What Good Careers Are in Need of Applicants Due To An Aging Work Force and Little Knowledge of The Need Among The Younger Generations - AskReddit

12/6/2018 What good careers are in need of applicants due to an aging work force and little knowledge of the
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What good careers are in need of
5051 applicants due to an aging work force
and little knowledge of the need among Submitted on 05 Dec 2018
the younger generations?
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submitted 13 hours ago by CosmicContusion 5,051

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[–] sadhorse_kaishain 5100 points 13 hours ago

Rules:
(hover for more info)
Land surveying, judging by the last 3 places my
friend has worked at. At each of them he's like the You must post a clear and direct question
in the title. The title may contain two,
only person under 50, and they're all awful with
short, necessary context sentences. No
technology. I mean they "don't trust" excel to sum 1
text is allowed in the textbox. Your
up a column of numbers using SUM(), they can't thoughts/responses to the question can
copy files to a flash drive, basic computer stuff go in the comments section. more >>
like that.
permalink embed save report reply Any post asking for advice should be
2 generic and not specific to your situation
[–] Tactically_Fat 1612 points 12 hours ago alone. more >>
Surveyors need to be GIS whiz-kids these

days. Plus, GIS has made their job Askreddit is for open-ended discussion
3
questions. more >>
simultaneously much easier and much more
involved.
Posting, or seeking, any identifying
permalink embed save parent report reply
personal information, real or fake, will
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12/6/2018 What good careers are in need of applicants due to an aging work force and little knowledge of the need among the younger generations…
[–] I_love_napalm 360 points 11 hours ago result in a ban without a prior warning.
4
more >>
Don't need to be a whiz but you do need to
be able to interface with technology. I'm not
a GIS person but I've picked up some from 5
Askreddit is not your soapbox, personal
army, or advertising platform. more >>
working with them. It's like a hyper-
specialized sub field of CS now.
Questions seeking professional advice
6 are inappropriate for this subreddit and
load more comments (8 replies) will be removed. more >>
[–] Panda_iQ 78 points 7 hours ago Soliciting money, goods, services, or

7
favours is not allowed. more >>
As an criminology undergrad who just
finished taking my first GIS class, I actually
love using the software (we used ArcMap for Mods reserve the right to remove content
or restrict users' posting privileges as
a crime mapping class but did other 8 necessary if it is deemed detrimental to
assignments related to geography). I’d like the subreddit or to the experience of
to take more classes and get a certification others. more >>
(my school offers one for taking 12 credit

hours of approved classes) but I graduate 9
Comment replies consisting solely of
images will be removed. more >>
soon. Even if I don’t use GIS for criminology
purposes it’s still a cool software.
permalink embed save parent report reply If you think your post has disappeared, see
spam or an inappropriate post, please do
[–] volvbro 36 points 5 hours ago not hesitate to contact the mods, we're
happy to help.
As someone in GIS, you don't need a
certification other than to get your foot in
the door. If you can pick up the basic
skills and demonstrate them, you're set Tags to use:
load more comments (6 replies)

[Serious]

Use a [Serious] post tag to designate
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thread.
[–] CanIOpenMyEyesYet 661 points 11 hours ago

Filter posts by subject:
Wait... Is this why I stumbled into this survey
position even though my degree is completely
Mod posts Serious posts
irrelevant and my grasp of CAD and GIS is
passable at best? Maybe I should actually stick Megathread Breaking news
with this.
permalink embed save parent report reply Unfilter
[–] surveyorandrew 314 points 7 hours ago
I think at my company, 2/3rds of the survey

techs got into it without any formal training. Do you have ideas or feedback for
If you like the job and are happy there, I'd Askreddit? Submit to /r/Ideasforaskreddit.
stick with it. Average age of surveyors is in
the upper 50s/low 60s, so the future job
security prospects are great.
permalink embed save parent report reply Please use spoiler tags to hide spoilers.
>!insert spoiler here!<
[–] RunawayHobbit 77 points 6 hours ago
What's the pay like?

permalink embed save parent report reply Other subreddits you might like:
[–] Imadethis4things 242 points 5 hours ago*

Ask Others Self & Others
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He’s had encounters with everything Ever read the reddiquette? Take a peek!
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also found lots of cannabis plants. He
says the easy money is in large MODERATORS MESSAGE THE MODERATORS
developments and suburban
neighborhoods and established home krispykrackers
sales. flyryan
Ooer
permalink embed save parent report canipaybycheck
reply roastedbagel
ani625
[–] MrCelticZero 152 points 5 hours ago* TheJackal8
This is my day to day and is totally sexrockandroll
e36
accurate. I never thought I’d be IranianGenius
where I am today 5 years ago. I’m ...and 18 more »
a surveyor in my 20s and love
< > discussions in r/AskReddit X
everyday. I make great money for
my age, especially considering I 4432 · 2426 comments
What are good things to learn before college?
had zero experience or education
when I got hired. I have have zero
educational debt and get to be
outside everyday without totally
busting my ass. Also I smoke weed
everyday.
Edit: easy money is in subdivisions
for sure, depending on what level
of development it’s in. Early on in
the process is months of locating
wetlands, cutting line, fighting for
shots, hiking in tick/mosquito hell.
Later it’s street corridor cutting
then grading layout then lot
clearing. Some tasks in a
subdivision are straight easy but
there’s also setting road bounds
and jumping in a 10 ft trench to

layout a house or septic system.
permalink embed save parent report
reply
[–] CanIOpenMyEyesYet 22 points 5 hours ago
Well for me I work in govt. too so the pay could be better. BUT the other
compensation (vacation/sick time, health insurance) is kind of hard to beat.
[–] The12Ball 64 points 11 hours ago
Came here to say surveying. The age bit is definitely true, the tech stuff definitely varies
office to office haha. It's a great field that more people should look into
[–] followthedarkrabbit 144 points 8 hours ago
Read a comment last week on reddit and someone talking to their boss saying they
werent even that smart, they just 'googled anything you asked me to do and i didnt
know how. The boss assured them that to them it was 'just googling' and second nature,
but in reality they needed to know what to search for, sift through to get the right
information, then apply the information to solving the problem.
And it is a skillset some people just dont have. Even one of my friends when asking
where i was working, mentioned she had to get her husband to explain where it was
because she didnt know. I jump on google maps...
[–] Militant_Monk 62 points 6 hours ago
Srsly.
I've bounced from industry to industry over the years and got quicklisted to
management because all I did was Google problems and read the industry report
newletter we got every month. Answers exist. People just don't bother looking for
them.
load more comments (1 reply)
[+] [deleted] 9 hours ago (39 children)
[–] Missfruflouf 23 points 11 hours ago
That is my next career path but to get certified in Ontario is fucking ridiculous.. ugh.
[–] Classified0 71 points 8 hours ago
I'm an engineer, but this reminds me of one of the older engineers who was training me.
He was showing me something in Excel, and he had to add a column together. Instead
of doing something like SUM(A1:A10), he slowly typed in
A1+A2+A3+A4+A5+A6+A7+A8+A9+A10 and he did this every time he needed to sum
a column or row.
[–] Spock_Rocket 18 points 2 hours ago
Elder Milennial, father is operations engineer in NYC. He has a flip phone on purpose
because "all he needs is to make calls," but more egregiously, it took him ten
minutes to open youtube on his laptop to show me a video. Google in address bar.
Youtube (full address) in google bar. Click wrong thing. Get angry and confused.
Start over, ranting about technology. Get to yt finally. Slowly type a fucking
paragraph in the youtube search bar.
We had an IBM in the early 90s, he was perfectly fine using that. It's just being
obstinate.
[–] CosmicContusion [S] 31 points 12 hours ago
How did your friend become interested in it?

