Had a chat with a retired engineer at the bus stop that totally flipped my view on trade school

I was waiting for the 42 bus downtown last Thursday when this older guy noticed my carpentry notebook and started talking about his 40 years as a structural engineer. He told me he'd hire a fresh trade school grad over a new college kid any day because of how fast they pick up real-world problem solving on the job. Has anyone else had a random conversation that made you seriously rethink your whole education path?

2 comments

2 Comments

jordanl8213d ago

You got a buddy named Mike? He spent two years at a big university racking up debt before dropping out to weld. Now he's making better money than most of our college friends and says his boss loves that he showed up already knowing how to fix stuff on the fly instead of just talking about it.

jamienguyen12d ago

Jumped right into this with my neighbor who runs a small plumbing business. He's told me a dozen times that the new guys with trade school certs learn the practical stuff twice as fast as the ones with just a high school diploma. Funny thing is @jordanl82, I see this pattern everywhere now, like my buddy who skipped college to work on diesel engines and now runs the shop floor because he can actually fix a problem instead of just reading about it in a book. Your mileage may vary, but it feels like hands-on skills are getting valued more than ever these days, especially in smaller towns where people need stuff to actually get done.