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Environmental Science.
Seriously.
The engineering degrees swing up and down, as noted by others, but a person who is not afraid to get their hands dirty, or do field work, will be in consistent demand. All the chemical plants, refineries, and manufacturing sites in the US could close down, all the steel mills, all the everything ... and there would be work in the environmental field for 30+ years after that, cleaning and/or monitoring the past practices of said industries. A two-year associate's degree can be found at many community or junior colleges - I'm pretty sure both San Jac and Alvin have something in that field, probably HCC does as well. A four-year degree, built on an associate's, plus some real-life experience, gets you $80-90K a year, either working directly for the industries or a consulting company, or $40-50K plus gubmint bennies at EPA or one of the state agencies overseeing the work.

Yankee Girl wrote:Environmental Science.

There are more than two sides to this argument, and I am going to have to disagree with Yankee Girl on this one. I met a lady who recently got her master's degree in environmental biology - she was my waitress. Even if she could find a job in her field, she is making more money in tips than she would with her salary as a scientist.

If you are willing to take contract work and move around there are more opportunities in this field. I met a group of environmental engineers while working in California. They had a large three-year contract to clean up a chemical processing plant. They lived at various locations throughout the country. Once the work was done they "went back home" until the next opportunity came along.

My sister and BIL used to work in this field [both have geology degrees] and had good paying jobs. They supported work for clean-up and testing of leaking undergound storage tanks at gas stations. I am not sure what happened, but the jobs just dried up. He is currently working in software support [with people from India] and she is not working. Of of course YMMV.

What about a CNC machinist? I drove up to north west Houston last week and saw a sign for openings for experienced CNC machinists. I don't know about the training involved, but I think the community colleges offer training programs. I would think that a you would be able to get the training in under two years. I know that, after training, you have to work your way up, but I think that's true for any new field that you may enter. If you are mechanically inclined, this may be a career to consider.

I know some machinists who do quite well. When times are good they get all the overtime they want. That is when they get to buy their toys. Most of them have better cars than I and they also own a motocycle.

Another thing that I have noticed about experienced machinists is that they seem to be able to get jobs more quickly that "white collar" workers. They don't have to go through the usual process: send in a resume, wait three weeks for an interview, wait two weeks and go to another interview, etc. I have seen many instances where they make a couple phone calls and they are working the next day at a new company.

WildBill wrote:What about a CNC machinist?

Interesting you've mentioned that. I'd love to learn CNC machining, but can't seem to find a community college in the Austin area that teaches it. Should I look for something other than "CNC"?

lkd wrote:

WildBill wrote:What about a CNC machinist?

Interesting you've mentioned that. I'd love to learn CNC machining, but can't seem to find a community college in the Austin area that teaches it. Should I look for something other than "CNC"?

Check this out for some leads. http://www.edref.com/college-degrees/pr ... nist/texas" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

WildBill wrote:I need to chime in again. Beware of the high-priced "technical schools" where they claim that they will be able to place you after graduation. Most education can be had for much less money at a community college.

I must second this warning. Community colleges are great. Technical schools are often a quick way to spend way too much money and still end up with a "degree" no one will give you much credit for. Be careful. As others have pointed out, the medical field is a good place to check out jobs. Check out the expected income, job growth, and go to talk to people who actually work in these fields about what they like and don't like about it.