[–] The12Ball 44 points 11 hours ago
Not OP, but I'm shortly out of school for surveying. I was attracted to the applied
math side of things plus the mix of outside and indoor work.
[–] bourbonsoakedscholar 639 points 11 hours ago
Draftsman in the construction industry. Basic knowledge of CAD and construction techniques
and you can get a high paying job at a metal or millwork fabricator doing shop drawings. No
need for an engineering or architect degree. Every company I know is undermanned and
those draftsman are typically over 50.
permalink embed save report reply
[–] burrgerwolf 129 points 7 hours ago
A lot of community colleges offer a course for being a draftsman/construction

management. Its pretty inexpensive to get your foot in the door, the hard part is finding
a place that pays well and is willing to grow. Hence why a lot of people get engineering
degrees or design degrees, as there is a path for growth.
[–] PM_ME_BOOBPIX 15 points 3 hours ago
Best if you can do Revit.

[–] bails5607 653 points 6 hours ago
Stenographers. My mom is one and says there is a shortage in Massachusetts, and no

training programs in the state. Her, and her business partner, can now basically force
attorneys to schedule around their availability, and increased their fees.
[–] lisacsr 106 points 3 hours ago
Very true. I’ve been a court reporter in Texas for 25 years and there’s an extreme
shortage here. The majority of reporters are older and aging out and there aren’t many
schools bringing in new students.
[–] whoooooooooooooosh 17 points 2 hours ago
how much do they make?

[–] FunnyMiss 48 points 1 hour ago
Have a friend just finishing up her online degree for this. She’s now getting to
edit what the other stenographers have typed, and she has to copy it in real
time, like if she was sitting and listening to a deposition or court proceeding, so
it’s actual “work”. She makes $250 for a full edit. When she’s done with school,
she can either privately contract with big law firms or find a position at the local
county courthouse. If she does a little bit of both? She’ll have a salary of around
$50,000 right out the gate. Her mentor makes double that because she has 20
some years experience and has many small law firms that use her. Her mentor is
also nearly 60 and my friend is 26.
[–] bel_esprit_ 44 points 1 hour ago
My sister is a court reporter and she kills it in the 6 figures. After getting her
diploma and working for an agency a couple years, she started her own
business. She had so much work that she hired a bunch of other court reporters.
The law firm will pay her $13-15 per page typed and she pays her employees $8
per page typed (she still has to edit them).
She’s been doing it for ~10 years now and has already paid off her house. We
are both millennials who had no other financial help (I feel like that’s significant).
The only thing is she really works her ass off. Idk if it’s bc she has her own
business or if it’s the amount of work in general (probably both), but she’s
working 6 days a week all the time. Attorneys will page her on Friday at 3pm
with a deadline of 300 pages to type by Sunday. She will stop whatever she’s
doing to go type.
She hustles but she’s making bank.
When she first said she was going to stenographer school I was skeptical, but it
really is a solid job. Our whole family is proud of her.
[–] lisacsr 17 points 1 hour ago
Depends how much you work as a freelancer. It could be anywhere from 60-90K.
As an official working in court, they have a set salary plus transcript charges. I’m
not as familiar with their salaries because I’m a freelancer
[–] LehrUndKunst 67 points 5 hours ago
Came here and posted the same before I saw your comment. I just enrolled in an online
court reporting school, there are a lot of them out there. I'm also in Mass, cheers
[–] hellion666 29 points 2 hours ago
I went into court reporter school specifically because of the market. There is a huge
demand.
[–] f4il3 18 points 3 hours ago
Posted the same thing too-- there's a huge shortage of steno reporters in Indiana as
well.
[–] HoobieHoo 1786 points 10 hours ago
Medical lab technologist. These are the people that perform all the tests that doctors order.
[–] Brancher 591 points 9 hours ago
Scrolling though this thread this is the first health care related comment which surprises
me. The auxiliary support side of health care is in need of fresh new talent in my
opinion, this covers a wind range of skills and career paths.
[–] skgoa 318 points 6 hours ago
Yeah but from all people in this kind of job I have spoken to, those jobs seem to be
shitty with low pay.
[–] Buttscopecopilot 227 points 6 hours ago
Worked as tech. Can confirm.

[–] AdjutantStormy 29 points 5 hours ago
My buddy does this, he made the mistake of moving out to DC. Now DC really
only has two hospitals. The one the lobbyists go to, and the one all the gunshot
victims go to...
Guess which one burned him out?
[–] holeofdonut 207 points 8 hours ago
My friend is a clinical laboratory scientist in a large metropolitan area and he said

hospitals are desperate to find more young people to hire.
One of the drawbacks though is that this is a job that works around the clock, so a lot of
opportunities are for the night shift. You do get paid a hefty amount more though if you
don't mind working those hours.
[–] Notgoingdown90 99 points 7 hours ago
Yeah that’s a big problem. I hate nights but have been put on night shift for the last
few years because no one else wants them and they haven’t gotten any new people
since. It’s why I am looking for a new job outside the lab. We work holidays we work
weekends and we are forced to work the off shifts and cover call offs so we get
mandated to work 16 hour shifts sometimes and people call off a lot.
[–] 79Beaker 96 points 7 hours ago
I actually just looked into this but the pay was laughable.
[–] CretaMaltaKano 62 points 6 hours ago
MLT average base salary is 60k in the US. You may be thinking of technicians, who
receive lower pay on average due to the lower educational requirements.
[–] wh3r3nth3w0rld 44 points 3 hours ago
Yes yes! I'm so glad to see this as high up on the page as it is.
Medical lab technologist (or Clinical Laboratory Scientist, the terminology varies) is a
great job for people who want to make a difference in health care but don't want to be
on the front lines interacting with bodily fluids and emotional trauma and rude patients.
For most states, you need a B.S. in something and to pass the ASCP board exam, and
some states (notably New York, California, Florida) aren't as lenient in that and require
a 4 year degree in medical technology plus the ASCP. A few other states also require
licensure but that might be as simple as paying some money and showing them you
passed the ASCP.
Pay, of course, also varies. States that require licensure obviously pay more. Here in
New York (state, not the city), starting technologists can expect to make anywhere from
$27-$33/hour, depending on the shift and the facility. After a year or two you can also
get into travel healthcare, and you can travel and work all across the country with tax
free living stipends. While working 5 8s seems to be pretty common, you can also find
facilities that do 3 12s (like nurses do), 4 10s, and even the occasional 7 on 7 off (you
work 7 days in a row, then get 7 off). I've worked in 3 facilities in NYS and have never
had to be on-call. And like any healthcare job, as a newbie, you're gonna get the "shit"
shifts, like 2nds or 3rds. But personally I'll take 2nd over 1st any day. I like sleeping in
and the pace is more relaxed. I can do my work and then, as long as there's no samples
to be worked on, I can read a book. And like in any healthcare job, you're gonna be
working weekends, and you're gonna get stuck on some holidays too. Unless you're
working in like, an office or something. But most jobs available to techs are hospital
positions.
It's an aging population in the lab, and unfortunately it's an underrepresented field, so
in many areas there are more job openings than there are program graduates. Is it
because no one is interested, or no one knows about it? A majority of medical decisions
are based on laboratory results. Doctors treat, diagnose, and monitor patients based on
lab results. Without a lab, you don't have a hospital. Can't have an ER. Can't have an
OR. The perfect job for people who like multi-tasking, a little bit of running around, a lot
a bit of science, and making a difference from behind the scenes.
[–] BearGunner18 1029 points 11 hours ago
Cnc tooling, Cnc programming. Aircraft contracting. I know of a few contractors making well
over 100/hr and hitting 60hr weeks.
[–] gelatomancer 241 points 8 hours ago
Heading to a trade school seminar for this in a couple hours. Everyone I've talked to
says that not only is it that there aren't a lot of young people going into it, but a lot of
old timers are refusing to adapt to technology. With CNC machines, you can get rid of
multiple machinist jobs so companies love them but most machinists are too old or
stubborn to learn to work them.
[–] Officer_Notacop 197 points 6 hours ago
I run 4 cncs all night every night, I make over 20 dollars an hour, and I'm posting on
reddit and playing Pokemon emulators while I'm doing it. It really isnt a bad gig.
[–] MultiBot4675 13 points 3 hours ago
Are you me?

