27 Years Old, Feeling stuck, Investing, Scamming

[RealCrownHeights]

OP, sorry to hear things haven’t been clicking all that much. I know you made a similar thread/post about a year back asking for some advice and the general consensus IIRC was:

a. Get into IT/get some certs
b. Go to grad school
c. Join the military

I still think option A is your best bet for now while trying to figure out your longer term career plans. Also, look to get a mentor/network of sponsors that will advise and pull for you.

Another thing to stress here is this: you wanna get on as soon as you can. People are forgiving when you’re in your 20s and “still tryna figure things out”. When you start getting towards 30 they’ll cut you less slack as the expectation is you’re more of a seasoned professional. So you gotta really hit the career search hard.

I think you went to Morehouse so I’d hit up the alumni network in your region for help navigating your career.

EDIT: Forget about consulting for now. The top/better consulting firms usually only hire post college for an Entry level analyst or post grad school/MBA for an associate (there are exceptions).



This!

Yea I think I really have to try the IT stuff again, It really bored me but idc anymore but like you said I'm about to be 30. Any idea what certs I should get first? I heard people just studying on their own and paying for the test.
Grad school was another option but like everyone said I would have to go CC, get my grades up then get a good GRA score and I won't even know what to study.
Military would really be last resort. I have an Aunt and Uncle in. Uncle has one year left in Airforce, and they both have disability

I'm really going to grind and hit the career search field hard like you said. Might not even go out this summer.

Yea I tried a bunch of times to join the Alumi Chapter, I'll keep trying. Definitely needed a mentor or advisor. Funny thing about Morehouse is I'll find some alum at events and they say they'll link me and to contact them and when I do it's no response. Most of my close friends are either in other cities like DC or have a good job (Consulting, stem etc and have a safety net of a upper middle class family if shi* get's rough)

 

[phcitywarrior]

Yea I think I really....

Per certs, I have no idea. Check the IT Thread. Dudes in there are eating and seem to pass around knowledge.

Honestly, I’d say if you can’t get into a top master’s program with good job placement post-grad, I’d not look at it unless you’re getting it 100% paid and even then “hiding in grad school” can be counter intuitive.

Yea IT can be boring but you gotta try and see the bigger picture. A year from now you’ll be 28 regardless. Might as well be 28 with a couple certs and higher human capital in the labour market.

Bro, with the alumni stuff you HAVE to force the issue. You gotta follow up with these folks constantly. Life happens and people forget stuff so you wanna make sure you’re on their radar. Just shoot em a couple emails here and there.

Also reach out to MH’s career center, they should have resources for former students. Morehouse has one of the best connected and proud network. Take advantage of it.

 

[CopiousX]

I'll skip the sob story and sad stories but I'm almost at a crossroads. I have a B.A. in English from a reputable University but my graduating GPA was a 2.4 My former co-worker moved to Jacksonville and is a teacher now and is saying I can make a decent wage there and they are in high demand for a male black teacher over there and the cost of living is low. I'm currently at a dead-end non-profit and have been since I graduated college with no career trajectory.

On the other hand, I have people who I went to school with soaring pass me and getting offers for $130k and higher for consulting jobs and living in better apartments then my family who have been in NYC there whole life. Then I have my friends from high school etc that are scamming and have had beamers since we were 16, while I tried to be a good kid and go to school and take 3 trains to work.

I'm just unsure of what to do now and I don't want to do anything drastic and contact those friends but the shi* is frustrating. I'm able-bodied and applied for FDNY, failed by 1 point and my relatives keep telling me to apply for state and city jobs and I have for years and haven't got anything. I bought books on investing and bitcoin and have been reading to bring some additional income in.

Ummm...did these friends also get an English degree? Specifically a bachelors? Thats a tough one to pull off for 6figs.


You'd be hard pressed to find a non-admin consulting gig paying 130k for an English major. So, is it possible for you to get gamed up by these consulting friends? You might be able to pull off a 2yr masters in whatever they did. It may seem like doubling down, but in my industry(eng) getting a masters in a parallel field can often cancel out a bad undergrad gpa. Employers care about your most recent schooling.



