i made over 68k so far this year and im making 17k less (salary wise) then mike is cuz i havent gone through the academy yet

at my last job, i made $50k a year as a middle manager - no college. it all depends on work experience. now, is $50k six figures? no, but it's halfway there. had i not been injured at the workplace i think i would be very near 100k per year. every job i accepted was a step up (within the same job field, mgmt). to me, it didn't matter what the people under me did; my art was in how to get the best work from them.

so, what i am saying is, i doubt you will walk into the working world making 100k. don't let that discourage you, as if you choose the right field, you could work your way up to making 100k in less than ten years.

music is different. a true love for music can transcend everything... actually, now that i think about it, a true love for anything will push you through, no matter what.

we all know that kid in our neighborhood that used to love cars so much he could tell you what car was coming down the road just by listening to it. he became a mechanic, and he works like crazy, doing crazy hours and when he comes home he works on more cars. it's a burning desire for him, not something he can control to just the weekends.

but, back to music: i have always had a love for music, but far beyond "i like this song". it was more for me in figuring out what made that song tick, what makes it work, where is the groove? and it's a burning desire that has kept with me all of my adult life. it didn't matter how bad my day was, i could come home and pick up the guitar and CREATE something or just play along with the radio and lose myself in the music. that love didn't change when i got paid to perform, but it did evolve. hell, it's constantly evolving.

so don't say hobbies have no place in the workplace. i would put a special box on the application (if it didn't exist) asking the new applicants what their hobbies were. then, during the interview, ask them about their hobby. if their eyes lit up, if they spoke with passion, then they had an edge over the other applicants. if a fire burned inside of them for a hobby, i knew i had a worker on my hands. it didn't matter what that hobby was, only that they could feel passionately about something. some hobbies often lend themselves either directly or indirectly to success in the workforce.

Jim, I've got that same feeling for music; I love everything about it. I'll tell ya what though, I was in the same situation as Kasey when I went to Willy P (and yes, I was a Music major). I did two years and got burned out from the giant load of classes we had to take. While every other kid who takes 15 credits is only taking 5 classes, the music majors who took 15 credits had 7 classes, plus lessons. It's a huge amount of work. My grades slipped, and I took a semester off after practically failing out. I started hanging around my friend's shop, and he asked me what I was going to do. I said, "Well, I love cars, I think maybe I'll leave college and check into what I need to be a mechanic." He said to me "Take your most favorite thing, and leave it as your hobby. Take your second most favorite thing, and make that your career." So, I went back to Willy P, after the semester off, picked up my grades, and graduated 2.5 years later with a 3.0 and a BA in Music Ed.

I kept the cars as my favorite hobby, but I still get great satisfaction outta picking up my trumpet to play concerts, wedding gigs, and shows. And, the side $$ I make doing weddings and church services is pretty good too!

Interesting take. I agree, making your hobby your job can kill the hobby. Now, the concept of the 2nd favorite thing is interesting spin. Now how can I make $$ drinking beer.....:?:

This man speaks of the truth. I got accepted to McPherson University in Kansas for their Automotive Restoration major. I went out there, met the teachers, hung out with some of the students, toured the shop, and worked on the one teachers Mustang with him while I was there. It was an absolutely AMAZING place. I thought I was in heaven and I was going to go there. But, being in Kansas...yeah I wasnt too sure about that. It was a real great town, I would be going through with a Minor in business and then my major would have been auto restoration (it was a 4 year school). I talked to a guy who went through the school at a restaurant about 60 miles from the school (yeah its the next town over) and he said it was the best 4 years of his life, but couldnt deal with working on cars all the time. He started another business that has nothing to do with the automotive industry. Not to mention he was rolling in a 70 SS 454 Chevelle that night, but he was a real cool guy, real down to earth. He told me to think about it long and hard before making a decision, especially since I was going to be moving there from New Jersey. Im glad I didnt go there...even though I was #2 of 13 people accepted into that program.

