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I don't really want to go to college- I have neither the drive nor the grades, to do very well. I dont have the ambition to go for a big degree and get an incredibly well paying job, that simply isnt what I find value in for life. I'm not concerned with materialism or "success". Obviously though, I do want a job thats above minimum wage. I've heard people on TL, and other sites, launch complaints that they went into college when they weren't ready, without experience- and that they should have gotten a job before hand, perhaps sticking with it. So I'm wondering now:
1) Should I avoid college and try to find a decent- not a great- but a decent job? If so, what kind of job would pay decently without a college degree? I'm seriously thinking of mailman!
2) Should I go to college and pick up a random one year degree just to boost my resume, and then go out into the work force as thus?
Really, whats the job market like? Is college essential for anything and everything above mc donalds? Or is just essential for more prestigious white collar jobs? Sorry if this is in the wrong area, it might do better in a blog?
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Kennigit
Canada19447 Posts
1) Military
2) Oil Sands/Fort McMurray
Graduates this year in Canada have had the worst out-of-college employment success EVER due to the recession. Most of my friends who graduated a couple months ago have zero idea where to work and are either doing masters or mcdonalds till they get something. Obviously im super biased but maybe you should consider something that wont leave you in a 9-5 desk job (ie cop, military, RCMP, Fireman, etc etc). Actually for cop you'd probably want to do Police Foundations at a local college. RCMP is on a huge hiring craze right now so maybe you should investigate that. Just be proactive to find something you want to do with your life.
If you want quick fast cash then go Fort McMurray or to Saskatchewan (i think they have oil sands too).
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as far as I can tell what college does is raise the level of where you enter the workforce. if you try to find work straight out of high school you will have trouble finding something above minimum wage, but if you pick the job right and work reasonably hard at it you should be able to make a career out of in the long term (f.ex, in management if you were to work at mcdonald's). what college would do is let you skip the entry-level minimum wage bit. I personally consider higher-level education worth it in number of years you get to skip vs number of years spent going to school, but that's of course my own view and yours is likely to be different. I don't know anything about random one year degrees but from this point of view I suspect they wouldn't really be worth it.
if you do go for a job, try and pick one that has good opportunities in the long term, so even if you are starting at the bottom you know you have somewhere to go.
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You won't get anywhere without a degree or proper training at a college.
That is to say:
- BA's mean shit now. It doesn't matter where you get it. University is about three things:
1) Good GPA. As long as you keep increasing your GPA then you're good. I know professors who got B-'s within their first year and still made it to the top.
2) Connections. Building a social network is key to your studies.
3) It's where you do your Post Grad studies that count.
I would recommend you check out some colleges. You need the hands on-skills to get you a trade/career.
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find something you enjoy doing and put all of your effort in to that. If you don't want to go to college I would find a 1-2 year professional degree. I know my mom was a stay at home mom all her life who never worked- but now after working at walmart is becoming an appraiser.
Although I would really reconsider getting a degree. Even if it is from a tiny community college it does really matter. My dad who worked for 28 years at TI but was recently laid off is having problems getting a job that pays similarly because he never got a 4 year degree , just a 2 year technical.
So give college a chance? It really is a lot different than high school. I quite enjoyed my first year.
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The job market is pretty terrible right now. It'll be very difficult finding anything above minimum wage. With all the outsourcing occurring right now, it becoming increasingly difficult to establish a stable, well-paying career without a college degree. I think you should really consider getting a random 1 or 2 year degree. That way, you'll have a better resume and you'll be able to wait out the recession. From what I've heard, some well-paying career options are:
Construction
Mining
Fishing
Law enforcement
All those are pretty dangerous so basically, they're paying you to risk your life/health. If you don't want that, you can try some service-level jobs like sales or reception.
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Find a career, not a job. You're young, don't settle for something you'd hate doing in 5 years. With that being said, you can obviously take whatever job you want to pay the bills right now.
To be quite honest, in this day and age, it's a pretty silly decision not to attend college. It's perfectly fine if you're not materialistic, but why settle for a shitty job when you can have a good one. Even if you don't care about "success," in whatever capacity you define it, earning a BA/BS/etc give you the option of greater choice.
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its my understanding that even with a degree it isnt easy to get a job right now, let alone flourish in a career.
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On June 08 2009 04:01 Showtime! wrote:
You won't get anywhere without a degree or proper training at a college.
