High paying entry level jobs.

[Jrich5676]

I tell anyone who wants to do development/engineering to jump jobs or be a contractor. I've worked at a few places where the lead or manager has been there for 10 years and his skills are so outdated, he'd suffer terribly if he lost the job. This one guy I worked with only knew classic asp. Nobody does classic asp anymore. I was hired to help with deployment after the company decided it was time to move to newer technology (MVC C#). The guy was so out of his mind because he didn't understand the technology. He knew the system well, but he didn't know how to work with anything other than classic asp and the local system.

If you work too long somewhere, you will get pigeonholed into old technology. If you get laid off, you'll be struggling. Companies usually keep their systems for years, so it's bound to happen if you're at any one place for too long.

Another advantage I have (I've been engineering for 15 years now) is that I have no family or responsibilities. Everyone my age wants full-time jobs with benefits. There is a need for senior devs who only want to work 3-6 month contracts. There is actually a shortage in my area. So, if I ever want a job, I have no problem with competition because no one wants the 3-6 month stints like I take, and it's senior level so I get paid well.

Every place I've been I've learned something new, I've networked with cool people, and it's increased my marketability.

I can relate to you when you say if you stay in a job you get pigeonholed into old technology. Although I didnt resort to old technology, I have been a Barber for 7 years now and recently quit that profession. Where I moved to there is no industry here. Plus I want to get benefits. The downfall is i have no job experience in construction, or anything really and I'm almost 29. Shit is hard to find a job because I have a record and tattoos on my hands and ya it makes a hell of a hard time to find employment. My fault though! I just need a chance!

 

[MoreFeens4Morphine]

It seems a lot of answers here are the same ones I would pick. Software engineer/programmer is good. One a lot of people are missing out one though that is becoming much more in demand is information/network security. Ethical hacking is the future and insanely fun to learn if you like "puzzles"!

The best thing about IT is you can always free lance. So for someone like me with 3 DUI's and a couple other arrests for public intoxication and possession my awful arrest record won't stop me from getting a job. I can just hire myself out freelance. That's my favorite part aside from the high entry pay.

 

[morphine-dreams]

If you can get into property management and bust out 1 year's experience, perhaps as an intern or customer service rep, you can move up to assistant manager where the average pay is around $17/hour. You usually only need 2/3 years experience to move up to manager where the average salary is around 50-60k, but can be much higher depending on where you live and how good you are at your job. No degree required other than a high school diploma. It can be a demanding and stressful job at times but there is also plenty of downtime. Plus it's almost always full-time 9-5 with benefits, and there is usually a lot of overtime.

Bartending can also pay quite well (in tips), and iirc in most states you still have to get paid at least minimum wage on top of that.

 

[treezy z]

Burgler, robber... fuck if I know I get all my good jobs through networking, none of this "from the ground up" shit they'll give that to their buddy (like me.)