What types of careers consistently make the most money entering with no background or social skills?
"You may think it sucks to have learned a crap ton of category theory, which is seemingly useless outside of academia, but have you considered picking up a ""functional"" programming language, e.g. Haskell?  How about Java or, more recently, Scala? I would bet that you would love Haskell.  And then you can make a fortune working at Jane Street Capital, which uses OCaml, another functional programming language. Time to get your hands dirty with some programming experience.  Minimal social skills required, as you had wished for, plus maximal compensation, plus you get to keep using math that was sort of close to your research area. Good luck." "It sounds like you're massively under-selling yourself.  You presumably have a degree to get into the PhD program, and you now have work experience as well.  But you're applying for jobs in fast food restaurants. You may struggle to get a job because they will expect you to only be there a few weeks until you find a ""proper"" job."
I went through a very self damaging phase in my teens and wound up having to get a GED. I eventually followed it up with a punt for college and got a 2yr Assoc in Business. When I finally got my head out of my ass around my 30s, I realized how much I was stuck in the ~$25-30k bracket. I got an entry level job doing computer repair and started hitting the books &amp; web. Soon, I was taking on web design and basic server admin duties. I got downsized and wound up looking again. Wound up in an entry level again doing first level support &amp; inventory for a local ISP. I took an interest in networking and self studied for and got my Net+ and Sec+. I was acting as their local level network engineer but they weren't willing to change my pay or title so I began looking. I wound up getting picked up by a recruiter who helped me land a job that over doubled my pay and got me into a position where I'd get a lot of experience with high demand technologies and they'd sponsor my security clearance. I'm now closing in on the magical 6 digits but it's all about self motivation on constant education and learning. It should also be said that patience must be remembered. I knew I had dug a hole for myself and it wouldn't be overnight... I'm now in my early 40s so it's been a full decade of effort and just getting by. Florida. Piece work. Gutters. Oh and the industry is in such demand you can company hop all day all over the country. It's not much just climbing a ladder all day in the sun in 110 heat index 100% humidity hardly able to move after work. Oh that's also if you don't mind basically working minimum wage for the first year until you get good. Yeah no medical but no one seems to care if you're a junkie or alcoholic. Or call out every day. Or show up late because you can't be fired because there is no one to replace you. Everything in life is a combination of luck and skill.  Startups are no different.  The risks are higher and most sensible people know and understand that.  You know why we worship the successes?  Because against all odds, those startups stood up to your salaried buddies who work for faceless large corporations and have tons of people and kicked their asses.  At some point, they deserve it.  You see startups as gambling, others see it as betting on yourself.  Especially founding or joining an early stage startup.  It's also taking on huge responsibility.  In a mega-corp your failures and shortcomings will be covered and almost certainly won't tank the company.  Your creativity probably won't flourish and their is an incentive to do just well enough.  Why should you work your ass off for a company that you're not invested in other than a paycheck?  Startups aren't for everyone.  Hell, startups probably aren't for most people.  But there are some people, those select few, who simply can't imagine not working for themselves, creating things, tinkering, trying to change the world.  It's not even gambling to them, it's a way of life. "This quote has it almost backwards. Thomas J. Stanley's recent book (he's one of the duo who researched and wrote about The Millionaire Next Door) claims that the top occupation of millionaires is ""business owner / self-employed"" (28%).  ""Real estate investor"" is lumped in with ""other"" (9%), and if the ordering is correct in the list, it's no more than 2% of the total. (source)" Hey OP, Don't listen to the negative comments, they don't know what they're talking about. I just got hired as an associate i-banker at the top investment bank in my country , which is roughly at the level of American bulge bracket banks.   I'm an introvert. Yes, I like to drink and socialize, and part of the interview process involved cocktails and dinner with other candidates and several ibankers at all levels . But I-bankers are just geeks in suits. As long as you are comfortable in social settings , you don't need to be an alpha male or frat jock.  I recommend meeting as many ibankers as possible. Have coffee chats and learn about the people that work in the industry. Good luck. "Even the Wall Street jobs require skill, knowing how the stock market work, knowing how people work, etc.   Even saying ""that luck is the main factor in the majority of cases of great wealth"" is still wrong.   