After a little bit of time off, Ask Bloggy is getting back into gear with an eye on 2010. We've got more questions than ever before and plenty of folks are here to help. The rules are still the same. Send us your question via email and we'll answer it to the best of our abilities while completely respecting your privacy. Let's get into today's virtual letter bag.

Anybody who's worked construction as a journeyman can tell you that the pay is really good as long as you can find work. Well, that's a big part of my problem right now. I've been in the industry for several years and lately it's been really hard to keep getting contracts thanks to the economy. I've been wanting to get out of construction for a long time, but I never went to college and I can't go now because I've got a family to take care of. If I wanted to change careers, preferably to something that's not so much about manual labor, what options do I have with just a high school diploma?

-Dan

Well, Dan, there are a few options you might consider. It's true that you won't get a decent salary without some additional training, so unless you want to pull pints and teach driver's ed, you'll probably be looking a little bit of school for the next year or so. That doesn't necessarily mean college, though.

If you're a computer-minded person, try to grab some night courses at a technical program with an aim to become a certified systems administrator. Once you get all your proper certifications you're looking at an average salary of $30-$45 thousand a year for one of the most ubiquitous jobs in the modern world. You can do this with an Associate's Degree, but a lot of large tech companies like Microsoft now have some training programs and a multi-tiered approach to certification and experience.

You could always go the freelance route and train yourself in computer construction and repair. There's always a huge market for people who know how to fine-tune the hardware side of the technology that makes the world go 'round. It'll take some time to build a reputation and a client list, but once you get the ball rolling you could have a proper, full-time position running your own shop, even if it's out of your home.

If you'd rather not sit at a computer, maybe look into getting a real estate license. Sure, real estate is kind of a dirty word these days, but you're also not going to be selling houses tomorrow. If you think it's worth the risk, get your license and plan to get your feet wet a year or two down the line when the market has picked back up.

The real issue here is that a lot of people, whether it's experienced second-career folks like you, Dan, or kids fresh out of high school, are still living with the increasingly irrelevant concept of the college degree as a guaranteed job-maker. There are actually way too many people out there today competing for the same jobs because they all have degrees when the truth is that there's a lot of non-degree work that needs to get done. We're just not living in a time when anyone can get a BA and hop into a corporation until retirement. We all have to diversify our skills and apply our talents to a variety of outlets. Welcome to the 21st century, Dan.