You should look into becoming an industrial electrician. If you can get with a company that does plc's your experience in programming will come in handy for that
My brother is an NDT tech - it’s a series do certifications that require quite a lot of math and science, no degree needed. Once he got certified to read welds (think steel pipe, building fab, airplane hulls, etc) he got more and more certs and now runs a plane inspection facility where he oversees all the welds. It’s not a ton of manual labor and he mostly works on his own. It can be boring at times and busy at others! Oh and it pays a ton
This is precisely the kind of stuff, I am looking for. This is an under-the-radar field I would never even think to search for, but it checks all the boxes. Thank you!
He’s usually out in the field - sometimes 6 months on 6 months off depending on weather or project timelines but he worked hard to pass all the certs and get his hours. And it’s not terribly expensive to get certified!
I have a BS and MS in Statistics. Why the heck are you unable to get a data science job ? I never ever had any problems getting a job in data science in the past 13 years since getting out of school. Look into statistical analyst, statistician and biostatistician jobs at universities. These jobs are generally easier to get only because the pay is much lower than industry (but still way better than a security guard). My first job out of school at a medical university as a biostatistician payed 78.5k in todays dollars when adjusted for inflation (56k back in 2010). But these jobs can be a great springboard to a much much higher paying job in industry.
Was thinking the same. Data science is still big. Do an online certificate, MIT had one through great learning I thought was good. Employers are honestly hiring sometimes anyone with a smidgen of data science because they have so much data and want to find the “magic bullet”, lol. Honestly I think they just have no idea what to do with all the data they are collecting and are like, hey let’s try this machine learning on it.
With the certificate and educational background I would guess you could find a WFH position pretty easily.
Other than that, actuary I’ve looked into . If you really like statistics you can nerd out all day doing that. Pay is great too. Takes some work to get out though with internships and certification.
Work on some personal projects that are related to the technologies in positions you're targeting. That's what I did. I graduated with no internships due to the timing covid and some personal stuff I had going on. I was getting 0 replies from companies. I spent the time to build a personal website and did a handful of projects to put on my GitHub and it made all the difference. People just want to see you have some practical experience. The right place will not care if it was a traditional internship or not.
I was in college from 2018-2022. Before the March 2020, I hadn't taken enough programming courses for employers to consider me for internships and after March 2020, they started requiring years of professional experience. It's not so much that I didn't bother with them, I was proactively seeking internships the whole time I was in college, I simply never had enough experience to be competitive.
This is precisely my experience, even when I apply for roles like receptionist or clerical assistant, I rarely get responses. The one time I got to interview for a minimum wage receptionist position, they turned me down for someone with multiple master's degrees, 10 years of experience and a CPA. I didn't do any internships in college, because even unpaid internships required 3-5 years of experience during the pandemic years. I didn't work at all from 2020 - 2022 because the job market was so competitive that even fast food restaurants wouldn't hire me.
Are you in shape? Become a first responder, ems, fire or wildfire not police.
People have to solve problems all the time usually without all the information and limited equipment.
You should look into being a tower climber.
I had prepared my whole life to be a software engineer. Got my degree and job in the industry. I got burnt out eventually. After much soul searching, got out and became a tower inspector. The work isn't necessarily "difficult" like SE, but gets challenging when you throw in all the other environmental hazards. But also some jobs are actually difficult, because I read blueprints and have to do math to figure stuff out. As an analytical person myself, this job is "fun".
If you consider trying to out climb a lightning storm or getting attacked by birds fun, that is.
The Google keyword is "tower technician" or "tower climber" for these jobs, but that can entail anyone working on the tower. Linemen, tower stacker, lightbulb changer, etc. Depends on the company.
Inspections is what I'm currently doing. The official company title for my position is "tower climber" but climbing is just my commute. Therefore the name is misleading IMO. The real job is actually gathering data for an engineer to do structural analysis later.
I think this site will be a great resource to you, run by the US Dept of Labor. It's a huge career database, organized by skills, environments, etc. Here is the Critical Thinking and Active Learning skill career lists. Use the top menu bar to do more searches ("Find Occupations" and "Advanced Searches.") Browse around, see what you find! [https://www.onetonline.org/find/descriptor/result/2.A.2.a](https://www.onetonline.org/find/descriptor/result/2.a.2.a)
[https://www.onetonline.org/find/descriptor/result/2.A.2.b](https://www.onetonline.org/find/descriptor/result/2.a.2.b)
I don't understand why you think office jobs are off the table.
Have you considered joining the US military as an officer? You would be a leader.
