I am about to start towards a degree courtesy of the USAF. I am planning to get a Bachelor of Science degree. I would like to know what careers and degrees you have that allow you to buy and work on these hot rods and kustoms. Thanks DOOCE
You should do something you like or are good at. Does not help you much if you get a degree and then hate what you do for a job. Plenty of people switch career fields, but usually you start back at the lower money levels when you switch, so it is better to stay in a fioeld and work up. I commend you asking for help, but you really have to ask yourself what is good for you, not what is good for me or someone else. If you can handle the math and science, go for a techincal field: engineering, chemistry, physics etc. If you are good with business principles go with business degree. Accounting, Economics, Marketing, etc. Like chemistry and biology? go with medical field, people are only getting older and need more medical help. You do not have to become a MD. You have to decide what works for you. Sure there are fields (liberal arts for example) where once you graduate with a bachelor's degree you can not get much of a high paying job. You may have to work up after starting lower. Or get more degrees past the bachelor's to make more money. Some jobs the employer only wants you to have some degree, they do not really care the specifics, it is just a qualifier to make sure you can see a goal and make it through the BS to get the BS (bad pun there). So the employer says you can stick to it and you pass the qualification. You can never go wrong with some education, even if you end up changing as your career goes along. Any piece of paper (degree) or more letters for accreditations (CPA for example for accountants) after your name are good for you. Myself being the HAMB metallurgist, have a BS Metallurgical Engineering as a start and then 20 years of good work experience to add extra level of knowledge and application. It keeps a roof over my head and enough left over to mess with old cars, so it works for me.
I completely plan on doing something I like to do. I am just curious to know what career fields some are in.
B.S ED. in Business Education. I teach children the skills they need to be successful in the business world. Or if I went to the corporate world I could teach and train yuppies all day. If your real concern is that you wouldn't be able to afford having cars and whatnot with a family and kids, yadda yadda, I would suggest taking some personal finance courses while you're getting whatever college degree you choose.
I have a Associates in Criminal Justice. I work for GM in a foundry doing nothing related to my degree. I don't allways care for the job but it pays good. Problem is that job security is going to shit right now. I also have no intrest in getting a job related to my degree. I am looking to go back to school but I am still trying to decide what for. I have 2 schools in my area so I am kinda limited with my choices. I would like to stay where I am at if the GM job goes away so that is also a factor since I am in a rural area and there is not a large selection of jobs that pay too much. I am leaning toward Journalism as what I would like to do.
Good question Mr. Dooce! I design mostly machines... and endured getting a Mech Eng degree. Later went on to get a Materials degree. The newer headlight bulbs are made by a machine that I designed (in part) and the development was carried on by the customer. If you enjoy all things mechanical, and are ok w/math then the engineering may work out for you. Otherwise 38Chevy454 is mentioning some good advice.
Just about to graduate with a business degree with a focus on the automotive aftermarket industries. I own my own window tinting business and will shut that down and move out west to work on the corporate side for a while. Once I have the capital I will be opening up shop again.
I don't have a degree and i regret it. I am only 27 so i still have time to go back and get one. I work in IT support but i could be making 18$ an hour with that peice of paper instead of 11.50$ with 6 years of experience. I love my job don't get me wrong I just went about it the wrong way.
20 years active duty Navy. BE in Mechanical Engineering. MS in Aeronautical (specializing in avionics) Engineering. But I spend most of my time creating PowerPoint slides and balancing funding spreadsheets. I recommend that you memorize and apply what 38Chevy454 posted above.
BS mechanical engineering but my wife has more engineering degrees than I do, so she gets to make the money, while I stay home and clean and cook and look after the little ones (sort of)
Started in Engineering and hit the wall with higher math. Switched to Industrial Arts Education and found out I didn't care for 30 kids in a shop with tools in their hands,bent on destruction. Completed a B.S in Industrial Technology. Worked in a toiletries factory for 32 years and enjoyed almost all of the jobs I held. Interestingly, I managed Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, and was not qualified to work in the engineering positions I managed! The HAMB has a delightful blend of artists, craftsmen and technical wizards, so you should get lots of viewpoints.
sweet gig squirrel!.. I have a B.S. in Architecture. and C.A.D. design. I use it basically every day in my job as a designer and engineer for my company. A Heavy Industrial Maintenance Co. that does alot with Steel Companies, Refineries, and Automotive facilities.
I'm a lead mechanical designer working on an engineering degree(I'm on the 12 year plan, heheh). With 10 years of work experience under my belt, I already do all the lighter engineering work for my department, and I've managed to be successful without a degree, but the extra accreditation helps out a bunch. I'll get there, but it's harder to focus with hot rods around.
BS Engineering Technology (Mechanical). I'm now an Application Engineer for Cummins. Some days I'll use my education (dynamics, fluids, statics, etc) nonstop and some days I'll do nothing but play on a computer doing data logging or calibrations or something... and some days I do nothing but want to strangle some customers/OEMs, but either way I get to have fun at work and I get to have my toys. At 23, I couldn't ask for better circumstances. Like everyone else said, 38Chevy454 put it best. Don't go to a field or job just for the money. Sometimes your mental health is more important than a fat pocketbook! Personally, I turned down a job that paid a decent amount more than where I am now, but field engineering in the oil industry sounded like an ass kicker and didn't seem nearly as interesting to me. A friend of mine took that job and I didnt... and after hearing his stories, I think I made the right choice. - Matt
Ive Been In The Auto Repair Business Since I Was 8 Years Old I Am A Ase Master Tech,also Ase Certified Engine Assembly And Cylinder Head Repair,doesnt Seem Like Much Copared To Some Of You Guys
Undergrad was anthropology, went on to a law degree (juris doctor) and I work as an appraiser. Unless you're in a specific field like engineering, the type of degree doesn't matter so much as long as you've got one. Look at many jobs that require licenses, most that require a degree don't specify what the degree is in, just that you've got one. Take classes that interest you, and pick a career that interests you. If you like it, you'll do well. If you don't, no hot rod will make you happy overall.
