[q_an_a]

maybe one reason why they get college first is they see that some factory jobs go away and you need education to take care of the future. If most people are going to have two or three careers, then they need to know more than drafting or how to program a saw.

[ClearCase_guy]

At heart, I think the problem is the belief that a job like software developer is fundamentally different from a job like machinist.

You can have a nice career programming in FORTRAN -- until they want you to learn C. That's a new skill, and tough for some people to learn. But, if you bear down, you can learn C, and have another nice career in programming -- until they want you to learn Java. Now, we're talking Object-Oriented programming and a lot of people just never grasp it. But maybe you can learn it -- until the next language comes along.

Not to beat a dead horse, but you can be a good Sys Admin in UNIX, but if your company switches to Windows with Active Directory, you have a lot to learn. Do you go back to college? Nope. You learn it on the job.

If a machinist finds his skills becoming outmoded, does he have to change careers? Go to college? I don't think so. I think college is one way to give people job skills -- but vocational education, with on-the-job training is probably more effective for a whole lot of careers (both blue collar and white collar).