College Degrees?

[EAGLE5]

The more-skilled the labor, the harder it is to find someone who can do the job and the higher the pay. A lot of trades work is actually pretty stupid easy, though. Electricians are way, way overpaid. The work is stupid easy. Trades are also a lot more at the whim of the economy. When the economy dives, construction jobs disappear. The 100k a year electrician job can become the unemployment check, and that will happen several times in a career. I know two highly skilled HVAC guys who have had nothing but trouble.

[904FRSlow]

Originally Posted by Yoda

BS in Network Administration but somehow got stuck doing server stuff. One more year and a few more certs and I can get the job I really want.

Would it be hard to get into a job with networking without a degree but with some certs? I'm majoring in marketing but I've always thought of having some computer certs

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by jsimon7777

The more-skilled the labor, the harder it is to find someone who can do the job and the higher the pay. A lot of trades work is actually pretty stupid easy, though. Electricians are way, way overpaid. The work is stupid easy. Trades are also a lot more at the whim of the economy. When the economy dives, construction jobs disappear. The 100k a year electrician job can become the unemployment check, and that will happen several times in a career. I know two highly skilled HVAC guys who have had nothing but trouble.

That can happen with any job though. I know many, MANY skilled trades that have never been out of work for 30 or more years.

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by 904FRSlow

Would it be hard to get into a job with networking without a degree but with some certs? I'm majoring in marketing but I've always thought of having some computer certs

The big thing in IT is experience then certs/degrees. Your degree does not have to be in IT if you have some certs.

[GeorgeJFrick]

Originally Posted by jsimon7777

The more-skilled the labor, the harder it is to find someone who can do the job and the higher the pay. A lot of trades work is actually pretty stupid easy, though. Electricians are way, way overpaid. The work is stupid easy. Trades are also a lot more at the whim of the economy. When the economy dives, construction jobs disappear. The 100k a year electrician job can become the unemployment check, and that will happen several times in a career. I know two highly skilled HVAC guys who have had nothing but trouble.

You just described why they are not overpaid. They have to 'bid risk', so an electricians bid to work covers time he has no work. Obviously a lot of electricians don't know this; and in my experience those are the ones you don't want to hire.

Many of the trades in this current time of the internet have solved this; with services like Angie's List and Groupon; they can target "low demand" times with advertised deals and standard jobs. It will make less, but help pay the mortgage until house building picks up in the spring.

While I disagree with the way some of these guys end up doing that full time and ruining the entire idea of an Angie's list review (because they have 1,000s of positive reviews for installing ceiling fans; which doesn't make them a good electrician). This just puts some of the work back on the consumer.

The conclusion here being I think the trades are a great choice; but some business and accounting classes may be required to make it more profitable.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by GeorgeJFrick

You just described why they are not overpaid. They have to 'bid risk', so an electricians bid to work covers time he has no work. Obviously a lot of electricians don't know this; and in my experience those are the ones you don't want to hire.

Many of the trades in this current time of the internet have solved this; with services like Angie's List and Groupon; they can target "low demand" times with advertised deals and standard jobs. It will make less, but help pay the mortgage until house building picks up in the spring.

While I disagree with the way some of these guys end up doing that full time and ruining the entire idea of an Angie's list review (because they have 1,000s of positive reviews for installing ceiling fans; which doesn't make them a good electrician). This just puts some of the work back on the consumer.

The conclusion here being I think the trades are a great choice; but some business and accounting classes may be required to make it more profitable.

This^
Also, I think the term "electrician" became broadened a bit from what I was originally talking about above. I was referring to industrial and commercial positions not the construction or home repair trade. Although the industrial positions may be a bit rougher to get into, once there you can be set for life at a very high rate of pay. Of course these positions are at risk if a business closes but everybody working there are at the same risk. At this current time most of Canada and I understand much of the US is severely lacking in skilled trades and there is no end to this shortage in sight. It took us months to even find applicants for a position we had and it paid $38 an hour!

[Teseo]

I have my doubts if continue my studies.

[EAGLE5]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

This^
Also, I think the term "electrician" became broadened a bit from what I was originally talking about above. I was referring to industrial and commercial positions not the construction or home repair trade. Although the industrial positions may be a bit rougher to get into, once there you can be set for life at a very high rate of pay. Of course these positions are at risk if a business closes but everybody working there are at the same risk. At this current time most of Canada and I understand much of the US is severely lacking in skilled trades and there is no end to this shortage in sight. It took us months to even find applicants for a position we had and it paid $38 an hour!

One guy I know in HVAC needs to be billed out at $120 an hour for the shop to even break even on his total compensation. He diagnoses and repairs, mostly in commercial HVAC. He does fantastic work, as good as it gets. Still, he goes through many jobs because they don't want to pay him. The owners do well, but they drop the most-skilled workers all the time.

[86 South Africa]

BCom + Honours (a 4 year BCom here) in Business Management
MBL - Masters in Business Leadership (pretty much an MBA but with more focus on the soft skills and less of the hard skills)


Good to see so many FA20's owners are educated - and that doesn't only mean degrees

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

It took us months to even find applicants for a position we had and it paid $38 an hour!

Well, yeah, but in CAD, isn't that minimum wage?

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Well, yeah, but in CAD, isn't that minimum wage?

Nope. $12.50 is. I make $12.52 now!!!!

[imaguitar]

I'm three years into getting my BS in Mechanical Engineering; one more year if everything goes to plan (I don't fail any of my classes..)

[blackhawkdown]

Computer programming, but I fix and train soldiers in maintaining and troubleshooting helicopter engines.



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[DrifterD]

I have a BBA in MIS. Started off college with accounting, then management, then MIS. Now I work for a startup software company that just got acquired, so that can either be good or bad.