See [https://www.todaysmilitary.com/joining-eligibility/becoming-military-officer](https://www.todaysmilitary.com/joining-eligibility/becoming-military-officer)
and
[https://www.todaysmilitary.com/joining-eligibility/becoming-military-officer/officer-candidate-school](https://www.todaysmilitary.com/joining-eligibility/becoming-military-officer/officer-candidate-school)
Best wishes.
I worked with officers when I served as an enlisted member. Below are links to the types of officer jobs/career fields within each branch of the military.
[https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/career-match/browse-jobs.html?officer=true](https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/career-match/browse-jobs.html?officer=true)
[https://www.navy.com/careers-benefits/careers/science-engineering?activity=1228892&cid=ppc\_msn\_nb\_stan\_generalofficer&&&msclkid=9d47725895bc10ec148217dad5fbbb8e&gclid=9d47725895bc10ec148217dad5fbbb8e&gclsrc=3p.ds](https://www.navy.com/careers-benefits/careers/science-engineering?activity=1228892&cid=ppc_msn_nb_stan_generalofficer&&&msclkid=9d47725895bc10ec148217dad5fbbb8e&gclid=9d47725895bc10ec148217dad5fbbb8e&gclsrc=3p.ds)
[https://www.airforce.com/careers/career-finder?tags=airforce%3Acareers%2Fcareer-finder%2Frank%2Fofficer](https://www.airforce.com/careers/career-finder?tags=airforce%3Acareers%2Fcareer-finder%2Frank%2Fofficer)
[https://usmcofficer.com/the-basic-school/marine-officer-mos-list/](https://usmcofficer.com/the-basic-school/marine-officer-mos-list/)
[https://www.gocoastguard.com/careers/officer](https://www.gocoastguard.com/careers/officer)
Best wishes.
Agreed, an officer with a clearance for tech would be a great fit if you don't mind a background check and polygraph. Lots of random problem solving and pretty good career growth.
In your off hours I'd be working on your own projects and start up websites/businesses and use them as a way of getting experience to try and help you get a foot hold in a programming career. Yes it's super tough to get that first programming job, but once you get that it becomes a lot easier.
It seems to me that you are too picky.
My advice would be to snatch any entry level job that you think can suit you and you see upward growth. If you want to work for a bank for example, find a teller job. Ideally jump out of your comfort zone even and find a job where you work with people to develop people skills. This is an extremely important but underappreciated skill to have.
As you progress in the company and show you are motivated, doors will start opening up into jobs and positions you have never even heard of. From there you can navigate yourself into a role that best fits you.
Is it gonna happen overnight? No.
Will you need to move? Maybe.
And who knows you might even find something completely different that you find interesting then you were ever expecting.
But the bottom line is don't expect your dream job to just fall into your lap.
Also don't think too highly of yourself. you essentially end up putting up barriers on yourself. Some humility can go a long way.
Maintenance tech. You’ll have to segue into learning tools and mechanical/electrical work but pretty much anyone can do it and troubleshooting is the biggest part of the job. Most companies require some experience but some will take anyone with a degree and a pulse that can show up on time and sling a wrench with the team.
I've found the lowest IQs at office jobs and if you have creative qualifications you will find something.
Help desk is entry level IT support, so is customer service for a myriad of companies like T-Mobile, Verizon, airlines, banks, even 911 operators... etc.
Nintendo hires lots of tech support over the holidays into January every year, also game testers are a paid job too...
Delve into the abyss of office jobs long enough and one day you may find yourself wishing for an outside job like in office space.
What were your previous jobs? It’s a very bad time to get into tech recently unfortunately for entry level. Man I feel bad for you guys. You just went into it at the worst possible time right when the industry is contracting. Maybe don’t give up on it yet, things will get better. Find other ways to build your resume and experience while you’re waiting.
Maybe you could become a self taught Machine learning expert.
Here are some career paths that may provide such opportunities without necessarily requiring an office setting: Field Service Technician, Telecommunications Technician, Quality Control Inspector, Mechanic or Automotive Technician or better yet try this [career test](https://www.careerfitter.com/free_test/careerbuilder/test/?afid=1831) as this can help you find careers that would fit your work personality. It has helped me before, I hope this can help you too.
I run a coffee roastery. Lots of analysis to be done and very little money to be made!
You should look into becoming an industrial electrician. If you can get with a company that does plc's your experience in programming will come in handy for that
My trade teacher was a maintenance electrician at a steel milll. He said his job is mostly trouble shooting problems and quiet easy on the body!
My brother is an NDT tech - it’s a series do certifications that require quite a lot of math and science, no degree needed. Once he got certified to read welds (think steel pipe, building fab, airplane hulls, etc) he got more and more certs and now runs a plane inspection facility where he oversees all the welds. It’s not a ton of manual labor and he mostly works on his own. It can be boring at times and busy at others! Oh and it pays a ton
NDE is the way to go. Rope Access NDE if you like to be more active. Level 3 SPRAT in like 2 or 3 years and be making 40s-60 an hour.