Got a BSEE while in the USAF. This was the ticket to a good paying civil service job when I retired. Now retired from that too, and the only skills I apply to hotrodding is that there ain't an electrical problem that can stump me.
I have a Bachelors in the Arts. I have a natural art ability and I planned on being an artist, but it seemed like a "who you know" type of field or you had to die first to make the great money. The degree does look good on my resume. I manage a company that distributes concrete coring drills for a company based in Italy. I love what I do and can't complain. I wake up glad to go to work. I commend you for doing research. Find what you like, not what will train you for a job that will just pay the bills.
B.S., Basic Sciences, USAF Academy 1974. M.S., Applied Mathematics, UNLV, 2006 If I demonstrate that I am actually smarter than it seems most of the time, I might eventually have a PhD in Math. I was a Hercules pilot for a long time, and after I retired from the Air Force, I got a teaching certificate and did some teaching. Went back to school in 2001, and am very happy as a graduate student. The main drawback is that it doesn't pay much....
I slept on 3rd shift and went to school during the day. took 5 yrs that way to get my B.S. never did leave the railroad, will have 40 ys this May
I have a B.A., in Architecture and a minor in Urban and Public Politics. I am currently an Art Director / Senior Designer at a publishing company. I am self taught in Graphic design but learned a great deal of design theory through my studio work as an undergrad in Architecture school. What I really should have learned is how to weld really good, I am still working on that. And all I want to become is a stay at home father someday.
If you don't know what career you are aiming for, I would go for a degree in a broad field, like business or finance. This would apply to any field you choose, and if you want to change careers, it would certainly relate to the next. I do have some college, but don't have a degree (I feel like I don't belong in this thread), but I can share this. I have worked as a journeyman machinist, a printer, a heavy equipment operator, a railroad brakeman & a locomotive operator. When the kids were pretty well raised, I abandoned it all to pursue my passion for art & cars. My screen name tells it all! I don't have the security or lifestyle I used to, but I don't regret the choice one bit. If you can only feel successful based on your income....then chase the dollar. If you have a burning passion to do what you love, and are willing to sacrifice some security for it....chase your dream.
I chased the $$ when I got out of the Navy and ended up with good start on a head of gray hair. I quit Nuclear power when I was thirty and had fewer gray hairs by the time I was 31. I really wanted to teach but money became an issue so I went with what I knew and became a hospital engineer. Well, after a vary bad accident while on active reserve duty...Uncle Sam is sending me to school again. I am finishing my teaching degree....finally. Find something that you love and you will never work a day in your life.
I have a BSME, got it in 66 and have never been without a job. Designed huge machine tools and forming presses for the aircraft industry, dropped out of that for about 5 years to go racing in the late 70s and early 80s. Worked on sports cars and Indy cars and the engineering background was very valuable. I am presently a pump application engineer for the Parker Hannifin Hydrauic Pump Division. Great job, work out of my house on the West Coast. If you like things mechanical then a BSME degree is good to have, if you want to make money then you need some sort of business degree and go into the money business. Stock brokers and their "type" make losts more that most of us "flange heads". Rex
I droped out of colledge in my second year. I have been self employed for 30 years now. 1st 20 as a self taught / self employed home builder, building one house a year by my self untill the econemy changed and I wore out my back. With a shop full of woodworking tools I taughtmy self furniture making and design and build small production runs for small family run furniture stores in SE Mn ans SW Wi. On a great day I might make $5.00 an hour to afford my hotrods I am a self taught hotrod builder with help from H.A.M.B. , Metalmeet and freinds I have taughtmy self how to weld, form metal, make my own tools, and Paint. This afternoons project building a clutch slave cylnder bracket/ and the Jig to build it. I have wet slow drying finish in the wood shop so I can't do any woodwork for the next 6 hours. So get your degree in what you like so you can afford your hobbies.
After lunch and rereading my previous response, here's some advice that I followed and it's served me well; "Get all the formal education you can- an educated mind is something that nobody can take away from you". Hope this helps.
i've been working since i was 15. i have been to school for and degrees in 1.hd and bmw mechanics 2.sheet metal fabrication 3. cad design blue print reading & writing 4.auto mechanics 5.decorative concrete and i still don't know what i wanna be when i grow up. point is don't get trapped into the feeling that this has to be the one. keep learning and try new things your whole life your only screwed when you cant try something new. but what ever you do think ten years ahead. just my 2 cents
A.A. in Business A.A. in Graphic Design B.A. in Fine Art / Art History = I own and run a marketing firm. All the "extra" income goes back into the biz, get to take a lil out for the sled every now and again... ... Go get that degree and get into an industry you like. ...
I'm with 38chevy454, find something you love to do and the money will come. I have a bfa in photography and I love to take pictures of old cars. And I get paid for it! weird
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