<p>I'm looking for a career path that's very hands on and requires a lot of travel, and can be attained straight out of college without graduate school. Preferably a career with a good probability of promotion with large salary increases. I'm leaning towards something in the business of fashion, or the entertainment industry. Something very active and vibrant, where I can be my eclectic self, and make a lot of money without working the hours of an ibanker. </p>
<p>If you have any suggestions that match the above description, please let me know.</p>
<p>I suggest you start your own business- you work hard- but you reap the benefits
One young friend of ours moved to Hawaii after getting her BA and is designing and selling her own line of bikinis!</p>
<p>( But you should be so lucky to have bankers hours- those guys get ALL the holidays)</p>
<p>( wow no wonder the vets I know aren't always too thrilled with their choice of career. Vet school is much more difficult for admittance than medical school- but starting salary is only $10K more than a teacher & you have grad school to pay off)</p>
<p>....the "lots of travel" crierion is a bit at odds with the "without graduate school" criterion in the sense that one major way to travel is to be in a national market (vs local 7-11 clerk for instance), but this often requires specialization (i.e., more specialized graduate education) to set you apart from the rest of the world with the same undergrad degree. </p>
<p>One way to overcome this conflict is to seek out employment from a specialized firm playing in a national market, which happens to take on undergrads as trainees or apprentices. The one, broad industry that comes to mind is the accounting or management consulting world, which hires on fresh accounting or business majors and works the you-know-what out of them doing "on-site" (at their clients' work places) auditing and assessments. Because the burnout rate is high, these firms do hire lots of entry level undergrads, and if you land on the right accounts, travel is most definitely possible.......of course you may be worked so hard that all you see is your clients' workplace and your hotel room. Although I do not work in this field, I'd suspect that while job shopping, one should seek out firms that have specialized practices (e.g., something that makes them a national presence so their client base is nationwide) where the consulting or audit teams don't just stay local, they travel. For instance (I'm just making this up), if one found the management consulting firm that specialized in IT assessments and upgrades at nuclear power plants, that's the type of specialty that would be more niche and trained people would just focus there, creating a demand for their services at any nuclear power plant, resulting in travel. The other good news with specialization is that when demand is strong, upward salary potential is likewise strong.......one merely has to predict which specialty to focus on & hop that career ride. This is a very difficult thing to do of course. Specializing in buggy whips may have been good for a while, but once the market is gone, the specialist is only traveling to pick up their unemployment check.</p>
<p>best of luck.....only other piece of advice I'd give you is to "go for it" NOW........its much easier to take risks earlier in a career.</p>
<p>You won't be able to find a great paying job with great salary increases that lets you travel but does not require a lot in terms of hours--especially in business.</p>
<p>If you're willing to work a lot of hours, go into public accounting, consulting or finance/i-banking. All pay very well, all hire right out of undergrad, public acounting and consulting require a lot of travel and all have good job portability.</p>
<p>If you're looking to get into fashion or entertainment--so is everyone else. Jobs are hard to get, and the ones you do get don't pay well at first. You can work towards getting into the entertainment industry, but don't expect to. If you go to a good undergrad business school, they should have some contacts within the industry that can help you.</p>
<p>one other obvious point.....reward & effort go hand in hand.......therefore, plan to work very hard with long hours if you want to stand a chance to make lots of money, no matter what the field or industry. Yes, some do get lucky, but in my experience, they are the very, very rare case.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm looking for a career path that's very hands on and requires a lot of travel, and can be attained straight out of college without graduate school. Preferably a career with a good probability of promotion with large salary increases.
[/quote]
Marine Corps? (size of the large salary increases are relative, of course).</p>
<p>Seriously, though, you should consider two facts: First, very very few people keep the same career throughout life, and second, if you find the thing you love you won't mind the hours.</p>
<p>Also, remember that money is not always the only (or most important!) compensation. If you want to travel, you could try the cruise industry. The crew works hard, but plays hard too, and you can get exposure to every facet of entertainment/hospitality/travel industries.</p>
<ol>
<li> Doesn't feel like work</li>
<li> Will continue to capture your interest in the decades to come</li>
<li> Has the potential for you have to rise to the top; ie you have or can develop a superb talent. Fashion and entertainment are all about the talent. </li>
</ol>
<p>Then:</p>
<ol>
<li> Get experience in a top firm in that field.</li>
<li> Open your own business in that field.</li>
</ol>
<p>Money will follow you if you do the above. Chase love. Chase adventure. Chase knowledge. </p>
<p>Don't chase money. That is a waste of life.</p>
<p>LOL. I should have qualified it by saying it was advice from an old person who has lived and learned a bit on the way.</p>
<p>As I was born to educated parents who sent me to private schools, I will accept the 'rich' tag. I won't devalue the term middle class with qualifications since only 5% of Americans make over $100k.</p>
<p>Don't let your imagination run wild, though. Rich is not necessarily the child of mega-rich parents. Never been on a Lear jet for instance. P Diddy doesn't have my email address.</p>
<p>Rich is the child of many generations of moderate wealth and from that perspective I safely proclaim that chasing money is a waste of time. </p>
<p>The cream of the crop rises to the top...where money finds it. That is my observation and my personal experience.</p>
<p>Bananas, my job (international sourcing and brand management) fulfills all your requirements right up to the last. As a general statement serious money means long hours, sacrifice and commitment. There is no free lunch.</p>
<p>If you're sincerely interested in the fashion industry I can give you some suggestions, but for sure willingness to put in the hours is essential.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you're looking to get into fashion or entertainment--so is everyone else. Jobs are hard to get, and the ones you do get don't pay well at first.
[/quote]
So true! In the recent book "Freakonomics" the author touches on just this point. As he says, in the glamour professions swarms of bright young people throw themselves at grunt jobs that pay lousy and demand lots of work. Its really a tournament, and the rules are clear. You have to start at the bottom to have a shot at the top, you must work long and hard at lousy wages, adn to advance you have to prove you're not just above average but spectacular. And once you come to the sad realization you will never make it to the top, you quit.</p>
<p>This doesn't sound like what the OP is asking for, and truth be told he's never going to find it in the glamour professions like fashion or entertainment.</p>
<p>How about a compromise? Something like entertainment law? Might do it - rap stars take you to lunch (or record company execs, if you work for The Man).</p>
<p>Sales. Find an industry which requires personal sales calls wherever you want to travel to. If you're good at it, you'll make good money at it, pretty quickly. Also, eventually you'll get tired of travel (which gets less fun everytime you do it) and by then you'll get laid off and have the opportunity to develope a new career!</p>