Rant about jobs: I have a 4 year degree and can only make...

[purduejake]

about $7 an hour! I just paid over $120,000 for an education and there are no jobs. I am under-qualified for management, but overqualified for clerical work and I cannot afford more schooling. I used to make $8.25 in high school with 401k, profit sharing, and health insurance and now I'd be happy to find any job, even if I have to bag groceries. GRRRR.

More about the situation: I have a degree in aviation flight technology from Purdue University, but I cannot fly due to injuries from a car accident 2 years ago. I felt it would be best to finish the degree so I could show that I accomplished something at Purdue. I didn't have enough money to switch majors. What I didn't expect is being turned down for living-wage jobs because I have that degree. Any advice?

[Droopy]

1. Truck driving

You can make 30k a year starting no problem. There are trucking companies that will pay for your CDL training if you agree to work for them for a year.

[purduejake]

5. Thanks!

I can truthfully say it never crossed my mind, which is odd since I love driving and transportation. Plus you don't see young, well groomed, flaming gay truck drivers every day. :7 But seriously, I will look into it and probably have at least 2 good connections! Thank you! Keep the ideas coming!

[Droopy]

8. I've been driving for eight years

I've seen young and a few well groomed truck drivers. I started driving when I was 24. The gay thing, well lets just say that there are many homophobic truckers, but I know that you are an adult and can handle that sort of thing. Most drivers are alright, they are not the violent type. They just want to get on down the road and send that check home to mama.

Trucking companies are hiring all the time. We'd have to be in a depression for there to be truckers out of work. Things might get a little slow during times like these, but drivers usually aren't sitting for too long. Another thing to consider seeing as how you have a college degree is that you may be able to move up to a management position if you decide you want to get out of the truck.

Something to think about I guess.

[purduejake]

13. That's awesome...

I have to admit I am a little worried about the whole cultural difference between me and what seems to be most drivers, but I was mostly kidding. I kinda generalized an entire group of people, which I try to avoid. I am sure I can handle just about anything, though. I grew up in Indiana, so I'm galvanized :) Take care... maybe I'll see you out there!

[Richard Steele]

19. REALLY?

You must be hanging around the wrong truckstops!

All kidding aside, A CDL license is your best bargain in todays market.

Sad, but true.
My Grandad drove truck and raised 7 kids who all did better than him...american dream.

Today, driving will barely let you break even, lifewise...but it's better than losing ground at mickey D's!

Driving truck is the last REAL "blue-collar" job, imho.

[B Calm]

6. I drive a truck and it's not for everybody. If your single

go ahead and try it. You will start out with a company trainer and be in your own assigned truck within two months. Some of the companies will pay for your schooling and even give you a livable wage while in school. You'll start out being an over the road truck driver, getting home every two weeks or every weekend. If you elect to go that way, you'll have to sign a contract saying you'll work for them a specified period of time. If you pay for your own schooling, you can quit them anytime you want. Once you gained a little expercience you can find a job driving locally. Most Teamster jobs require drivers with several years driving experience. If you live in the Lafayette area, they're many local driving jobs that pay very good.

[Droopy]

9. Hey B Calm

I drive short haul for a company hauling auto parts. I'm home every night. I have eight years experience and I am currently looking for one of those cushy union jobs. I wish I could hook up with one of them because I could really use the boost in pay. I've been driving for the same company for the past four years and haven't seen much in the way of a raise. I'm making 35k a year which isn't bad for a local, non-union company, but I'd like to be making around 50k and home every night. It seems like it takes an act of Congress to get on at a good union company, though.

[B Calm]

10. I drove for Auto Zone for 6 years and was making

50 thousand a year when I got mad and quit one day. They paid good but treated their drivers like shit. You were home almost everyday, with usually one or two layovers a week. I don't recomend them because they're anti union and you have to unload the trucks. During my 6 years with them I had two back surgeries and broke both my wrists on a bad fall.

Its very hard to get on with the Teamsters. If you have a clean driving record, all I can say is go down an apply. It helps knowing someone on the inside.. Most Teamster jobs in this area start you out part time, which could be hard for someone with a family to feed. Thats about the only way you can get your foot in the door..

[Droopy]

11. Thanks for the input

I have my application in with UPS. I'll keep on searching. Sorry to hear about your bad luck. Auto Zone can kiss my ass.

[B Calm]

14. I even thought about UPS. I've heard they treat and pay their

18 wheel truck drivers very good. All you do is drop and hook on a set run everyday. Trouble is where I live, I would have to drive a 100 miles everyday in my own vehicle to get back and forth to work.

[Droopy]

15. Yeah

I live just down the street from a UPS terminal in West Carrollton, Ohio. Trouble is getting on with them. I put in an application with them two months ago and have heard nothing. Many drivers know where the good jobs are, that makes it doubly tough to get on with them. I'm sure I'm competing with guys who have 20 years safe driving experience. I look like a newbie to them.

[B Calm]

16. With your 8 years of driving trucks, I'd say you have a good shot!

Maybe if you bugged them once a week. Call them and ask if they have been trying to get in touch with you. Ask them if they see any openings soon, etc etc...

