Why is learning a trade only considered a last resort? Even on lemmy, I got downvoted to shit when I commented that people should focus less on degrees and more on industry certification, to have some actual value they can sell to potential employers. An electrician certification proves that you can do something. A bachelor's degree is just a checkbox to prove you went through the motions.

Relying on just degrees that virtually everybody else has is stupid. Anon has nothing that stands out from the soup of zero-experience job seekers.

Be me

Min wage job

Go to college for game programming in 2019, think ill be a game developer

Degree in '23

130k debt

Companies hiring Grok over actual programmers

Still only min wage job

MFW

Anon discovers capitalism and for-profit post-secondary education.

I got my degree in 2014 at 22, and it still took scores of applications to get even a handful of interviews and one job offer for $17 an hour. I can only imagine what young people deal with today. I know it's only worsened in the last half decade or so.

This thread has a lot of people saying things like "don't get a degree" or "get a trade cert" or "work in a different field to get experience" which I feel completely side-steps many issues and the realities that many people face. It's just a fundamentally broken system. The value of degrees fluctuates so much because of a political climate that has the stability of a pane of glass being violently thrown off of a building and a job market that prioritizes either posting ghost jobs to overwork employees to death or outsourcing its candidate search to whoever can guess the most buzzwords in an application.

We have come to the point where me must accept that it is normal for people to spend their early 20s smoking weed and masturbating

The social contract has been destroyed. Time to get the pitchforks!

This is how revolutions start. Some smooth talker is going to come along and motivate all these people to do something wonderful or terrible.

I graduated into Bush's recession, so I went to get a PhD in education. They pay you a small wage to do research, guaranteed for 5 years in my program. Graduated that into a healthy economy that... old professors weren't willing to retire from. Finally give up after several second place rejections and take a simple adjunct professor job just in time for the pandemic, cutting my classes to a third.

But hey, at least I didn't get that job at NCES; Trump 2.0 royally fucked all those education PhD federal jobs.

This is me but I'm in my 40s with over 25 years experience in my field. My ex left me hi and dry when she left me and I can't find a job despite my applying anywhere and everywhere that might pay more than minimum wage. I've still got my own place, but the shame I feel having to ask my parents for money is unbearable at times.

I'm currently trying to start my own business, but I still need money to pay bills in the interim. Capitalism is a fucking cancer on society.

Why are people talking like being a mechanic is bum work, or like there's a huge overhead cost in being a mechanic, or that you have to go to trade school to be a mechanic, or like mechanic work is going away?

None of these is true.

Mechanics will always have work, usually with overtime, and usually pay is very decent.

No degree required. Certs optional.

Tools are very affordable when you're not buying them all at once.

Lots of room to change specializations.

ICE mechanics are still going to be hugely in demand because the Internal Combustion Engine isn't going anywhere, even if they stop putting them in some/ most automobiles. But there are dozens of other mechanical disciplines, and as long as you know how to (when to) then a wrench, you can always get a job.

A bearing is a bearing, whether it's on a crank shaft, an electric motor, a tail pulley, or a garage door.

Don't look down on trade schools. The trades are a great way to make good money and not likely to be replaced by AI... If I was that age today, I would be very strongly looking at that type of work. Or something in the medical field.

While college sure aint the answer to everything, spending your days jerking off and watching TV sure aint the answer either.

Can confirm a Masters is pointless.

You can always get a job as a prison guard. Sidebar, you get a job that's below you and then start a business on paper that's doing something relevant to your degree field and you hire yourself. Then you put that shit on your resume, wham bam thank you mam, one year later and some interview preparation you got your pick of the litter.

If you got the degree you can land a basic government job that isn't in a major city. Process permits for 20 an hour in a small town easily. And the smaller more rural towns don't usually require a degree and will consider someone who will just live in town.

And from there you can work you way up way better than any corporate environment.

There should be more of a plan for young adults and society than "good luck," if they want it. The fact that it's basically chaos is insane to me.

I just got my PhD in December and still jobless. I agree with this sentiment.

I feel so sad for the younger people. At least companies seem to be hiring again, people are getting cold calls. I told my son not to go to college, he'll just become a debt slave.

Anon was 23 in 2022.

Rest assured, it's much worse now.

Yet folks on my Lemmy post said its the best time ever to start a business and everyone can do it. I do not understand how. Even though I have hard work ethic and a ton of ideas. I do not get how it works.

Me too brotha, me too…crank that hog for me one time please o7

I feel like I'm alone with this one, but if you have options, swallow your pride and take them. It's a paycheck, and can always lead to something better. I took a paycheck job at a retail store and I'm on the management team. Is it something to brag about? God no, it sucks. But my bills are paid and I can advance.

Honestly as someone who spent ages getting into Tech and Linux. If I could do it again, Trades school would be my route. Constant work, no AI bullshit and you can run your own business very easily since your in high demand

Why does he not say what his bachelor's degree is in? It seems highly relevant

just having a job these days is you being ahead.

Personally, I’m pretty sure society is going to collapse (or at least begin to) within our lifetimes. Having strong knowledge of a practical skill will be priceless. Trade school is the way to go.

Idk if mechanic is a great job with EVs and all the internal tech cars have, but hvac, plumbing, welding, etc will always be in need.

If mechanically inclined, consider FAA Airframe and Powerplant mechanic. You'll never want for work the wages are great and there's contracting opportunities all over the world. Really the worst best part is that the defense and "war" sector of aircraft work does pay the best.