How do you figure out what you want to do as a profession?

[ASG]

I would say living with roommates is very different from living with your parents. 

But living completely on your own is a great thing to. 

Both are good options. And I think it's great that you want to move out of your parents' house! 

Hopefully you'll find something that will allow you to do it. 

[Weezy1973]

At this point I'd suggest hospitality. Cooks, bartenders, servers etc. are all in demand right now, and if you get on at the right place you can easily make 60K + including tips. If you choose it as a career and develop your skills you can do really well. The one thing is getting caught up in the "lifestyle" where you spend a lot of money drinking / partying and don't end up any more ahead. But if you can make a lot and start saving / investing that's a win.

[dramafreezone]

12 hours ago, ironpony said:

I would like to live on my own and perhaps even buy a place compared to renting, but even to rent, I find it difficult to find a job that will pay those bills.  My current job only pays 12 Canadian dollars an hour for example and they are giving me a promotion, but I don't think they will give me a raise of at least five more dollars an hour to go with that of course.

So I am wondering, are there any jobs out there, where one can have a living wage, without having to invest money in school or college necessarily?  Thank you for any input on it!  I really appreciate it!

You should invest something in your trade.  You get out of things what you put into them.

There are already plenty of waiters, hospital workers, computer programmers.  If I had no marketable skills I would go to plumbing school, then open my own plumbing business.  Plumbers are in high demand.  Once you set your own business up you can set your schedule and work as much or as little as you need to.

The thing is that plumbers are retiring and not enough people are replacing them, so the demand is just going to grow in the coming years.  This is when you want to get your foot in the door.

Edited December 12, 2021 by dramafreezone

[Wiseman2]

If you are tall/in shape see if being a bouncer at a BDSM club is an option.

This would resolve scheduling conflicts, insomnia, multiple "curiosities" and you'll make some cash.

[Weezy1973]

1 hour ago, dramafreezone said:

There are already plenty of waiters...

Not sure where you live, but where I am every restaurant has a "help wanted" sign up and many are advertising server positions for $20 / hr + tips + benefits.

[elaine567]

6 hours ago, ironpony said:

Also, every time I try part time jobs, they always conflict with my main job, time wise, and that's always been an issue.  So I think I need to prepare for that not being an option possibly, if there is always scheduling conflicts. 

That is just an excuse.
People juggle multiple jobs all the time.
Where there is a will there is a way.

As well as hospitality, there are delivery jobs and uber...

[glows]

Is there any particular reason why you’re not considering investing in more education? 

The jobs listed are ok but you may burn out quickly if you even lasted a week juggling more than one of them. 

Work a little smarter and consider some programs. Someone mentioned subsidized or free programs. Depending on get rich quick schemes and taking short cuts just gets you back at square one.

[dramafreezone]

31 minutes ago, Weezy1973 said:

Not sure where you live, but where I am every restaurant has a "help wanted" sign up and many are advertising server positions for $20 / hr + tips + benefits.

Maybe now.  But what happened to waiters last year?  And where does it lead?  If you're a waiter can you ever be your own boss?  Maybe if you own a restaurant but that involves school.

Plumbing will always be needed, no one wants to do it because it's not a glamorous job, which makes it easier to charge good money for it, and you can have your own business, develop a clientele.  Being a waiter is a short-term solution, much easier, instant gratification occupation.  If you're a waiter it's difficult to make that into something with much more potential.

Edited December 12, 2021 by dramafreezone

[Els]

1 hour ago, dramafreezone said:

There are already plenty of waiters, hospital workers, computer programmers. 

This is such a strange take, lol. I have never known a programmer or a hospital worker to struggle to earn a living wage, and waiting tables is something that people generally do while going to school or saving to start their own business, not the main goal of their career.

[dramafreezone]

9 minutes ago, Elswyth said:

This is such a strange take, lol. I have never known a programmer or a hospital worker to struggle to earn a living wage, and waiting tables is something that people generally do while going to school or saving to start their own business, not the main goal of their career.

I didn't say that they do.  I just said that there's already plenty of those.  If I were looking for a new venture, my inclination would be to go where there's

1. A demand

2. Potential for long term growth/stability

3. Low entry cost to the industry.

I think a trade like plumbing checks all of those boxes.  If we're just talking more of a side gig, then sure waiting tables fits the bill perfectly.

[Alvi]

1 hour ago, Wiseman2 said:

If you are tall/in shape see if being a bouncer at a BDSM club is an option.

This would resolve scheduling conflicts, insomnia, multiple "curiosities" and you'll make some cash.

You are joking, right?

[Weezy1973]

5 minutes ago, dramafreezone said:

I think a trade like plumbing checks all of those boxes. 

The OP specified no school. Most skilled trades require at least one year of schooling and then additional years to complete the apprenticeship and become licensed.

Which is why I suggested hospitality. It is in demand, it pays a living wage and if you're good at it you can make a lot of money and tips. Does not require schooling, but you usually have to take a food safety course of some kind. Barrier to entry is basically nothing.

Edited December 12, 2021 by Weezy1973

[ironpony]

1 hour ago, elaine567 said:

That is just an excuse.
People juggle multiple jobs all the time.
Where there is a will there is a way.

As well as hospitality, there are delivery jobs and uber...

So you are saying that if a job says they need me to work a certain time then I can negotiate that with my current employer and they will say yes?

[ironpony]

30 minutes ago, Weezy1973 said:

The OP specified no school. Most skilled trades require at least one year of schooling and then additional years to complete the apprenticeship and become licensed.

