You say &quot;maths&#x2F;eng graduate&quot; - are you sure you didn&#x27;t mean to say &quot;programmer&quot;?<p>It&#x27;s an important distinction. Computer programming is just about the only white-collar job left on Earth that still has a healthy demand relative to the supply so you can get a decently paid job where you aren&#x27;t abused all that much, so if you have an aptitude for it, by all means go that route (whether via college or not, is a separate question).<p>But what&#x27;s the job market like these days for mathematicians, physicists, mechanical engineers? I get the impression it&#x27;s bad enough that if you put the same ingenuity and effort into a blue-collar trade you&#x27;d get better returns.