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As alluded to in my post #53, I don't know anyone in Power Generation and related fields (e.g., power transmission, distribution, High Voltage Electricians, Instrument Technicians, Load Dispatchers, etc.) who isn't gainfully employed. Again, I currently have guys working under me who were former Stock Brokers and Chemists. Another was an Environmental Engineer. These guys are making more money now as Power Plant Operators than they did in their former professions.
I've been in this field for 32 consecutive years. I've never been without a job during that time. Once in a while I'll float a resume online just to see what happens. It use to be that I'd get phone calls (and later emails) directly from potential employers. Now I get emails from recruiters when I float resumes. Regardless, the point being is that this field has a proven track record of providing continuous work, coupled with a better-than-average income and benefits. This by far outmatches what most lines of work offer employees, especially now a days.
Sounds good, but is it easy to get into an entry level position with no experience?
Yes, I can understand why you would feel that way. However, from my generation's pov, it is what it is. We have wasted time and money on a worthless education. Sure trade school may help now, but damage has been done. Lots of time and money wasted. This thread is all "relative." If you are older and went to college, chances are it worked out for you and you support the idea. IF you are younger and went to college, chances are it screwed you and you are against the idea of college.
you blame people for steering you to college instead of a trade?
how is that different? you are substituting one school for another
you pining for a trade job is no different than blue collar parents wanting white collar jobs for their kids
why not learn some skill and it won't matter if you went to college or trade school? an unskilled tradesmen will is as unemployed as an unskilled college person
success has one denominator, do you have a skill someone wants and can you get someone to pay to do it? If you have the skill to sell, you can sell rocks as pets for millions of dollars, or sell grass in a cup
my generation didn't waste money on college, it's the ones in the generation that went to college, ran up debt that wasted the years away by not learning anything meaningful while insisting on paying thousands for the participation award (FYI, I'm likely in your generation as well)
you blame people for steering you to college instead of a trade?
No, im simply stating that my generation was steered away from trade. And now those that raised us, are telling us to go to trade school. Just pointing out the irony. No blame.
No, im simply stating that my generation was steered away from trade. And now those that raised us, are telling us to go to trade school. Just pointing out the irony. No blame.
I wasn't told not to go to trades, I was taught how to work on my own car, to be my own handyman, and I decided I didn't want to do it for 40 years with body aches
all i see from your post is that you decided to blame someone else. you went to college and didn't become successful, must be someone's fault; if you go to trade school, don't become successful, who do you blame?
and it is older millennials saying to go to trade, not other generations, lets see what the new one is going to do, if more go to trades or not by listening to millennials hating on college.
I wasn't told not to go to trades, I was taught how to work on my own car, to be my own handyman, and I decided I didn't want to do it for 40 years with body aches
all i see from your post is that you decided to blame someone else. you went to college and didn't become successful, must be someone's fault; if you go to trade school, don't become successful, who do you blame?
and it is older millennials saying to go to trade, not other generations, lets see what the new one is going to do, if more go to trades or not by listening to millennials hating on college.
I take responsibility for my choices, however, external factors are not blameless. They still promote going to college as the only way to success and that's just not true. They drill that **** into your head from the moment you enter the school system.
So congrats to you for not being a casualty of this. Some of us werent so lucky
No matter what, you, the individual have to make things happen. You're not unlucky, not a "casualty" (lol), or any other excuse. Go make stuff happen! You think all the CEO's of the world just got a knock on their door one day from someone who said "Hey, wanna be CEO of my company, I heard you were pretty cool"
I can share my experience. I graduated from a top engineering school (in my country) from outside US, came here to do my MS in Civil engineering. Got a pretty good job. After about 4 years I did an MS in Computer science. Now, my Civil Engg MS was entirely paid by my graduate scholarship, and my Computer Sc MS was paid by my company. Most of my friends also have at least an MS, a lot of them have PhDs.
What I have seen in my 7 years of working in the engineering sector is US is that there are most people without bachelors degree have obviously have higher number of years of experience in the fields, since they did not "waste" time in degree and decided to work asap. However, all the engineering fields are heavily tech oriented since last 20 years or so, and one cannot get to a higher level salaried position simply because he has lot of experience in let's say construction, networking, installation, pipe fitting etc. That's where degrees come into play, as only a BS or MS degree will give one analytical ability that cannot be obtained in a trade school. That's why I see a lots of folks are going back to school to simply keep up with salaries/positions of much junior workers.
Not sure why lot of people in US still encourages to skip a degree while there are obviously large differences in the level of income bracket/lifestyle between a degree vs. non-degree holders. There are few exceptions, but as they say, exceptions can never be an example, and one should never be discouraged to get higher education.
I understand that this might be only common in engineering, science and technology fields. Other sectors might be entirely different. Just my 2 cents.
I can share my experience. I graduated from a top engineering school (in my country) from outside US, came here to do my MS in Civil engineering. Got a pretty good job. After about 4 years I did an MS in Computer science. Now, my Civil Engg MS was entirely paid by my graduate scholarship, and my Computer Sc MS was paid by my company. Most of my friends also have at least an MS, a lot of them have PhDs.
What I have seen in my 7 years of working in the engineering sector is US is that there are most people without bachelors degree have obviously have higher number of years of experience in the fields, since they did not "waste" time in degree and decided to work asap. However, all the engineering fields are heavily tech oriented since last 20 years or so, and one cannot get to a higher level salaried position simply because he has lot of experience in let's say construction, networking, installation, pipe fitting etc. That's where degrees come into play, as only a BS or MS degree will give one analytical ability that cannot be obtained in a trade school. That's why I see a lots of folks are going back to school to simply keep up with salaries/positions of much junior workers.
Not sure why lot of people in US still encourages to skip a degree while there are obviously large differences in the level of income bracket/lifestyle between a degree vs. non-degree holders. There are few exceptions, but as they say, exceptions can never be an example, and one should never be discouraged to get higher education.
I understand that this might be only common in engineering, science and technology fields. Other sectors might be entirely different. Just my 2 cents.
No offense or disregard for your accomplishments but, as a close friend of mine comically likes to say, "you have more degrees than a thermometer!"
You are 100% spot on regarding exceptions. Could not agree more.
What so many young people have a problem with is the starting salary in their chosen profession. They think that just getting a college degree in just any profession, will give them a guaranteed high paying job.
Fact is, some degrees starting salary are high, with a huge demand for employees. Other degrees have few openings, and the salaries are very, very low. Here is a chart that shows what the typical starting salary is for each degree. It also shows the median salary for those with 10 years experience or more called mid-career median salary.
Fact: If typical starting salary with a criminal justice degree averages $35,000 per year, don't expect to make $60,000 which you could earn with a different degree in Chemical Engineering.
Here is another place to use to evaluate salaries in different states for each profession. You select the job by title, and then select 5 different states for average salary with experience, which in turn will give you the buying power of that job at that salary. You will find you can take a lower salary in some areas of the country and actually end up with more buying power, and in reality can be far ahead taking less money in many cases. You can change the states, to find what it is worth in each state. Going to where you can get the absolute highest salary, may be a big disadvantage as to how well you will be able to live in the higher paying areas of the country. The lower paying areas of the country, may give you a considerable better lifestyle.
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