Finding a job with no degree/diploma for men

amother

Bisque

Tue, Aug 04 2020, 9:30 pm

1. What is he good at? He doesn't need formal education to have an idea of his strengths. "Soft skills" such as communication and negotiation count!

2. What are his interests? Many careers do not require college degrees (plumbing, automotive, etc).

3. If you are in the US, *please* start at a community college. There, he can find remedial instruction, career guidance and help with study skills. Community colleges have services for non-traditional students and are generally low-cost. They focus on career training (degree or not) and preparation to transfer to a four-year college if desired. If the community college near you doesn't offer the services or course of study that he needs, he can go to a different one. It may cost more, but still less than many 4-year colleges or trade schools.

amother

Burgundy

Tue, Aug 04 2020, 10:26 pm

OP, your dh sounds a lot like mine. MY dh's first language was Yiddish and he couldn't write a coherent sentence in English. His spelling was atrocious. He had never learned math past a 3rd grade level.

Over the years, we have worked together. He enrolled in an associates program in college that gives a GED as part of the course. We struggled together. He got a math tutor. He is not stupid, and he learned the material pretty easily, but he still took longer to do a math example than someone who learned it years ago would do.

The hardest part of college for him was the term papers. I helped him, but my rule was that he had to type them himself. I sat next to him and showed him how to type a period and a comma. I taught him how to break his long chains of words into sentences, and his sentences into paragraphs. We both invested hours into each term paper. It took tons of patience on both of our parts. But the difference between his first term paper, when he didn't know what the space bar was, and the last one, where I only had to point out his spelling mistakes, was amazing. It was worth every minute we spent together.

My dh is not handy at all, but he is now trained as a medical assistant. He is able to make some money with that, and best of all, he is so proud that he was able to accomplish this in his 30s!

Just a note: My dh worked on his schooling in the evenings while he had a job during the day. It didn't pay much, but it helped us pay some bills.

Mommyg8

Tue, Aug 04 2020, 10:45 pm

amother [ Bisque ] wrote:

This is excellent advice, pure gold.

Community colleges are an enormous chesed in this medinah shel chesed. If you qualify for FAFSA, your DH can get all this - including remedial classes in Math and English - for free. You can even do it online (I think).

amother

Lawngreen

Tue, Aug 04 2020, 10:57 pm

What about a construction related field? He could become a contractor, he can do construction management, he can do real estate management, or he can train to be an electrician, a plumber, etc. I don't believe you needed a degree for most of these jobs and they could make decent money.

Personally, my DH does not have any degree or his GED. He does real estate management, and some construction on the side. Bh he does nicely. (I think)

What do you consider a decent salary at this point?

amother

Tue, Aug 04 2020, 11:25 pm

Lets_Eat_Pie wrote:

Adding - one other resource that I don't think has been mentioned yet is your public library. I don't know what they are like in Lakewood (perhaps someone else on this thread can enlighten) but here in NYC they run GED classes a few times a year. Of course, this may have changed with COVID. But another resource worth checking.

thank you! I emailed my local library and my hometown library because we're also residents there. Waiting to hear back iyh

amother

Tue, Aug 04 2020, 11:26 pm

amother [ Burgundy ] wrote:

This was so so encouraging to read, thank you for sharing.

amother

Tue, Aug 04 2020, 11:27 pm

amother [ Lawngreen ] wrote:

Thank you! Construction would be great for him because my husband worked in construction of some sort in Israel (trying to be vague because it was a specialized field). How would he even begin to get into contracting here?

amother

Tue, Aug 04 2020, 11:28 pm

Even if he doesn't go to college, my husband still wants to get his GED to prove to himself that he is capable. So we're going to begin the process. BH a positive of corona is that all the classes are offered online for a minimal cost (think $100). It'll be nice for him to stay busy and to learn. Thank you ladies

singleagain

Tue, Aug 04 2020, 11:29 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Find someone already established in the business and ask for a job. Even if it's not in the specialized field. Get a job in anything related

amother

Tue, Aug 04 2020, 11:30 pm

amother [ Bisque ] wrote:

He loves building, anything with his hands, he likes meeting new people. I'm the shy one in our relationship, he is a big people person. I definitely think trade school would be the best fit for him.
I wonder if he could transfer his trade degree when the time comes to Israel because we would like to move back...

Thank you for the community college advice! Thats what I was thinking