going into trades vs doin 2 yrs for business degree, pros and cons of each

[joe45]

you hear some ppl say don't bother with university and just go to trades(plumber, electrican, construction, ..etc). its shorter, cheaper and when ur done u start making money right away, while univ you not even guaranteed a job after finishing ur 4 yrs of schooling.
then why do ppl even go to univ. thats what i'm asking. is it b/c their parents forced them to go.
i'm thinkin of either goin and doin 2 more yrs and getting a business degree(i already completed my 2 yr diploma) at a college. and specialize in either international marketing, marketing, business management, or accounting.
of which of the specialities do u think has the best chance of gaining and getting a job.
lol my folks b/c of their love of money want me to get into the trades. the trades ppl make like 30-50/hr. and plumbers make 50/hr. not sure but thats what they say. the thing is i don;t even now one thing about being a plumber(which they really want me to do). i never learned it , did it, but followed my dad as he really showed interest in it. i not really keen on plumbing as its dirty, digusting, smelly and considrered a low status job. "hey i'm joe, i work as a plumber".
also i'm not a big guy. i'm 5 7 140lbs and mostly skinny. i'm in my mid 20's and soon late 20's and i just feel i might not even have the stamina, strength to do plumbing , or even any trades job, esp if its heavy , and physical oriented.,
not sure what to do continue with my college with 2 more yrs and get a degree in business or just do something different and sign up for trades. the thing my folks worry about is my chances of obtaining employment with my degree since i can;t with my dilpoma. i work ,but not in a field related to my diploma.
anyone in trades, and if so what trade. what is it like. who would u recomment it for. whats the work load like. do you enjoy your job.

 

[just so suave]

People go to university because university degrees are seen as valuable and respectable, employers look to employ people with these degrees. The main focus of going to university, is that you will most likely get a better job when you graduate, than if you didnt go, which makes sense lol. Also, university is suposed to be alot of fun, from my knowledge, its basically a few hours of lectures a day, with the rest of your day free to attend all the student parties or your job to help you get by lol.

wrong forum??

 

[MVP]

...

 

[Interceptor]

JOE, forget about other's opinions on what you should do.


Ask youself:


"What would Joe like to do?"

 

[sadburger]

Interceptor has this one dead on. Think about this: you're likely to be working in your career for 30-40 years. Find something you like--that is key to this world. You need things in your life that you can get passionate about. If you can find one of those things and make it into your career, you're going to be happier than 90% of people you meet.

 

[Boston DJ]

I agree with the above posts. I did finance at a top 10 uni in the US for undergrad. I'm currently an investment banker and I'd rather stab my eyes out than do this for the rest of my life (they couldnt pay me enough, although they try). I'm in the process of figuring out where I go from here...

Joe- find something that makes you happy or at the very least something you don't mind doing everyday for the next 40 years

 

[Boston DJ]

I agree with the above posts. I did finance at a top 10 uni in the US for undergrad. I'm currently an investment banker and I'd rather stab my eyes out than do this for the rest of my life (they couldnt pay me enough, although they try). I'm in the process of figuring out where I go from here...

Joe- find something that makes you happy or at the very least something you don't mind doing everyday for the next 40 years

 

[joe45]

well the only reason i was even thinking of the trades and esp plumbing is b/c my dad thinks its a job that makes mad $. he thinks one can make tons of money being a independent contractor, its not that hard to learn and u can make as much or even more money than a doctor, lawyer. well ya since they are in demand and a big shortage.

myself i never really done plumbing other than shadowing my dad which he yells out "come joe i need your help in fixing the pipes" i come since i have to-being the eldest son. dads not a plumber ,but learns it from the library books he reads.
heck i don;t want to go to bcit for 9 months and do a plumbing program for all i now not sure if i am good at it, or can even do the job. never done it before and looking at it, i doesn;t really look interesting.
i just don't really like heavy lifting jobs. anything over 40 to 45lbs or repetive lifting and moving big and heavy objects around does not appeal to me. i'm not a big guy either 5 7 140lbs.
i rather do another 2 yrs for a degree in international business. in which i plan on registering for.
my dad says if i do a trade i am guaranteed a job, and a job that pays well. 30- 50/hr , but if i do a international degree at community college i might not even be able to find work related to the field or even make good money.
do u guys thinks this it true.
i already done my first 2 yrs already in business already.
any opinions or thoughts.

what annoying is he brings up the idea of me pursuing a career in the plumbing every so often. " why don't you try trades", " you can make 50/hr" , "its not that hard to learn". " trades make good money", ...etc. i already said i'm not really intersted into it. but he still brings up the topic up. arrrrr.
my parents said if i do plumbing they would pay for my school, but if i went back and did a degree in international business i would have to pay for it. what is so wrong with doing a degree. from what i now asian parents love degrees and school and hate trades.


i am in my mid 20's and i just don;t want to jump into trades and do this and that. i was in computer support program before, and it didn;t really help me out in the career field. i just don;t want to try plumbing out and what if it doesn;t work out again.
i need help guys . opinions and thoughts

 

[Ken785]

man i been at uni for 2 years..messed around only got 1 semester done! lost my financial aid and just got back on probation. just cant concentrate with all the parties n stuff. i was thinking about saying fvck it and doing a trade too...maybe installing cable or satelitte...they make real good money. but then again ill feel like a failed at school and wont feel accomplished until i have that degree...plus itll be nice to fall back on if i do get tired of doing trade work...

