In a financial bind, need help finding assistance programs.

[archibaldcrane]

Yeah I dunno about disability my body works great.

[Ganondorf]

Not sure if I missed the post somewhere, but without knowing exactly what OP does, or what his/his GF's skillset is, telling them to "go get a degree" is a pretty irresponsible blanket statement. I live in SE Pennsylvania, and the job market is moderately difficult around here. The the vast majority of my HS friends (most of them fairly intelligent) who had the "go get a degree" mindset are failing pretty hard right now. Going to college and THEN figuring out what to do with your life if fine, but not if you don't have money/family to fall back on.

I'm not saying NOT to get a degree. Doing nothing isn't a path to success, but you need to recognize that for some people it's basically a coin toss. College isn't for everyone, and most kids don't seem to know WTF they're doing there anyway, which is partially why threads like this even exist. I WISH I had finished college, but I also wish I knew what the hell I was doing in college in the first place. At the time I decided to drop out (less than a year in), I recognized that I was wasting time and money, and got the hell out ASAP. I regret not going to the right school for the right career path. I DO NOT regret leaving when I did. I'd be 80k in debt had I not. Ask the typical Liberal Arts or Psychology majors how well their degrees are working out for them (I apologize to all Liberal Arts and Psychology majors for the previous statement). It's Ready > Aim > Fire, not Fire > Ready > Aim

[dejet]

I am one for saying go to your local state school system. Odds are you can pay and its under 10k/year.

Work your ass off pay as much as you can(if not all; as in NY its around 4~7k for a state school)

and for your grad school go to a good place that will run you a ton of money. or if grad is not in your plans move after 2 years to cut costs.

Going away would of been a bad idea for me if it was not fully covered. I loved every second I was away at U-Albany. But its the same shit as any other state school I would of got around my house.

edit: there are few paths you are going to take where a degree will not help you get a job... And then most have their own schooling you need to take anyways.

[Silviya]

Get a CDL, move to North Dakota, drive truck for literally one of hundreds of companies that gladly pay 100k+/year to a driver that will show up daily, is willing to put in long hours, and pass a random drug test. Bonus points for owning your own rig, because you can probably get a higher hourly, plus you'll have a free place to sleep at night (assuming you don't mind sleeping in your cab and showering in truck stops).

The downside is that you have to live/work in western ND.

[Tyche]

Not sure if I missed the post somewhere, but without knowing exactly what OP does, or what his/his GF's skillset is, telling them to "go get a degree" is a pretty irresponsible blanket statement. I live in SE Pennsylvania, and the job market is moderately difficult around here. The the vast majority of my HS friends (most of them fairly intelligent) who had the "go get a degree" mindset are failing pretty hard right now. Going to college and THEN figuring out what to do with your life if fine, but not if you don't have money/family to fall back on.

I'm not saying NOT to get a degree. Doing nothing isn't a path to success, but you need to recognize that for some people it's basically a coin toss. College isn't for everyone, and most kids don't seem to know WTF they're doing there anyway, which is partially why threads like this even exist. I WISH I had finished college, but I also wish I knew what the hell I was doing in college in the first place. At the time I decided to drop out (less than a year in), I recognized that I was wasting time and money, and got the hell out ASAP. I regret not going to the right school for the right career path. I DO NOT regret leaving when I did. I'd be 80k in debt had I not. Ask the typical Liberal Arts or Psychology majors how well their degrees are working out for them (I apologize to all Liberal Arts and Psychology majors for the previous statement). It's Ready > Aim > Fire, not Fire > Ready > Aim

The cool thing about college is that they don't limit you to one degree or limit the age you can enter. Liberal arts major who can't find a job? Go back to school. Didn't graduate? Go back to school. Too immature and didn't know what you was doing then? Go back to school. You cant find a job because you're an entry level applicant? Go to college. Here's the thing, a good degree pays for itself over and over and over and over. Im not saying college is the solution for everyone, but I have no sympathy for people with the excuse "I wish I went to the right school with the right career path". Go back. I've been to 4 colleges on three different degrees.

