What are your thoughts on...?

Question

getting a college degree versus going to a trade school to learn a skill such as carpentry or welding? When I look at the "help wanteds" I see so many good jobs for those with a skill and not as many good jobs for college grads. If you were granted a "do over" would you learn a trade/skill or would you still attend a traditional college and go for the college degree?

Answer 1

I think a person should go for whatever they are passionate about. Not everyone was meant to be a neurosurgeon just as not everyone was meant to be an auto mechanic or cook. They all require some specialization. If your heart is bent on the arts, painting or drawing, music, writing you should go for the degree. There are far too many starving artists. If you can't do it successfully you can always teach it. With that exception do what you were created to do. Don't saddle yourself with a dud. There is nothing worse than an educated fool who can't make a living with his degree.

Answer 2

Oh, Maine Lady, thank you for asking! I thought it would be fun to go to a trade school in high school, but my parents didn't think it was for me, so I went the college prep route. Although I enjoyed my highschool experience, I really wish I had a skill and a job that was more interesting. I would definitely go for a technical degree of some sort if I were to attend college again.

Answer 3

My son was 2 credits short of graduating from high school. Instead of going to summer school, he took a job at one of those OLDE TYME PHOTO STUDIOS. A few years later, he finally got his GED. He THOUGHT about going to college, but a series of happenings found him in California and somehow working as a plumber's assistant. He went to 1 year plumbing school, then moved back to Virginia. He finished his plumbing school, got his journeyman's license and then moved back to California. That was 4 years ago. He is now #3 in a new construction plumbing company and owns 2 houses (renting one). If he had gone to college he would definitely not be where he is today. Having a college degree does not guarantee you a good paying, upwardly mobile job. I know a lady I've worked with who has a 4 yeard degree...I never asked in what...but she supervises some inventory clerks as a gov't contractor and makes $17.40 an hour. I know that's only one person, but I've read stories about your college grads and how difficult it can be finding a job right out of school. Learning a 'trade' and sticking with it can bring a better way of life than many with college degrees. My brother-in-law, while in high school, was taken under the wing of a plumber. He wound up owning his own heating/a.c./plumbing company and retired and sold it a few years ago. Then he started his own plumbing (only) company up again. He put one daughter through college (computer sciences) and the other one graduates this coming year, OWNS his own home and lives very well. I know others who have succeeded without a college degree.
As for myself, I did over 20 years in the US Navy and wouldn't trade that for anything. I did take some college courses, but that was just for the learning. A lot of the training, besides my Navy specialty, has truly helped me after I retired and started working in the civilian world.

Answer 4

I would say to go to a trade school to learn a skill rather than go to college. In a trade school it is faster and also it is a on hands learning. I know several people that went that route rather than go to college. Once they got threw a few lessons, they got to work with what they were training for right then as apposed to learning it all from a book. I know some places that once you finish your classes at trade school, they put you in the field where you wanted to go and get even more training there. That way you are getting paid while you are still learning.

Answer 5

I was remembering trying to convince my dad, when I was 18-19, that what I wanted to learn was welding. I knew it paid well(and I also knew I could use this skill to be a sculptor).
My dad knew welders, he even could do a little himself. But
he was horrified, and told me that NO decent woman had any business in THAT trade.
oh,well.
looking back, that may have been a pivotal moment. I wish I had fought for it...but life goes on!
(as it turned out,I dropped out of college because it interfered with my drinking career.so it might not have mattered, eh?)

These days you hear how if you aren't computer savvy and science-tech-nerdy you don't stand a chance - but I wonder.
SOMEONE has to build things, and as less people opt for trades, those skills become a rarer and therefore more valuable commodity.
yes, I would definitely opt for a trade if I were starting out now.

Answer 6

I think either is OK as long as you know what you really and truly want to do and are willing to put in the time, attendance and work required to get where you want to go.

I've been in the Workforce Development industry for a number of years and I've seen both succeed and both fail. It all depends on the attitude of the person involved. You must be willing to climb in your occupation of choice, we can't all start out at the top (unless we happen to own the business and then it's even worse, because we have to do all the planning for the success of the business), we must do what is necessary to make a success of our lives, and a job we love is a large and necessary part of it.

I have always said, and still maintain at the top of my voice, that if your job is your passion, then it's not work. It'll never drag you down and you'll always excel.

Answer 7

If I were granted a "Mulligan" in my life, I would have joined the navy when I graduated from high school. I would have done 20 years, retired and then gone to college to earn a teaching degree. Then I would have taught junior high and tried to help young people. I do have a college degree that I earned working and going to night school. However, if I knew then what I knew now -- Oh the changes I would have made.

Answer 8

Education doesn't guarantee success. I know young people who can't pay their school loans or their bills. The most money for the least education seems to be in the medical field. What are you inclined to do. If you love something you''ll do well.
A skill with good work ethics, competency and ambition will take you a long way. I'd say intense training in one area is worth more.

Answer 9

Well, I am currently trying to get my BA in Business. In the office world it seems like you need a 4 year degree just to answer a phone. I regret not doing it right after high school. But I had my reasons and my current employer is paying fully for it. Anyway, I don't know in regards to learning a trade, but down the road... maybe.

Answer 10

Trade School and learn Carpentry