If you had a chance to go back to post secondary... (career related)

[HiTempguy1]

What would you take? With the prospect of getting a job 4 years from now? Or two year diploma and two years from now?

Tables wide open. I want to know Beyond's thoughts

Edit-
While I appreciate the trades suggestions, let's keep it to 2 year diploma and 4+ year degrees.

I have zero interest in going into the trades, I've done a few.

And the goal would be to have a job at the end. Personal fulfillment would be cool, but I have cars that need to be raced.

[s_havinga]

Interesting topic

For me, maybe nurse or paramedic if I was going to school. Possibly wait for the Fire department to open competition again and skip the school.

Personally I find it is getting old making rich people richer so I would lean towards the public sector, something that I get home at night and feel like I made a difference/ did some good.

[Xtrema]

Law for 4 yr degree

Food related for 2 yr certs

[Dumbass17]

Mechanical engineering or something o&g related. (well maybe not) but still regret not going to Fort Mac right out of school and make a ton of cash but be smart with it and buy rental properties in BC

[Type_S1]

Originally posted by Xtrema
Law for 4 yr degree

Food related for 2 yr certs

Law = 6 years minimum.

1. Dentist. My dentist drives a Lambo and 911TT as a "winter beater". He works from 9-5 every day with 2 months off in the summer...similar to teaching hours but way more $$. I don't think its overly stressful and the educational side of it isn't too difficult overall considering it doesn't matter if your dentist goes to a top tier medical school. I've actually thought about going back (would take me ~3 years to graduate out of a US school) but going back to school isn't too appealing.

2. Nurse. Not very manly but the nurses I know (all female) make $70k+ per year but only work 6-8 months of the year each with lots of overtime during this period. They travel the remainder of the year and have the opportunity to work internationally quite easily.

3. Lawyer. It's a grind for 7 or 8 years but you can lead an extremely fulfilling career if desired with great $$ involved. International opportunities are very easy to come by.

[vengie]

Interesting for sure.

1) dental/ orthodontics
2) finance (still not out of the question)

[finboy]

Would have carried on with law, I stopped short because I had 2 business degrees and got into consulting. Realistically I would still love to do law but:
A:I would need to find a night courses so I could still work
B:Canada would have to drop articling because fuuuuuuck that shit

[Mitsu3000gt]

Totally agree with the Nurse/Paramedic/Dentist suggestions above. Good pay, very flexible. Easy to make $90K as a nurse without killing yourself with OT and night shifts and with plenty of time off.

All jobs that can be done anywhere, and the economy has far less impact on those jobs than O&G, for example.

[leftwing]

Very interesting topic.

Do dentist's have a high suicide rate? Or is that a myth?

Nursing's combination of high pay/high job security/high flexibility (can work in any city) is pretty much unmatched I think. Although from what I understand it can be hard to get in with AHS in a full time position. Lots of nurses work part time + casual for a while before they get full time.

For me I wish I went into a trade out of high school. I think a mechanic would be a pretty cool career and good money if you have your own shop. Although it would get old having 'friends' always asking for favours.

Realistically still trying to find what I really want to do.

[RLK]

Originally posted by leftwing
Very interesting topic.

Do dentist's have a high suicide rate? Or is that a myth?

Nursing's combination of high pay/high job security/high flexibility (can work in any city) is pretty much unmatched I think. Although from what I understand it can be hard to get in with AHS in a full time position. Lots of nurses work part time + casual for a while before they get full time.

For me I wish I went into a trade out of high school. I think a mechanic would be a pretty cool career and good money if you have your own shop. Although it would get old having 'friends' always asking for favours.

Realistically still trying to find what I really want to do.

I'm a automotive tech, and my wife is a RN.

I have absolutely no interest in starting my own shop. If you want go out on your own you will need at least 1 million to invest and that is with leasing property not owning.
This trade is heading for a major train wreak soon, technology is moving so fast and most shops are still stuck in 1970's mentality. It is hard to find a shop that values true skill, willing to tool up, and is generally not a total shit hole to work in. But good shops do exist, it just takes a bit of time to find them. If you are skilled you will be treated like royalty, you will be able to walk down the street and get a job were ever you want and name your price. Being laid off or loosing my job is something I have never had to worry about.

