Just Jack Posted November 29, 2017 Share Posted November 29, 2017 Electrical, elevator installer, heck, any trade is looking for good people, because kids are not going into the trades as much anymore. As for me, I spent 3 years in a 2 year school (Alfred State) because I kept changing my major. Finally decided to get out and work for a couple of years while I figured out what I wanted to do, then I'd go back to school. That was about 26 years ago now. Still considering going back, but doing the online thing since my schedule is to messed up to consider in house classes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted November 29, 2017 Share Posted November 29, 2017 I welded for part of a summer job, they'd roll their cigarettes and light up and smoke under the hood while doing their craft. That seemed like heavy duty smoking to me. 5 hours ago, LeviF91 said: I often think about what my life would be like if I had listened to literally nobody in my life and learned a trade instead of going to college. Wasn't considered an option for me - parents, friend group, relatives, teachers, guidance counselors (useless SOBs), everyone basically told me I had one option: four-year university. No sense regretting things unless it totally destroyed you. and you have accumulated a ton of wisdom, but any attempts to pass it on to the next generation will be met with "yeah whatever" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augie Posted November 29, 2017 Share Posted November 29, 2017 18 hours ago, Johnny Hammersticks said: I want to learn a trade. Maybe plumbing or welding? Everyone thinks I’m crazy. My mother cried when I told her last week I have a doctoral degree in educational psychology. Have a pretty good paying job, great benefits/retirement, and only work 185 days out of the year. I’m not happy though. Your job is supposed to make you happy, not miserable, amirite? We have some friends who are husband and wife, both psychologists. Apparently he had a nice niche working with children, but it was killing him. He’s now working as a butcher and loving life. After almost 20 years in banking I found myself in a toxic situation. I was emboldened by another couple who were both attorneys. He went back to school and became a very happy high school history teacher. I thought, if he can do it I can, and I bought into a clients real estate business. That was the happiest 13 years of my working life. My son just went on leave from a job where he earned 6 figures last year, but again it was toxic and he’s gone back to finish college at 28 years old. Time will tell how this turns out. He’s fortunate to have a safety net in us. He wants to get into medical sales or sports management, and he was going to need to finish college. So....no two paths are the same. Every job has negative aspects. Sometimes you have to ask “do I hate what I do, or where I’m doing it?” Life is too short to wake up on Sunday, and by noon be dreading Monday. I’ve been there. Fortunately the world is full of options, and sometimes the best one is toughing it out if the good outweighs the bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted November 29, 2017 Share Posted November 29, 2017 6 hours ago, LeviF91 said: I often think about what my life would be like if I had listened to literally nobody in my life and learned a trade instead of going to college. Wasn't considered an option for me - parents, friend group, relatives, teachers, guidance counselors (useless SOBs), everyone basically told me I had one option: four-year university. Myself, UB, class of 1990. (I know hard to believe). I just sweated in a water heater @ work. LoL... Winter projects. ...trust me, you don't like carp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeviF Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 13 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said: Myself, UB, class of 1990. (I know hard to believe). Yeah, can't believe you're that young Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 11 minutes ago, LeviF91 said: Yeah, can't believe you're that young LoL... Hey Buddy, I was just thinking you wanted that "trade job" instead of College? I'd rethink that. You could be sitting out here in 40 degree weather @ daybreak waiting for 7,000 tons of decant oil. Just wait till it freezes and snows. And I am one of the blessed ones, "featherbedders" (when schedule is bloated, seasonal, etc...) This is what I tell my son. Go to school. You made the right choice. A body physically breaks down with age. Time catches up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeviF Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 48 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said: LoL... Hey Buddy, I was just thinking you wanted that "trade job" instead of College? I'd rethink that. You could be sitting out here in 40 degree weather @ daybreak waiting for 7,000 tons of decant oil. Just wait till it freezes and snows. And I am one of the blessed ones, "featherbedders" (when schedule is bloated, seasonal, etc...) This is what I tell my son. Go to school. You made the right choice. A body physically breaks down with age. Time catches up. The plumber that lived across the street from me when I was growing up retired at 45 and bought a boat and a hot young wife there are tradeoffs with everything. I don't regret how my life has gone so far, but that doesn't stop me from wondering. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 (edited) 5 minutes ago, LeviF91 said: The plumber that lived across the street from me when I was growing up retired at 45 and bought a boat and a hot young wife there are tradeoffs with everything. I don't regret how my life has gone so far, but that doesn't stop me from wondering. I have been retired since 22. Edited November 30, 2017 by ExiledInIllinois Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkyMannn Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 On 11/29/2017 at 9:46 AM, Gugny said: It's funny you say this. I was just having this conversation yesterday. If I could push a rewind button and go back 30 years, I would have been a welder. I would have taken a public sector job. Any job in my town of West Seneca. Pay & Bennies unbelievable 74-75 I dropped out of UB and wasted a partial scholarship. Went back to ECC in Engineering in 77 and got a job in that field working 5 days a week and half day Saturday, and 4 full nights a week at ECC. Graduated and continued on at Buff State until I got my BS in Dec/83. To this day I fully remember walking off that campus for the last time. Such a burden removed. 