Agreed.
http://www.aei.org/publication/are-apprenticeships-finally-ready-to-take-off
According to the Labor Department, notes the Wall Street Journal, “nine in 10 Americans who complete apprentice training land a job” with an average starting salary is $60,000 a year.
Have a second cousin from back range in CO, welder school in OH. now works in AK, writes his own ticket. 24, debt free, buying a house for cash. I wasn’t there at his age. Trades are were it’s at.
How could this be?? There’s no minority or women’s studies??
I went to technical school back in ‘83. HVAC&R. THE best money I ever spent.
I have used that knowledge every day of my life since then.
A friend of mine’s nephew is in the Navy. He’s getting training working on Diesel engines. Diesel engine repair may not be the most glamorous job out there but when he gets out, if he plays his cards right could make damn good $$$ especially if he one day owns a repair business.
A savvy tradesman can make very good money and build a successful business with many employees if he does it right. While at trade school, it’s a good idea to take some basic accounting and bookkeeping courses in addition to courses in the trade.
My niece is a dental hygienist and makes $45 an hour. She has three little ones and works part time, so it’s perfect for her and her husband. Scraping the tarter off teeth isn’t my dream job and it’s not hers either. It suits her needs for now.
Heavy Equipment operator. Precision machinist. Diesel mechanic.
As with all education, pick the school and the training carefully!
A BS in Psychology from Harvard is just as useless as one from University of Phoenix.
Tech schools are the same...Pick the Best, study hard and things will go well.
Show up stoned everyday, get plastered on weekends and it will NOT go well.
I personally saw kids who would act out badly in academic classes because that was not where their talents lay and they were frustrated. But put a drill or a wrench in their hand, they were a different kid. Productive and focused. Instead of getting surly remarks from them, you could share admiration for their latest completed wood shop, metal shop, electrical or automotive shop creation and have a genuinely nice conversation of mutual respect.
We now see where the "every student is college material" philosophy has gotten NYC. Turning out "graduates" who can't read, write, or think, and whose first 3 years of "college" consist of remedial non-credit courses to learn what they should have learned in high school. And then they're still not worth anything as an employee.
Having seen the dismal results over the last 20 years, all I can say is, "I was right."
Having a Skilled Trade that you can turn in to a successful business is a very good way to go through life, I have and have done quite well for myself. BUT a fair warning, taking this route is not for the snowflake generation out there. If you decide to take this route, which I highly recommend, consider 8 hour days to be Part-Time!! it WILL require more 12-14 hour days than you can count.
Two comments on the basic article:
1) Construction manager: mostly a degreed position these days, only some old hands that came up from the trades are there without a degree today. Poor article research, IMO.
2) Further poor article research to say that electrician and plumber are short trade school and apprenticeship. Fully qualified journeymen in those trades are easily 4 years from starting to qualification. This is especially true for plumber where most states have a required amount of verifiable experience before even being allowed to sit for the state licensing exam.
Beau was able to retire at 56 due to him being both a Plumber and an Electrician.
But it’s hard to convince a Generation of kids that no one is going to PAY THEM to have their face in their phone 24/7.
*SHRUG*
Some of these vocational schools charge $30K+
I am a strong supporter of vocational school. Cost was minimal. I studied electronics and never had a day that I wasn’t employed. Made a darn good living. Some of the private schools such as culinary and art schools saddle students with $thousands in school loans. Most with culinary degrees start at $8-10 per hour. Hardly worth it for most.
Bkmrk.