My Students’ Blog

The Best Return for Your Career Prep

By Yessica Lopez

As a young adult you fear that you’ll make a mistake when choosing your career path. You are young, fresh out of high school, and sometimes even confused about what’s next in life. But how do we know if we are making the right career choice? How can we be sure that our career outlook is worth all the education and training we pay thousands of dollars for? Well, these days we are able to see which jobs can make you the most money with little cost of education and training. There are jobs that give you the biggest return for your investment.

Many students attend school for many years and end up with an outstanding amount of debt. American student loan debt has now reached roughly $1.74 trillion dollars, according to student loan debt statistics. People continue to pursue careers that are extremely expensive and time consuming. One of the biggest and most important factors when choosing a job is the salary, since you will be living off what you make, and, in today’s world, you need to make more money than you actually need to live off due to inflation. With costs increasing, it would be wise to not pursue a career that will not bring you a lot more money than that you invested into the education and training.

There is a stigma that you will have to spend several years getting a degree to get a high-paying job. That is not always the case, however there are jobs that give you a high pay without having to worry about the cost and time it takes to be in the career field. Some high-paying jobs that don’t require a college degree include police officers, commercial pilots, and gaming managers. According to an article by Investopedia, although many police officers do have college degrees, the bare minimum education requirement is a high school diploma. Similarly, commercial pilot’s without a college degree are able to fly charters and work for smaller companies as cargo pilots, tour pilots or ferry pilots. A lot of people choose to skip the long paths of a career and end up with some of America’s highest-paying jobs.

As Ken Colemen said in his article “25 High Paying Jobs That Don’t Require a Four-Year Degree” despite what our culture, your parents, or your own inner circle tell you, there are plenty of high-paying and fulfilling jobs that don’t require a degree. In the article, he lists 25 high paying jobs starting with an air traffic controller. The median salary is $129,750 with the education of only an associate’s degree and a job growth of 1%. Other jobs in the article include elevator installers and repairers, nuclear technicians, web developers, and dental hygienists.

According to a recent National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) salary survey, the general average salary for college graduates is about $50,000 per year. The average student debt is a staggering $37,693. The sad thing is that many of those with traditional degrees are not working in their degree fields because of a lack of openings in their preferred fields or a change of priorities and focus. I found an article 27 Of the Highest Paying Jobs with Little Schooling on LearnJobSkills.Com.

Some more examples of jobs on the list of current highest paying jobs with little schooling include diagnostic medical sonographers, electrical and electronic engineer technicians, paralegals, and funeral service managers. Getting to know about occupations and learning about jobs that have high incomes and conveniently require minimal schooling can help you find the right career fit . Knowing how much you want to maximize your return-on-investment (ROI) in the career you choose will also help you decide. A good ROI is when you get back more money than you spent.

You don’t need to put yourself in debt and take a bunch of schooling in order to get a good job.

Generally, a college degree doesn’t guarantee a higher-paying job and better living. You can achieve those things by working hard and for less time, although having a degree may increase your chances. Currently, the cost of college has made it difficult to find a job that can cover the costs of schooling and allow you to live comfortably. The cost of a four-year college can average between $45,000 and $122,000, depending on if you choose to attend a public or private school. If you are looking for a job or college degree that has an excellent return on investment, here are some of the top choices I have found on the list below:

Dental Hygienist
Commercial Pilot
Cardiovascular Technologist
Respiratory Therapist
Police Officers and Detectives
Power Plant Operator
Electric Lineman
Plumber
Radiologic and MRI Technologists
Diagnostic Medical Sonographers/Cardiovascular Technologist

You don’t need to put yourself in debt and take a bunch of schooling in order to get a good job. You can get a good job with just a high school diploma and a trade school certification. Don’t let others tell you need to aim for a traditional long career or continue your education in order to get a higher pay. You should look into the type of jobs that get you the most out of what you put into it.