Trade Schools
 

What are your guy's opinion about taking up a trade? There's plenty of schools offering trade courses in something or other, usually certifications for pharmacists, or medical billers. Some of them also offer Business Administration, Alcohol and drug counseling, and other shit like that. I was actually thinking about taking them up on a trade like this, but I'm not too sure of the kinds of jobs I would be landing if I were to take the trade. Afterall, why rack up thousands of dollars in student loans, only to find out that your "certification" is worth shit.

I once took a course at a trade school, PCDI, to be exact. I actually wanted to go to Strayer instead of going to college, but it's so expensive! And besides, it looks like employers want certification, but they also like degrees as well. You could always call whatever school you're interested in, set up an appointment to talk to them, and they'll explain everything. That's what I did when I was interested in The Washington Business school. The thing about them is that they seem to be more proactive in helping you find a job after you receive your certification.

With the decline of the job market, degrees are even more important to have now than ever before. According to my college, today's Bachelor Degrees are about the equivalent of high school diplomas during the 1970's. However, I would love to have been involved in cosmotology (preferably beautician work) if it only paid well.

If you can handle the b.s. that is taught in some colleges, then I say go for it. If there is no way that you could handle going to college, then trade work is probably the next best thing.

There's a big lack of qualified tradesmen these days. If you go the trade route, you can always have work.

Certs can be exactly what you need, or it can be a waste of time. I recommend looking over what companies you may want to work for, and look over their qualifications. If it mentions a cert, go for it. If it doesn't, contact them and see if they would prefer it or if they will just dismiss it. It also depends on the field of expertise. Some fields require certs, and for others certs are just a bonus. Don't forget, some companies will pay for you to get a cert if you already have the knowledge to back it up.

I'm in a college/trade school which offers quite a wide variety of cerificates, diplomas, and degrees, as well as training programs in various blue collar and white collar fields. It's somewhat cheaper than the university, which mine is overrated. I'm pursuing an Accounting/Business Administration diploma then eventually a degree, so there's definitely no shame in doing so. I'm doing F/T accounting work so my company pays for the college courses (not textbooks though) since my field of studies is directly related to accounting.