Profoundly Disconnected - Mike Rowe

[BigDee]

I grew up in a construction household. My father was an iron worker and life was very much feast or famine. When construction was booming life was good and when construction was down life was miserable. We often had to move in with my grandmother when my father would get laid off and was unable to find work. My father always told me to never go into construction, the work is to seasonal and despite the promise of big pay without a college degree the physical toll it takes on your body just isn't worth it. In the early 2000's a lot of my friends became union framers and carpenters. They were driving new trucks, buying houses and doing very well for themselves. At the same time I was making an okay living in telecommunications but I also often worked weekends, evenings and holidays while they were off during most of those times so it was very tempting to follow in their footsteps and take on a union trade. When the housing market collapsed they were all laid off and unable to find work in their trade. Ultimately they lost their trucks, their houses and many of them also lost their wives/families because of the emotional toll and stress caused by almost instant poverty. Most of them had to move back home with their parents and some still do.

Despite not having a degree I have managed to work my way up in a very large corporation and make a great living doing what I do. Most of my collegues have MBA's from instutions like DU and the 6 figure debt that goes along with it, despite their MBA's and insane debt they don't make any more $$ than I do and I am quite honestly better at my job than most of them. Sadly, due to not having a degree I am limited in how much further up the ladder I can climb. The next level in my career would be to become a director which is possible but is the absolute ceiling in my profession without a degree. I have often considered going to college to get a degree and may end up doing so at some point but I've already made the decision to become and independant consultant in my field within the next 1-2 years which will allow me to be my own boss, have limitless earning potential and does not require a degree, just comprehensive industry experience.

If you are reading this thread right now and considering a career change let me share something with you that my father used to tell me all the time. "Son when you are trying to decide what you want to do in life just remember this, no matter how bad things get people will always get sick, people will always need to communicate and people will always need to eat." Staying true to my father's advice I chose to help people communicate and have first hand knowledge of just how recession proof the industry is.

While the world certainly needs ditch diggers and oil rig hands those are not the only choices for guys who don't have a degree. There are many white collar professions that don't require degrees and pay 6 figure incomes as well.