[–] Officer_Notacop 22 points 3 hours ago
Shit I might be. Are we listening to 90's jock jams right now?
[–] MultiBot4675 13 points 3 hours ago
Yea lol listening to 99.9 on my night shift hahahah

[–] alucard_3501 70 points 7 hours ago
MY boss is like that. Dude has a shit load of knowledge about the manual machines
they use, but questions EVERY GOD DAMN THING when we do something. And if
anything goes wrong, you can scrap an hour out of everyone in the departments day
while we aaaaalllllllllllll discuss every single aspect of it. I'm just sitting there like
"Dude. I can change the .050 to .055 to make the cut deeper and solve your
problem. Shut the fuck up and let me!" That said, i've only been in the CNC world
about a year, but besides the boss, it is a TON of fun!
[–] akujiki87 25 points 6 hours ago
I just hit my 10 years in CNC now, Im a programmer/supervisor at my shop. The

amount of unwillingness to adapt to technology in this field is ridiculous. Those
that do switch over and start working on CNC set ups and what not from manual
then try to pin EVERYTHING on either the programmer or "these damn
computers" when something goes wrong. Not you know, the fact that they just
loaded the turning tool upside-down or anything. I am always pushing for new
tech, makes lives so much easier.
[–] wjwwjw 17 points 6 hours ago
What do you mean by aircraft contracting? Technicians who repair aircraft or people who
build custom aircraft or something else?
[–] stumpdawg 1506 points 13 hours ago
Collision repair techs.

Everybody wants to be a painter. They grow on trees. It's easier and pays more.
It's hard to find a good tech nowadays. At least in my area anyway.
Is it different than being an auto mechanic?

Sorry if that is incredibly dumb/ignorant lol
It's not dumb if you don't know.

Yes it's a lot different, you change body panels/structural pieces. Repair body panels
be pulling dents then bondo-ing and sanding them smooth for paint. There's a lot
more to it but that's the general gist of it.
[–] RiffRamBahZoo 271 points 11 hours ago
My younger brother does this for a living and now owns his own mobile
paint/repair shop. Granted, he won't be doing huge jobs like replacing engine
parts or rewiring, but if you're in a fender bender or back into a pole or
something like that, he undercuts the entire market by being able to drive his
truck to someone's driveway to do the work for them.
Last I saw, he was making a solid $70k a year in North Texas.
[–] stumpdawg 142 points 11 hours ago*
Ahh a lot lizard.

Good for him. For as big of an industry as it is everyone keeps telling me it's
dying.
Edit:ok guys, seriously enough is enough. I KNOW a truck stop whore is a
Lot Lizard. I KNEW a truck stop whore was called a lot lizard. But in the auto
industry guys who do mobile body work are ALSO called lot lizards...none of
the fifty replies to this informing me of my "error" have been original.
[–] RiffRamBahZoo 102 points 10 hours ago
I have no idea why people would say that. He's always booked solid for a
month out.
His main bread and butter is rhino-lining truck beds, so he puts on the
durable texture stuff for a bunch of clients in Oklahoma and Texas. Takes
him about two hours and it's an easy $300-500 job each time. Lots of
money for him to fix up stuff like BMWs and Audis in the suburbs of
Dallas. He's also on retainer for a few used car dealerships who hire him
to fix up trade-ins and auction acquisitions.
It's backbreaking work with lots of chemicals around him, but $70k/yr at
20 years old is nothing to sneeze at.
If you mean my lot lizard comment, it's the industry nickname for
that kind of work.
It's like calling and electrician a sparky, or an hvac guy a tin knocker.
[–] DrunkBostonian 513 points 8 hours ago
In the US at least: OB-GYNs. About 1/3 of currently practicing Ob/gyns are 55 or older, and
as they retire there aren't enough younger docs to replace them which is leading to a major
shortage, especially in rural areas. It's estimated that about half of the counties in the
United States have ZERO OB-GYNs practicing currently, and it's anticipated to get worse
over the next couple of years.
[–] Pymfan 101 points 5 hours ago
Many OB-GYNs left NJ due to the high cost of malpractice insurance or like a friend of
mine, became strictly GYN with no OB part of their practice.
[–] deusextibia 117 points 3 hours ago
OB-GYNs and Neonatologists (NICU doctors) have some of the highest malpractice
insurance rates in medicine. A lot can go wrong in and around childbirth. Grieving
parents do not always make rational decisions, and some channel their grief into
anger at doctors.
[–] rxredhead 14 points 1 hour ago
Happened in IL too. When I was pregnant I went to a practice in another state

(30ish minutes away without traffic) because the few doctors here were so
overbooked. Every GYN appointment I had ran at least an hour to three hours late
because the doctor was also covering deliveries during office hours. I didn’t have a
job that was ok with me taking a whole day to wait around for every prenatal
appointment. Loved my doctor group I wound up with though!
[–] AgentElman 247 points 4 hours ago
while the pay is good compared to non-doctor pay, it does not pay well compared to
other medical specialties and the hours can be terrible.
[–] BagOfSlugs 29 points 1 hour ago
Yeah, OB/GYN is pretty much out of the question for me in terms of residency. The
field doesn't really pique my curiosity but mostly because it's one of the most toxic
cultures with the shittiest hours and not enough pay to justify the bullshit that
comes along with it. At least surgeons get paid a lot.
[–] garethrory 64 points 5 hours ago
It’s so much easier to practice in bigger groups where you’re not on call on the time.
Rural areas can be served by family practice docs who’ve done OB.
Access to healthcare is a big consideration for people living outside of midsize cities.
[–] mpr1011 23 points 4 hours ago
I live in a rural area and drive 45 minutes to see an OB. Its a bitch towards the end
when you see your OB once a week and you have to make sure you're in labor before
you head to the hospital (you're turned away if its too early or a false alarm) but you
can't wait too long that you have your baby in the car.
[–] LovelyStrife 29 points 2 hours ago
The worst is when you are due during winter and the weather becomes a huge
factor in the appointments. I remember with my oldest, we had a bad blizzard and
someone texted my husband that they had a snow mobile and could get me to the
main road if I went into labor before our street was cleared. Luckily we didn't need
it, but the reality of living rural really hit me after that.
[–] Athenas_Return 16 points 2 hours ago
Part of the problem is also that they pay malpractice insurance at a super high rate. It
can make it cost prohibitive. Also they get sued at a higher rate.
[–] tacoboat101-1 2345 points 13 hours ago
Tradesmen like carpenters and plumbers, you know how expensive they are now?!?!
[–] Needyouradvice93 132 points 10 hours ago
Yup I didn't even think this was an option as a kid. I went to a HS where 90 percent of
students went to college and the kids that didn't were 'burnout losers'. Some of these
kids went down the construction route and are making stupid money.
[–] x740xWastedx 596 points 12 hours ago
HVAC
[–] Maximum_Overhype 472 points 9 hours ago
Start in a really hot room, leave once it starts cooling down