[NYC]

2. Good luck,

and make sure you don't take it personally. You know that things are bad. Outsourcing, etc.

Bush can't last forever. There has to be a rebellion soon.

[HEyHEY]

3. Dennis Miller:

"University - the only place that can get away with charging you $100,000 to prepare you for a $30,000 a year job."

Advice?

Look around for areas of your field that need people. If it means going to school again..do it.

[Paul Hood]

7. Eeee Dennis Miller is like a blowtorch to the eye.

I'm sure with a seconds thought you could come up with something funnier.

[Wapsie B]

4. Skilled Trades.

Welding, plumbing, carpentry, Electrician work cannot be sent to Bombay.

[snoochie]

12. maybe sales

sorry to hear about your situation. so many in that same boat. one field that sometimes doesn't require specialized training is corporate sales. maybe check with aerospace companies or companies that do business with them. good luck!

[ladjf]

17. What is the prognosis for your injury?

Airlines are hiring pilots by the hundreds right now. My son, a recent hire, knows several with aviation degrees from Purdue.

[WritersBlock]

18. I've sent you a PM - please check your inbox. n/t

[democratic pride]

20. Airport Taxi Driver

I'm serious! I know drivers that make over $1000 a week.

[B Calm]

21. I thought about driving a tour bus, but I never had a job where

my cargo could talk to me. Scared me to death thinking about a bus load of old women wanting to stop at every garage sale we drove by.

[democratic pride]

22. LOL!

you could just pretend the brakes went out when your 'cargo' feels like shopping:evilgrin:

[Nikia]

23. Sometimes, I wonder if I should have gone to college

College did a lot of me intangibly, but economically I am not sure. I did get another raise at my current job, which many people around here think is good money, but it is still under $30,000/year if I don't get overtime. I dislike this job, which I have held for 3 years, but I've had difficulty getting a better or even different job that doesn't pay significantly less. I could have had one of 4 or 5 jobs by now if I would be willing to work for under $11/hour. All these jobs preferred or required 4 year degrees. There are factories around here, including the one that I work for, that pay starting unskilled, uneducated labor that much. I do know though that there are a lot of applicants for those jobs right now and my no college, GED best friend, having several years experience and was the first person to have a perfect score on a large companies IQ screening test, was unable to get one of those jobs after being laid off. My own company put out two listings on a job sight and received over 300 replies. The only jobs that aren't nearly impossible to get if you don't have specific experiences or education seem to all pay under $8/hour. It's tough out there right now. It sounds like some other people had good ideas.

[BiggJawn]

24. Try getting a job with IT@P...

The less qualified you are, the further you advance.
Look at Jim Bottum and his gang of failed dot-commers...

[SarahB]

25. Medicine

Even entry level stuff pays well. Take a nursing assistant or phlebotomy (drawing blood) course and if you work off-shifts, you can make $15-20 and hour. Degrees (including two year degrees for some) in fields like nursing, physical therapy, radiation technician, sonography, respiratory therapy, occupational therapy pay well over $50,000 a year right away.

[Enraged_Ape]

26. Find ANY survival job, then get to REAL work in your off hours

Aviation flight technology is a pretty specialized thing. I'm sure aviation flight technologists don't grow on trees. Surely there are people out there in the world (ANYWHERE in the world) who have need of somebody with this knowledge but can't find such a person who is handy--and if they ever could find such a person, they would pay $$$$.

Get out a legal pad and a pen and start making lists:

- Your first list should be ALL your skills and specialized knowledge, whatever they may be. If you're a great water aerobicizer, put it down. Editing will come later. MUCH later.

- Your second list should be ALL the things you like to do. Again, put everything you can think of down. Don't be shy.

- Your third list, which is the most difficult (but the most fun) to create, is a list of any person, place, or thing that would require the things on the first two lists. Again, put down ANYTHING you think of. Be very creative. This is where the rubber meets the road.

Spend a couple of days doing this. Anytime you think of something, write it down and add it to your lists.

Then go over all the lists and make connections you find between the items on all three lists. Write down and describe each connection you find at the top of separate sheets of paper. For the next several days, you will examine each connection and write down every single idea you have about each one on these sheets. Again, there are extra points for creativity and completeness with this, so take your time.

What is this all about? For one thing, it will make you feel substantially better about yourself and your worth to the business world, and it will give a tremendous amount of energy to do something that you like to do. Most importantly, though, when you are finished you will have a pretty good idea of some exclusive product or service...

-that people need.
-that you can provide and no one else can (at least as well as you).
-and most importantly, that you would LIKE and LOOK FORWARD to providing.

This is the sacred formula of a good business idea.

From that idea, you can turn to the free and cheap services of the Internet to get it out there and get it marketed and implemented. (There are a lot of books out there that talk about that in much greater detail than I can provide here.)

Does this seem like a lot of work for little tangible benefit? Yeah, it does, which is why most people DON'T do it and choose to remain slaving away at their shit jobs. But once you start the process, the ideas and opportunities will come. Believe me, it works.