Lots of businesses are looking for ways to cut costs and hiring someone with a lesser degree for less money is almost a no brainer. Remember, the more you make, the higher your chance of being let go during lean times. And don't get sucked into middle management, they are the first to be let go. I've also said to people, if I worked on cars all day for my full time job, I wouldn't want anything to do with them on my own time. It's hard to combine a hobby with a full time job. Obviously, it can be done, just ask some of the sponsors here how they do it. But I think that's a very low percentage of people who can handle their hobby/job as the same thing.

right now i'm rolling 5 figures in debt but i'm hoping to turn that around in 2.5 years and be in that 6 fig category........law school is spectac if it's what you love......but if you are just looking for a prestigious career or lots of money, don't even consider it

i was a finance major undergrad which i looooved but also that takes a lot of patience with stupid amortization and other annoying math things, but from what i hear from the friends i graduated with, that brings it in too.

i'm hoping to use my law degree to combine the 2, like in the business world (no litigation for me!) and maybe be that wills estates trusts planner that can also play the part of the lawyer and sign in both spots (and take in that money that would normally be split between the 2 people)

ted is almost finished with his undergrad in accounting which is another one of those fields where either you love it or hate it, luckily for him it's something he really enjoys and he is also really good at it. the firms that visit his school start in the neighborhood of 45-55 with a 10 k bonus, and that is before you sit for the CPA exam.......all in all i think together we are gonna be making some good money in the next few years hehe =)


but like everyone else said, don't even attempt to go for something you don't have a passion for, because most likely you will not stick with it, or if you are able to suffer through you will be miserable.......for...ev....er

I agree with keeping your hobby out of the workplace. I love working on my car but if I had to do it everyday I'd hate it. I like how if the camaro is broken, I can spend a few hours fixing or trying to fix it and when I get sick of it, close the garage door and go home lol. As for a salary, picking a profession because of the money you could make is dumb. As others said, take various courses and figure out what you like. Since junior HS I thought I wanted to be a mechanical engineer. I got through 2 years of school studying physics, chemistry, calculus etc and I hated it towards the end. I just found myself not caring for the material and my grades slipped. JM at the time was studying finance and after looking at some of her books I thought maybe I'd take some business courses and see how I liked it. Long story short, I took an accounting class and I loved it. I'm now at willy p and I'll be graduating next December. Firms are always in my school looking for accounting majors and they've been offered 45-55k starting salaries right out of school and thats just a BS in accounting. Once you go take the CPA exam and pass, the salary will or will almost double.

I fix cars for a living. when I first started, I got a little burned out and didnt really like messing with cars on my free time. Now its a slightly different story.at work, its basically just up keep work. oil changes, brakes and tune ups, steering racks and ac evaporators...things of that nature. not the most fun things in the world, but it gives me a certain sense of pride that I know how to do all that. plus its also fun for me to try and figure out whats wrong with a car when the customer drops it off. its a real PITA some times, but again, I feel a little bit better about myself knowing that I can figure things like that out.

now as far the "car hobby" goes...I still love it! I cant wait until spring to really tear into my car. thinking about the 1LE brake upgrade and the LT1/T56 swap get me pumped. I know I'll be cursing about it come spring time, but in the end I'll have a grin ear-to-ear.

do I make a lot of money doing what I do? no, not really.I'm not flat rate, so that takes a big chunk out of it.and I work for a very small dealership, so that takes a little more out of it. but do I like where I work? absolutely! the people I work with are great, the service writers and parts counter guys are easy to get along with (and thats saying a lot!). I even like the owner too.

it also helps that I have full heath and dental benefits, plus two weeks of paid vacation.

I lost my best tech to a Jeep dealer. At my place he was between $65k and $85k a year (plus benefits & ESOP), depending on business. W/I one year at Jeep he was around 100k. He found that was good at rebuilding those junky Jeep transmissions. IIRC, he told me warranty labor was ~8 hours R&R and he could knock out 2 a day. The service writers loved him for that too, so they fed him work. He was no ordinary tech – I swear he could have fixed the space shuttle if it landed on route 9 – and he had an excellent work ethic.

It would be very easy just to echo what everyone has said, but let me add another thought.

People often work at jobs / companies on their way to something they are aiming at. They'll spend a few years learning the ropes, earning their certificates, and getting experience doing things that may not be exactly what they want to do as a career, but have an impact on where they may work when they end up in a career position. A good example is Federal Law Enforcement.

Very few Fed Law Enforcement organizations recruit right out of school - its almost impossible these days. If you aim at the FBI, they'll flat out tell you to go work somewhere until you are 30, then get in line with everyone else trying to get in. So prospective candidates choose jobs / companies that will help them get valuable skills and experience, while looking good on the resume. That path could be 10-15 years before ever being granted the first of many interviews / tests.

Using the example above, you'll want to think about where you ultimately want to end up, then work backwards looking at a job path that will make you qualified and stand out when it comes time to pursue your "dream career". School is the first step, but keeping your mind on where you want to be a few years down the road, is essential to making the right (or at least the best) job decisions right after school.

Making lots of money seems great - just remember you have to work for it.

