by Quarterback 53 Replies latest jw friends
I am happy that some good history, and practical advice has benefited some in posting this subject. Thanks for all of your comments.
Mind you, I do respect people who mop the floors for a living. My roots come from a long list of mopologists. I think that my family invented the mop.
I, too, am a "skilled blue collar worker" (even though my collar is actually a high-vis orange in color!).
For a time I pulled a salary that most graduate engineers would struggle to achieve:
- but it came at one hell of a price (i.e. twice in two years somebody on the job tried to kill me - and the high stress levels sent two of my "back to back" workers mad. One had to literally be bound in a straight jacket, and medivaced out to he Cairns Base Hospital in Northern Australia, where he was detained in the pyscho ward for three weeks).
Since giving that away, I have repeatedly been in the position where - despite my trade qualifications and extensive industry experience - lack of formal education proves to be a hinderance. As an experienced protection relay technician, I am able to sell a client a protection system, apply the settings, test the device and commission it. However, due to lack of formal advanced education, I am unable to advise a client what protection settings should be applied - leaving more than a few to ask "why did you bother to tender for the job in the first place?"
All I can say is, even if you already have trade qualifications and industry experience, there is still no such thing as "too much education."
Bill (Graduate of the University of Hard Knocks).
Myself I am looking to get into a trade and then go for my bachlors degree in sociology.
Heck no it's no waste of time here in Australia. I got a degree in Education, worked as a teacher for a couple of years, left teaching and became an office worker, lost my office job due to cutbacks, and now because I have my education degree I could get into a casual teaching job that pays heaps. If I hadn't had my degree, I'd be trying to find some boring office job or working for minimum wage in a shop, if I got a job at all!
With education, if you're thinking of studying, try and think of areas where you'll always get work. For instance, a trade qual in bakery will see you always get work because people will always eat bread. Ditto teaching: kids will always need education; nurses; people will always get sick- anything medical. If you do your course in something like philology, then you'll be stacking shelves for a living.