7 full years of no life basically. I recall going to bed on Sunday night thinking I have nothing to look forward to until the next Saturday night. Not sure how I ever did it, the last year with a wife and house that needed work If you take 1-2 courses each semester the load isn't as bad, but takes you a long time to get done. Good luck with whatever you do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricojes Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 3 hours ago, LeviF91 said: The plumber that lived across the street from me when I was growing up retired at 45 and bought a boat and a hot young wife there are tradeoffs with everything. I don't regret how my life has gone so far, but that doesn't stop me from wondering. How much was the hot young wife? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 20 minutes ago, ricojes said: How much was the hot young wife? he said there are tradeoffs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeviF Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 30 minutes ago, ricojes said: How much was the hot young wife? In a few years? Probably half of everything he's got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gugny Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 2 minutes ago, LeviF91 said: In a few years? Probably half of everything he's got. I am SHOCKED that this would come from you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 37 minutes ago, Gugny said: I am SHOCKED that this would come from you! I doubt a plumber gets a pre-nup. Every marriage should have one. I bet the dude ends up penniless by 60. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 who was able to escape with half? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevbeau Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 (edited) Started as an engineer out of RIT in the mid-90s. Frankly got bored with it and went back for MBA in the mid-2000's. I continued to work and did an executive program. As others have stated, it's doable, but will carve out a big chunk of your time. I made a complete career change out of engineering and into analytics after graduating (at the same company). I question whether my degree helped or my relationships with people in the group I was hired into was a bigger factor. For the degree itself....honestly after engineering course, I found masters level business courses to be pretty easy. I did learn a lot around how to read a P&L, international finance & accounting (easy math, but the rules are the tough part.) Most of what I do now is self-taught, building on my engineering math background & applying to business issues. I'm still with the same company, though I have interviewed with other companies since then and received offers, so I do believe the degree helps quite a bit in that context. If going into a new environment, employers are looking for any little thing that makes a candidate stand out form the rest. Right now, I'm back in school again for my MS in Analytics. Mostly because the environment has changes so much, particularly around data architecture & analytic software, I'm trying to stay current and maybe look into a part time teaching gig when I retire. It's at GA Tech and the curriculum is offered both in an on campus and online environment. I started in the on-campus and have since moved to the online & the online is the exact same course tough on-site. I'd actually say it's harder, because of less interaction with faculty and less classmate collaboration. I had to dial back to one course at a time because of the time demands. I would encourage people to look at online programs as the tide is really moving in that direction. From a payout standpoint, it depends what the degree is in. Anything STEM based has a good chance of having a decent ROI. Also, you need to weigh the costs. For my MBA, I went to UGA even though I got into better schools because the cost difference was $70K plus. UGA is still a top 40 program (or at least was at the time), so it was good enough in that aspect and I was paying in-state tuition. The program I'm in now at Tech will cost around $10K total for the entire degree. They offer this no matter where you live for the online program. That's a screaming deal. Most employers can easily cover that with tuition assistance, without having to get an executive sponsor and signing a term of payback. I know Northwestern & UCLA offer similar programs, but charge full tuition. So probably $50-60K by the end of it. The risk and the return are higher if you decide the leave the program. I know I've written a lot, but I do encourage folks to at least explore what's out there from a distance learning perspective. It'l losing it's stigma in the workforce as your more traditional brick & mortar schools are becoming more & more involved. Edited November 30, 2017 by Kevbeau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 Masters business courses are rarely more challenging than those in undergrad commerce/business degrees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeviF Posted December 1, 2017 Share Posted December 1, 2017 18 hours ago, Boyst62 said: I doubt a plumber gets a pre-nup. Every marriage should have one. I bet the dude ends up penniless by 60. Pre-nups don't matter half the time anyway. A judge is more than happy to tear it up to allow a poor, helpless woman divorce rape her husband. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted December 1, 2017 Share Posted December 1, 2017 22 minutes ago, LeviF91 said: Pre-nups don't matter half the time anyway. A judge is more than happy to tear it up to allow a poor, helpless woman divorce rape her husband. That's why I always establish a good safe word early in any relationship. Avoids rape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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