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Career Paths...

monkeyswrench

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I chose the no college route, so I got 4 things.

2 Pairs of Levis
A Pair of Diehard work boots
And a hand shake
That there is all I had, and turns out, all I needed. Pops taught me to work, and that helped out a lot in life. He never wanted me doing labor, but I liked it. Always had a tan, and the view changed. Even now I still do hand rails and gates on occasion. Artistic flair, hammers and a welder...keeps life interesting ;)
 

MeCasa16

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Yea thats what my daughter is going after, she received her degree in areonautical science from Embry riddle, she did it on line, way cheaper, while doing that we got here flying she now at the point of next month she takes her final for CFI, certified flight instructor, she works at french valley flight school so she could get discounted prices on plane rental ect, so far we are at 45.000 in cost with school and everything.


That was an excellent strategy. A lot of people at her stage are $200K deep in debt. Getting her CFI is a huge accomplishment, and I'm sure you are incredibly proud of her.
 

Ouderkirk

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Ok, question to parents, or those who have made a good life for themselves. I have a daughter that is a senior in high school, math genius, but doesn't want to go into accounting. I have a son that's a freshman, sharp in math, and intrigued by tech...but not the "gamer" type...those two are trying to see which way to go.

I have no real "career". Kind of a major in automotive, minor in construction. I always kept options open, learned a lot about any trade I could. Worked out ok, always had an income, never went hungry.

My kids are much smarter than I am or was, and also more focused. As my daughter approaches college age, the doors are there, but where do they go? I don't have the slightest clue. Wondering what the educated people do, and if they enjoy doing it...that's always a plus.


In both cases a solid education in Math, Physics, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering

For me...I have B.S Physics & Electrical Engineering, MBA, and Ph.D Applied Physics. I recommend all.
 

Singleton

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I always tell my kids, if you have passion for something you can earn a living.

Oldest went to college, had his heart set on Marine Biology, however mom and I told him we only fund the undergrad. Once he found out how much grad school was going to be and that marine sciences pays insanely low, he lost is passion. He now is an part owner/operator of a carpet cleaning business in Denver.

Middle son is studying at the UofHawaii and undecided. Not good with his hands so trades were out. However all in, UofH was cheaper then other options on the table. He got a good scholarship for playing in the marching band program, so that makes it worth it. Time will tell what he does, but he is taking Japanes, so that might open some doors yet to be known.

I went to college loving math and studied Accounting. It kicked my ass for 3 years, took one Management Information Systems course and it clicked (got A without doing any heavy lifting). Ended up with a dual degree (Acct & MIS). Got my CPA, then went to work in system implementations and that led me to leading global IT Internal Audit and Security Compliance organizations. 60-70 hours weeks and international travel for weeks on end, was impacting the family. the $$ i made was not solving those problems, so 25 years after college, I am in sales engineering (focused on financial and compliance enterprise software).

Wife has her masters in Mathematics (had no interest in teaching, but loved solving problems) - she leads the financial and billing systems teams for one of the largest gym companies in the Nation.

all the means, is your kids will find their way. You just have to decide what you are willing to pay for.
 

farmo83

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The average person will have I think 7 jobs before they find one they are "happy" with. Keep in mind priorities can change.

My wife loves (her whole family does really) hosting events and cooking for people. She got her degree in Hotel and Rest. Management from one of the top schools for that degree in the country, had awesome internships, and went to work. She never was really happy working in the industry, and bounced around to a few jobs thinking she just had to find the right fit for her. After we met, dated and got married she decided she basically wanted out. She was tired of the what I'll say is the "caliber" of employee's that an 8.00 an hour salary commands, tired of the hours, missed holidays, shitty benefits etc. Her mom's friend hired her into a payroll company and it's been a huge blessing, she loves what she does, makes more money, has regular hours. And as she says if she wants to host and cook for people, we have parties.

