How Your Early Choice of Career Opportunities Can Affect You for Life

One problem that plagues America is career opportunities. Far too many Americans have jobs without career opportunities. I will start with the consequences of poor career opportunities and jobs, and then discuss the outcome of early decisions about good jobs and careers. And the importance of knowing how to find jobs that pay well, and among those, jobs that pay the most without going into heavy debt.

One such example is the service industry. Those who previously worked in the service industry find the jobs not adequate for today’s cost of living. This problem also ties into the horrible homelessness in the United States.

The cost of living for rents and homebuying has skyrocketed. Why? Cities have paid more attention to building stadiums and convention centers than affordable apartments and maintaining low home prices, you see it all over the news.

Affordable housing is difficult to find everywhere. City dwellers find themselves being pushed out of once-affordable housing to the streets. Those homes are being upsold to higher-paying homeowners.

Watch some of the house flipping shows where a home is purchased for $400,000, then renovated and sold for $900,000. This is one issue causing the housing crisis in the United States, there are several.

So, how do big city dwellers make enough money to transition to better housing in another area or the area they live in? For those who choose career opportunities early and worked their way up the career ladder, then, times are bearable. Some jobs are dead-end and low pay. But some have actually allowed employees to climb a success ladder with good benefits and higher pay with stability.

The cost of living for rents and homebuying has skyrocketed, but there are solutions

-Lois

Some are doing what I call, “chasing the rainbow”. They are moving to states that have a seemingly lower cost of living. It is working for some, but others find the salaries too low in those states to justify the move. Others find there are hidden costs that make the move not worth the trouble.

The trick is to find areas in your own town, state, or out of state that have the combination of good salaries and available affordable housing. That takes a lot of research. So, don’t make the move unless you are willing to do the research. If you do move to a more affordable state, make sure you have a job, or career opportunities, and home before you move.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A JOB AND A CAREER

There are those who have a career and some who have a job. What is the difference between a job and a career? This is important to know so employees can make wise choices early and move up the economic ladder.

Much of the homelessness in the United States can be traced to those who

concentrated on short-term job prospects early in life. They did not consider future pay and promotions. Also, they didn’t consider how job stagnation affects them over time.

A job is not necessarily long-term and is mainly used to pay bills for now.

A career includes a series of steps mainly starting with training or education, building skills, and getting higher pay and promotions long term, with experience.

Some jobs become careers when employers identify hard-working, smart employees for advanced training or promotions.

RESEARCH SHOULD INCLUDE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Primary research that should be done before moving is on to career opportunities, home prices, and apartments. Search terms such as, “what is the average rent for apartments in good areas”. Continue your research with, “career opportunities and pay in the area”.

It doesn’t make sense to move to an area that is limited in the way of job opportunities, because the housing is inexpensive.

How do you increase your chances of career opportunities or a job early in life or now? It is never too late. Find the highest-paid careers and jobs. Also, that requires a minimum amount of financial investment and time to get into. This will allow you to get to work without having to borrow a lot of money. Some students have loan balances so high the loan payment is taking a large percentage of their salary, or all their take-home pay. That does not make sense.

There are those who have a career and some a job, either can satisfy livable needs

-Lois

WHAT JOBS PAY THE MOST?

When someone decides to get a job, many don’t think to research pay. It’s rather just, “get a job quick”. That is ok if you can sustain your living expenses with that job for now. Understand, “what jobs pay the most” in the first year. That way, the research can be done to find out the path to good-paying jobs.

It’s important to get the highest-paying job in an industry. So you can sustain a living with a roof over your head and food in your mouth. Many homeless people work but don’t make enough to pay rent, and some cannot afford groceries. Their car expenses and clothes are the only things they can afford.

If you settle for a low-wage job too long, you can get stuck in a rut that is hard to get out of. Keep a mindset that you will keep looking and keep applying for higher-paying jobs. That holds true if you have a job or are advancing in career opportunities.

JOBS THAT PAY WELL

As mentioned before, there are jobs and there are career opportunities. This is an example of job careers that pay well. A job career would be in the category of career opportunities. Everyone wants to do what they enjoy. But sometimes it’s necessary to do what you enjoy and pays well so you can cover average living expenses.

Figure out what it takes to live in the area. If the job doesn’t meet the minimum requirements for rent, food, utilities, transportation, and student loans, keep looking until you find one that does.

In your hunt for a job, start with job careers that pay well, then go on to filter your search with, “what jobs pay the most for entry-level positions? Don’t risk homelessness because you choose a low-wage path. Many homeless dwellers will tell you they simply could not sustain an apartment or home in their hometown, with their income.

When you search for “high paying jobs” most of the top jobs are in the “physician” category.
We need physicians in this country, but something must be done about the cost to become a physician for the average student in the United States.

It takes about 8 years of study, plus 3-to 6 years of residency to become a physician. When you add the average student loan debt of $200,000 to $400,000, you can see why the stated doctor salaries look high, but they are not adequate.

DOING A JOB SEARCH

When you do a search for “jobs that pay well” usually jobs requiring an advanced degree shows up. The problem with advanced degree jobs: 1. Many of those high salaries don’t start for 10-15 years. 2. Some of those require student loans of $200,000 to $400,000. 3. The loans can be deferred while in a residency program for physicians, but the interest must be paid monthly-which is difficult.

If the interest is not paid during residency, your loan balance could double upon completion.

After starting a regular job, and making huge student loan payments, the high-paying job is no longer high-paying. So, you must weigh all factors.

Other options are jobs that don’t require a lot of time and expense to get prepared. There are high-paying IT certificate jobs and other good-paying certificate programs. Jobs you can get with an associate degree from a community college, and jobs with little or no student loans at an affordable bachelor’s degree program at a public college.

For instance, there are many tech jobs that only require an Associate of Arts degree. Google has certificate programs that are extremely low cost, and you can get a high-paying job with the certificate. Go to google’s certificate portal: grow.google.com/certificates

SUMMARY OF HOW YOUR CHOICE OF CAREER OPPORTUNITIES CAN AFFECT YOU FOR LIFE

Career opportunities will give you the chance to advance in pay and promotion throughout your life. Does that mean a simple job will not? No. There are jobs with career opportunities but do your homework. Since career opportunities are wrapped with education, training, and then opportunities for advancement the pay tends to increase over time.  

Finding out what jobs pay the most before you start your search can land you a job with enough salary to make a living. Jobs are usually for income only, but you can land a job with career advancement if you are resourceful. 

Find out which jobs pay the most in the first year, with the least time and cost, by 1. Doing internet searches, 2. Ask others who work in different fields. Some jobs appear to be low pay but are not, others the opposite.

Some jobs are advertised as high pay but that pay doesn’t start for an average of 10-15 years into the field. Excessive student loan costs could take most of your take-home salary. Avoid large student loans at all costs. Search a school’s website to get the total cost of the school for the duration of your degree or certificate.