my state launched a program where you could get an associate's degree for free and then get a guaranteed transfer to a 4 year state university. i know a lot of people here suggest going into trades, but i'm in my late 20s and i feel like this is a nice opportunity to at least get some useful education (i currently hold a shit english major bachelor's).
so currently i was looking at the following programs: engineering, nursing, accounting. there's also a computer science program but with the never-ending layoffs i'm not feeling too good about it. nursing is a guaranteed job with an associate's, engineering is always useful. i like accounting the most out of those, because i'm interested in how money and tax works, also business and finance, but i feel like AI will hit the accounting and finance job market really hard.
what do you think? or maybe i shouldn't even bother and it's all a waste of time in the current state of our society?
whytehorse2021 4mo ago
I almost fell into this trap. First, you have to realize that companies are lying about shortages so they can get foreign workers. Almost ALL full time good paying jobs have gone to foreigners for years now. Do your due diligence. I'll do a little for you for free right now. In my state(WA) a 2 year degree makes you a registered nurse. As a telemedicine RN you'd make about $83k-$120k with a median of $98k. https://www.salary.com/tools/salary-calculator/telemedicine-registered-nurse/pasco-wa but if you look at the jobs on offer there are only 13 nation-wide and they offer either $55k or say "pay information not provided" https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=telemedicine+registered+nurse&sc=0kf%3Aattr%28DSQF7%29%3B&vjk=698607ac4c014d50 . See how that works? Then I go look at my local hospital and see they have only one job for a recent grad which is 36hrs/wk doing 12hr night shifts paying $37.62/hr($70k). https://kadlec.jobs/richland-wa/rn-resident-cardiac-acute-care/28F4BDE4A144441CBEB3FACDD694FA7B/job/
Second, you have to realize that the world is going to change drastically. chatGPT-5 is set to eliminate 100M jobs. I went through 5 months of coding boot camp only to become obsolete halfway through. Then I was told truck drivers are in high demand only to see it end in massive layoffs and a shipping recession. Now it's all about trades but I have my doubts on that too. I called my local electrician guild and they said there's a very long waiting list to get in.
So what to do, right? Park your ass in a gov't/military job for 20 years. Seriously. It's the only safe thing anymore. IRS is hiring like crazy. Military is bitching about recruiting. Don't get caught up in this corporate gaslighting and hedge fund fuckery.
Maturin_nj 5mo ago
Then go with accounting. Figure out what the curriculum entails for the first year and go through the textbook on your own. Today you can teach yourself anything because the information is on this thing called the internet. Youre familiar with it right. Plan out how to get through the training phase. Work at hrblock part time filing returns. When you walk into the classroom your going to know what you're doing and should breeze through the early basic material.
You can teach yourself to be a lawyer, Dr plumber, mortician or anything else with the drive and discipline. What's great about this country is its open to you. You don't need approval from a guild or a state bureaucrat.
ExConvictNowMillionaire 4mo ago
Accounting is incredibly boring and pretty saturated. (I studied it for a year) I would recommend specializing in offshore (corporate or personal taxes) in multiple countries. Way more challenging & less saturated. Every tax lawyer studies local tax laws - but nobody studies multiple countries their tax laws. So it's super unsaturated. And since a lot of succesful businesses/entrepreneurs want to save taxes - they dont mind paying tariffs of over $1k per hour ex VAT to save a few hundred grand or million per year.
PM me if you need some good sources (forums) for offshore tax planning to see if it fascinates you as much as it fascinates me.
Agentblue 4mo ago
I’ve been interested in offshore tax law for a while, would love to get some more info on the subject, any help appreciated.
Vermillion-Rx Admin 5mo ago
Best is subjective. You could have the highest paying, best job security major ever and still be miserable and hate it
"Best" for you is more important
AbusiveFather1 5mo ago
the best for me would be something where I can work remotely (ideally from abroad, earning a US salary) and have good work-life balance so I can have some hobbies. IT/software seemed to be that but it seems i'm late to the party. accounting could've been that too, but again, AI is probably taking that over
ExConvictNowMillionaire 4mo ago
AI isn't taking over offshore tax planning
oowiw 5mo ago
I'd predict:
No-Stress-Cat 4mo ago
Here's the catch 22: You get a free Associates, then transfer to a 4-year state university - which you have to pay for.
