I’m in the US, no degree, and absolutely sick to death of working in retail.
I’ve tried all the jobs website. They haven’t even gotten me an interview. The only job search method that’s ever given me results is to think of businesses near me and apply to them directly. But that only leaves me working more retail, since public facing businesses are all I’m interacting with.
I just want a job that pays my bills, and lets me work on a consistent schedule. I’m so sick of having my hours constantly whipped back and forth. I just want to go to bed at the same time every day.
If you like working with your hands, look into education for the trades. People that do trade jobs are only getting more and more rare these days so theres a good chance you can get a job that way and it pays waaay better than retail in a lot of cases.
Also like others said, knowing someone is also ideal.
I just paid someone $500 to do a simple water line to my dishwasher. Huge rip off. But they get paid well. $200/hr.
Its only gonna go up. Fewer and fewer folks know how to do real work.
Exactly. I’d recommend everyone try and fix things themselves at least sometimes. I try and fix small things I don’t want to have to buy again if I can.
Sometimes it makes sense to pay someone, but its a good skill to have.
I stay away from plumbing and gas in my house because I don’t want to blow up or get flooded. But I do all my own electrical because I know what I’m doing!
I’m with you there. Plumbing I would avoid. I could do it, but like you said, flooding or just water damage in general makes me think twice. Gas I would be more ok with but even then I’d be wary of it.
This right here. I know so many people who got into the trades and made $100-250k per year here in the Midwestern US. That’s after just 5-10 years in a trade. Starting out it might be half that, but you get raises as you advance in the trade and if it’s a union trade you usually also get good yearly raises. So some trades will advance your pay every 6-12 months as you step up through the apprenticeship. So you move up quickly and you’re getting paid for nearly all your training (minus some studying you do in your personal hours).
If you’re willing to work overtime, plenty is available. As others have said, there’s a large demand for people in the trades.
Check local union halls. Many of them will even help you with job shadowing people in the different trades so you can check the jobs out beforehand.
The union trades are run by white supremisist gangs. Weird to get downvoted when I’m literally a journey level worker who has seen union officers threatening to lynch black apprentices. Most of these union construction guys are far right magats. I can also cite literal government studies on this.
What about customer support?
That can be a launching point as long as it’s within the company. I know several people who started in those sorts of positions and moved up quickly to non-customer facing roles.
Get on as a construction helper. Zero experience required, just show up on time with some basic tools every day.
Emphasis added.
Nepotism. Who’s your daddy and what does he do?
My dad’s a gynecologist. He looks at vaginas all day long.
If you’re reasonably good at using computers (you probably are if you’re posting here?), you should be able to find office jobs where your job is to enter information into computers or do similar “secretary”-like tasks. But I don’t know what it’s like in your area.
Try some sort of construction or electrical installations.
Then you learn useful skills, AND youll likely be one of the smarter people there (Lotta folks are the kind who drink a 30 pack of Busch and go to the strip club daily. Not exactly geniuses). so eventually you can get into designing drafting or management.
Or just look into drafting. Read up on how factories work. We need smart engineer type people.
Otherwise , movie theater or bowling alley? Arcade? Those jobs are hell of a lot better than Walmart. Pays shit tho.
Or, janitor. We always need people to clean. Hell, even with my full time job, I cleaned offices on weekends because it was so easy and gave me extra cash. In my case I did it alone which was great, headphones in and just clean.
Another thing to consider: learning a trade.
I don’t know what the trades are like in the USA but here in the UK, once you have a tradesperson you like and who does an above-average job, you go back to that same person until they retire.
It could be anything people need. Electrics or plumbing are high-skill trades and really well paid. Cleaning is a good low-skill trade, it’s hard work but it’s a job for life. Buy some tools, get good at it. Start with windows, they’re easy and basically everyone needs it, and all you need is a squeegee, a clean towel, and a bucket. Get a dedicated business phone number and email address. Print up some flyers with fixed prices (find out what other local businesses are charging and undercut them slightly until you get on your feet) and your business phone number on, and distribute them as far as your legs will carry you.
The trades are run by white supremisist gangs
mmmkay
Know people.
It’s literally the only way.
Go to job fairs, talk loudly about your skills when out and about and with anyone who’ll listen (I know a literal expert that does this. He works in multiple sectors including a couple different governments, has like 8 jobs making an absolute killing), meet people online, go back to school, attend a church, anything that let’s you get in front of people and talk about what you (can) do.
And if something is in your ability, but not your professional experience lie a little.
Find what sector you want to work in and start educating yourself about it. Even online certificates help. Most jobs work on a consistent schedule.
If you are dead set on going at this with no education and nothing of value on your CV, look into factory and warehouse work. It’s boring and repetitive though. Another option is municipal work, they sometimes have good paying jobs with little experience needed.
It’s been decades now, but when I was still in school I worked for a temporary employment agency for a couple summers. I had an interview with them so they could get a feel for my qualifications, then they would line me up with random office jobs that could last anywhere from one or two days to a month or more. For most of one summer I worked in the mailroom of a law office.
If you can find an employment agency like that near you it might be a good way to get your foot in the door. Keep your eyes open wherever they send you and see if there might be chances for longer term jobs. The experience of being a temp with a good work ethic can also look good on a resume.
In country out-sourcing, i.e., Quest Global, Cyient, Belcan. Bigger Companies use outsource labor for certain work, and doesnt pick the resources (people) the outsourcer uses to accomplish the work. if you can do Excel and are reliable, theres hope.
All happens locally often having you work on site at Bigger Company with a different color badge. Less resistance to hiring underqualified people this way. Typically small contained scope tasks not worth having a company man do, but excellent industry exposure. Once youre there you could see if its viable to apply to Bigger Company later, or what you need to be able to. Worth a look if you have something like that nearby.
Spend a few months in Vocational school > massage therapist > pass all the licensure tests > earn around $500/day working at a spa.
Landscaper, tree worker, construction.
I see “hiring” signs for these jobs all over the place.
Go to EMT school. It’s a fairly short program. Shouldn’t be terribly expensive.
Do you know any EMTs? I do, and it sounds like you might also. In the US at least, this seems the opposite direction of what OP is asking. Long hours, low pay when amortized over hours on call, high stress, but potentially great personal satisfaction. Also potential career track to other first responder/medical roles, which can be another plus, e.g. wilderness SAR, marine emergency SAR, trauma nurse*, etc.
If I have any of that wrong, I sincerely would enjoy additional context and discourse.
*A close friend from high school went the EMT->trauma nurse route. He has the temperament for it and absolutely rocks it. He is doing waaaaay better financially and spiritually than most of our social circle. His hours aren’t consistent per se, 3 days on, 3 days off plus any additional shifts he wants. He could have retired about 5 years ago, but loves the work too much.
They said “no retail” and regular hours.
There certainly are standard EMT shifts. And pay varies a lot depending on area of the U.S.
OP didn’t indicate where they were looking.
You could look into a government job. It’s kinda fraught with the current administration, but there are lots of entry level government jobs with regular schedules and decent benefits.
Another possibility is care work or whatever it’s called. I have a few friends who work in housing for the developmentally disabled and I’ve seen listings for jobs in psych wards/mental health type places that don’t have any degree requirements. There’s probably similar jobs in elder care too that don’t have any degree requirements.
Don’t know where you are. But look at the directories for business parks and office buildings around you.