[–] A_Fuckin_HVAC_Guy 251 points 7 hours ago
Get into commercial or industrial maintenance. Start in a nice temperature

controlled room, and get paid shitloads to keep it that way
[–] buttered_roll 94 points 7 hours ago
Until a compressor lets go for a server room or an operating theatre and

you're brazing in a new one in 40°C (100°F) heat on a roof...
[–] Joe_Bidens_Balls 62 points 6 hours ago
but insulated in shitloads of money, which can make the fires of hell or
the frosty Alaskan slopes feel like Arkansas in the spring
[–] CaptainUnusual 37 points 5 hours ago
Humid and full of mosquitoes?

[–] hey_sjay 15 points 3 hours ago
Flooding and full of tornadoes?

[–] Electrical_Lettuce 312 points 10 hours ago
I dunno, I feel like its the next generations version of "get a degree". It may be what
would have worked for us, but everyone saying its the solution will lead to a generation
where its oversubscribed and becomes meaningless.
[–] cheaganvegan 207 points 7 hours ago
Yup I was a union welder and couldn’t get steady work for about 18 months. I kind
of put it on the back burner. I still pay my dues. The plumbers union starts at $12/
hour. Everybody knows a tradesman marking a bunch of money but it’s not easy to
get there.
[–] ____Nice____ 227 points 6 hours ago
Yeah people on reddit who have never worked a trade seem to think it’s easy to
make $70k after a couple years. It’s actually something that annoys me lol
[–] Its_the_other_tj 74 points 5 hours ago
My buddy did just that with home inspections. 70k+ a year after he buckled
down and got all his certs. Dude NEVER has free time anymore though.
Works 5 and a half days a week and is regularly called in on his day/half day
off to pick up random jobs. He loves it since it keeps him out of the house.
It'd probably kill me lol.
[–] ____Nice____ 48 points 5 hours ago
Yeah fuck that. I’d be suicidal if all I did was work and never have free
time.
[–] rahtin 43 points 3 hours ago
It's more of an underlying rage that builds in your gut. You start
looking for excuses to lash out to try to prove you're alive. A good
night's sleep leaves you feeling refreshed but deeply bitter that you
gave up your few hours of freedom, essentially, to improve your
ability to work more.
[–] littleleathers 33 points 11 hours ago
& welders
[–] Cooleb09 52 points 6 hours ago
The key thing here is that people need to realise that there is a difference between
'person who welds' and a welder.
[–] manintights2 146 points 12 hours ago
Yup, Electricians, Plumbers, etc.

[–] BearGunner18 245 points 11 hours ago
Yep, my dad is a high voltage commercial electrician. Easily clears 100k a year.
About 10 years ago in the end of his workaholic stage he was making well over 160k
a year. And this is midwest dollars. That's a pretty damn good income in this area
[–] thetrain23 237 points 9 hours ago
You know how politics is typically a rich man's game? There was a guy in
Oklahoma a few years back who made enough money running a plumbing
business--without even possessing a college degree--to successfully run for
Congress.
EDIT: Found him; Markwayne Mullin. Apparently he is also 3-0 as a professional
MMA fighter.
[–] Vesploogie 223 points 9 hours ago
He also got passed the “don’t trust a guy with two first names” rule by
combining them into one. This guy is something else.
[–] KingdaToro 129 points 8 hours ago
You should see his brother, Brucewayne Mullin.

[–] Ryshi 105 points 7 hours ago
Seems a bit misleading, his wiki says he inherited the family plumbing
business when he was 20. According to the company website the company
has been around since 1973. Being born in a wealthy family probably
contributed to his success.
[–] amicusorange 12 points 9 hours ago
For the uninformed (like me) - Is your dad self-employed? If so, how much is the
overhead for a position like that? Whenever I hear people talk about skilled
trades, I wonder if the figures they throw out are just gross revenue, or actual
personal income.
[–] TXRiverRat 30 points 10 hours ago
I never see it mentioned in these type of threads when trades are thrown around,
but getting a degree to become an Instrumentation Technician is one of the best
decisions I’ve ever made.
[–] acepoker999 28 points 9 hours ago
YEah! Hire an 24/7 electrician for urgent work and ran me about 150$ for 30min of
actual work. He did say that for late night emergency calls he charges 1h min.
[–] hlioness 1399 points 12 hours ago
Social work but we just don't make masochists like we used to.
[–] Instz 1651 points 9 hours ago
Social work is unpopular because the pay is trash in most places.

Requires 4 year degree to make 30k a year to deal with the worst people humanity has
to offer.
IMO it's not the pay that's killing me it's being punished for not being a robot and
having human responses to the absolute horrors that we have to deal with.
[–] YoHeadAsplode 437 points 8 hours ago
My roommate is a Social Worker, and is about to reach her peak "FUCK IT!"
levels from a mix of being the company's scapegoat, having to fight for scraps of
hours and working with clients who might not even have funding, and then the
clients who will probably die because they just won't see a doctor. And that was
just this last week.
I feel that. And the mountains of bureaucratic bullshit that we have to wade
through!
[–] TheMarshma 52 points 6 hours ago
I feel like in that job you would start to really empathize with characters like
judge dredd and kira.
Annoys me when people complain about social workers and how 'useless' they
are, what do you expect when the pay is as bad as it is, the work is as bad as it
is, and then there aren't enough people that want to do it so those that do end
up with double or triple the workload they are supposed to have. They never
stood a chance, its a miracle they ever get anything done.
[–] Caramac44 66 points 7 hours ago
Nope, I would happily take a pay cut if I was given the time and resources to do the
job, rather than feeling guilty and apologising every day for how long it takes to get
anything done.
Also, the regular verbal abuse doesn’t help morale.
Sure we do, I work in collections :)

[–] Rhythm825 64 points 7 hours ago
Male social worker here (rare breed)

Best advice I got was to work in a school or hospital.
That + doing side private practice work gets me about $105k/year.
Being a guy is a huge advantage since it's a female dominated field.
In social work, straight white males are a golden ticket. I had professors tell me that in
a list of applications all the male applicants will get picked for an interview
automatically.
[–] disposableuser521 550 points 12 hours ago
Commercial Print/Print marketing.