Also, this one may come out of left field, but have you considered leveraging you English degree where it is needed? Teaching abroad immediately came to my mind. If you are adventurous enough or just like traveling, the East Asian and Arab nations will often pay you well with benefits to teach their wealthy (of all ages) English. They need it far more more than the American public. Imagine teaching english in Dubai, Tokyo, or Seoul while your employer covers ALL housing expenses, travel expenses, healthcare, etc. You would have very little overhead beyond eating out and your phone bill. Think of the bread you could stack. The cashflow could provide the capital base to get serious about investing if thats where you wanna branch off. This may be a better situation than Missisipi if you wanna make the most of the English degree you already have.



If these options dont work, your final fallback could be the military.

 

[Oldschooler]

Yea like the poster above said. With an English degree have you thought about teaching overseas, preferably somewhere in Asia. You'll make bank and might have all your living arrangements paid for.

 

[RealCrownHeights]

So a lot of people mentioned teaching abroad also. Is there a country that is better for a black man in my position to consider first or if I made a top 3 destination list?

I'm not going to lie I would prefer a black a country possibly Cuba or Columbia, but I am open to Japan

 

[Sonny Bonds]

Do you even want to be a teacher?

 

[RealCrownHeights]

Do you even want to be a teacher?

Not really but If it comes down to it i'll do it

 

[Brolic]

Not really but If it comes down to it i'll do it

If you thinking about moving to a different location to teach. Look into Montgomery county, Md. MCPS starts you off in the low 60k at first but you get a raise every year.
My mom has been teaching for 23 years and she’s making a little over 100k a year.

 

[Ya Sinning Mane]

I’d sell weed before I scam
Least you ain’t getting years

 

[phcitywarrior]

If you thinking about moving to a different location to teach. Look into Montgomery county, Md. MCPS starts you off in the low 60k at first but you get a raise every year.
My mom has been teaching for 23 years and she’s making a little over 100k a year.

Cosign this. One of the best counties in the country to teach in. As a breh too, you should be able to get in no problem.

You can use your free time to run your side hustles and build your network in DC

 

[RealCrownHeights]

I hate kids but it looks like I have to do teaching I will study for some certs in the meantime

 

[CopiousX]

So a lot of people mentioned teaching abroad also. Is there a country that is better for a black man in my position to consider first or if I made a top 3 destination list?

I'm not going to lie I would prefer a black a country possibly Cuba or Columbia, but I am open to Japan

Nah. Bad idea.



Ideally, you are seeking wealth and new money regions when teaching abroad. These are regions with newly minted rich people or a newly established middleclass that can see the tremendous value of connecting their children, bussiness execs, and young adults to the UK or US economic systems.


The Asian countries have that newly minted middle class, while china/arabs/east europeans have a lot of new-money rich people. They are willing to pay you US wages.


Latin America does not have much of this, no matter how scenic the area is or how fine() the mamis are. Youll take a pay cut.



You are less likely to get the benefits like the comparable US salary, free housing, travel, food, etc which will allow you to stack paper in latin America. The only exception are the semi failed states(el salvador, honduras, venezuela, etc) which MUST provide those benefits in order to lure you into teaching their govt leadership in often dangerous armed compounds. I aint gonna lie. If you bout that life then this money is good, but its a hassle. Those violence stats are no joke in this region

 

[Rell Lauren]

Ignore the scammers and focus on you. My cousin rolls with some heavy hitters and has already done fed time and has had attempts on his life. It's nowhere as glamorous as the pics and videos show you. It's not a good thing knowing that at any moment you can have the DoJ at your door or someone in your crew shoot you in cold blood.

 

[buzzkill]

u sound like me breh i had a shytty degree and was never really interested in school

ive always been a creative person so I found my niche with Front end development now im doing pretty well for myself with a bright future at 28

i'd recommend IT or learning web dev for sure. if u got IT from what i know get that A+ cert to start out ... if its web dev go html css js and if u want a job quick learn wordpress or shopify

i didnt want to go back to school so i taught myself but investing in yourself with some classes at a community college aint a bad thing some of these places have IT/ web dev programs

trades are also a good look

 

[Two Stacks]

There are entry level federal government jobs that just require aa 4 yr degree and some decent work experience....maybe take a look on USAJobs? That's a longer time frame than you may be willing to wait though. There are tons of IT jobs available if you are.