Good jobs without college/long education

There seems to be something to this.

My dad did clerical work his whole career. He enjoyed it.

I would never want a career as a clerical worker but in my job there is paperwork that needs to be done and I enjoy that aspect of it a lot more than my coworkers.

So based on my experience it can be said that work we enjoy is in the genes.

 

I'd be interested to know: what do you currently do? Always fascinated by what people end up in and how far it deviates from their own parents.

It's definitely something in the genes/environment combo. My partner come from a long line of entertainers: musicians, comedians, variety performers... people who are just comfortable on stage going back to the late 19th century. As a result, she is, for whatever reason, effortlessly good on stage. She has been singing, dancing or acting in public from the age of 4. She oozes charisma, and her stage fright is nonexistent. It is literally in her blood.

When I had aspirations (or delusions) of making it in music, I booked her band while doing promotions and we got close not long after. After 4+ years of trying and failing, I took a long hard look and saw that she, and other people who end up in the performing arts, all have experiences and genetic influences that I don't have. More importantly, I realised I don't actually enjoy the day-to-day aspects of performing music. I toured with a band for 3 weeks and I hated most of it. Never sleeping in the same place twice, feeling dirty and grimey 95% of the time, waiting around for other people, never having your own space or your own time, all for 20-30 minutes of 'glory'. Worth noting that my parents are an engineer/software developer and an insurance analyst.

 

I’m an aircraft mechanic. There’s a common phrase we use in aviation: Another plane flies another tree dies.

Lots of paperwork involved with all aspects of aviation, not just the maintenance.

Growing up my dad would point out details about doing a good job in the office. Things that stuck in my mind over the years.

Something that comes to mind as I type this, is it genes or is it how we are raised?

I respected and looked up to dad growing up so anything he said during those early years was gospel.

But let’s say one doesn’t respect his dad. Let’s go to the extreme, hates his dad. And that dad is trying to talk to the son about office work. Would the son still grow to have an interest in it?

What’s your opinion on such a case?

 

I made this similar thread like over a year ago and I was having a hard time looking for a full-time job without a college degree. Of course, I'm still working at the hardware store and am making 13 bucks an hour. Decent pay but not good enough.

Besides, bookkeeping is a good-pay job and I'm currently wanting to be one but it's difficult to get into that field for some reasons.

 

Well, my dad wasn't very nice to me growing up. As far as I know his own father hit him frequently, and he did the same to me, though not very often. It was more his general temper around the house -- you always had to walk on eggshells. I respect him to an extent, but sometimes I don't like him.

Having said that, me and my dad have turned out really similar. I like working on projects in solitude, mostly ones I have chosen. I am tending towards programming. I am not a natural employee. I'm very introverted. I have a temper (given the right circumstances). The list goes on...

I guess this is a point in favour of the genetic inheritance. My brother has become a programmer, too. I wonder, though: programming has a unique sense of control that some other jobs don't have, especially if you work for yourself. Maybe it is the attraction of being able to control something that draws people who felt a lack of control in childhood.

 

I'm a bookkeeper. I have loads of them on the shelf over there.

 

I would love to have a bookkeeping job with or without a certification but here where I live is corrupt. Most jobs here require either a certification or a degree for some reason, especially the entry-level ones.

 

I'm not sure that counts as corruption. Unfortunately the trajectory of most jobs is to have some kind of association or deliberative body that decides who counts as a real tradesman. This is the standard in everything from psychotherapy to plumbing. Otherwise, any joker can claim to be a therapist and ruin it for the serious ones. Or so the theory goes.

I miss the days when this wasn't the case. It's a shame that you can't just take people at face value. I blame capitalism for this, but I'm not sure why. Then again I blame everything on capitalism.

 

How to be a plumber, though? In my experience, all I see on the applications of that job requires years of experience and some require either a certification or degree in the area where I live.

 

I’d have to research it.

But I’m sure the path isn’t impossible or too difficult. Lots of plumbers out there.

 

I know someone that makes very good money washing windows. If you live In a town with a lot of businesses especially washing windows can pay very well and you dont really even need a big start up cost just a couple of things to get going.

 

I knew a guy who became a racing driver while not having finished high school.
He moved all the way from soapbox racing to professional rally. Also where he met his wife.

Probably not within your league of interest, but it is an option, if you work really hard.

 

I think you have to know someone in the industry to do that.

 

Not really. You just need to build yourself up from an amateur level and be scouted because of your good performances.

 

Learn to code! Go freelance. I was able to find freelance coding jobs before I was even able to pay taxes.

 

That's would also be like me recommending becoming an NBA player. It's not realistic for most people. when it comes to racing your name means everything because most money is made by sponsorship. Most people need to know someone that owns a team to even be giving a chance and usually they need to be the son of a former race car driver to succeed. Even in Nascar now there are a lot of paid drivers in the sport which means you need to be rich to even get a chance in racing.

 

Is there still a lot of money in that?

 

What about programming?

 

I overheard from an architect, a boss in our firm, that if he had taken up plumbing and graduated early, he would’ve been able to retire by 45

DO NOT do Multilevel Marketing!

 

I got paid well, and all you need is a few jobs under your belt to prove your proficiency and you have a decent chance of getting a proper hire at a company.