What is Reddit's opinion of Selling Your Services: Proven Strategies For Getting Clients To Hire You (Or Your Firm)?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

Just want to say:

You might not like college either, or the job you think you're going to like. Happens to a ton of people who go do college.

Not only that, anything less than a masters degree is pretty worthless. Too many people have them now. And college costs have shot through the roof, with no real kickback at the moment.

Not only that, one of the faster-growing fields, computer science, hires people who have experience but no degrees over people with degrees but no experience. You can learn computer science on your own, and you get more experience by doing so if you work with other people.

If you're looking at actually working in engineering, especially any type of chemical engineering, you are 100% looking at a post-graduate degree. Even then, once you have the degree you still have to get specialized training to be worth anything. It's a pain in the rear.

And then there's the fact that you don't really get to choose who you work with/for in most STEMA-reated jobs. I would say the exception is computer science (if you have experience; again, no college needed). You may very well end up working with a bunch of A-holes, and then you'd be right back where you started. Just because the field is good doesn't mean individual jobs are.

Personally, if I were you, I would look into starting my own business. You've got money coming in and it sounds like you have some free time. While you are paying off debt, do a little research. Don't get scammed into buying "business packages" or crap like that. If you buy a service, make sure it is one you need and that you go looking for it. Don't let services "find you," no matter how appealing they sound.

If you have no experience with business or sales, I highly recommend:

Selling Your Services: Proven Strategies For Getting Clients To Hire You (Or Your Firm) by Robert W. Bly. That guy is really good at explaining basic sales to people with no sales experience.

There is also Email Persuasion: Captivate and Engage Your Audience, Build Authority and Generate More Sales With Email Marketing by Ian Brodie. The previous book doesn't discuss email much, so this one is a little more up to date on that.

And

The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau. If you have zero idea at all as to what kinds of businesses you can start, this is a good book that has lots of examples of what other people have done.

I personally recommend college as a last choice, unless you know exactly what you want and love it. "A STEM job...maybe something in engineering..." is not exact. It's no where near to being exact. You don't have a passion for a real job right now; just the idea of a job that doesn't exist. You want the feeling having a "good" job will bring; not an actual job, unless you have a real life job in mind that you love. Don't waste time on college unless you have something specific, because that's what it is. Without a purpose, college is a waste of time and money.

Additionally, colleges are creating people to fill jobs, not create work. A lot of employers are hiring people who create work (not problems, which is generally a lack of work), because that means you're making them money.

Most colleges also produce graduates with no experience at all in their careers, that do not fit the demands of specific jobs. They cookie-cutter you to fill a role that doesn't exist in the real world. That's why knowing the real job you want is important; so you can get the additional training you need to get that job when you graduate. And you'll notice that most of the stuff you learn has absolutely nothing to do with your future job.

If that world sounds exciting to you, than by all means, pay off your bills and go to college. I highly recommend at least trying to start a business first. You can do it while you are still working your current job (no need to quit, unlike full-time college), and it can relate to skills that you (and other people) find interesting.

edit: whoops, fixed links