No, you’re not crazy. If you’re considering skipping college and going for your dreams instead, you aren’t alone. The truth is, there’s more to life after high school than simply college. Believe it or not, there are alternatives to the traditional path after high school. College isn’t the only way to get where you want to go. With the number of people with college degrees rising, it’s safe to say the almighty bachelor’s soon won’t be enough to stand out of a crowd of applicants. If you’re considering taking a different path to your career than college, here are a few options.
Tech school. Tech schools have the right idea. There’s no two or three years wasted taking filler classes to tack on your tuition prices. The certificates are specific to a line of work and you can get many of them within a year. If you’re considering a job in healthcare, real estate or information technology, you will save a ton of time and money by going to tech school. Not to mention you’ll be looking at starting your career four to five years before your classmates and could be making double what they make starting out.
Be an understudy. If you ever dream of opening your own business or learning a trade from the inside out, get a job in the business under a local mogul. You could start out being the intern at a small production company and end up owning your own studio in two or three years. Honestly from almost everyone I’ve met at the top of their field, it isn’t a college degree that got them there. I once worked for a man who started as an errand boy and learned everything about the business. He now owns his own dental lab—no degree required. Working from the bottom up can make almost anyone a success story.
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Have some hospitality. I wish I had known about the incredible life of a seasonal worker or ship employee when I graduated high school! Ever been on a cruise and wished you could sail around forever? Well, there’s a job for that. Go to work for a cruise ship or resort company. If you love traveling, meeting new people every day, making a ton of money in short periods of time and working only part of a year, then the hospitality industry is for you. If you hitch onto a large national company like Aramark or Carnival, you have the opportunity to work in new locations every season and possibly work onboard overseas. Getting paid to see Europe? Um, yes please!
