Some students are eager to enter the workforce as soon as possible. Others need to get jobs immediately—and close to home—to help support their families. For them, neither college nor the military may be a good post-secondary option.
It is possible to find a good-paying job right out of high school, but it gets harder every year. Even most of the factory jobs available today require some kind of specialized knowledge or training. Jobs that don't require previous skills or experience tend to offer very low pay. This fact is supported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and its research regarding median annual wages.
The word median in median annual wages refers to the number in the middle of an entire list. The median tends to be a more representative number than an average. That's because one very high or very low salary will skew, or shift, the average up or down.
Take a look below at some median annual wages. These jobs are common for people who enter the workforce with a high school diploma but no post-secondary education. Click each image to see the occupation and its median annual wage.
Going directly into the workforce after high school has both advantages and disadvantages. See if you can guess what these might be before reading about them below.
Going directly to work after high school may offer some advantages. You can gain valuable work experience right away and perhaps enjoy a more immediate feeling of independence. Another deciding factor for many: you would start your adult life earning money instead of building up student loan debt. And of course, you can always decide to continue your education at some point in the future.
The downsides of joining the workforce immediatelyafter high school may not be obvious at first, especially if you're busy earning money. Still, it's true that more education usually means access to jobs with higher salaries. People who hold degrees are more likely to be hired for well-paying jobs than candidates who only have a high school diploma, even if the high school graduate has more experience. And degree holders are also less likely to become unemployed.
Exactly how much does a lack of post-secondary education affect your earning potential? Study this information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. First, see if you can guess the median yearly earnings and the average unemployment rate for each category. Then click the category to see how close you were.
| Median Yearly Earnings | Unemployment Rate | |
|---|---|---|
$27,040 |
6.5% |
|
$37,024 |
4.6% |
|
$40,248 |
4.0% |
|
$43,472 |
3.4% |
|
$60,996 |
2.5% |
|
$72,852 |
2.2% |
|
$95,472 |
1.5% |
|
$90,636 |
1.5% |
Level Up!
Does any of this information surprise you? Use the questions below to review what you learned from the chart. First, type your own answer to each question. Then, compare your answers to the sample answers at the end of the activity.
1. What happens to the median salary as a person's education level increases?
2. What happens to the unemployment rate as the education level increases?
| Your Responses | Sample Answers |
|---|---|
From the information provided, the higher the degree earned, the more money you can make yearly. |
|
The unemployment rate gets lower for people who have higher levels of education. |
|
