Key word here is "settle." I do not mean to imply that one should not take a low-paying job. In fact, low-paying "entry level" jobs in virtually any industry is the key to success for anybody with drive and ambition.
Too many people take these low-skill jobs and stagnate in them. They don't give their employer anything extra. They simply do what their manager assigns them and go home at the end of the day. They are wasting their opportunity and devaluing themselves in the process.
Consider a job at McDonalds for instance. The typical entry-level worker might be assigned to work the drive-through. They become pretty good at it but never look to do anything else. So two years go by and they are still working that drive-though window.
Now what if that same employee looked for other things to do in that store? Right away they are increasing their value. They can fill in for when the fry cook calls in sick. They can then train new hires on various jobs. They are quickly given more and more responsibility - not necessarily because they ask for it, but because they just go ahead and take it on.
In six months, these kind of people are no longer working the drive-in at $8/hr. They may now be a shift manager at $12/hr. That's a 50% increase in pay in just half a year. They are now on a trajectory for store manager and then regional manager, which according to glassdoor.com can net you up to $133,000 per year, putting them well ahead of the typical college graduate - with the added bonus that they do not have any college loans to pay off.
The above can be replicated in almost any industry. There are many corporate executives, even CEOs, that got their start in the proverbial "mail room."
All you really have to do is work hard, be a self-starter and ASSUME additional responsibilities on your own. Very rarely does anybody get tapped on the shoulder for a promotion with more responsibility. You have to show that initiative on your own. This is because most managers want to keep excellent workers right where they are - as it makes their job easier. If you simply come in, do your job and go home at end of the day, you are not going to go anywhere career wise.
Thank you for one of the best replies to this post. One of the most successful men I have ever known did not have a college degree. However, he was smart, ambitious, and a self-starter. He also worked very, very hard.