It can take some people longer to find their path then others.
 

troostr

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I'll give you an agricultural perspective. I am 5th generation in Dairy/Farming. It's not something that was ever pushed on us. In fact my dad left the family dairy at 18, bought a truck and couple sets of double trailers and went to hauling hay. By 30 had his own brokerage, and 10 trucks moving hay all over Ca, Nv, Ut, and Az. At 45 he bought a small dairy that was relocating and between that and then having 25 trucks (owned and subhaulers) I was Always busy unloading hay or feeding cattle, before and after school and on the weekends. A couple years after HS we had the opportunity to relocate the dairy and my dad was sick of the trucks. He had a great guy that worked for him since about the time I was born that wanted the trucks and hay business. (I made killer money with this guy growing up unloading hay. He was one of the reinforcing foundations of hard work and work ethic for me besides my parents) I didn't want trucks, especially in CA, so I chose to get into the dairy with pops. Off to NM we went.
I've been here 20 years. I'll use my oldest boy for example. He is 15, straight A's, does well in sports (football/ wrestling) and can out work many of my full time employees. He is CRAZY about STEM, and has gone to a STEM camp for the last 3-4 years on invitation/recommendation. We have had conversations while working about what he wants to do. He loves the dairy/farm life and is pretty dang sharp at it. But he also loves the science/tech/engineering fields too. I finally took him to a farm show a while back to show him something I've wanted to renovate to- Robotics. The lights came on for him, and thank God because robotics intimidate the shit out of me, he's all about it! I told him it's already a thing. There are small scale farms using robotics and AI to milk and help manage the herd. He is now all about getting through college to come back so we can expand/update our facility to an almost fully automated dairy. He's the one my tractor guys call to come program, setup or fix the gps self guidance systems in the field tractors.
My daughter is 2 years behind him, and at this point is looking to be a teacher- (my wife has 2 teaching degrees) She has the personality and demeanor to be a great teacher! Also a straight A student.
My youngest boy, 10, Loves the farm and farm life, and at this point less of the tech and more of the animal/plant science part. In a perfect world, my boys on their current course could be dynamic partners. If my daughter and or future SIL fit in there too- even better!!
 

C-2

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If a kid is good in math then as others have stated, they usually do well in IT. CyberSecurity is challenging but pays well, the only downside is the need to bat 1000%, 100% of the time. Otherwise, you're gone.

When I was taking courses a few years back, kids were trying to get into the CyberCorps - a program that pays for your schooling, they pay you a stipend of $25K/yr so you can focus on school (and not a part time job) and they give you a $6K equipment budget. In return, you give them 3-years of service. The buzz is, this is an NSA farm.

What happens after 3-years? I imagine your credentials are like an Black Amex card - good anywhere in the world.

CyberCorps link/info
 

MCnParker

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I have always been a believer that hard work and common sense will enable you to provide for yourself and your family. I have a BS is telecommunications management (IT) and have been very successful with it. Now do I love what I do, not really, but the flexibility and ability to spend time with my family have been a huge part of why I have stayed where I am today. To me that is a bonus of the job, and I hope that it pays off in the end for my children to be able to look back and remember the time we spent together.

The comments about internships are spot on, if you can get a feel for the field you want to enter you may have a different point of view coming out of it. They also provide the most valuable thing you can acquire in any business, relationships! In all my years of experience I have come to realize one thing, it is not what you know, it is who you know. Don't take that the wrong way, you still need to have the skills required to perform the job, but if you know someone with the ability to get you onboard, you are farther ahead than most.
 

farmo83

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I have always been a believer that hard work and common sense will enable you to provide for yourself and your family. I have a BS is telecommunications management (IT) and have been very successful with it. Now do I love what I do, not really, but the flexibility and ability to spend time with my family have been a huge part of why I have stayed where I am today. To me that is a bonus of the job, and I hope that it pays off in the end for my children to be able to look back and remember the time we spent together.

The comments about internships are spot on, if you can get a feel for the field you want to enter you may have a different point of view coming out of it. They also provide the most valuable thing you can acquire in any business, relationships! In all my years of experience I have come to realize one thing, it is not what you know, it is who you know. Don't take that the wrong way, you still need to have the skills required to perform the job, but if you know someone with the ability to get you onboard, you are farther ahead than most.

I can't stress this enough the value of networking and to not be afraid to use it. I work at Chevron and even at a company this big, it's always someone's friend, someone's kid, someone's whoever that gets jobs. I used to think the most qualified person got jobs. In the real world rarely is that the case.
 

Jay Dub

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great thread. So much valuable information. My only add is for your math-wiz daughter. Look at engineering management, supply chain-logistics. Theses are huge growth areas and are in-demand across industries.
 

pronstar

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If I could start over, I would never have gotten on the career path in corporate America.