That is to say:
- BA's mean shit now. It doesn't matter where you get it. University is about three things:
1) Good GPA. As long as you keep increasing your GPA then you're good. I know professors who got B-'s within their first year and still made it to the top.
2) Connections. Building a social network is key to your studies.
3) It's where you do your Post Grad studies that count.
I would recommend you check out some colleges. You need the hands on-skills to get you a trade/career. I would respectfully disagree with the first point.
Good GPA's can help but many businesses that I've dealt with look for the completed degree first then the GPA.
I have some friends who shot for C's all through college and graduated with a solid 2.5 or less and still landed pretty good jobs upon graduating.
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On June 08 2009 04:07 LuckyFool wrote:Show nested quote +On June 08 2009 04:01 Showtime! wrote:
You won't get anywhere without a degree or proper training at a college.
That is to say:
- BA's mean shit now. It doesn't matter where you get it. University is about three things:
1) Good GPA. As long as you keep increasing your GPA then you're good. I know professors who got B-'s within their first year and still made it to the top.
2) Connections. Building a social network is key to your studies.
3) It's where you do your Post Grad studies that count.
I would recommend you check out some colleges. You need the hands on-skills to get you a trade/career. I would respectfully disagree with the first point. Good GPA's can help but many businesses that I've dealt with look for the completed degree first then the GPA. I have some friends who shot for C's all through college and graduated with a solid 2.5 or less and still landed pretty good jobs upon graduating.
I think many people will have a problem with your definition of a "pretty good" job.
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There are many economic experts [primarily from the austrian school, so im sure any liberal will discard this!) who claim the over-specialization of the economy, the lack of blue collar, remedial, production based jobs was due to the very bubble that is now popping, and as a result, the western economies will shrink and revert to less college based jobs. Time warp back to the 1970's. Thats just what I was thinking. School is terrible for me as a person, and I have a lack of faith in whatever career I decide to get a degree in, actually being there in another ten years.
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College is essential for job security. You might think about it this way: primary school hasn't always been public, but it is now, and everyone goes. High school hasn't always been public, but it is now, and everyone goes. College is on the cusp of this change right now -- by the time you're middle aged, a college degree will probably be as standard as a high school degree and you'll be left without one, severely impacting your employability and job security.
Plus, college is a lot of fucking fun and it basically gives you the opportunity to dick around for a few years with very little consequence.
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On June 08 2009 04:09 InsideTheBox wrote:Show nested quote +On June 08 2009 04:07 LuckyFool wrote:On June 08 2009 04:01 Showtime! wrote:
You won't get anywhere without a degree or proper training at a college.
That is to say:
- BA's mean shit now. It doesn't matter where you get it. University is about three things:
1) Good GPA. As long as you keep increasing your GPA then you're good. I know professors who got B-'s within their first year and still made it to the top.
2) Connections. Building a social network is key to your studies.
3) It's where you do your Post Grad studies that count.
I would recommend you check out some colleges. You need the hands on-skills to get you a trade/career. I would respectfully disagree with the first point. Good GPA's can help but many businesses that I've dealt with look for the completed degree first then the GPA. I have some friends who shot for C's all through college and graduated with a solid 2.5 or less and still landed pretty good jobs upon graduating. I think many people will have a problem with your definition of a "pretty good" job.
I doubt they will. I wouldn't, for one. If you spend your time in college on building up your professional contacts instead, and graduate with the degree, you're ahead of the person who graduates but knows nobody in the industry even if s/he happens to be on the dean's list or whatever (and definitely ahead of the person who has a higher GPA but just below the required cutoff).
But hey, what do i know, right?
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Four years at your age isn't much of a time investment because the amount you'd earn by working isn't enough. The boost college will give your resume though is pretty big. Consider your options.
School
1) Four years not working
2) Four years of tuition
Work
1) Immediate money
Think which one is worth more ten years from now. Obviously, I'm telling you to go to college, but try to be objective. As mentioned earlier, the value of "Work" now should be pretty small for you since you don't expect to get a good paying job out of high school.
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On June 08 2009 04:12 Dazed_Spy wrote:
There are many economic experts [primarily from the austrian school, so im sure any liberal will discard this!) who claim the over-specialization of the economy, the lack of blue collar, remedial, production based jobs was due to the very bubble that is now popping, and as a result, the western economies will shrink and revert to less college based jobs. Time warp back to the 1970's. Thats just what I was thinking. School is terrible for me as a person, and I have a lack of faith in whatever career I decide to get a degree in, actually being there in another ten years.