Really the only time luck is the real reason is non skill based gambling games (lottery, slots, etc), inheritance, and finding a wallet on the side of the road/street" 70 isn't all that bad. And being a fund manager at a top fund is not the highest paying job per se. What's critical is to be a partner, or found your own fund, or have some ownership stake. There are sales people and lawyers who make more than PMs because they own/run the firm.   And I would say it's impossible to do anything in finance anymore without a degree. It's all really personal preference and dependent on how your lifestyle/hobbies are. I have a friend who majored in Marketing and is now making 80k/yr out of college as he is also into web design.  However, in my opinion, Finance would be the most exhilarating and Accounting would be the most stable. "In finance  What kind of amorphous bullshit is that? There are literally hundreds of different things that can varyingly be termed ""in finance"". If you want the traditional big bank job working as a spreadsheet monkey, very fucking difficult right now. Masters in finance doubling down on a BS: if it's from Princeton, great, if it's from Blue Mountain State, whatever. A CFA is getting common but it might help - it probably won't hurt at least.   If you mean ""as a big shot trader for a hedge fund"" the answer is precisely impossible with only that on your resume. If you mean entry corporate finance, it's certainly possible (although you should not listen to anything I say in this regard as I've successfully avoided learning much about the subject thus far and have no intention of changing that, thus am as roughly as reliable on that as a wet paper towel)." Yes it is!  You don't need the candidate waving a university diploma to find out in 5 minutes if they can read, write or understand.  As someone who work with many interns, some of them from ivy league universities, I can confirm that many of them, 30%, have terrible attitudes, immaturity, spoiled, disorganized, and it all goes together with being not so smart, despite the degree.  In the past, to be a teller in a bank, you did not have to finish high school. Just needed to be good with basic math. I work in marketing. Finance is probably the safest route with regards to opportunity and stability. Marketing can be expendable. Finance usually can't.   That being said, it really depends on your personality type. Marketing people and Finance people are two different breeds. If you're the type that likes a very linear, matter-of-fact field, stick to finance where numbers don't lie.   If your more of an extrovert who likes to think creatively in a field of a lot of unknowns, marketing may be the way to go. Yeah, I've heard of actual people, like Jim-down-the-hall, making 1M due to those beautiful, god damned, golden handcuffs known as RSUs.  This was at a valley tech giant though, so common, no.  But in the realm of possibility without autism level natural abilities, yes. One overarching thing to keep in mind is that wherever you go with Finance if you work hard enough and climb the ladder, you can make decent money. I know CIO's, Market Stragesits and even CFO's, Portfolio Managers and CPA's that all live extremely comfortably, and all of them work outside of the IB industry, basically, IB isn't the end-all for making large sums of money. The main reason why it pays so much upfront is that of the hours you have to work if you look at their salary at an hourly rate, it's around 10-12 bucks an hour.   Definitely think about the Double major thing though, or potentially just doing a minor. It would definitely look good on a resume, especially if it's something you also enjoy, but you've gotta keep that GPA high, and getting a 4.0 in CS is quite a challenge, to begin with.  Pretty much any of the Series certifications can help you depending on where you want to go career-wise, obviously for some positions have certain series certifications won't be useful at all. It's also worth looking into the CFA program if you plan on doing Financial Analysis, but you'll need a sponsor for this, just like the Series certifications.  Happy to help man, if you've got any other questions feel free to reach out. I'm in the same boat just trying to figure out what I want to do with my life to make decent money so I can take care of my friends and family, and live life to the fullest. Another way to do this is go to work for that company.  Companies in this situation normally offer low pay, long hours, and stock options.  Given a sufficient grant, it could be all very lucrative or worthless.   Even if you have no electronics background you might be able to work in a different capacity.  There were secretaries at various companies that became wealthy off of their stock options. "I used to run a telecommunications construction company and left to go back to school so that I could find a job in a ""white collar"" industry. Trade work is great when the money flows, but it's so cyclical that the downturns can rip your company/bank account apart.   My sister that stayed in it is making 85k a year and I'm about to start a 45k a year job out of college. I guess I'll know in 5 years if I made the right choice, but I at least have a lot more job mobility than she does."