Input Appreciated For Stupid OP

[nocalvesnick]

Well I will preface this by saying I have thrown a lot away in life to no fault other than my own.

I currently have just about 17,000 dollars saved up and am looking for a place to live/ basically need to start working asap in order to not be leaking money.

I suppose I am considering saving for a year and going back to college and getting a degree ( I am not very intelligent and by no means some savant I got a 26 on the ACT without preparing much but I doubt I would score much higher had I done so and I can tell my memory and critical thinking skills are worse now as opposed to then)

The other option is continuing my current career which is basically a manual labor job with not much upward movement ( I know for a fact I wouldn't want to do this for a few more years the only thing keeping me doing it is to make some money)

I understand there are a lot of questions to be answered such as what do I want to do in life, and its hard to say without giving a broad answer. I was good at math and science and english but trash at every other subject. I understand things could be worse but I am really unhappy with where I have placed myself and would like for things to change. I don't want to have a nice car or some giant house I solely want to be able to afford my own place in a nice city and not worry about rent and eating out every once in awhile. I know this is something I can achieve but I guess im at a loss for the next steps and getting back into the rhythm of memorizing information as well as actually using my head. I am considering restudying the ACT and trying to improve vastly but I guess at this point im open to all thoughts and input.


Cliffs

- OP has wasted many years of his life and wants to change things around ( not necessarily drastically)

-OP used to be average but at this point is not as sharp and wants to move towards a job not solely consisting of manual labor

- OP like many people is unhappy with current life and needs to work towards an actual goal instead of wasting years and time

[Kiop]

1 step a day
youll improve
if you are serious about it

timing is a factor, planning is another

[nocalvesnick]

1 step a day
youll improve
if you are serious about it

timing is a factor, planning is another

I am kind of thinking I should just get two jobs for the time being... make some money leave little time to waste. Thanks for the response just need to stop making excuses to be honest and hold myself more accountable in life.

[paulinkansas]

OP, where do you live and what labor skills do you have?

[guest89]

Have you considered switching to a less labor intensive trade? IE electrician or something along those lines...

[nocalvesnick]

OP, where do you live and what labor skills do you have?

CO and honestly pretty minimal labor skills.... I am trying to work towards getting out of labor intensive work but I can cope with it in the meantime.

[nocalvesnick]

Have you considered switching to a less labor intensive trade? IE electrician or something along those lines...

Its a thought... I don't think I can be too picky but I honestly have never considered that sort of work. At the moment I think I will just do my best to work everyday save money and take 1-2 online courses to get back into studying and writing in general.

[Destor]

I went back to school at 25, took an associates degree program (2-year diploma here), and went from chitty warehouse jobs to working in Project Management. In my first full year after graduation, my income was legitimately triple what it was before going back to school. I'm now making 4x as much. Going back to school as an adult was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Student loans totaled a bit over $20k including living expenses since I was renting a place at the time

[paulinkansas]

CO and honestly pretty minimal labor skills.... I am trying to work towards getting out of labor intensive work but I can cope with it in the meantime.

Coffeyville Kansas, that's where I'm from. Denver is about 9 hours away. Starting in February of 2020, there is going to be a very large 2 year project at the refinery here. Probably around 2000 people here for the duration. CVR Energy is the refinery. Some of the bigger contractors coming here to do the work are Born Industrial, InServ, Repcon, Parfab, and Ohmstede.

I know this because I rent out furnished houses with all bills paid to the guys that come here. 23 houses, 83 beds. People can cook, do laundry, sleep in their own room and it costs less than a motel.

[Visel]

It's a gradual process, as you already know OP. You don't just get ambitious for a month and wind up with a 6 figure salary.

What you are asking for is career advice.

Instead of guiding you into one direction, I'll give some tips below.

1) Stay open minded and learn what's out there. You can't traverse a career path without already knowing that it exists, its pros/cons, requirements, etc. I'd suggest looking into the top 5 industries that you actually have a plausible interest in, and then research the concentrations. Talk to friends and peers in those industries. Read career advice from the Misc, srs. Saw some interesting threads recently about folks who work as an RN after just 4 years of college, making good money with a lot of vacation time and only having to work 3 days a week. Sounds like a dream if you actually like the work too.

2) Consider the costs, pay rates, and longevity of each career of interest. How much will it cost you for all of the education and required certifications? How much will you make on average in your area starting out? Is the field something you can see yourself working in for decades (IE labor intensive jobs might have an injury consideration)?