[Ganondorf]

The cool thing about college is that they don't limit you to one degree or limit the age you can enter. Liberal arts major who can't find a job? Go back to school. Didn't graduate? Go back to school. Too immature and didn't know what you was doing then? Go back to school. You cant find a job because you're an entry level applicant? Go to college. Here's the thing, a good degree pays for itself over and over and over and over. Im not saying college is the solution for everyone, but I have no sympathy for people with the excuse "I wish I went to the right school with the right career path". Go back. I've been to 4 colleges on three different degrees.

Definitely agree, but that's assuming you at least have some money to back up your initiative. I definitely didn't at the time, and it doesn't sound like OP does either. I guess my point was that if you don't have a very clear end-goal in mind, spending money you don't have on college probably isn't the best decision. If you know what you want to do, and you can handle the finances, there's really no reason not to go for it.

[Rokku]

Those are some great points Tyche. I'm studying to take my Life & Health test for insurance currently so I'll soon get to find out just how much that insurance will cost.

Man, hopefully that works out better for you in south Michigan than it does in central Ohio, because the market in Columbus is so over-saturated with Life/Health/Variable Annuities agents that studying and getting licensed for it was one of the biggest wastes of time I've ever committed since moving to this hellhole of a state.

[Tyche]

Definitely agree, but that's assuming you at least have some money to back up your initiative. I definitely didn't at the time, and it doesn't sound like OP does either. I guess my point was that if you don't have a very clear end-goal in mind, spending money you don't have on college probably isn't the best decision. If you know what you want to do, and you can handle the finances, there's really no reason not to go for it.

I'm not advocating a bunch of undecided majors go to school for the sake of going to school. Know your end-game and research your employability. If you can find a job that can almost assure you a steady income for the next 30 years, finances shouldn't be an issue. I now they are for some, but still, I'm pretty sure I can file bankruptcy and foreclose on my house today and still get a student loan tomorrow.

[Kalmado]

Man, hopefully that works out better for you in south Michigan than it does in central Ohio, because the market in Columbus is so over-saturated with Life/Health/Variable Annuities agents that studying and getting licensed for it was one of the biggest wastes of time I've ever committed since moving to this hellhole of a state.

I have my P&C license and currently work for an Allstate office. Sucks to only sell one brand, but my pay schedule is pretty decent. A ton better than the welfare pay schedule I was on while working for State Farm.

[Sepukku]

My college degree has gotten me into interviews a lot, but I have a difficult time convincing them that my unrelated major (education) fits to what they could use in an employee, so its rough going, but I definitely do feel like I have an advantage with my college degree, even if its unrelated, over anyone without a college degree.

[Sepukku]

Although I could be a 23yr old girl with tits but no degree and giggle at interviews and I'm pretty sure I'd do a lot better in my job hunt than I am as a guy with a firm handshake, college degree, nice suit, and the ability to make enjoyable casual conversation at interviews.

[Rokku]

I have my P&C license and currently work for an Allstate office. Sucks to only sell one brand, but my pay schedule is pretty decent. A ton better than the welfare pay schedule I was on while working for State Farm.

Eh, looking back on it I should've done P&C, considering the market. Family friend worked for Allstate before opening his own office back home though, I've heard they're pretty stellar to work as a dedicated agent for. Personally, my license only really led to a brief stint with Aflac. They're terribly over-saturated in Columbus, along with a lot of other Life/Disability/Health providers. Just a bad market to try and break into in central Ohio right now, glad I got into marketing for a global firm instead.

[Kalmado]

Yeah Aflac is pretty garbage. I think they've had a "now hiring" ad for 10+ years in Jackson and Washtenaw County. Allstate as a company is pretty good. Training at corporate was fantastic. They don't hand cuff you with rules and stipulations that will drive away business like State Farm. P&C is for lifers that want to build a book for residual income for down the road while I see life and health being more steady income during the present.