I would have focused on building a business, then owning the process while others did the heavy lifting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

samsah33

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Couple of points - math gives a great basis for many disciplines above and beyond accounting! I work in accounting and finance, and trust me, accounting uses very little math, it's more "rules" based, almost like law. Once you get some experience in this area, you can really apply it to many difference industries and will never be without a paycheck. Any Q's in this area, go ahead and PM me and I'm happy to discuss ad nauseum!

As others have mentioned, let them check out a community college and get some GE classes under their belt; this will help them discover their areas of interest. Maybe they will discover that they really don't like college and that a trade is more for them. This is an inexpensive way to let them feel around a bit without going through with the full university commitment.

One theme in this thread is advice on different trades or businesses. The common denominator here is business. I would recommend that all students take some business & econ classes so that they can at least understand how to read a balance sheet or P&L since these are common across all businesses and industries. Even if you go to work for a large company, it makes sense to read their financials before accepting a position to make sure you're not climbing aboard a sinking ship...

Finally, if they do decide to go to college, please please please do the math on the cost of college vs. starting salaries. Make sure there is some payback on the investment in education. It doesn't make sense to pay $100k for a major with a starting salary of $25k; they've already lost 4 or 5 years of earnings while in school, so when you add tuition on top of that, the hurdle for recovery is that much greater.

Good luck!
 

beaverretriever

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One word, commercial real estate. Sorry, that was three words, so don't listen to me as I am dumb as a box of rocks.
 

bk2drvr

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I have one other suggestion. If you live in California encourage your kids to leave. Lol... I mean this in a good way. It’s easy as a young adult to want to stick close to where they grew up, not always, but it’s common. It’s familiar, their family is close by, etc... I’ve traveled all over the US and it has opened my eyes to an entirely different perspective. If they start talking like “I’m never leaving “insert Cal or city you line in” encourage them to leave and experience other places and opportunities.

I grew up in HB and said I’d never leave when I was 20-25 yo. I’m now 49. HB is so far from my thoughts on where I want to live it’s hard to imagine I had that thought process back then.
 

LakeBeard

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Ok, question to parents, or those who have made a good life for themselves. I have a daughter that is a senior in high school, math genius, but doesn't want to go into accounting. I have a son that's a freshman, sharp in math, and intrigued by tech...but not the "gamer" type...those two are trying to see which way to go.

I have no real "career". Kind of a major in automotive, minor in construction. I always kept options open, learned a lot about any trade I could. Worked out ok, always had an income, never went hungry.

My kids are much smarter than I am or was, and also more focused. As my daughter approaches college age, the doors are there, but where do they go? I don't have the slightest clue. Wondering what the educated people do, and if they enjoy doing it...that's always a plus.
Engineering. I work for an engineering firm, folks w/ math degrees to great, most w/ engineering degrees always did well in math.
 

monkeyswrench

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In both cases a solid education in Math, Physics, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering

For me...I have B.S Physics & Electrical Engineering, MBA, and Ph.D Applied Physics. I recommend all.
May sound stupid, but what kind of jobs does someone do with these types of credentials? I've only had a CDL, C39 and some certificates that said ASE...Like I said, my kids got the wife's brains and looks...they'll do good ;)
 

Ouderkirk

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May sound stupid, but what kind of jobs does someone do with these types of credentials? I've only had a CDL, C39 and some certificates that said ASE...Like I said, my kids got the wife's brains and looks...they'll do good ;)
.
The most useful has been the Physics degree(s). The E.E. degree has been useful but I found electronics engineering to be not enjoyable work. The physics component has allowed me to to broaden my sphere of influence. Semiconductor manufacturing, ceramics, plastics, and software development.
 

Willie B

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… I chose four years of getting a huge education in the electronics industry when the computer chip was really starting to happen… Then two years at a community college… It was either transfer to UCLA and pick a major… Or move to Malibu and live in a house with an indoor pool and travel in the rock ‘n’ roll worlld of the 60s… I chose Malibu and have never looked back……
 

clarence

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Study Economics (and maybe Legal Studies) to develop thinking until find passion.

Specialize in grad school.

Consider the impact of AI on any possible career.
 
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