Hey everyone!

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I have been doing lots of research on what I want to do as a career & what schooling I want to go through...so far it has been lots of 'ooo shiny!' and then later finding out certain things that don't sound as great.

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I wanted to ask what careers you all have, and what you enjoy/don't enjoy about them. Also, are the wages good, etc. I am interested in gaining skills that are practical: home building, repairs, ag. growth, etc. However, I know there are some careers that could replace that with a good salary as well. My main goal is to be able to do something I really enjoy and don't feel like I'm just checking in and out of every day meaninglessly.

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I have been looking recently at trades school vs. college, and debating between the two. Are any of you tradeswomen? Would you recommend it? If not, what are your thoughts? My thought was that the two year education seems much more appealing than four years of no income, however I know a lot of college degrees make double what the trades do depending on what you choose.

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For those who went to a college and got a career related to their major, do you enjoy it? Would you recommend it? What do you do?

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Thank you so much to anyone who can take the time to respond, it would be a great help to me!

Carpentry is good, pays well, and you're always working. As is plumbing and electrical. These are trade school skills.

Ask yourself, What is it you love to do ? If you get a job that you love to do, it never 'feels' like 'work'.

I've gone to both. Preferred the trade.

My plan was to go to a community college for pre-engineering, then transfer to a 4-year college. It didn't turn out that way and I'm glad it didn't. Instead I changed my major to general drafting and design + architecture (at the same 2-year college). Graduated with $0 in school debt and a full-time job as an engineering technician. Been working the same job for 17 years, doing a lot of what engineers do, just without the pay.

That said, I'm about to go back to the same 2-year college for business management technology to hopefully gain other skills and find a different line of work. Reasons being, money and burn out. Not that I don't still enjoy the job but there's more "meh" days than others.

Take into account the cost of living has gone up so you'll need the money to live comfortably. But you'll also want to enjoy (or at the very least tolerate) your job pretty well. My vote has to go to the trade school. You'll pick up more hands-on skills for less time and money.

What about job consistency & availability, Granny C? My only concerns for trades in carpentry specialization would be that I would be getting laid off and constantly having to look for new jobs, and that there would be a lack of demand. That would cause me to worry about a consistent income, even if it pays decent, because if I can't find work there won't be any $$$ coming in.