People think its a dying industry, but Commercial packaging (think candy bar wrappers,
cereal boxes, the carboard tag/package for literally ANY product), direct mail (flyers,
coupons, etc) and marketing collateral (printed shirts, cups, pens, flash drives) and Point of
Purchase displays (Big box store signage, marketing displays, cardboard popups) and
random stuff like car and building wraps are all exploding.
Sure, certain sectors of print are dying, like publication printing, for magazines and
newspapers and such. But its still one of the 5 largest markets in the world (3rd largest
when i was in school, but not sure now).
The average age of an operations rep is 55 and average age of sales rep is 57. People are
aging out fast and the big print companies are desperate for young talent, both on the blue
collar side of production, and the white collar side of management, logistics, analytics, and
graphics.
[–] Motherfickle 81 points 10 hours ago
I used to have some guy friends who worked in print. They used to brag that they would
pretty much be employed for life because his position was in such high demand.
[–] X_Trisarahtops_X 160 points 11 hours ago
Huh. My boyfriend works in print for a big company. From what he says a massive
portion of the team are young. 20s and 30s. Maybe that's an exception in the industry
though.
Theres been a big uptick lately, from my freshman year of schooling to my senior
year the Graphic comm major nearly quadrupled in size. 100% job placement and
good (but not great) projected earnings even in turbulent times will do that. Plus its
a great "garage startup" type business with screenprinting and digital taking over.
Does it require a degree to enter the field?

Absolutely not! I mean, yeah if you want to start as an operations or sales rep or a
prepress graphics person. But if you want to be a press operator you either get on-
the-job training or a trade school will give you the knowhow. I'd say most guys on
the more blue collar side probably have just GED's at BEST. Hell, the plant president
where I work just started in the press pit at 16 and now owns a multimillion dollar
company. And Id say theres plenty of guys like that.
[–] thewizbizman 304 points 9 hours ago
Pilots, Aviation Mechanics, Air Traffic Controllers.

The industry is desperate.
[–] notathrowaway000271 333 points 7 hours ago*
The aviation industry isn't helping itself by keeping the total the price of the courses
required to become a commercial pilot up at a staggering amount. It's simply too
expensive for the average person to find it worth investing in.
[–] thewizbizman 105 points 6 hours ago
Honestly, yeah, most of the people I know, including myself that want to become
pilots have the biggest trouble getting there because of the finance issues.
[–] KingOfTheP4s 191 points 10 hours ago
Nuclear engineers, reactor operators, etc.

Everyone is old and in need of replacing as a new generation of reactors comes online.
[–] ThomasButtz 59 points 7 hours ago
I always kind of assumed the Navy was the feeder system for our nuclear plant's
employees. Is that the case?
I have zero experience in the field, just occasional, tangential work at nuclear plants.
[–] Roundy_Roundy 28 points 4 hours ago
The Navy is a feeder for all types of power plants. I’ve never worked in nuclear
outside the Navy though. I left and have only worked with gas turbine power plants
since then. I’ve known several people over the years that left civilian nuclear for the
same.
[–] Branchdressing 13 points 7 hours ago
I work at a nuclear plant and this is the case here. However, it's apparent the nuclear
field is dying and young people are not staying on a sinking ship.
[–] Prikha 100 points 8 hours ago
Medical Laboratory Science. It is one of the allied health fields involved in the overall patient
care experience. It is an invisible career in that most laypeople have no idea that the
medical lab is a real place with real people analyzing the blood and body fluids of patients to
help determine what is wrong with them.
To a patient, the "lab" is the person who draws their blood and then the doctor comes in
with the lab results on their clipboard and that's it. Once the blood is taken from your arm
or you pee in a cup at the doctor's office, the specimen gets "sent to the lab". Well, thats
us. A combination of state of the art instrumentation and technology combined with "old
fashioned" manual procedures like looking at smears of blood under a microscope. The
results we generate tells the doctor if you had a heart attack, are septic, have blood cancer
like leukemia, are diabetic, have Lyme disease or Strep throat, among many other things.
We learn about diseases and their symptoms and how to interpret the results we get from
your blood to make sure your doctor gets accurate results to help diagnose you. 70% of
information a doctor uses to give you a diagnosis comes from laboratory data.
The field is aging, large groups of employees are retiring and there is very little drive for
students to go into programs for this. Nursing programs are so well known (rightfully so)
that many people dont know all the other people involved in your hospital stay you never
see, like radiology and respiratory therapy.
Many places in the country dont even have programs in college to teach lab science, and
national certification and licensure is required to be in the field. We sit for exams just like
nurses.
[–] addy-Bee 34 points 5 hours ago
Many places in the country dont even have programs in college to teach lab science,
and national certification and licensure is required to be in the field
This was my problem. I have a 4 year degree in bio and years of lab experience, but
none of that counts to qualify me to get licensed, so all those nice lab jobs are right out.
It seems like you basically have to go back to a 2 year college just to even qualify for a
job as a MLT.
[–] adeon [ ] 167 points 10 hours ago
Printed Circuit Board Designer.

During the 90s those jobs mostly got outsourced to places like India, Singapore and the
Philippines. The problem is you really need at least a couple of PCB designers locally to
coordinate with the offshore teams and a lot of the people in those positions are getting
close to retirement age.
[–] Justmomsnewfriend 17 points 7 hours ago
I did that for a while and it was an awesome job and I loved it, the pay and job
advancement just wasn't there. I would have needed another 4 year degree in electrical
engineering to advance anymore in the career or obtain any substantial pay raise. which
was unfortunate because I had to leave and get back into manufacturing. But my
industrial degree is more suited for my current job anyway so it kind of worked out.
[–] BradC 382 points 12 hours ago
COBOL programmers. OK, so it's not necessarily a "good career" but there are still lots of
old, reliable systems out there running on COBOL and FORTRAN and the likes (we even still
have some RPG programs on our MainFrame). There's a big need and almost everyone who
worked with it back in the '70s, '80s, and '90s is retired by now.
[–] leftysrule200 78 points 10 hours ago
A part of my company works on these systems. I don't work on them but I get to see
what they deal with.
Since they are dealing with old systems, a lot of it ends up being thousands and
thousands of lines of functional programming. In some cases they don't even get to use
an IDE, it's working on green screens via a terminal emulator.
These guys always have work though, so there is that. It's just the kind of work that
makes many people want to jump off a building.
[–] tecgod99 64 points 10 hours ago
Still a few colleges that have a curriculum for COBOL. Graduated with a degree with an
emphasis in it. I hope to never use it, but some places are still teaching it.
[–] IdjitKaizoku 25 points 11 hours ago
From what I have heard, most of them are banking systems

