Why you might want to skip college and go to trade school.

[Mai72]

Are we talking long haul truckers, or pizza delivery guys who sell drugs on the side?

http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/13/news/economy/trucker-shortage/

Median pay for a tractor-trailer truck driver is about $38,000 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

If that is based on an 82 hour work week then the pay stinks.

 

[Insomniator]

Seriously, its not realllly 90k a year if you work 80 hours a week or work in a volcano and will die at 45.

 

[Mixolydian]

Are we talking long haul truckers, or pizza delivery guys who sell drugs on the side?

UPS delivery driver.

 

[OverVolt]

Mike Rowe is a manly man

There aren't many of those these days.

 

[OverVolt]

Seriously, its not realllly 90k a year if you work 80 hours a week or work in a volcano and will die at 45.

Yea its more like being a lawyer and having a shorter life expectancy, high suicide rate and unhappiness now that you mention it. Or a Dentist. Man where did they go wrong in life. Should've taken the volcano internship.

 

[Eug]

A guy I know was pulling in six figures a while back as a miner and although he was working long hours, it was only for part of the year so it kind of evened out. This was in his 20s. However it's a horrible job, and something I wouldn't want to do.

My brother also knew some oil rig workers and they pulled in good money too, but it is also a tough job.

Meanwhile at work our secretaries get over $20 per hour and some well above that, although it's worth less these days in US terms, because the Canadian dollar is only worth about $0.90 US now.

 

[Fox5]

Sorry Bill Gates/Steve Jobs, you're not qualified for the job...

They started their own companies. If you're your own boss, you can hire whomever you want.

These guys were also in a field that was just beginning, so there was more to learn by doing than going to school. These guys still worked hard and studied hard, even if formal education hadn't caught up to the industry yet.

FYI, go to a school and study something that has jobs related to the field. Work hard to get internships so you can actually pick up useful job skills, because any major without internships is nearly worthless.
A degree in computer science doesn't teach you to program.
A degree in engineering is unlikely to teach you enough about the tools and techniques.
Colleges teach broad theory, when most jobs are looking for very specialized skills.
Most of those specialized skills aren't serviced by trade schools though, and people will always value a college degree above a trade degree.

There are 3 tiers of college worth going to:
Community college -> primarily a cheap stepping stone to get into a 4 year college, gets your gen eds out of the way, you'll miss out on a lot of the social development that comes from interacting with people who aren't your parents
State school -> generally pretty good educational opportunities, without breaking the bank
Private school / out of state -> You should only do this if you have scholarships or money to burn.


However, if you're looking for trade jobs that pay ridiculous, go work on an oil rig. You'll live there for part of the year and easily clear 6 figures.

 

[JEDI]

Ups driver:

Long long wait to get that high pay gravy job.
At least 2yrs working in the warehouse putting the boxes in the trucks

 

[master_shake_]

Canada has been saying for years "We need more trade workers!", "Get into the trades", "find out how to apply for trade school grants and credits". Then you look at the news and what do you see? "Trade workers cant find work" Yeah...I take any of this trade bullshit with a grain of salt.

http://www.collegeoftrades.ca/

this isn't going to help us...

the fee is now 120 for journey men a year and that's on top of the 60 for 3 years for a license.