Don't forget the human aspect of college. You will build so many contacts with so many people who will be successful / helpful to your future.
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pharmacy technician, radiology technician, almost any tech job related to medicine isn't a bad job. some of them, you might need 1-2 years of training/ or some minor degree, but they get paid pretty decent. (radiation oncology, the machine technicians start around 60k$)
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On June 08 2009 04:07 LuckyFool wrote:Show nested quote +On June 08 2009 04:01 Showtime! wrote:
1) Good GPA. As long as you keep increasing your GPA then you're good. I know professors who got B-'s within their first year and still made it to the top.
I would respectfully disagree with the first point. Good GPA's can help but many businesses that I've dealt with look for the completed degree first then the GPA. I have some friends who shot for C's all through college and graduated with a solid 2.5 or less and still landed pretty good jobs upon graduating.
You misinterpreted what I said then.
I'll try to be more clear. You could drink/socialize all you want your first year and have a low GPA and still land a good job; for example, professor or CEO.
As long as your grades increase every year you will be fine.
My Mom has been the CEO & president of several job hunting/specialist firms for over 20 years. This list includes Saber Consulting, CNC and Hays Personnel. This information also comes from George Karlis, who has been a professor at the University of Ottawa for several decades.
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Snet
United States3573 Posts
If you don't want to go to college I would suggest something like the military. That will be an equally appealing resume booster as college, and you can get experience in whatever area they throw you in. It's especially good since you don't really care what you do or have any life long dreams. You'll be flexible and open minded, great for the military imo.
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I don't know what it's like in Canada...
But in the US, even having a college degree doesn't guarantee you a good "high paying" job. It doesn't even guarantee you a job above minimum wage. You're more likely to get a decently paying wage job, and way more likely than a non-college grad to get a decent salary job, but by far does it not guarantee "material success".
College is still extremely valuable, though. Putting aside the job options it opens in the future, it's also an excellent experience. You're forced to grow up quite a bit very quickly living by yourself and handling things by yourself. Even if your parents are paying for your tuition, you're being thrust into a world much larger and much more unforgiving than high school. It will also teach you social skills that are very important in the professional world.
Now going back to job options...I said it doesn't guarantee you anything above, but that is no reason to ditch out on it. It does guarantee opportunities, and that's more than enough to make a college degree worth it.
Dont brush off a college education on the basis of, "oh I'm not interested in material success/I don't need money". I only hear that from two people: first, from people still in high school who can't really decide whether to go to college or not for one reason or another (like OP), or second, from people who were somehow cockblocked from college, are bitter about it, and try to push a stupid excuse like that.
For the former category...you just don't know how important money is. I don't mean offense, but I highly doubt you've matured enough for that to sink in. The kind of job security and opportunity that a college degree would allow for is superior by leaps and bounds to just a high school degree or GED (in the US).
Money is ridiculously fucking important. You'll be able to get by working minimum wage jobs for now, but once you start getting older and think about relationships/families, it starts getting very, very complicated. As you get older and become more and more independent from your parents and the rest of your family, the issues will start piling up. Car, medical, dental insurance, rent, utilities, living expenses...they all pile up into something nasty and horrendous.
I'm not saying you need a college degree in order to make money, but you do need to think about how you'll make money. College is a very good way to make better money in the future, and is one of the safest options you can take. That's all it is.
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On June 08 2009 04:12 Dazed_Spy wrote:
There are many economic experts [primarily from the austrian school, so im sure any liberal will discard this!) who claim the over-specialization of the economy, the lack of blue collar, remedial, production based jobs was due to the very bubble that is now popping, and as a result, the western economies will shrink and revert to less college based jobs. Time warp back to the 1970's. Thats just what I was thinking. School is terrible for me as a person, and I have a lack of faith in whatever career I decide to get a degree in, actually being there in another ten years.
This would be a decent hypothesis if it weren't for the fact that so many people go to college. Whether or not the job requires a degree is irrelevant to the fact that a degree makes you more desirable to people hiring. Since the US government is stepping up attempts to get even *more* people to go to college, the bachelor's degree slips ever closer to being a mere minimum requirement to perform any job whatsoever.
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EPT