[–] BradC 21 points 11 hours ago
Also some government systems, probably more at the city and county levels. And
there are still insurance companies using these.
[–] Favicool 113 points 11 hours ago*
My first job was at IBM and they put me in a Cobol project. I left after a year. I'm not
paid enough to work on such an outdated dying technology
[–] I_love_napalm 52 points 11 hours ago
Got a reference I can email? I love working with and learning about old school
languages
[–] TheQwertious 97 points 11 hours ago
You sure about that? While learning the language might be interesting, the work
itself would involve maintaining a 30+-year-old code base, with all the
associated cruft and spaghetti and mud that comes with a long line of
programmers working on it. I can't imagine that would be at all pleasurable.
...Even less so with all the red tape and bureaucracy overhead, since most of
these ancient systems are in banking and financial systems. There's a reason
these systems haven't been replaced with anything more modern.
[–] I_love_napalm 128 points 11 hours ago
Mostly I just want to round the 1/100th of a penny and deposit it in my bank
account
[–] TheQwertious 54 points 10 hours ago
In that case, go for it! Just be sure there's a guy in the office who's very
protective of his stapler, in case things go wrong.
[–] foxpawfauxpas 281 points 10 hours ago
Manufacturing and industrial for sure. I am a Recruiter for skilled manufacturing and there's
a big skills gap. A lot of plants in my area are having difficulties replacing retirees with
younger workers because the skills just aren't there. Luckily a lot of companies are opening
up a little to the idea of some training- which costs money, which lowers starting wages, so
that has some downsides too.
So we either have extremely experienced older candidates being offered a laughable
starting rate, or younger candidates with too little experience to be offered the same
starting rate. It's funny how manufacturing is on the rise but in the same breath, stuck in
this revolving door of too much/too little experience.
Side note: I've gained a new appreciation for blue collar jobs once I began recruiting for
them! Have you seen some of these mechanical/diagrammatic tests some factory applicants
have to pass? YIKES! I think my head would explode if I had to take those!
[–] Incontinentiabutts 132 points 9 hours ago
I work on a chemical plant and we have the same issue. Fundamentally it's a pay issue.
Younger people aren't willing to work in that environment with those risks for that much
money. Then they lower starting pay because the company wants to offset the cost of
training which in turn leads to a lower level of candidate accepting the jo bgg which then
starts a vicious cycle.
On a very fundamental level the employers and potential employees have very different
ideas about what pay should be. People know that if they go into ops that they will max
out on lay quote quickly with very little chance of advancement out of ops. Their pay will
never jump, bit they know that the people who work on the office do have that ability to
see salaries grow significantly.
The market needs to accept that nowadays those guys need to be be paid a lot more.
[–] HRBP 135 points 8 hours ago
They absolutely need to be paid more. Employers can't keep sucking profits into the
top tiers then wonder why they can't pay peanuts to people. Providing the education
should be a minimum unrelated to pay.
[–] foxpawfauxpas 19 points 4 hours ago
I agree with this a million percent- a lot of employers think that the promise of
overtime manages to overshadow lack of pay. It doesn’t.
[–] Justmomsnewfriend 18 points 7 hours ago
It's because nobody in manufacturing wants to pay skilled employees anymore. Either
you're a 10-20 year vet naming your price or saying fuck that $13hr starting pay they
try to pass to tradesmen. It cost money to keep skilled employees and we tend to stay
where we are treated right. It also might be a company culture issue which I has e
found is the first thing any person ask me about a place "hows the boss, working
conditions etc.". I know personally if I needed to find a new job today I know adleast 1
or 2 people who have work at just about every shop around and know exactly where I'd
go first to find a job.
[–] DongTheMong 355 points 12 hours ago
Watchmakers/Clock makers.
The money is good and there are plenty of jobs out there, plus you get to work with
beautiful things all day. Harder than a degree but totally worth it.
What got you into it, assuming this is your job.

[–] DongTheMong 308 points 5 hours ago
I was tinkering around with some clocks and watches and things got out of hand.
[–] Tran761 79 points 5 hours ago
You gave me a good chuckle. It made me think you were just doing your thing,
tinkering with a watch, looked up, and all of a sudden you were running a shop
not quite knowing how you got there.
[–] kitskill 620 points 11 hours ago
Amazingly, lawyer.
Not in cities. The market in urban centers is pretty much flooded. But in smaller towns and
cities (think under 200k people) there is a desperate need for lawyers. Where I live, there
are dozens of lawyers who are hanging on past retirement because the can't find anyone to
fill their shoes.
The problem is, new lawyers tend to only look for job postings online and old lawyers/small
firms don't tend to post online.
[–] adeon [ ] 230 points 10 hours ago
So this is second hand but according to one of my former co-workers (an engineer who
went off to law school) Patent Lawyers in particular are in high demand. The problem,
apparently, is that a good patent lawyer needs to have some technical background in
addition to knowing the law so there's a lack of them.
[–] 1738_bestgirl 142 points 9 hours ago
When I interested in the field an adviser told me that I would likely need an
engineering degree. I was like why tf would I go to law school if I have an
engineering degree.
[–] immrderp56 121 points 8 hours ago
Because patent lawyers make an actual shit ton of money.

[–] mindlar 150 points 8 hours ago
... and it's a relatively shitty job and takes two very unrelated skill sets.
You need to be able to understand the underlying tech well enough to talk to
the engineers and translate it into legalese. Pretty much every engineer I
know hates documentation let alone translating it into unintelligible legalese
and would consider this to be one of the circles of hell if they had to do it for
a living.
[–] thorpac 32 points 7 hours ago
Which I assume is why they pay those folks like the cartel: with semi-
trucks full of cash.
[–] KingKidd 180 points 10 hours ago
Where I live, there are dozens of lawyers who are hanging on past retirement
because the can't find anyone to fill their shoes
Sounds like they don’t have a “sellable” asset, their most valuable asset is the attorney.
Once they’re gone, there’s no guarantee the client list will go with a green attorney.
My parents run a business where the most valuable asset is their experience. There’s
not much to sell outside of a client list. The company doesn’t have intrinsic value.
[–] kitskill 64 points 9 hours ago
That's a fair point. Client lists are fairly valuable though. Either way, older
practitioners will have to retire (or die) eventually and their clients will have to go
somewhere.
[–] kflyer 59 points 7 hours ago
In an ideal world a younger attorney would come on a few years before they
retired and earn the trust of their clients, but with $250k in debt it's hard to
work for the amount of money that makes that arrangement tenable.
[–] crimsonlaw 36 points 10 hours ago
Wow, that's good to hear. We are in the exact opposite situation. Way over-saturated
such that you get more attorneys applying for paralegal positions than actual paralegals.
It's insane how bad it is. I feel blessed I got into the profession just before things flipped
this way.
[–] _lonely_outpost_ 77 points 7 hours ago
Librarians! Business is still booming despite what some people may think. We are constantly
evolving to stay relevant and give people what they want/need, but some librarians are not
interested in that or can't keep up.
[–] SeaOfDeadFaces 89 points 6 hours ago
In my area the only path to becoming a librarian is: Go for a degree while volunteering
at your college library > Get out of college and volunteer for a local library > Transfer to
a larger library that is so far away it requires a move to a new area > You're still a
volunteer living off your parents, hoping that one of the old librarians dies so that one of
the fourteen volunteers can fight over the one opening.
Is it different elsewhere? This is in Los Angeles.
[–] TheLightningCount1 281 points 11 hours ago
IRS jobs. The number of people who have one of these under 50 is extremely low.
[–] tmp_acct9 119 points 9 hours ago
I would be interested n one of these, but it seems you already have to be in the IRS, to
work at the irs?
1. IRS Employees on Career or Career Conditional Appointments
https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/518379300?PostingChannelID=RESTAPI
[–] sinsoffallengods 98 points 8 hours ago
It will open up. I work a gov job and ALL jobs are made available to current
employees first before outsiders are brought in. Its bad when looking for a job but
great for advancments oppurtunities.
[–] TheLightningCount1 73 points 9 hours ago
That is open to internal employees now. It will open to pub soon as they realize no
one in the irs can it.
[–] Polyester_Armor 434 points 13 hours ago
Trucking, for sure. I work at a logistics company, and there is definitely a shortage of
drivers. Most of the drivers I encounter are in their forties and fifties. Then again, with
autonomous driving vehicles on the horizon, it could be the direction the market shifts.
[–] johnny_tremain 182 points 11 hours ago
It's all supply and demand. OTR trucking is kind of a crappy job because you are always
away from home and you have to sleep in the back of a cab most days. If it paid more,
I'm sure the supply of truckers would increase substantially. I mean, the pay isn't bad,
but it has kind of stagnated compared to inflation.
[–] Inigo93 151 points 11 hours ago
Demand is skyrocketing.
Maintaining a CDL means if you get popped for weed you're done. With the
legalization of weed the pool of potential drivers has taken a nose dive. My
understanding is that wages for CDL holders are going through the roof in states
where weed is legal.
Also, the nice trucks these days are fucking RVs so its not as bad as it once was.
Showers. Kitchens. Toilets. Again... RVs!
Finally, if you're a husband/wife team you can make serious bank on certain gov't
payloads. Not that husband/wife is required (just has to be a two driver team); that
just happens to be the demographic that seems to end up in those slots.
[–] tmp_acct9 132 points 9 hours ago
husband/wife team
for real. when you got two drivers you can be moving 24/7 which is a HUGE
advantage to a lot of shipments, who would happily pay 1.5X the normal
shipping cost to get it there that much faster
In some cases, it's required. We ship a fair bit of stuff where the drivers are
GPS tracked, not allowed to stop for anything but gas, and alarms get
sounded if that GPS tracker shows they stopped for more than something
like 20 minutes for any reason.
[–] HRBP 118 points 8 hours ago
Oh God that sounds horrible.

