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I've got two degrees and am working on my third (terminal) degree. I don't regret any of them and thanks to scholarships and working through school, I'll have less debt from my three degrees (two of which are at expensive private schools) than someone who borrows their way through a public university for a bachelors. My degrees have helped me get decent jobs in theater, which is an incredibly competitive field. Without my degrees, I would not have even been considered for some of the work I have done, even though I could probably have done the work without them. My degrees and work ethic have also helped me find good day jobs when things are slow. At the moment I have a boss who bends over backwards to work with my show schedule because I am a very good employee and our clients love me because I do my job well. The education part of my resume got me the interview and the skills I developed working my way through school got me the job.
A degree is only worthless if you can't figure out how it makes you marketable. My BF was a math major and has never had a problem finding work. He did well in stats and quantitative analysis and convinced a media analysis company to hire him (in the fall of 2008 no less when the economy took a nose dive). He's flying through the ranks because he's very smart and works efficiently- he's not lazy and does his job well, which is rarer and rarer these days. He didn't expect anyone to give him a job because he had a degree. He simply figured out how to market his math skills to make him invaluable. In a few years, when he's gone as far as he can without an MBA, his company will pay for him to go to school so they can promote him again. All this with a "useless" math degree and a little gumption.
Biology, physics, chemistry, forestry, astronomy, geology... LOADS of jobs to be had.
That pay less than $20 an hour most arround $15 and have no benefits nor job security nor advancement potential. You're better off getting a decent blue collar job than wasting time in college for a science degree.
There is such a shortage of scientists that companies don't even have to hire them anymore. They just go to the staffing agency, use them as they see fit then toss them into the wind and replace them just as easily. I would like the nominate the scientist shortage for most pathetic yet most pervassive and enduring BS ever spread.
That pay less than $20 an hour most arround $15 and have no benefits nor job security nor advancement potential. You're better off getting a decent blue collar job than wasting time in college for a science degree.
There is such a shortage of scientists that companies don't even have to hire them anymore. They just go to the staffing agency, use them as they see fit then toss them into the wind and replace them just as easily. I would like the nominate the scientist shortage for most pathetic yet most pervassive and enduring BS ever spread.
usajobs.gov
No entry level position will pay the big bucks, but you can see some of the GS12+ federal jobs pay well into the 6 figure range.
The MINIMUM requirements for GS12 past a college degree would be about 7 years of experience if you're a good worker and apply for higher pay grades.
7 years of experience and 6 figures ain't bad, bucko. Don't expect to make big bucks off the bat. Even engineers rarely make more than 40-50k in an entry level position.
I've got two degrees and am working on my third (terminal) degree. I don't regret any of them and thanks to scholarships and working through school, I'll have less debt from my three degrees (two of which are at expensive private schools) than someone who borrows their way through a public university for a bachelors. My degrees have helped me get decent jobs in theater, which is an incredibly competitive field. Without my degrees, I would not have even been considered for some of the work I have done, even though I could probably have done the work without them. My degrees and work ethic have also helped me find good day jobs when things are slow. At the moment I have a boss who bends over backwards to work with my show schedule because I am a very good employee and our clients love me because I do my job well. The education part of my resume got me the interview and the skills I developed working my way through school got me the job.
A degree is only worthless if you can't figure out how it makes you marketable. My BF was a math major and has never had a problem finding work. He did well in stats and quantitative analysis and convinced a media analysis company to hire him (in the fall of 2008 no less when the economy took a nose dive). He's flying through the ranks because he's very smart and works efficiently- he's not lazy and does his job well, which is rarer and rarer these days. He didn't expect anyone to give him a job because he had a degree. He simply figured out how to market his math skills to make him invaluable. In a few years, when he's gone as far as he can without an MBA, his company will pay for him to go to school so they can promote him again. All this with a "useless" math degree and a little gumption.
Yeah, but don't you know? If you're not living in an oceanside home in California propped up on stilts after a year of work, you're not getting a good job!
Like jobs that don't require degrees that are outside of their field pay any better.
I went from working a 9$ an hour job before my degree to moving to Michigan to work a 33$ an hour job in a place where a house in a NICE walkable suburb can be had for under $200k, some even under $150k.
After my move I'm looking to buy a boat, as I'll be living near Lake St. Clair, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie. I'll have a lot of free time off, so I can go fishing in my leisure. My fiance originally planned on having to work but she won't have to, if she does, it will supplement our income greatly and will be for her own extra spending. We've got our eyes on a nice 3br house and plans of starting a family in the next few years.
I'm glad I didn't stick with working in a factory in Kentucky and got an education.
No matter WHAT these people will tell you, a degree can be the difference between having to work hard for the rest of your life in a factory, just barely scraping by, or doing something you love in a place you love.
In my case it wasn't a crap shoot. I had no debt coming out of college because I worked hard and didn't deem myself "too good" to seek assistance, applying for literally HUNDREDS of scholarships (my total awarded amount throughout my 5 years here has been well over 30k).
I even have some money left over. I've got my masters degree and now am less than a month from living in my favorite place on the planet, doing what I've always dreamed of.
I'm frugal and I worked hard. I got my degree, I'm living the American dream.
Go to school, even if you don't get results (unlikely event), at least you can say you tried!
100% agree. This board is ripe with posts about people graduating deep in debt and not finding a job. However, no one speaks to the number of factory workers laid off over the years who don't have any applicable job skills besides what they did at the factory. Grass is always greener.
This is why I went into business for myself.... I felt like I had a lot more control over my career/destiny.... I can rely completely on my own skills and not on someone else giving me a job.... There is great freedom in that and it is "worthwhile" to me.
I second this, due to my particular circumstances it seemed like I would have a much better chance succeeding in business than finding an interesting and well paying job in my field.
Entrepreneurship is complex and has a high rate of failure.
People say this sort of rubbish all the time, the reality is much less grim. The whole "high rate of failure" thing is largely a myth, in most statistics a closure is considered a failure. If you define a failure has an actual loss than the failure rates are pretty modest.
Regardless, the amount of risk you expose yourself is totally dependent on the nature of your business. I started my business as a little side-project 4 years ago for $500 while still employed. There was little to no financial risk, even if the idea did not work out I could have gotten most of my $500 back.
If you bootstrap your business the main issue is opportunity costs, but if you're out of work or having trouble finding a good job then the opportunity costs are low or zero.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JS1
Where is one supposed to get all this money to re-start new businesses?
Not all business require a lot of money to start, there is a huge spectrum of capital requirements. Some can be started with a few hundred, some take 100's of millions. If you are short on capital, then you need to think about businesses that can be bootstrapped.
We have 4 projects on the table that we are thinking about that all would cost less than $2,000 to start-up, yet within months they should be pessimistically generating $1,000~$2,000 gross profit a month.
Thank you for clearing that up. What business project did you start for $500? What are the other 4 business projects that you speak about?
Quote:
Originally Posted by user_id
Regardless, the amount of risk you expose yourself is totally dependent on the nature of your business. I started my business as a little side-project 4 years ago for $500 while still employed. There was little to no financial risk, even if the idea did not work out I could have gotten most of my $500 back.
If you bootstrap your business the main issue is opportunity costs, but if you're out of work or having trouble finding a good job then the opportunity costs are low or zero.
Not all business require a lot of money to start, there is a huge spectrum of capital requirements. Some can be started with a few hundred, some take 100's of millions. If you are short on capital, then you need to think about businesses that can be bootstrapped.
We have 4 projects on the table that we are thinking about that all would cost less than $2,000 to start-up, yet within months they should be pessimistically generating $1,000~$2,000 gross profit a month.
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