Four-year colleges are EXPENSIVE. Unless you're willing to pay the cost of tuition up front, you're going to have to take out a loan.
Loans are EXPENSIVE. With the interest rates these days, you're looking at paying at least twice the amount of the loan over time.
The job market is CRASHING. You already mentioned layoffs in the tech industry. Companies are downsizing these days due to inflation. They're cutting out middle management, and dumping the work on the lower positions. So not only are you having to work twice as hard, the opportunity for advancement is dwindling to nothing.
Having a Bachelor's in today's job market is similar to having a high-school diploma. They're nice to have for the prestige, but pretty much worthless these days. Nowadays, employers want experience right out the gate, which means you'll have to intern for a few years, or go into a field that has transferable skills, albeit at half the going market rate.
Then there's the competition. The USA has been flooded with people coming across the border over the past few years. Statistics show that the employment rate for foreigners is at an all-time high, while the employment rate for Americans is at an all-time NEGATIVE. A lot of these people are college educated, and have years of experience. Who has the better chance at landing a job, you with your student loan debt, or someone else with no debt asking only half the going rate?
Finally, you have to bear in mind that companies are on-boarding the DEI initiative, and implementing CRT programs throughout the workplace. Unless you are among the 1% who can take advantage of these programs, you are a threat to someone in the workplace, whether that be a feminist looking to stomp on a few dicks to get ahead of the competition, or someone of a lesser status than you looking to throw you under the bus to make sure you stay at the bottom of the corporate ladder.
Nothing is free in this world. There's always a cost in one way or another, and usually you're the one who ends up with the business end of the stick.
I hold a Bachelor in I.T. with a concentration in Computer Programming. I'm still going through the ringer, and will be for long time. I suggest you think more about trade school, where you can learn a skill that will make you 6-figures and you'll never be out of a job. College isn't worth it these days, but that's just my humble opinion.
EnterDaDragon 4mo ago
www.theregister.com/2024/04/16/alibaba_cloud_zoonet_network_telemetry
www.theregister.com/2024/04/13/gartner_ai_enterprise_code
AbusiveFather1 4mo ago
What do you think about nursing then? You can get the job with only an Associate’s, and it’s not rare that nurses make 100k, plus there’s possibility of advancement by either furthering education which the hospital usually pays for or by getting into management positions.
There’s the con of having to work with females and being at risk of losing your license through malpractice or sexual harassment claims. Also, it’s a physically demanding job but no more than the trades I’d imagine; I’ve worked as a construction laborer and am now working as a Nursing Assistant at a nursing home, and even though I have to lift obese people sometimes it’s nowhere as bad as construction.
What do you think?
No-Stress-Cat 4mo ago
If you don't mind handling blood and excrement, nursing is a great field. Especially if you become a traveling nurse.
They make boatloads of money! $$$CHACHING$$$
If that's what you're interested in, go for it! Whatever you do, don't dilly-dally around. Get on with it and stick to it. Get that experience. Become valuable in your field. Then you can demand that bag! The last thing you want to be is an old man still deciding on a career path.
WokeDown 4mo ago
It depends what kind of career you want. For example, in computer science, if you're any good, you don't need to finish your degree (a bachelor's is good) and have a more free nilly type of career. But late 20s is kinda old as age discrimination in that is pretty high geared towards younger and more exploitable. In engineering, generally you need to finish up schooling and it's more by the book (not always, some exceptions, but as a trend). Even more so in architecture.
But here's the thing, the first semester in college is kinda really generic no matter your choice so just start. At worst, you spend a partial 5th semester doing a class or two if you switch.
One thing I can tell you, is that humans will be involved in accounting for a while, AI will just do computing. Spreadsheets haven't killed accountant, AI won't either. If you can save people money or make them money, you'll always have work.