Yeah, well, it seems that nobody wants truckloads of explosives just

sitting in the parking lot of a truck stop somewhere....
...They do get paid very well in return, however.
[–] WattsUp130 138 points 12 hours ago
Am commercial underwriter, automation is a loooong ways away.

There’s very few conversations happening at the state level regarding it, and it’s a VERY
grey area legally. Until we see some legislation happening, this isn’t going to happen
large scale for a while. I’d say to someone entering today that it would be a safe way to
make a career.
I’d just steer a five year old away from it.
I agree that I don't want 5 years old doing long haul trucking.
But legit, thanks for that knowledge lol.
[–] alejo699 240 points 8 hours ago
Congress.
[–] katrilli 41 points 2 hours ago
Please come work for USPS. We're super understaffed, most employees are going to be
eligible for retirement within the next couple years, and it beats the hell out of any other job
I've ever had.
I make $22/hour to be a cashier. I have really good health insurance, mediocre dental that's
still better than anywhere else I've found, and a kick-ass retirement account. I'm not going
to be leaving the USPS until I can cash in that sweet sweet pension money.
[–] WtotheSLAM 34 points 9 hours ago
Calibration technicians. If you know what a torque wrench and multimeter are and know
how to use them you’re halfway in the door already. All the real good jobs are on military
installations but I was pulling $30/hour at a medical company doing calibrations for them.
[–] halloweenjon 29 points 6 hours ago
Lots of people mentioning trade work. But specifically, anything related to utilities. Electric,
water, gas... I work in that field, I'm 35, and I'm so young compared to virtually everybody
else that it's downright uncomfortable most of the time. And like, these things need to
continue existing and being maintained! But I'm not seeing the next generation taking over.
[–] Magman14 32 points 5 hours ago
School psychologists have been stable at roughly a 40% shortage of professionals since the
1960s. It only takes 3 years of post grad (the third year is an internship in which you can
expect to make around $50,000). Once you get a license (from a NASP accredited program)
throw a dart at a map of the US and you can find openings. The national average salary is
$70,000, plus all breaks and summers are off. We desperately need more people in the
field. Every school is intended to have their own school psych, but due to shortages many of
us work at co-ops that serve a number of districts and may serve as many as 4 or 5
different schools, so no shortage of opportunities. For more information look us up at
nasponline.org
[–] ineedafuckingname 2995 points 7 hours ago x3
Threads like these really reveal the demographic of reddit. Everyone’s spouting off about
how college is a sham and they could’ve made so much money being a plumber.
If you go to college, put in some genuine effort and don’t pick a dumbass degree - you’re
gonna be fine. You’ll work a cushy job making solid money, and if your complaint is that
you’re gonna rot away at your desk: go to the gym you ungrateful shit. People would kill to
not be forced to put their body on the line everyday.
Also, if you actually look up earning statistics of plumbers and welders, it’s not as high as
everyone claims. The average salary of a plumber is 50k, not the 100k-150k every redditor
and their grandpa is apparently making. It’s hard work, welding is hard work, trades in
general are hard work.
All you people who claim that you’d rather do that than the helpdesk job you bummed your
way into wouldn’t make it a year. I’ve done helpdesk, I’ve done heavy welding, I’ve done
auto mechanic work, and I’ll take helpdesk all day. You have so much more energy at the
end of the day to use to be productive, you can take classes, work out, teach yourself stuff.
If you put in any amount of effort you can move into a better role. Redditors are lazy and
more content to shit on people than to put in the work to improve their situation.
[–] PorcelainPecan 322 points 6 hours ago
It’s hard work, welding is hard work, trades in general are hard work.
I feel that people often wildly underestimate just how hard the trades can be. My father
worked in the trades, for a time as an independent business owner. I was the cheap
labor he would bring along in the summertime.
It. Sucked. I mean, besides my old man's complete lack of a decent personality, the
work itself was long, hard, dirty, and took a toll on the bodies of anyone who did it for
their entire lives.
All the stuff on Reddit and other sides coming from the middle class people who have
never worked one of those jobs and talking about how much better it must be than their
nice, cozy, clean, heated office job...that is just some real grass is greener stuff, and
having grown up immersed in that sector, there was no way I was staying in it. You bet
when I had the chance to go to college, I took it. And yeah, life and my career path
could be going a hell of a lot better right now, but at least I'm not going to poke myself
on a rusty nail pulling wire or sore from pounding a ground rod.
To be clear here, if that's your thing, then that's your thing. The trades are obviously
essential for the modern world, different strokes for different folks, and anyone who
looks down on tradesmen can go fuck themselves. But I'll bet half the people saying
that have never even been in a portajohn. The trades aren't nearly as nice or well paid
as these threads seem to imply.
[–] ptoftheprblm 59 points 3 hours ago
Annnnd if you wind up with a disorder that affects you physically, there goes your
career and ability to pay for any health care. Have a friend who went into a trade
route at 21 and at 27 was diagnosed with MS. He can’t do his job that requires
being on his feet and heavy lifting all day and is terrified for his future. The MS has
just begun messing with his cognitive function too and doesn’t feel confident that he
can get back in school and find a desk job. So no. Trades aren’t the best route for
everyone.
[–] pattke1 875 points 7 hours ago
FUCKING THIS.
My husband is in a trade and I just laugh when people on here try to convince young
people that tradesmen make more money than college degree holders.
Yeah maybe if you majored in something completely useless!
[–] cultured_banana_slug 308 points 5 hours ago
And there's the fact that it's rough on your body. I don't know many retired
tradesmen who don't have serious back and knee problems. That shit will WRECK
your body.
And skin cancer. Yup.
[–] norwaldo 44 points 3 hours ago
I have arthritis. I see people saying "do a trade" and I'm like, sometimes I have
trouble opening doors.
[–] ijustreallylikebears 141 points 5 hours ago
Even some "useless" degrees can be good if you're realistic with your goals, willing
to do some basic networking, and are familiar with the scene in your area. There are
good paying corporate jobs out there for both art and English majors, for example.
They're just not obvious unless you're in the know and schools do a really shitty job
of teaching you how to find them.
[–] happygolucky66 41 points 5 hours ago
Secondary English education major here with a nine year career in supply chain
so far that I really like.
Some jobs just require a degree - it almost doesn’t matter what it’s in. Granted
you can sell English in a lot of things because communication is just a huge part
of every job. But we had a history education and an art major at the first
company I worked for.
But if you’re major is not crazy in demand - I know everyone on here acts like
grades don’t matter - but they do for your first job.
[–] whichwitch9 70 points 5 hours ago
Seriously.
Also, people have to put in the effort while they're in college, too. Half the
problem with "useless degrees" is that if you come out of college with a 2.0,
you're at a disadvantage against the people who took their studies seriously. I
know a lot of people who probably partied a bit too much in my major,
something most people considered a "fun" major. Most aren't doing too well
now. Gotta have a good balance between fun and school (don't want to burn
yourself out before you start, either).
[–] aegroti 68 points 5 hours ago
I always roll my eyes at these sorts of threads.

