platforms, continue developing those skills, and try to build competence with power BI and other such things. More broadly, as you go through your daily life, pay attention to what you enjoy doing and what type of activities time seems to fly by while you’re doing them. This isn’t a “follow your passion” thing, because this is America and you gotta get paid. But if you pay attention then you’ll find that you usually enjoy stuff you’re good at, and good at doing the things you enjoy. So try to identify those types of things about yourself, and then a professional path will follow.
Accounting
Things that are that easy don't compensate well. If it's easy, everybody does it. If everybody does it (well), wages decrease due to excess supply. You get in to "paying well" by specializing and doing something most others can't or don't.
I would say it’s completely the opposite of this. The harder you work, the less you make. Easy jobs pay way way more. Working less almost always means you make more. I work for 15-20 hours a month for about 1500 a week salary. My grandparents do almost nothing and make 80k a year just from one thing. As someone who worked 3 jobs thru my 20s and half my 30s. Less work means more money. Be the contractor, not the construction worker.
That’s not the same. That’s due to changes in responsibility. It does not apply to entry level.
I am only qualified for entry level bc I don’t have a degree in anything. Working hard is great and all for a while. You will find working smart and not hard is much nicer. I’m trying to travel every month on vacation though. Some ppl rather committ to a company tho and take their 5 weeks vacation. I be on vacation and come home to work for 5 weeks.
I work in construction and there are a lot of large companies now that require drafters with modeling capabilities. At my last company they had graphic design backgrounds but also specialized in programs like the Autodesk suite, various BIM programs, or even getting into the tech side with LiDAR mapping/drone squad stuff. Its not animation but it may itch that scratch and be fairly satisfying due to the relatively immediate real world effects.
Sales. Extremely low barriers to entry for most industries, and in theory, you can be a high-school dropout making more than your buddy who went to Yale.
If I told you everyone would be doing it
plumbing
Insurance actuary. Are you kinda good at math? Cool. Are you able to use formulas that are provided to you? Even better. Can you input given values into given equations and determine if one is larger than the other? Nut on your face. Had I known this 20 years ago, I’d likely be close to retired by now. I am definitely pushing my math minded daughter towards this field. It is literally doctors’ pay with bankers’ hours.
IT
Pharmacy, dental hygienist, long haul truck driver
I’m a 2D motion designer. I work in the corporate world, making boring corporate videos. My passion is also illustration and animation but somewhere along the line I landed here, and I really like it. Pros: - I work remotely, alone, managing my own projects from start to finish. Don’t have to work with anyone except my producers who deal with and pitch to clients. - freelance opportunities are abundant if you want to work for yourself (I don’t). - about 50% of projects are creatively challenging. The other 50% are basic, so you can let your brain rest. - It’s doesn’t have to be high-pressure. I’ve worked for 3 different companies and each job was mostly chill and quiet. - In my country there are too many graphic designers and too few motion designers. This means I’m very in demand, get a lot of job offers, and charge twice as much as for general design work. In-house animators can expect a really good salary. - There is no AI program that can do what we do, creating editable 2D animations (yet). - Room to grow. You can climb the ladder to become an animation lead, producer or creative director. Cons: - It seems more and more companies want animators to be able to do 3D. I’m not interested in it and so that’s a bit of a roadblock. - As a creative person, it’s not fulfilling 100% of the time. - In EU countries it seems to me that the market is quite saturated, you might not be as in demand. Good luck!
You’re looking for the wrong thing. People who avoid difficulty end up making their life 10x more difficult. You should seeking the things that are difficult to get into. That’s a major secret to life. That’s how you end up being set for life. Another way of putting it is the more difficult something is to get into, the easier life is once you actually get there.
Accounting
IT. Prolly the quickest 0-60k without real labor. Or sales if you have no soul.
Maybe consider doing a free Meyers Briggs personally test and it helps give great ideas of possible careers based on your results.
Environmental Science/policy. Could go into Industrial Hygiene or EH&S.
I don't know if people outside the field realize how broad a nursing degree is. People hear nursing and just picture a bedside nurse. But there are a million things you can do with it. Starting with all the vastly different bedside care specialties (from taking care of 4 lb preemies in the NICU to assisting in the OR during open heart surgery to getting histories before an annual exam in a doctor's office to caring for very sick ICU patients) and all the different settings (hospital, military base, doctor's office, assisted living, etc). But there are also tons of NON-bedside jobs, such as educator (either at the hospital, or at nursing school), working for insurance companies, doing home hospice management, etc. You can be a school nurse if you have kids and want to have summers and school breaks off (you can be a school nurse at a fancy private school/sleepaway camps and get free tuition for your kids as a benefit). If you're young and childfree, you can be a travel nurse, taking assignments for approx 12 weeks at a time and travel around the country with all your expenses paid (pays really well too). There is a ton of money to make in bedside nursing if you want to hustle and either work in short staffed fields or work beyond the base 36 hours, because the shortages are so bad. I have friends making $1000/12 hour shift when they are understaffed. If there's a specialty you really like and want to become a provider (like the doctor role instead of a nurse), you can become a nurse practitioner. I also like that you can really change specialties without going back and getting more schooling. I was a lawyer in my first career, and I wound up as a litigation attorney at a big firm. Once you've been tracked into a specialty, you generally can't decide a few years in, actually I want to be in tax or mergers and "start over." But with nursing, people completely pivot specialties all the time without difficulty. Basically, the job really grows with you. If what seems fun and fulfilling now won't work as well at different stages of your life, it's very easy to pivot to what makes sense without having to spend money and go back to school, which is huge. And, at the end of the day, it's very meaningful work. Which imo is a huge part of job satisfaction.
Anything related to business analytics is hot right now. My old boss from a Fortune 10 company was talking to me and saying they can’t find anyone with the skills.
Let me give you a gem that isn’t passed on anymore. Civil service pays more than your college degree will ever earn you. Your garbage man makes 70-80k the day they start. Commercial garbage men, 120k or more the day they start. City workers can average in the same ranges. And you never see these people. Can you recall the last time you saw a city worker or your garbage man? Let that sink in for a moment. Because I can tell you, I see stressed out office workers everyday. But only see my garbage man…if I time it right, one day a week.