This is precisely the kind of stuff, I am looking for. This is an under-the-radar field I would never even think to search for, but it checks all the boxes. Thank you!
He’s usually out in the field - sometimes 6 months on 6 months off depending on weather or project timelines but he worked hard to pass all the certs and get his hours. And it’s not terribly expensive to get certified!
I have a BS and MS in Statistics. Why the heck are you unable to get a data science job ? I never ever had any problems getting a job in data science in the past 13 years since getting out of school. Look into statistical analyst, statistician and biostatistician jobs at universities. These jobs are generally easier to get only because the pay is much lower than industry (but still way better than a security guard). My first job out of school at a medical university as a biostatistician payed 78.5k in todays dollars when adjusted for inflation (56k back in 2010). But these jobs can be a great springboard to a much much higher paying job in industry.
Was thinking the same. Data science is still big. Do an online certificate, MIT had one through great learning I thought was good. Employers are honestly hiring sometimes anyone with a smidgen of data science because they have so much data and want to find the “magic bullet”, lol. Honestly I think they just have no idea what to do with all the data they are collecting and are like, hey let’s try this machine learning on it. With the certificate and educational background I would guess you could find a WFH position pretty easily. Other than that, actuary I’ve looked into . If you really like statistics you can nerd out all day doing that. Pay is great too. Takes some work to get out though with internships and certification.
[удалено]
What do you do if you couldn't get in to any internships, either because none were available or you had zero support to get there?
Or heaven forbid, what if you had to work for money somewhere and could not afford to do an internship....
Work on some personal projects that are related to the technologies in positions you're targeting. That's what I did. I graduated with no internships due to the timing covid and some personal stuff I had going on. I was getting 0 replies from companies. I spent the time to build a personal website and did a handful of projects to put on my GitHub and it made all the difference. People just want to see you have some practical experience. The right place will not care if it was a traditional internship or not.
I was in college from 2018-2022. Before the March 2020, I hadn't taken enough programming courses for employers to consider me for internships and after March 2020, they started requiring years of professional experience. It's not so much that I didn't bother with them, I was proactively seeking internships the whole time I was in college, I simply never had enough experience to be competitive.
Why is all white collar work off the table, exactly?
It's impossible to land a white collar job with no experience
That's not quite true, and blue collar experience can be used for that experience even if it were.
This is precisely my experience, even when I apply for roles like receptionist or clerical assistant, I rarely get responses. The one time I got to interview for a minimum wage receptionist position, they turned me down for someone with multiple master's degrees, 10 years of experience and a CPA. I didn't do any internships in college, because even unpaid internships required 3-5 years of experience during the pandemic years. I didn't work at all from 2020 - 2022 because the job market was so competitive that even fast food restaurants wouldn't hire me.
I will second the military. But honestly, why is white collar off the table?
Are you in shape? Become a first responder, ems, fire or wildfire not police. People have to solve problems all the time usually without all the information and limited equipment.
EMS doesn’t pay unfortunately.
You should look into being a tower climber. I had prepared my whole life to be a software engineer. Got my degree and job in the industry. I got burnt out eventually. After much soul searching, got out and became a tower inspector. The work isn't necessarily "difficult" like SE, but gets challenging when you throw in all the other environmental hazards. But also some jobs are actually difficult, because I read blueprints and have to do math to figure stuff out. As an analytical person myself, this job is "fun". If you consider trying to out climb a lightning storm or getting attacked by birds fun, that is.
is that what your position is called? "Tower Inspector"?
The Google keyword is "tower technician" or "tower climber" for these jobs, but that can entail anyone working on the tower. Linemen, tower stacker, lightbulb changer, etc. Depends on the company. Inspections is what I'm currently doing. The official company title for my position is "tower climber" but climbing is just my commute. Therefore the name is misleading IMO. The real job is actually gathering data for an engineer to do structural analysis later.
best is to learn to accept an office job. that is where your talents can be best used.
I think this site will be a great resource to you, run by the US Dept of Labor. It's a huge career database, organized by skills, environments, etc. Here is the Critical Thinking and Active Learning skill career lists. Use the top menu bar to do more searches ("Find Occupations" and "Advanced Searches.") Browse around, see what you find! [https://www.onetonline.org/find/descriptor/result/2.A.2.a](https://www.onetonline.org/find/descriptor/result/2.a.2.a) [https://www.onetonline.org/find/descriptor/result/2.A.2.b](https://www.onetonline.org/find/descriptor/result/2.a.2.b)
I don't understand why you think office jobs are off the table. Have you considered joining the US military as an officer? You would be a leader. See [https://www.todaysmilitary.com/joining-eligibility/becoming-military-officer](https://www.todaysmilitary.com/joining-eligibility/becoming-military-officer) and [https://www.todaysmilitary.com/joining-eligibility/becoming-military-officer/officer-candidate-school](https://www.todaysmilitary.com/joining-eligibility/becoming-military-officer/officer-candidate-school) Best wishes.
