Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Do you need a degree?

I remember reading a news article mentioning that the United States is importing blue collar workers from Europe and Asia. Why is this? Oh that's right - many of us were told to go get a degree and pursue a desk job. It turns out that this *teaching* may have been a critical error...

Why Snobbery is Leaving You Unemployed

I think about all those B.A. degrees (the kind you sit in a classroom to get), and wonder, where is the value behind spending four additional years in a classroom? Where is the benefit? If a person is going to spend at least four years in school, and one year interning, shouldn't it have a more equitable kick-back (like a guaranteed job after graduating)?

One of the common threads I am noticing is that there are bachelors graduates and even masters graduates that can't find decent paying work to pay all of that student loan debt. I wonder why that may be.

If you are thinking about getting a degree, maybe you should think again. That is, unless you are convinced that you will make $100k a year when you get out of school. I wouldn't completely rule out that possibility, but unless you start a successful business endeavor while in college, I got some bad news for you.

Many of the skilled labor jobs I have been seeing pop up on Craigslist lately seem to offer decent pay for a little experience and no advanced education at all. Just a steady hand and some work experience. Check this example out:

Machinist Job

Everything listed in this post one could learn on the job in maybe 2 years - no continuing education required.

Another Machinist Job Example

Here is another great example. $40k a year plus benefits and you just need some metal cutting and machine shop experience. Once again, you could attain intermediate proficiency in this profession in about 2 years (and actually get paid to learn how to do it).

OK - Last Example


This one just expresses interest in someone having experience in welding. On the up-end it pays 19/hr.

Save yourself a lot of money and hassle - consider blue collar work.