 eight great alternatives to college. That is what I'm going to be talking about in today's video. On this channel, I talk a lot about which college degrees are worth it, which ones are sometimes worth it, and the ones that you should also avoid. And typically, I focus on college degrees that are from the United States. Now, interestingly enough, in Switzerland, college degrees are completely free. However, only about 20 to 25% of people choose to go to college. Contrast that to the US, where college degrees will cost you an arm and a leg, and about 70% of people still choose to go. But things are changing. There's a lot of really exciting things popping up in alternative education that weren't available just a few years ago. And in today's video, I'm going to be talking about those. And another thing that's great about this video is not only is it going to apply to the United States, but it's going to apply to just about every country. So if you appreciate this type of video, go ahead, let me know by gently tapping that like button and share it with anybody who needs to know. All right. So the first one on the list is going to be entry level careers that don't require a college degree or experience. So you could get an entry level job as a waiter, for instance, and then kind of work your way up through the ranks and become a manager. And then maybe you switch over into a different company that's more prestigious. I have known many people who have done this before. But what I will say is this is a very risky way of doing it. And there's actually a lot of competition at the bottom. Surprisingly, just because of the fact that these are jobs that anybody can apply for, you're also going to have to be doing jobs that a lot of people don't want to do and aren't really very desirable. So a lot of the time, you're going to have to be doing customer service type jobs where you're dealing with a lot of Karens, for instance. But if you can do a really good job here and then get some management experience, there's a very good chance that you can transfer over into a different company that has a lot more opportunity. And you can just go up the ranks from there and you could eventually get to that six figure level. In my opinion, something that's very similar, but it's a little bit smarter move and it's going to make things just a lot easier and faster is to learn a valuable skill. And this is where number two comes in handy and that is online training. So right now there are certain jobs and skill sets on the market that companies really need from people, but there are simply not enough people to fill those jobs. There's not enough people who have those skills. And so companies are getting so desperate to get people who have those skills that they are dropping their ridiculous degree requirements for jobs that otherwise you would have to have a four year degree to even be considered for an example of this is my friend Troy who started a company called course careers and he trains people on how to be tech sales representatives. And he is getting some of the most ridiculous results I have ever seen from students, you know, I'll put a link to an interview somewhere around here that he did of Abdul, for instance, Abdul made $75,000 a year with no degree and zero experience as a tech sales rep. And he's literally getting people jobs in one month, right? So they take his online training and they get a job in one month. And that is absolutely bananas. There is no other service out there that I have seen that is getting people results like that. And tech sales doesn't just pay well, you can also do it remotely, has really good flexibility. And there's a lot of vertical opportunity for you to rise up into different positions within a company. And not only does Troy train people on how to do tech sales, but he's actually partnered with companies. And he will get people interviews for internships. So you don't even have to go through the normal grueling process of applying to a bunch of companies, because he's just automatically going to get you interviews. And Troy also put together a free training that is going to help you determine whether tech sales is a good career for you. And you can check that out down in the description below and also in the pinned comment. And if you decide that tech sales is right for you, I also have a $50 off coupon code that is exclusive to me that you can check out down below. I believe it is Shane 50. And by the way, I'm going through this list from the ones that take the least amount of time to the ones that take the most amount of time, generally speaking. So the next one on the list, number three is going to be certifications. So I did talk briefly about certifications on this channel. I think maybe two or three videos. Google has a lot of good ones. IBM has some good ones. Coursera is a good website for looking at certifications. And depending on the career path, you're going down certifications can range from, you know, kind of nice to extremely, extremely useful. So I'm not saying that certifications are a replacement for a college degree. It's a total apples to oranges comparison. However, they are a good way for you to maybe learn some new skills, sample what it might be like to work in a different industry, or just send a signal to your employer that you are somebody who wants to learn more and take on more and therefore get promotions, etc. However, there are some skills that are so in demand that companies like Google will come out with certification programs because they really need people who have these skill sets. So one great example is data analytics. There's so much demand for people who have skills and data analytics that Google actually created a certification to teach people the skills that they want. So certifications can be great. It's not like a, you know, 100% slam dunk. You do this and you're going to get a job sort of thing. You still have to put in a lot of work. You have to do the certification itself and then you're going to have to apply to a bunch of jobs. But it does increase your chance of landing the job because it shows them that you're really going above and beyond to learn the skills that you need. Number four on the list is going to be boot camps. Now boot camps got really popular because of software development. Over the last 10 to 15 years or so, software development has been such an in demand skill that it basically gave rise to an entire industry of companies that teach people how to learn software development. And boot camps became incredibly popular because in many cases you could take a boot camp that lasts somewhere between three to nine months instead of getting a college degree and you could land a software development job. Now boot camps generally range from $5,000 to $15,000. So they are pretty pricey. And that's one of the reasons that I have never really mentioned them on this channel much because yes, they do get people really good results, but they are incredibly pricey at the same time. So I don't really feel comfortable promoting them. But with that being said, there are a lot of people out there that have gotten really good results from boot camps. I will say just