IE if you only need a 4 year degree (Bachelor's), and you have maybe $20-30k debt from it, but it pays $70k, that sounds pretty darn good to me (depending on location costs). If you need secondary school (med school, law school, etc.), which means you're spending six-eight years of studying instead, and statistically you'll get like $100k+ in student loans, and statistically make $150k out the gate... might not be as worth it due to debt and time.

3) Ask yourself the following: Is there opportunity to grow in the field, and if so, how much can you make long term? What costs/education/certification is required for the higher end positions, if you desire those?

4) Ask yourself the following: Is the job in demand? Can you see automation/technology replacing bodies in the industry? Is the job market only hot in some areas versus others?

5) Ask yourself the following: How is the work-life balance for people in the industry? Considerations include Working from home, shifts on and off, seasonal work schedules, etc.


I don't expect you to read this thread's replies and start working towards a career path next week. This will take time.

Fun Game:
I think a "fun" goal that I'd set myself up for, is to try and spend between now and the end of 2019 (Dec 31st) to learn about different industries/concentrations/jobs, talk to people, research online. Maybe make it a goal to research one concentration per one industry each day until the end of the year. By the end of each day, if you like what you've read, mark the industry/concentration in the calendar for that day. Do this every day, and then once you reach January 1st, look back at your calendar, look at what you've written, and whichever industry appears the most, start plotting a plan to follow beginning in 2020. 2020 is your career decade OP!

[nocalvesnick]

I went back to school at 25, took an associates degree program (2-year diploma here), and went from chitty warehouse jobs to working in Project Management. In my first full year after graduation, my income was legitimately triple what it was before going back to school. I'm now making 4x as much. Going back to school as an adult was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Student loans totaled a bit over $20k including living expenses since I was renting a place at the time

That is good to hear man congrats.

I also have basically an educational award worth around 5 grand from doing basically volunteer work for close to a year.

Thanks for the input people and I apologize if this post came across as whiney. I have been very fortunate in life more so than most, but at the same time I know I need to work on changing many things.

[nocalvesnick]

It's a gradual process, as you already know OP. You don't just get ambitious for a month and wind up with a 6 figure salary.

What you are asking for is career advice.

Instead of guiding you into one direction, I'll give some tips below.

1) Stay open minded and learn what's out there. You can't traverse a career path without already knowing that it exists, its pros/cons, requirements, etc. I'd suggest looking into the top 5 industries that you actually have a plausible interest in, and then research the concentrations. Talk to friends and peers in those industries. Read career advice from the Misc, srs. Saw some interesting threads recently about folks who work as an RN after just 4 years of college, making good money with a lot of vacation time and only having to work 3 days a week. Sounds like a dream if you actually like the work too.

2) Consider the costs, pay rates, and longevity of each career of interest. How much will it cost you for all of the education and required certifications? How much will you make on average in your area starting out? Is the field something you can see yourself working in for decades (IE labor intensive jobs might have an injury consideration).

3) Ask yourself the following: Is there opportunity to grow in the field, and if so, how much can you make long term? What costs/education/certification is required for the higher end positions, if you desire those?

4) Ask yourself the following: Is the job in demand? Can you see automation/technology replacing bodies in the industry? Is the job market only hot in some areas versus others?

5) Ask yourself the following: How is the work-life balance for people in the industry? Considerations include Working from home, shifts on and off, seasonal work schedules, etc.


I don't expect you to read this thread's replies and start working towards a career path next week. This will take time.

Fun Game:
I think a "fun" goal that I'd set myself up for, is to try and spend between now and the end of 2019 (Dec 31st) to learn about different industries/concentrations/jobs, talk to people, research online. Maybe make it a goal to research one concentration per one industry each day until the end of the year. By the end of each day, if you like what you've read, mark the industry/concentration in the calendar for that day. Do this every day, and then once you reach January 1st, look back at your calendar, look at what you've written, and whichever industry appears the most, start plotting a plan to follow beginning in 2020. 2020 is your career decade OP!

Great post and advice man its appreciated very much!

Yeah I think spending some time each day looking over my strengths as well as what I could see myself doing long term would be a good idea. Currently just job hunting at the moment (not going to be picky honestly will just try to make some money over the next few months potentially work one full time and one part time during the weekend)