What This Could Mean to YOU . . .

That means that almost 15 million people have created their own jobs, their own companies, and their own business opportunities. These people are real Rainmakers.

And you may think they are their own bosses. But you would be wrong.

You know that any person who works for an established business will have a boss. You should know that even in the biggest businesses, the biggest bosses have bosses.

But even if you own your own company, you will have bosses. You will have customers you have to please, suppliers who demand on-time payments from you, communities that will expect certain behaviors from you, government regulations you will have to follow, and taxes you will need to pay.

Being your own boss – if you are in the right business for your skills – can be very satisfying. But being the boss of you … and the boss of your own business … means you would have to know everything there is to know about creating and managing a business. Being your own boss also means you will probably be working many more hours in any given week than the average worker.

The knowledge you will need to be successful in any business is based on the skills you learn in high school, including English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. You may use subjects such as Music, Art, and Physical Education to actually earn a living. Having high-end computer skills is also probably a good idea.

So, study hard and do well in all your high school subjects.

And if your school supports our Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program, make sure you participate in every activity you can. You will learn a lot about the business world and what you have to do now to succeed in tomorrow’s workforce. You will also learn the skills you need to enter the Gig Workforce while you are still in high school, and where, at the age of 18, you can earn money and contribute to your income, education, and career goals.

If your school does not offer our college-ready/work-ready programs to you, make sure you ask them to start right away!

What This Could Mean to YOU . . .

Grades earned in high school in challenging courses are one of the top criteria that college officials use to make their admissions decisions. But when it comes to non-academic activities that determine admissions, what counts most is extra-curricular commitment, not just extra-curricular activity. That means that colleges look for individuals who make deep and consistent commitments to a small number of extra-curricular activities rather than spending a small amount of time in each of a dozen different after-school activities that don’t relate to personal goals or future lives.

Colleges and employers look at how long and how deeply a high school student has been committed to two or three after-school interests, the time allotted to those activities, what leadership roles have been assumed in the process, what credentials have been awarded, and what has been accomplished as a result.

In short, the quality of your extra-curricular activities is more important than the quantity of your extra-curricular activities.

If your school offers our Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program (RIPP), get involved and stay involved. We provide you with the opportunities to demonstrate that you are capable of the deep and demanding commitments that meet those college admissions and employment criteria. In RIPP, you will also have an opportunity to flex your leadership muscles, earn a meaningful credential, and get a job in the human cloud that will help you earn the money you need to achieve your goals.

What This Could Mean to YOU . . .

You spend every school day with many teachers. You are used to being in a classroom and what teachers do may seem easy. But it’s not. Good teachers are in high demand. Great teachers even more so. It is not possible to teach something you don’t know, so states demand that incoming teachers earn a four-year (Bachelors) degree in his or her chosen field. Every teacher must pass a rigorous test in the subject matter he or she will be teaching. After all, to teach someone something, a teacher really has to know the subject material.

The average national starting salary for a teacher certified to teach elementary school subjects is $54,000 per year with summers off and what are probably the best benefits packages (health care and retirement) across many different careers.

But we are not presenting this information to encourage you to be a teacher, although good for you if you want to be a teacher! We have compiled this information so you know that this kind of information is easily found on the Internet — and this kind of information (number of openings in the field, starting salaries, benefit packages, educational requirements) can help you decide which career you may want to pursue.

So, before you pick ANY career, make sure you do your research. Not every career is created equal.

What This Could Mean to YOU . . .

Doing research online about future job availabilities is a good way to determine whether or not you should pick a certain field. Some fields, even those that demand significant educational preparation, may disappear thanks to advancing technologies. In fields that require less education, job loss is expected to be higher.

For example, cashiers working in American retail and food stores, 73% of whom are women, may soon lose their jobs.

New technology will allow shoppers to buy goods without having people ‘ring up’ or ‘check out’ their orders. And we’re not talking about ‘self-checkout lines,’ either. Cameras connected to facial recognition software will watch customers as they take items off the shelves and directly charge the purchases to their payment accounts. No waiting in lines. Just grab-and-go. And debit or credit.

This is just one example of how a low-skill job is being eliminated by advancing technology. If you want a living wage, you have to perform well enough in high school to secure a higher paying job. Solid performance in high school will be your ticket into a trade, an industry credential, or a two-year or four-year college degree.

Note: Cashiers make between $8,000 and $12,000 per year. The federal government considers a single person making that amount of income to be living below the poverty line.

What This Could Mean to YOU . . .

In 1995, only 9% of workers were able to work from home at least one day a week. Pre-pandemic, 43% of employees worked from home at least one day a week. That was an increase of 115% percent. The COVID pandemic caused thousands more to start working from home — and by 2022, estimates were that 71% of adults were working from home.

These ‘remote jobs’ are defined as professional-level positions that allows employees to work from home either entirely or part of the time. Remote jobs are also known as telecommuting jobs, virtual jobs, at-home jobs, and other similar names.

Employees who work from home must exercise a great deal of self-discipline and tenacity. It is very easy to be distracted at home and have those distractions influence productivity. If a worker’s productivity drops, he or she could lose the job.

Our Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program (RIPP) provides participating students – our Rainmakers Candidates — with opportunities to learn to function in a virtual workplace and practice the discipline that will be required of tomorrow’s workforce.

What This Could Mean to YOU . . .

What all employers want is an educated workforce, since the kinds of jobs that used to require minimal education are disappearing.

This means that you only have one choice.

Whether you eventually go to college (two- or four-year), the military, a trade school, or directly to the workplace, you will need a solid high school education.

If you slack off in high school, you will eventually have to learn what your high school teachers were trying to teach you. Every job that offers a living wage requires that an individual have an educational base at least equivalent to a four-year high school experience. If you don’t learn what you are supposed to learn in high school when you’re there, you will have to go back and learn what you missed at some point. And most likely, you will have to pay for that learning.

So, learn it now, while the taxpayers in your community are paying for your education.

You can’t possibly know what your future will bring, so you have to prepare for anything that may come along. The only way you can prepare for the universe of every job is to work as hard as you can at the most challenging high school courses your high school offers and get the best grades you can.

If your school offers our Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program, get involved! Our RIPP program provides you with the opportunity to join the human cloud — the Gig Economy — while you are still in high school. The well-prepared can be in great demand and earn significant money doing short-term jobs. If you have the skills someone needs, you could earn the money you need to achieve your future goals.