College vs skilled trades.

[bigmike23]

Manufacturing company I work for starts at 70k a year for a mechanical background. If you can weld starts around 90k. Machinists and electricians are way past 100. Most everyone I know who went to college didn't even go into the field their degree was for, and are buried in debt making nothing.
The problem with college for too many, is when youre that young your not mature enough to know to pick a degree that has value on the market. Too many pick something that sounds cool or interesting, but not feasible to make money. I went 2 years to college to get a criminal justice degree. After graduation I quickly realized I couldn't stomach the thought of being a cop so those two years were total and compete waste of time.
There's lots of routes I could of went in life to make beyond 100k, but they all require 5+ day work weeks. I work 3 days a week, live comfortably, and hunt an insane amount of time every year. Life is too short to work it away

 

[*zap*]

pick a good trade and go to school a few nights a week and get a good degree...oh, to be young again...

 

[BattleBorn1996]

I wish when I was starting out I would have went and worked in the real world for a while, and then went back to college after finding a job that I would enjoy. There is so much more opportunities than people even think about, that you would never know until you get out there and work.

 

[Mojave]

Whatever you do it should be fairly future proof.

College specifically.

Every trade is not future proof. Look hard.

 

[ethan]

What are the odds that a computer/robot completely takes over your industry in the next 20 years? Not attacking you personally, but these are always things I think about with the insanely rapid advancement of technology.

In a way they already have. CNC machines have taken over 97% of machining operations, but the set up and programing will always have to be done with human input

 

[USNairborne]

After retiring from the military, I went to school for 15+ years; 5 degrees later, with zero work experience during that time, and I now find myself unable to find a job that pays more than min. wage. Currently working on a PhD so that I can remain in the collegiate world, as an instructor.
Fortunately, I married a doc…and her income keeps is comfortable; which means my retirement can largely be used for school and hobbies.
All this to say, that education without experience can sometimes be worse than experience without education.

 

[Sturgeon]

I went to a small private high school and no one talked about the trades. We didn’t even have any shop classes. I went to a in state public university and switched majors to business. I graduated in 2008, and nobody was hiring. Luckily I worked a bunch in the summers and parents helped a bit and was able to graduate without any debt. I was also taking firefighting classes and was on a small municipal department and decided to get my EMT license. I applied to a bunch of full time departments, but there was probably a 100 applicants for every opening and I wasn’t great at interviews. Eventually got a job as a lab tech and then worked as a scientist. Kept up with the firefighting and now work for a company in R&D developing firefighting foams. The work is very interesting.

 

[Thequalizer]

Coming from a college educated guy here I wish I would’ve just went into a trade right out of high school. Instead of spending 4 useless years to get a piece of paper I could’ve been making money that whole time

 

[oake]

In my case, I walked both paths.

Went to college for about a year and a half. Truth is I didn't have the study skills to make it in college. Up to that point, I had been able to skate by with retained knowledge through classwork. Not the case for me anyway while in college.

Went on to join a trade. Spent the obligatory 5 year apprenticeship, spent another 5 years on the tools then got into the political side of the trades. Trying to give back to the memberships that had paved the way for young wage earners like myself. Been a blessing so far.

I think its been mentioned but with an ounce of ambition, a pinch of backbone and some willingness to apply yourself, the sky is the limit...

 

[Pony Soldier]

College is the way to go but only for those in fields that have jobs. It is a career path. Accounting, engineering, lawyers, medicine and others that have functional levels and provide you with choices.

There is nothing wrong with the trades but you have to be careful that the one you pick isn't limited by your health as you age. The really physical ones like logging and mining might give you great career but may provide some tough choices as your body breaks down.

I tried the trades as I was going to school. I was a tail sawyer in a sawmill for a while. As I looked out on my fellow workers I just couldn't imagine doing that for the rest of my life. The company helped me make the decision with mandatory overtime starting with the opening of elk season.

I drove truck for a while. It was a good enough job but got to be the same thing every day. I have run dozers, backhoes and excavators on a number of jobs. I admire the operators for their skills and enjoy creating things but found I needed more challenge in life. My father asked me to go to school and share his practice with him. I turned him down because I would have to work with the public. Then I got a degree in engineering and spent most of my career working with the public.

I found out that I liked the public but learned to hate the stupidity of government. Now I spend my later years permitting projects. I have about used up what little patience I was issued at birth.

The concept of choosing a single path for your life and following it through is a nice thought but but I think you evolve with your maturity and opportunities. Could be why some of us have some ex-wives.

 

[Yoder]

My cousins are contractors. They build houses, additions, roofing, siding. No college. Both are under 40 and both have their houses paid off. Nobody wants to do physical labor anymore.

There's nothing wrong with college. What's wrong is parents telling their precious little babies "You can do anything you want sweetie". If your kid is dumb, they won't be a brain surgeon. If they are 4ft tall they will not play in the NBA. Don't let your kids spend over $100k on a degree that gets you a job working at Walmart as a greeter. Nobody is getting a job with a film degree or as an art history major. Ok, maybe 10 people get jobs doing that. I told my boys to find something they like that they have a realistic expectation of MAKING MONEY, not a unicorn farmer, social media influencer or professional gamer. Tell your kids no sometimes. You could save them from a life of soul crushing debt an misery.

 

[Forestryguy]

One thing that I have noticed with physical trades, is your longevity can be determined on how smart you are able to work or if the company invests in equipment. I have helped with roofing jobs that we carried every square up a ladder. I have also helped on ones that every square was brought up by conveyor or a lift. Some jobs are just physical and there is no way around it, but there is usually a way to make it somewhat easier.