Fact it. Anything on here that's heavily upvoted is likely already at saturation or the pay
isn't that great.
The actual cushy well paying jobs that need people aren't going to be posted where
thousands of people can see.
Also people are forgetting that the age-ing workforce is earning high wages because
they're old. You aren't going to jump in at that salary because you don't have twenty
years experience. Maybe that's unfair if you know as much as that other guy but it's just
how most old school companies work.
[–] WattsUp130 133 points 12 hours ago
Insurance.
I’d recommend the commercial side rather than the personal lines side mostly due to
automation concerns, but the industry has hired in age bands and thus people are retiring in
age bands. I run into very few people in my age group (25-35), and due to the huge
generational gap we tend to stick together (even amongst competitors) and are one of the
few industries that I feel doesn’t eat our young. We grow them.
Plus with climate change, the evolution of privacy laws (GDPR, etc), and the IoT, it’s super
interesting. You see things from a birds eye view, and get first hand, real time data on
things you see just beginning to be reported in the media.
Or I may just be a dork. Either or.
[–] anon1moos 26 points 8 hours ago
Technical glass blowing. All kinds of researchers need this, but the number for people that
can do it is very small.
The last guy we had at my university to do this made over 80k
[–] SpaceManSpiff2000 71 points 6 hours ago
DENTAL LAB TECHNICIAN!!!
I make 80K, full benefits, retirement, 3 weeks vacation. Went to one year of school.
Education is not required though. No one knows about this industry. Labs are fiercely
competitive for talent. You can learn almost everything on the job. There are labs
EVERYWHERE.
[–] --PM-ME-YOUR-BOOBS-- 245 points 12 hours ago
Church organists. Have you ever seen a young organist?

I knew a guy a while back, him and his girlfriend were both organists for churches, so
yes! Lol
But I get what you mean
[–] --PM-ME-YOUR-BOOBS-- 44 points 12 hours ago
It always seems to be little old ladies, in my experience at least!

100% of all church organ experience outside of that friend has been little old
ladies, lol.
I believe it's a volunteer type position though so I like to imagine those ladies
are getting their dues in before they meet the big guy
[–] Itsmoney05 18 points 8 hours ago
Appraisers
[–] stoodincrap 20 points 7 hours ago
The care industry is in desperate need for employees. However the “typical” industry
perceives carers as unskilled and lazy and care is a ‘last resort’ for those who can’t do
anything else.
These people are caring for people at the final stage of their lives (usually). In other
societies this is such an important role but people turn their nose up at it and carers are
looked down on and severely underpaid and undervalued.
Yes there is technology that can help - but it can never replace the desperately needed
human contact people crave when they rarely see someone else for days at a time.
[–] livierf 99 points 7 hours ago
Cardiovascular perfusion! We’re basically heart plumbers, and I’m sure 99% of you have
never even heard of the profession ♀ if it weren’t for perfusion, cardiac surgery would be
impossible!
We work in cardiac surgery 90% of the time, and the other 10% we are in ICU taking care
of our patients on ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) and teaching patients with
artificial hearts how to live with their devices. In the next decade we will lose a huge chunk
of the workforce (which was trained on the job) and universities (my school offers a M.Sc.
degree) aren’t pumping out (hehe... punny) enough graduates to compensate for the
future.... lots of overtime in my future
Apply!!!! We need more underrated superstars in ORs everywhere!
[–] chevymonza 41 points 5 hours ago
Completion of a bachelor's degree from an accredited college/university with a minimum

GPA of 2.75 on a 4.0 system.
Undergraduate courses that must have been completed include:
— 2 semesters of college biology (8 credits)
— 2 semesters of anatomy and physiology (8 credits)
— 2 semesters of college chemistry (8 credits)
— 2 semesters of college math (6 credits)
— 1 semester of college physics (4 credits)
Three letters of recommendation
Candidates are assessed for admission into the program based upon:
Experience
Academic performance
Letters of recommendation
Insight into perfusion technology
Expressed motivation
[–] coffeeandascone 12 points 3 hours ago
If only I could afford the $40,000 tuition and pay bills during the years of college
required. I'm a BSN RN with a family, I just can't see how to make it work. I cared for
an ECMO patient today, in fact. I find it fascinating.
[–] Offensiveraptor 48 points 7 hours ago
Join the rail, we had two dudes pass away of old age just last week lmao. Everyone I speak
to is nearing retirement and has been at their job for 10-15+ years.
The pay is insane as well.
[–] SturdlyMcLurvely 15 points 7 hours ago
Certified Surgical Technologists (CST) and Certified Surgical First Assists (CSFA). I have yet
to work in an operating room that wasn't in desperate need of them and if you have
experience in a sub specialty such as Cardiac, Neuro, Spine or Robotics then you can
essentially pick your price.
[–] MrKittySavesTheWorld 74 points 11 hours ago
Manufacturing/machining.
Most trade jobs aren’t appealing to people anymore, because they’re seen as “low-class“
manual work, even though that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
I’m currently taking classes to be a CNC machinist, and there’s only 9 people in the class
counting me.
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[–] sadhorse_kaishain 5100 points 13 hours ago

Surveyors need to be GIS whiz-kids these

[–] Panda_iQ 78 points 7 hours ago Soliciting money, goods, services, or

(my school offers one for taking 12 credit

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[–] CanIOpenMyEyesYet 661 points 11 hours ago

[–] surveyorandrew 314 points 7 hours ago

I think at my company, 2/3rds of the survey

What's the pay like?

[–] Imadethis4things 242 points 5 hours ago*

and jumping in a 10 ft trench to

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[–] CanIOpenMyEyesYet 22 points 5 hours ago

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[–] The12Ball 64 points 11 hours ago

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[–] followthedarkrabbit 144 points 8 hours ago

[–] Militant_Monk 62 points 6 hours ago

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[+] [deleted] 9 hours ago (39 children)

[–] Missfruflouf 23 points 11 hours ago

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[–] Classified0 71 points 8 hours ago

[–] Spock_Rocket 18 points 2 hours ago

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[–] CosmicContusion [S] 31 points 12 hours ago

How did your friend become interested in it?

[–] The12Ball 44 points 11 hours ago

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[–] bourbonsoakedscholar 639 points 11 hours ago

[–] burrgerwolf 129 points 7 hours ago

A lot of community colleges offer a course for being a draftsman/construction

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[–] PM_ME_BOOBPIX 15 points 3 hours ago

Best if you can do Revit.

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[–] bails5607 653 points 6 hours ago

Stenographers. My mom is one and says there is a shortage in Massachusetts, and no

[–] lisacsr 106 points 3 hours ago

[–] whoooooooooooooosh 17 points 2 hours ago

how much do they make?

[–] FunnyMiss 48 points 1 hour ago

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[–] lisacsr 17 points 1 hour ago

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[–] LehrUndKunst 67 points 5 hours ago