Going back to school woes
 

So I've recently (few days ago actually) decided that I want to go back to school and get my ticket in a trade. Being 31 now and having almost zero post secondary schooling experience, I'm in need of some help to get my head in the right direction. I have a million questions I'm trying to get as many points of view which is why I'm posting here..

What's a good way to figure out which trade is hot right now? And will continue to be?
As far as student loans go, is it a disadvantage to have a mortgage? I also heard something along the lines of being able to get EI while going to school.. any truth to this?

I basically plan on quitting my current job, starting school and then picking up something part time to have at least a little bit of income.

Your student loan eligibility will be dependent on your income and assets. I am guessing that because you mentioned a mortgage that you own property...this will affect whether or not you are approved.

Student loans are pretty anal. I remember applying years ago and my application was rejected because I owned a car.

I would suggest you talk to your bank and consider a bank student loan/student line of credit or take an equity loan depending on your interest rate (Canada Student Loan interest rates are about 6%).

As for EI while at school...I don't know much about it, but I am pretty sure this would only be applicable to those who have been laid off dude to an industry short fall and the gov't has offered a specific aid program. Ex: Lumber mill in a small town is shut down...gov't has offered aid to re-train employees for a different sector, etc. If you are choosing to quit your job (and you own property) to go to school, you wouldn't even be close to having the gov't step in to support you.

The best thing for you to do is book an appointment with financial aid at your school or your bank.

Thanks for your reply, I'll be looking into things with a better idea.

You don't know what trade you want to do?

That is the first thing you need to figure out... Ignore everything else and certainly do not quit your job until you research and figure out what trade you want to go into.

Also you must decide if you are willing to move in order to find work in that given field or atleast take work away from hom (for example fort mac, or up north in BC). This is especially important for trades like pipefitting, millwrighting, or welding. As most of the people making a lot of money in those trades are working up north.

read this in a magazine a couple weeks ago, it'd be useful for you:

The future of jobs in Canada ? - Maclean's On Campus

I think the bc government website states that you won't be eligible for ei if you're going back to school.

As for student loan, I heard that demanded people to sell their property of they wanted to qualify.

According to the people on the bcit thread, part time is close to impossible. My friend in power engineering says he doesn't have time to work on the weekends. He suggests that if I wanted to go full time school, don't work a part time job because I will either drop out or get really shitty marks.

Bank student loan or line of credit will charge interest every month. Actual government student doesn't require you to pay back or charge interest until 6 months after you're out of school.

As for trades I have no idea what is booming. Heard power engineering is currently because of all the bridge and stuff on hwy 1.
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I've seen a lot of mentions of electricians being in demand recently. Might want to look into that.