make sure to do your research. Some boot camps are better than others. There's also some boot camps that do a really good job at the beginning. And then when they start to scale, they kind of pay a little bit less attention to the actual value of their product and more on marketing, etc. So you've seen a lot of stories out there like that where a boot camp is really good when it first starts. And then after it's gotten a lot of press and a lot of attention, they stop doing good and they stop giving good results. So yeah, make sure to do your research. My best advice if you do decide to go to a boot camp is to contact people who have been at the boot camp very recently and kind of ask them what their experience was like. And then another pro tip for a boot camp, especially if you're doing a software development boot camp is to message them, get their curriculum and then learn all of it before you even go. And the reason for this is because that means you are going to get much more out of the boot camp itself. So you're going to be going over it twice. And then on top of that, you're going to actually be able to help other people that are going through the boot camp as well. And so the people who run the boot camp are going to feel much more comfortable recommending you as somebody that they think is a top level student to companies. So you're going to be much more likely to not only get job offers, but the best job offers because they are going to say that you were one of the star students. Now it's not just software development that is doing boot camps now. There's lots of different boot camps that are popping up like data analytics, digital marketing, tech sales, et cetera, et cetera, basically a lot of these careers that are in extremely high demand. But like I said, definitely do your research if you decide to go down this route. I have personally found that the sweet spot here when it comes to teaching people not only the skills they need to know, but also teaching them how to get a job and helping them do that tends to be with the online training. And the reason for that is because the boot camps are very expensive. And the reason the boot camps are very expensive is because they have a lot of infrastructure costs. Whereas online trainings don't have nearly as much infrastructure costs. You can do it all remotely. You can do it a lot more conveniently as well because you don't have to be there in person or show up to classes. Next one on the list, number five is going to be self taught. Now I have to say here that especially when it comes to like software development, something like 95% of people who try to teach themselves end up failing. And I think there are many reasons for this, but one of the main ones is probably just because of the fact that you aren't going through it with other people. So human beings are social animals, right? We, it's, it's undeniable we're social animals. It is much easier to learn something, especially if it's really difficult. If we are doing that difficult thing with a group of other people. It also makes it easier if you're doing it with an expert that you can ask questions to whenever you have trouble. So there are a lot of great resources online and you can teach yourself. Some people are much better at that than others. So it doesn't hurt to try to go that route, but just know that about 95% of people will fail. And there's a reason that we have this thing called, you know, schools and teaching, et cetera, because it's incredibly effective for a lot of people, you know, don't try to reinvent the wheel. Just have somebody else who is already good at that skill, teach you and you're probably going to learn 10 times faster. And therefore you're going to have a much better chance of success. But, and this doesn't just go for a software development, it goes for a lot of those other really valuable skills and valuable jobs that people are trying to get into like UX, UI design, data analytics, et cetera. Next one on the list, number six is going to be an apprenticeship or an internship. Now this is available in some industries and not available in others. And typically you would want to go for either a paid apprenticeship or internship, but there are some cases where it's going to be worth it for you just to do an unpaid internship. They kind of suck, but it can be really good for you to get that experience. And the length of the apprenticeship or internship is going to vary greatly depending on the industry you're in. If you go into the trades, for instance, apprenticeships might last quite a bit longer than if you go into like a software development internship. So yeah, this is another option. You learn a lot just by working, even in industries that you would be really surprised even in healthcare, for instance. I was a pharmacist and I learned a good amount in school, but I really didn't put it together in a practical way until I started working. So even in the medical field where you think you learn so much from classes, you really don't learn all that much until you start working and you can actually apply that information. Number seven on the list is going to be a trade school. Now it really does depend on the state you live in and the region you live in and whether you're union or non-union. So, you know, this is something you have to look up yourself. But with that being said, generally speaking, you probably want to go for like a paid apprenticeship first. And if that's not available to you, then you can maybe consider going to a trade school and you can learn a trade like HVAC mechanic, plumber, electrician, etc. Trades in the United States of America are an extremely high demand. I know in some countries they're not that great, but in the US they're actually phenomenal, especially if you start your own business. So this is a good route to go, especially if you're somebody who kind of likes doing physical work, you like working with your hands, look into the trades. Number eight on the list is going to be starting a small business. Now, this is the one that I put very last. And the reason for that is because starting a business typically is going to take a lot of time. And a lot of the times people will get some work experience first and then start a business on the side. And that's usually the best way to go. And the reason for that is because a business is typically going to take at least six months to a year before it starts to be profitable. And so if you don't have six months to a year's worth of living expenses and you try to start a business, that can sometimes be a problem. But yeah, starting your own small business can be a great option. It's easier than ever now with a lot of these companies moving towards kind of like a platform economy type business model. And what I mean by that is YouTube has the partner program, you know, Amazon has Amazon FBA. And these are basically where companies partner with individuals and make it much easier for them to start their own businesses. So it's almost like starting a business with training wheels. If you enjoyed this video, check out this other video right here. I made it just for you. 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