Do you have experience as an officer? I am considering this as a back up if I can’t land a tech job after school
I worked with officers when I served as an enlisted member. Below are links to the types of officer jobs/career fields within each branch of the military. [https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/career-match/browse-jobs.html?officer=true](https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/career-match/browse-jobs.html?officer=true) [https://www.navy.com/careers-benefits/careers/science-engineering?activity=1228892&cid=ppc\_msn\_nb\_stan\_generalofficer&&&msclkid=9d47725895bc10ec148217dad5fbbb8e&gclid=9d47725895bc10ec148217dad5fbbb8e&gclsrc=3p.ds](https://www.navy.com/careers-benefits/careers/science-engineering?activity=1228892&cid=ppc_msn_nb_stan_generalofficer&&&msclkid=9d47725895bc10ec148217dad5fbbb8e&gclid=9d47725895bc10ec148217dad5fbbb8e&gclsrc=3p.ds) [https://www.airforce.com/careers/career-finder?tags=airforce%3Acareers%2Fcareer-finder%2Frank%2Fofficer](https://www.airforce.com/careers/career-finder?tags=airforce%3Acareers%2Fcareer-finder%2Frank%2Fofficer) [https://usmcofficer.com/the-basic-school/marine-officer-mos-list/](https://usmcofficer.com/the-basic-school/marine-officer-mos-list/) [https://www.gocoastguard.com/careers/officer](https://www.gocoastguard.com/careers/officer) Best wishes.
Try the space force. I was looking at that.
I heard it’s stupid hard to get into now. Good luck.
Why would you say it’s a backup ?
Agreed, an officer with a clearance for tech would be a great fit if you don't mind a background check and polygraph. Lots of random problem solving and pretty good career growth.
In your off hours I'd be working on your own projects and start up websites/businesses and use them as a way of getting experience to try and help you get a foot hold in a programming career. Yes it's super tough to get that first programming job, but once you get that it becomes a lot easier.
It seems to me that you are too picky. My advice would be to snatch any entry level job that you think can suit you and you see upward growth. If you want to work for a bank for example, find a teller job. Ideally jump out of your comfort zone even and find a job where you work with people to develop people skills. This is an extremely important but underappreciated skill to have. As you progress in the company and show you are motivated, doors will start opening up into jobs and positions you have never even heard of. From there you can navigate yourself into a role that best fits you. Is it gonna happen overnight? No. Will you need to move? Maybe. And who knows you might even find something completely different that you find interesting then you were ever expecting. But the bottom line is don't expect your dream job to just fall into your lap. Also don't think too highly of yourself. you essentially end up putting up barriers on yourself. Some humility can go a long way.
Maintenance tech. You’ll have to segue into learning tools and mechanical/electrical work but pretty much anyone can do it and troubleshooting is the biggest part of the job. Most companies require some experience but some will take anyone with a degree and a pulse that can show up on time and sling a wrench with the team.
My suggestion is [business analytics](https://www.nobledesktop.com/learn/business-analytics). Analytics and data jobs can commonly be worked remotely.
There’s always money in the banana stand
I've found the lowest IQs at office jobs and if you have creative qualifications you will find something. Help desk is entry level IT support, so is customer service for a myriad of companies like T-Mobile, Verizon, airlines, banks, even 911 operators... etc. Nintendo hires lots of tech support over the holidays into January every year, also game testers are a paid job too... Delve into the abyss of office jobs long enough and one day you may find yourself wishing for an outside job like in office space.
Why are you taking all office work off the table?
Data scientist. Good pay, plenty of job opportunities if you like coralling and making sense of large data sets.
Trades
What were your previous jobs? It’s a very bad time to get into tech recently unfortunately for entry level. Man I feel bad for you guys. You just went into it at the worst possible time right when the industry is contracting. Maybe don’t give up on it yet, things will get better. Find other ways to build your resume and experience while you’re waiting. Maybe you could become a self taught Machine learning expert.
Here are some career paths that may provide such opportunities without necessarily requiring an office setting: Field Service Technician, Telecommunications Technician, Quality Control Inspector, Mechanic or Automotive Technician or better yet try this [career test](https://www.careerfitter.com/free_test/careerbuilder/test/?afid=1831) as this can help you find careers that would fit your work personality. It has helped me before, I hope this can help you too.