I looked into getting a job at corporate for Allstate in the metro Detroit area. I'd love to train newbies entering the field of sales. Funny thing is you can't even get an interview for a corporate job w/out some sort of degree. This is where I'll concede that any degree would be great to have!

[Kanriel]

Although I could be a 23yr old girl with tits but no degree and giggle at interviews and I'm pretty sure I'd do a lot better in my job hunt than I am as a guy with a firm handshake, college degree, nice suit, and the ability to make enjoyable casual conversation at interviews.

Truth, my boss is a hot 22 year old that is nothing amazing at the job, but she is hot and she is a "go getter" (or at least appears that way around her superiors) so she got promoted and to even get promoted the owner of the franchise (one of the biggest franchises in the country, hundreds of stores) interviewed her and absolutely loved her. I mean, she's not bad at the job, but the guys up above love the fuck out of her.

I can tell you that we're not getting applications for shit at my pizza place, only application we currently have sitting around is from a girl who used these words on it: "posible, uncel, greenbealt" and such. And my boss wants to hire her because we cannot find people for any positions and we know people from all of our positions are going to be leaving the job soon. We're constantly hurting for personnel, but base pay is $7.25 and it's a stellar $9/hour to be a manager (I was hired at $10 but the people up top made it so all new manager hires are $9/hour). Lucky for me I'm currently being trained to take over a store which pays $700+/week plus bonus' based on how your store does. So in about 6 months I go from poor to putting money in the bank, and I'll be finishing my associates in December as well.

[Clash Perez]

This thread makes me glad I went the military route. The primary factor in the hiring for my current job was the experience and training I received while enlisted. Not for everyone, I know, and I won't try to turn it into one of those threads.

My fiancee graduated with a degree in German, and hasn't had much luck finding a permanent position for much above minimum wage here in the US. She took a position teaching English in South Korea for a year for the experience, and also because it paid a lot better than what she could find here. She's coming home soon, and I'm not sure what she's going to do for employment when she gets back. Thankfully, I can support the two of us comfortably.

[Tyche]

A good friend of mine served in Iraq. He just walks into an interview room, says "vet" and gets a job. I still loathe him for getting an internship over me despite having lesser qualifications everywhere save being a vet of the last major war.

[Aksannyi]

A good friend of mine served in Iraq. He just walks into an interview room, says "vet" and gets a job. I still loathe him for getting an internship over me despite having lesser qualifications everywhere save being a vet of the last major war.

Trust me, it's not quite that easy. The Army is on my resume and it's only helped me get half of the jobs I've had since. I always try to drop at least one anecdote from the military in interviews, but for as many people who've been impressed and/or grateful for my service, just as many hate me for having been to Iraq in 2003. (Like I had some choice in the matter, lol.)

The job I'm with now definitely appreciates my military background and actively hires people who are still in the reserves. But a lot of places I've applied to honestly give two shits about my military background.

[Tyche]

Well, maybe it's the fact that he's been on the front lines and been shot at. He says his favorite question is "what's a point in your life when you were stressed and how did you handle it?"

"yeah, I got shot at by insurgents"

How the hell do I compete with that lol?

The people that "hate" you for serving are idiots and I wouldn't want to work for them. Supporting the troops is not equivalent to supporting the war.

[Aksannyi]

Yeah, I've had a wide range of reactions to having been in the military. It taught me a lot of what I know, and no doubt it's part of the reason I'm in a leadership position now. I had one employer who told me that he picked me out of thirty applicants because I had the Army on my resume, and I had another employer all but kick me out of the interview room when I answered a question with, "Well, when I was in the Army..." like I was using it as a crutch or a gimmick to get hired instead of using anecdotal experience that would help me perform my job better.

Actually, looking back, that was pretty goddamn ridiculous and I'm glad I didn't work for that pompous asshole.

[Weltall]

Military certainly helps on a resume, but we don't live long, and to fuck and back before I would ever waste part of my life on that. GGs and cool beans to any one that did it.

@Kalmado - Can you save me money on my car insurance <3? I am just about to pay mine next week for another 6 months