 

[Ken785]

well the status of "Plummer" isnt highly regarded...unless you own a company maybe

 

[SmoothTalker]

Personally I'm always skeptical about these figures for how much trades people can make. First of all, yeah I'm sure they can make $50/hour, but that's not everybody, and it's certainly not right away. You'd only be making really good money with your own business, and that will take time to develop.

Further, the problem with trades as opposed to a university degree is that trades are limited. You learn one thing, and that's all you're qualified to do. But these days the average person goes through several totally different careers, so trades people are either stuck, or have to go back to school. With a University degree, you have much more flexibility. For example, my dad has a degree in Mechanical Engineering, but he hasn't done that for decades. With that same degree he's run a pharmaceutical business, managed construction, and is now doing computer programming.

Finally, be skeptical of the 'huge demand'. I have a feeling it will be a little like previous crazes, such as the late 90s when EVERYBODY wanted to be in computers because there was a lot of demand. Well, now there's a surplus, and the best people are of course doing fine, but many people just couldn't cut it. Same for trades - there seem to be huge initiatives today to get young people into trades, and from my personal view I think they may be overdoing it.

 

[joe45]

what trade do u guys think is the easiest to learn, and master. nothing too complicated. something that is easy to learn and grasp and straightforward , but pays decent.i don;t want to do any trade that is too heavy too. 40 lbs and up is too heavy for me. plumbing i belive is heavy with the water tankl, toilets, water tub...etc i think

i was thinkin of dry walling, anyone now anything about it. it doesn;t look that hard to learn and pretty straightforward.
electrican looks kinda of complicated with all the wires and wiring....,
welding-not sure it takes longer to learn in the trade school i would to to www.bcit.ca
glaziering-putting up windows in the house. any thoughts on glaziering. i think it could be heavy , since windows are heavy.
i'm thinking of drywalling. i looks pretty straightforward and not much to grasps. and also not heavy too.

what trade is the easiest and learn and the least complicated . the pay is decent and not bad. and also not too heavy either. any other suggestions of trades, and tell me about them.

 

[I'm Joe Dirt]

One of the things you have to consider is whether or not you want to work for others, period.

The question you asked - the original post - implies you will be working for someone else the rest of your life and therefore you wanna know whats better, doing it right away with a trade or going through university.

There are other options to make income, some may be riskier then others, but in an increasingly connected world with many opportunities for entrepreneurship, you should ask yourself if there is something you wanna do for yourself.

In any case, if you must work for someone else, I say get as many degrees as you can. Ultimatley, while you may not make significantly more or even as much in some cases as a specific trade, a degree gives you more flexibility. For example with an MBA you can manage a restaurant, a retail operation, trucking routes, software businesses, hospitals, etc.

You can bring those skills to any discipline really, and advance within any discipline you work in as you will have the skills to lead and manage that other peers won't have.

If you go become a plumber, your skills and certifications or licenses are mostly useless anywhere else. And in 20 or 30 years when Robots are doing a lot of the manual labor (or machinery cuts down on the number of people necessary to fulfill the demand for this labor) you will be SOL. Imagine picking telephone switchboard operator as your trade and having computerized phone equipment enter. Or imagine being a telegraph messenger right before phones took over communications.

If you MUST pick a trade, pick one that robots can't do, or other people in 3rd world countries can't do for pennies on the dollar.

 

[e-lie]

Do not go to a four year college go the internship route or go to community college.Internships rock they don't pay good but the job training is amazing.

 

[I'm Joe Dirt]

Do not go to a four year college go the internship route or go to community college.Internships rock they don't pay good but the job training is amazing

That's some pretty bad advice. Then the internship ends and then what? Sometimes the company will hire you sometimes not, but either way your training is specific to that company and when you later apply for another job it will look like just any other job.

Community college is far less prestigous than university. At university you get a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree, at community college you get an Associates only. That's not going to cut it for many advanced jobs and advancement opportunities which require a Bachelors degree.

After you have a Bachelor degree, anytime in your life you can go back and get a masters in any field you want. With an associates you can only apply to school to get either another associates or a bachelors.

You get access to far more internships as a University student than you do as some guy off the street. In fact, you also usually get college credit for internships which makes getting your degree that much easier. This piece of advice is good for pretty much any field.
The post also mentioned specifically business degree in the title. As someone with a Bachelor of Science in Management (College of Business), I can tell you that you will learn things during your education that will give you a huge leg up in the business field and in life. Just don't do the minimum required for your degree. Go the extra mile and pick up books that professors recommend, have discussions with like minded individuals, etc. Don't just keep to yourself and do the papers half assed and graduate. That would indeed be a waste of time. Education is what you make of it.

I learned a lot about business, society, and picked up some great life skills, but I know people who got the same degree I did who did just keep to themselves and did the minimum and are still dumb as a rock today.