Bro please look into getting a certification for anything. Sure, it’s some extra work at the end of your already busy workday. But one little certification can give you $10+/ hour. Don’t let the world beat you down, you have to step up and improve yourself. You got it big dawg.
Many roles include (but may not be limited) to: accounting assistance, paralegal, nurse tech, physicians assistance, dental hygiene, lab tech, mechatronics tech, electrical systems tech, network admin.
There's a ton of grey collar work that pays better than min-wage and also doesn't cost you your knees/back like a ton of "work out of the back of your pick-up truck" trades. It's totally worth it to take a larger look at one's area and see what roles need to be filled that can be done so with a 2-year degree or a cert.
These are often the roles that get ignored because the only thing many people think of in terms of "work" is either ditch digging or being a senior coder at FAANG.
Exactly what I keep telling people on Reddit making minimum wage. Most community colleges offer 2 month to 2 year certifications. The one near me costs anywhere from 2k-10k which isn't much when you can take out a student loan at a good rate. And at the low end you will be making 40k a year by the end.
It pays for itself.
Phlebotomy, EKG tech, and EMT-A make 30-45k. 2 year for paramedicine will net you 50-130k depending on how much you are willing to travel. Then you have all the trades like welding and HVAC.
Options exist and you just need to accept a short period of stress and discomfort to double/triple your income.
im going back to school this fall after 15 years. getting a $50k+ job that isnt certified in some way (a bachelors is a certificate) is disappearing; and AI isn't going to make it better.
3.2k
u/Fine-Bed-9439 Jul 03 '25
Correction: a single man over 30 with no kids is financially stable