Which is why I suggested hospitality. It is in demand, it pays a living wage and if you're good at it you can make a lot of money and tips. Does not require schooling, but you usually have to take a food safety course of some kind. Barrier to entry is basically nothing.

I have a food safe course certificate.   

Well the reason why I thought of school bus I just feel like moving out right away rather than taking another year of school at least, and then finding the living wage job after

Edited December 12, 2021 by ironpony

[Weezy1973]

2 minutes ago, ironpony said:

I have a food safe course certificate.   

Well the reason why I thought of school bus I just feel like moving out right away rather than taking another year of school at least, and then finding the living wage job after

Perfect. Start looking for hopitality jobs close to you. See what they're offering. You'll pretty much definitely do better than $12 an hour.

[elaine567]

1 hour ago, ironpony said:

So you are saying that if a job says they need me to work a certain time then I can negotiate that with my current employer and they will say yes?

NO, of course not. Why would they do that? They pay you to work, they don't care where you live. 
You work the P/T job around your full time work, not the other way around...
You work full time at your job and then work extra hours in the evenings,  nights and week ends at the P/T job.
The intention I thought was to make enough money to pay for somewhere to stay, so you need to bring home a lot more than you are at present.
As it seems you are unable to land a job which pays more than you make at the  moment, else you would be doing it already, then you will have to work a lot more hours  to pay the rent, and that is where the P/T job comes in. 

[ironpony]

29 minutes ago, elaine567 said:

NO, of course not. Why would they do that? They pay you to work, they don't care where you live. 
You work the P/T job around your full time work, not the other way around...
You work full time at your job and then work extra hours in the evenings,  nights and week ends at the P/T job.
The intention I thought was to make enough money to pay for somewhere to stay, so you need to bring home a lot more than you are at present.
As it seems you are unable to land a job which pays more than you make at the  moment, else you would be doing it already, then you will have to work a lot more hours  to pay the rent, and that is where the P/T job comes in. 

I see what you mean, it's just the problem with part-time jobs is there's always a crossover with that in the main job. Plus I work weekends in my current job so that makes it tough to work another job on weekends.

[Weezy1973]

31 minutes ago, ironpony said:

I see what you mean, it's just the problem with part-time jobs is there's always a crossover with that in the main job. Plus I work weekends in my current job so that makes it tough to work another job on weekends.

If you're only making $12 an hour, I'd find a full time job that pays better and then quit this one. Like I said, restaurants are desperate for people right now, so you'd almost definitely be making more.

[ironpony]

11 minutes ago, Weezy1973 said:

If you're only making $12 an hour, I'd find a full time job that pays better and then quit this one. Like I said, restaurants are desperate for people right now, so you'd almost definitely be making more.

Oh really? It seems a lot of restaurants aren't choosing to stay open very much right now where I am because of covid and are just taking it easy right now it seems.  I will look.  Thanks

Edited December 13, 2021 by ironpony

[Trail Blazer]

Depending on where in Canada you live, the Oil & Gas industry is picking up again.  Working on an oil rig is not for the faint-hearted, but you can earn a lot of money if you are physically fit and can work in extreme climates.

[Wiseman2]

11 hours ago, Alvi said:

 right?

Bouncers don't need special skills, expensive or extensive training or fine-tuned advanced social skills. The hours are flexible and if it's something someone has intense interest and curiosity in, why not make extra cash?

Accruing more student debt or not being able to manage training or handle scheduling is risky. Therefore a simple easy fast cash way to test the waters about how viable working plus training/college would be is a place to start.

In other words, unless a caseworker or social worker can find free programs that are realistic and manageable, this would be a good trail run for the viability of whatever programs or trade schools are available.

[elaine567]

9 hours ago, ironpony said:

I see what you mean, it's just the problem with part-time jobs is there's always a crossover with that in the main job. Plus I work weekends in my current job so that makes it tough to work another job on weekends.

Ok no or few weekends, but what about evenings and nights?
If you work the week-ends then you will no doubt have free days during the week, no?
If you want/need extra money to become independent and pay the rent, then you are going to have to work for it in some way.
If extra education is not an option, then you will have to work with the jobs that are available to you.
Maybe find a 9-5 job and then it will not be so difficult to fit a P/T job  or jobs in.
 

[ironpony]

Oh okay.  Right now my job is 9:00 to 6:00 which means I can go to another part time job after at 6:30 if I rush it, but all the part time jobs I am coming across want me to start before 6 though so far.  I can keep looking though.

Edited December 13, 2021 by ironpony

[ASG]

7 hours ago, Wiseman2 said:

Bouncers don't need special skills, expensive or extensive training or fine-tuned advanced social skills. The hours are flexible and if it's something someone has intense interest and curiosity in, why not make extra cash?

Accruing more student debt or not being able to manage training or handle scheduling is risky. Therefore a simple easy fast cash way to test the waters about how viable working plus training/college would be is a place to start.

In other words, unless a caseworker or social worker can find free programs that are realistic and manageable, this would be a good trail run for the viability of whatever programs or trade schools are available.

You do need training to be a bouncer. In the UK that training is expensive and last a few months! I can imagine it won't be too different in Canada. 

Plus, the OP works day times. 9am to 6pm. Those jobs tend to go on until very late. Even if someone has insomnia, it's not exactly feasible to just not sleep forever!

[Wiseman2]

2 hours ago, ironpony said:

all the part time jobs I am coming across want me to start before 6 though so far. 

Ok be a bouncer you don't have to be at work until 9 am... and you claim you have insomnia.

It's nonsense that the only side jobs out there start at 6pm.

You never applied asked or really looked.

Just like it's not true you can't find a therapist at 8 am or 6pm.