Alot of lawyers don't make 100K. In fact, in alot of newly minted lawyers in NYC don't make 75K. It depends on one of two things: which school you go to (and how well you do), and/or how hard you work once you get out.

Don't go by "average" income figures, because the high end of the spectrum is MUCH higher than the low end. Starting salaries range from 35K - 200K. Most are closer to 60-75K.

The best advice I can give someone thinking of law school: Study your *** off for the LSAT. Do practice exams until your brain bleeds. Take primer classes. Then do some more practice exams. Then apply only to the big schools. You're going to pay through the teeth for law school even if you go to a crappy school, and having gone to a reputable school is worth the extra expense. It will make it that much easier to get the big $$$ employers to look at your resume. If you don't score well on the LSAT, you'll just have to work that much harder to find a job when you graduate.

How much you earn as a lawyer is directly related to how much business you can generate. If you sit on your behind doing projects for other lawyers/partners, you can only make good $ in a bigger firm (in which case you need good credientials). If you can drum up your own business, you can make good $ working from home in your PJs. Either way, expect to work your *** off.

If I could do it over, I'd also go for an engineering degree. I might do that anyways, if I can convince my wife to pay the rent for 4-5 years. :mrgreen:

BTW, I don't think education is always proportionate to salary. It is in most cases, but not always. When I graduated from college, I looked into getting a PhD in Literature, until I found out my profs made less than I did as a bartender. That's why I went to law school. :nod:

i never said i was interested in six figure salaries ;) i just wanna be a lawyer. i've been studying for the lsat since june, and am taking it next june. i scored in the 30th percentile of what people score on teh real exam on my diagnostic. i wanna be the one to decide my law school. a good job is more important to me than a high paying job if that makes any sense

I found the scale for profs is very dependent on the courses you teach (supply & demand). So a high end math prof might make double what a business prof makes, with equal education (both PhD). And the schedule is almost impossible to beat! Don’t forget tenure. I was an adjunct for a while at TCNJ – being a prof >>> teaching K-12! So much less crap to deal with. If I didn’t have a kid & mortgage, when I was laid off from the insurance company I would have tried to get my PhD and live the high life. LOL


I find I the business world that education/credentials & salary generally (exceptions always exist) trend together within a give occupation. So you can’t compare a contractor to a lawyer, for instance.

one of my teachers at school used to be a tech at a Ford dealership in montana. his dealership had a fleet contract with either the county or state, I forget which. He was fully certified and was paid flat rate. he told me he used to make about 125K a year....in MONTANA!!!! the cost of living there is WAY lower than jersey, he must have been living very comfortably.

I'd trade what I have for that in a heartbeat.

yeah so would I :?

:werd:

I have been there a few times already but I also agree with

If you do what you love for someone else you will get burned out if you work hard and do not get recognized for it. Pick something that you think you can do every day, or that you are really good at. I am at that point again where I am starting to hate what I do, and it can really eat at you every day. Sometimes its like WTF do I even get up in the morning for?!?
A bit from Sienfeld
KRAMER (in disgust): Look at you.

GEORGE: Aw, Kramer, don't start...

KRAMER (moving back to the othe side of the booth): You're wasting your life.

GEORGE: I am not! What you call wasting, I call living! I'm living my life!

KRAMER: O.K., like what? No, tell me! Do you have a job?

GEORGE: No.

KRAMER: You got money?

GEORGE: No.

KRAMER: Do you have a woman?

GEORGE: No.

KRAMER: Do you have any prospects?

GEORGE: No.

KRAMER: You got anything on the horizon?

GEORGE: Uh...no.

KRAMER: Do you have any action at all?

GEORGE: No.

KRAMER: Do you have any conceivable reason for even getting up in the morning?

GEORGE: I like to get the Daily News!

Ill take what you have now...... :drool:

One thing to remember through all of this is that no matter what you ultimately end up doing, an education/specialized training will never hold you back, but the lack of these could limit your future.

Get the grades in high school, go to college, finish ASAP and get to work.

Take real courses in college, don't go the easy road with bullsh%t electives. Take courses you have an interest in, take courses that challenge the mind to understand the world around you.

Look at people around you who you deem to be successful and ask them questions. How did they get to their current position in life? Regrets? I bet the number one regret is not getting more education/training in one form or another.

Chris

first favorite thing would be hockey, second would be cars. But theres id ever be a good tech...

You have a better shot at being a decent tech then you do a pro hockey player.

i dont want to be a pro hockey player.

Do you guys think a decent school like UTI or wyotech could turn me the master of disaster into an ok tech?