[imported_MnM135i]

I am a student in college and I am currently employed in a restaurant. I am trying to branch out and find other work, but I am kinda of at a hump.

Just wondering what some people worked at as entry level positions and if anything paid really well. Just trying to get ideas to see if there is anything I can do besides the normal "teen" jobs.

Thanks.
-Mykel

[gwballin]

Originally Posted by MnM135i

I am a student in college and I am currently employed in a restaurant. I am trying to branch out and find other work, but I am kinda of at a hump.

Just wondering what some people worked at as entry level positions and if anything paid really well. Just trying to get ideas to see if there is anything I can do besides the normal "teen" jobs.

Thanks.
-Mykel

What is your major and how far are you from graduating?
The point I'm getting at, have you looked into internships?

[ibeam81]

Well you missed out on the mortgage "Gold Rush". There were people without degrees that were pushing sub-prime mortgages and making $25K a month. Frankly I'm not too sorry to see those jobs go the way of the dodo bird, but to each their own.

I don't know what the next big thing will be... maybe buying foreclosed property, but beware of get rich quick schemes. Engineering degrees and MBA's are still in demand, plus there are shortages in the medical field. Good luck.

[Brandon26pdx]

If you can find something that pays $10-12/hr while you're in school then you're doing pretty well. I never had a college job that tipped, but to me that seems to be the way to go. Hell I've known some pizza delivery drivers that could rake in $50-60 in one night of tips plus base.

I dont know what you're studying, but the one thing you'll definitely want to look into toward senior year is an internship, even if it's not paid. Try to get one with the best company you can. If you do a good job for them, that's your most surefire way of transitioning into a good job that pays a decent starting salary ($40k/yr or so.)

[WolfsburgerMitFries]

I recall my teens and early 20's. Good time of life, but nobody wants to pay you a living wage because there's an oversupply of young guys without any sellable skills.

Its very tough being a young guy, economically speaking, and your gender works against you. For example, if you're a pretty girl, there's any number for easy jobs that you can get basically functioning as eye candy, like a hostess at a resturant or bartending making hundreds of dollars a night in tips...You don't work hard at all, and all you have to do is smile pretty and show off your tits. Compare that to the traditional "guy jobs" of washing dishes, bussing tables and cleaning the crapper, where you're required to toil in filth for nearly nothing.

When I was in high school, we just came off the Regan era, which was of a decade of double digit inflation, coupled with stagnant wages. Finally after 10 years of wage stagnation, congress overrode a veto from the 1st George Bush in 1990 to have the first minimum wage increase since 1980. There's been no correction for the wage lag/stagnation that period, and that's where I learned that Republicans are collossal pieces of shit that don't give a rats ass about anybody but themselves. The first George Bush sold everybody on the idea of "trickle Down economics". But the money never trickled down from giving breaks to the rich, instead your average man just got pissed on.

We're currently in another long period of wage stagnation, and fuel prices have tripled in the last 5 years. Along with steep spikes in housing prices, and a weak dollar causing rapid inflation in the price of foreign goods, particularly from the Euro zone. People entering the job market today really have the deck stacked against them, and hear me now...you're not going to enjoy the same standard of living as your parents. The only help I can offer you is to understand the underlying economic devices that have been in place for quite some time that are creating (really guaranteeing) a larger and larger class of working poor. At this point, entry level workers are lucky to earn enough money at work to cover their expenses of going to work.

I recommend thinking like a foreigner who comes to this country...start your own business. There's no margin in "getting a job" anymore. And that little rant just covers your wage, I didn't even get into vanishing benefits like heath care or retirement.

[larryn]

If you live in an area like mine, there's a few enterprising kids around who've done really well with a lawn service. Undercut the TrueGreen people by a healthy margin, and start mowing/fertilizing/trimming/edging. There are kids out here who do that, build a client base, and then do that all during school break/weekends, and make a ton. Be sure to dump a fair amount back into it, if you're going to do it for more than a summer.

Other things that are becoming big... Dog walking/sitting services. House cleaning/cellar cleaning, student painting (if you can do that).

All of those are things that you can get a good head start running a business.

[ibeam81]

Originally Posted by WolfsburgerMitFries

I recall my teens and early 20's. Good time of life, but nobody wants to pay you a living wage because there's an oversupply of young guys without any sellable skills.

Its very tough being a young guy, economically speaking, and your gender works against you. For example, if you're a pretty girl, there's any number for easy jobs that you can get basically functioning as eye candy, like a hostess at a resturant or bartending making hundreds of dollars a night in tips...You don't work hard at all, and all you have to do is smile pretty and show off your tits. Compare that to the traditional "guy jobs" of washing dishes, bussing tables and cleaning the crapper, where you're required to toil in filth for nearly nothing.

When I was in high school, we just came off the Regan era, which was of a decade of double digit inflation, coupled with stagnant wages. Finally after 10 years of wage stagnation, congress overrode a veto from the 1st George Bush in 1990 to have the first minimum wage increase since 1980. There's been no correction for the wage lag/stagnation that period, and that's where I learned that Republicans are collossal pieces of shit that don't give a rats ass about anybody but themselves. The first George Bush sold everybody on the idea of "trickle Down economics". But the money never trickled down from giving breaks to the rich, instead your average man just got pissed on.

We're currently in another long period of wage stagnation, and fuel prices have tripled in the last 5 years. Along with steep spikes in housing prices, and a weak dollar causing rapid inflation in the price of foreign goods, particularly from the Euro zone. People entering the job market today really have the deck stacked against them, and hear me now...you're not going to enjoy the same standard of living as your parents. The only help I can offer you is to understand the underlying economic devices that have been in place for quite some time that are creating (really guaranteeing) a larger and larger class of working poor. At this point, entry level workers are lucky to earn enough money at work to cover their expenses of going to work.

I recommend thinking like a foreigner who comes to this country...start your own business. There's no margin in "getting a job" anymore. And that little rant just covers your wage, I didn't even get into vanishing benefits like heath care or retirement.

Well that was a downer. I guess that I'll go shoot myself now. :wink:

[Rogue.Eric]

Entrepreneurship is where its at if you have some skills and some balls. A couple of friends and I opened a CrossFit gym in Columbus, Ohio and is doing great. I am 21 and a senior in college btw.

my gym: http://www.roguefitness.com/

The fitness industry in general is growing. Personal trainers are in demand if you are into that kind of thing.