I have huge job satisfaction. I mostly do diagnostics and drive ability, I will spend the whole day finding a bad module or a open in a data bus and when you find it, its the greatest thing ever. If I were to do it again, I would still become a mechanic.

My wife likes being a RN. She makes more money than me. For bed side nursing it is shift work. The problem is her job is greatly affected by government budgets, the conservatives fucked nursing right up a bunch of years ago, so they all left the province hence why she makes more than me. She also has never had to worry about loosing her job. I'm not a fan of unions, but nurses need theirs and the nurses union has some very large teeth.

If you are thin skinned or take things personally nursing is not for you, people are major ass holes when they are dying or sick.

She likes it, but says if she were to do it again she would go into pharmacy.

[ExtraSlow]

A relative of mine used to do credit for a luxury dealership in town. Hands down dentists win the cock-off for pay-stubs. If they own the practice, they beat most surgeons. Still think that's a shitty job though, I know I'd hate it.

Welding and steamfitting are interesting trades. Machinist might suit me.

[01RedDX]

.

[shakalaka]

Med school instead of law school. Would have been somewhat harder during the school but a lot less grind and struggle afterwards.

[finboy]

Originally posted by 01RedDX

That's my move!


Now if I "had the chance" which I take to mean "won the lottery" I would take history, philosophy, literature, one of those professional barista designations, which may not guarantee success in the real world, but are of interest to me, personally.

I took quite a few history courses while in post secondary, there is zero employment in the field but I will likely take more courses when time/life gives me time.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[ExtraSlow]

If we are talking "won the lottery" and just doing shit that interests me, I'd be studying primates and primate psychology. Fucking love monkeys, they make more sense than humans most days.

[FixedGear]

I spent a long, long time in school with 2 advanced degrees and 2 postdocs. Ive got a fucking killer, high paying job in science and wouldn't change a thing. I'm glad I put in the time and effort when I was young, because my job is literally the stuff of Discovery and National Geographic. Headed back to Tibet on August 5.

[HiTempguy1]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
If we are talking "won the lottery" and just doing shit that interests me, I'd be studying primates and primate psychology. Fucking love monkeys, they make more sense than humans most days.

I updated the first post with more info. No lottery, this is with a career change and earning money in mind. Get this dreaming BS outta here

Edit-
While clearly we don't like each other much, I am glad that worked out for you! No way I could do what sounds like ~8 years of schooling. I have lots of dreams I could follow, but taking the plunge is always difficult.

Originally posted by FixedGear
I spent a long, long time in school with 2 advanced degrees and 2 postdocs. Ive got a fucking killer, high paying job in science and wouldn't change a thing. I'm glad I put in the time and effort when I was young, because my job is literally the stuff of Discovery and National Geographic. Headed back to Tibet on August 5.

[Buster]

Dentistry is generally over-rated from a compensation point of view. Owning your own practice can help, but it's still not as lucrative as some people think.

Also: dentists are the single most "keep up with the jones" professions I have seen. Tons of people can afford Lambos if that's what is important to them.

It's also manual labour, paid by the hour. You hurt your hands, you're in deep shit.

All of the "defined career path" professions share the same qualities, and in many ways are inter-changeable. It's the benefit and the curse of doing these types of jobs. It's also why job satisfaction can be so low. Paying your dues in the professional jobs is pretty much the same. Study, spend a good chunk of your 20's in school, then do a few years (or more) of the "dues paying" portion of your life. Again, paying these dues is really a similar process with different names: residency/articling/associate (for banking and consulting)/etc.

[dirtsniffer]

If I had to redo it I would stick with science. Going back I would do law.

Also paying your dues in engineering is easy. Paid internships and straight to making a decent living out of school. Max out at 1%er