Veterans: Is Post-secondary education a waste of time and money?
 

What's your take on it?

Has it helped you? or hindered you?

Do you speak from personal experience?

..please discuss

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Whoa, there's a revscene.net account?

Still in post secondary so no real insight from me, although right now I feel like it's kind of a waste of time, but definitely helpful... I would still think work experience and putting yourself out there is more useful than school, but then again it depends on what kind of career you want to pursue, and if it looks bad enough for someone to not want to hire you if you don't have a degree listed on your resume :S

depends what you take and why.

if you are planning to be a doctor or electrician or something that actually NEEDS PROPER TRAINING then yes post secondary is not only great, but totally necessary.

if you are taking a bachelor of arts, or some absolute waste of time like accounting then all you are doing is wasting your time and money. dont just take english, psych, soc, geography or some shit like that.

out of all of my friends who have taken "generic post secondary" they all make less than i do by about $12 an hour (with no benefits) or they dont even have a job.

Just wanted to say I agree with 320icar
I went the "generic post secondary" route and it's extremely difficult for me to find a good job.

From my personal experience, I say go work first and make your body and mind realize how shitty low pay jobs are and maybe possibly find a job you enjoy and inquire what they require from you to move up to a permanent role within the company.

After that, just weigh in on what you like as a career for your life and jump back to schooling and get that post secondary education (of course only if that field requires you to).

Basically (esp. for high schoolers): don't get pressured to jump right into post secondary; go out and work a bit and get to know more about yourself before taking on more schooling.

You must file the yearly taxes yourself...

Last time I checked accountants needed to know a thing or two about business, taxes, finance, fraud prevention etc.

Are you telling me, as an accountant I wasted my time in post secondary?


On Topic:

If you take arts, your best bet for a career is a teacher...
If you take general business, you can atleast have some text book skills in being a store manager
If you go to trade school, only options are for a job in trades
If you become a science major, either become a doctor , lab assistant and hopefully make researcher

If you have a job, then no you didn't waste your time. But I know about 7 graduates of accounting programs (sfu, kwatlen, ubc etc) and ONE of them has an accounting job. The rest can't find any work. That is why it's god damn useless for 80% of people

If you go to post secondary for a bachelor of arts, your first job will be a barista at starbucks.

Oh another one of these education threads.

For me, I found university was a big help in developing myself as a person. It provided an environment where I was forced to grow up and actually have responsibilities as an adult. I do agree that anyone can develop those skills in other ways but it worked for me.

I had a lot of fun in university and even now I still look back at the friends I have made and the experiences that I will never forget. I did end up with a BA and although it is technically a dime a dozen when it comes to degrees, I was fortunate enough to make enough to take care of my family from it.

I believe as long as you actually take your time and gain something from the university experience, that enough is worth the time and money.

For me, going to university was to get a better job. I would wager a lot of people say they would goto university for the same reason.

Although it hasn't hindered me. The job market for what I studied in seems really hard to get into.

My advice would be, if you're going to goto university for career reasons. Make sure that your studies are in line with the demand for entry level positions of the career.

If I was going to do it over again. I would have chosen nursing. Damn, I see so many postings to be a nurse right now.

problem with nursing is the money isn't great, and its an incredibly difficult job. just ask any filipino friends you have

I dont know man, my wife is a nurse. If you are in the right line of nursing the pay is pretty great. But yeah the job is hard as fuck, I couldn't even wrap my head around it.

Probably cause you didn't study/go to school for it?

http://eu-photo0.ask.fm/174/516/416/...nal/avatar.jpg

If you go into university without an end goal (i.e. career), you'll probably find it's a waste of money at the very least.

I can tell you were probably just about to nut you were so excited to post that photo and rustle my jimmies, but the context of my statement about not wrapping my head around nursing has nothing to do with knowledge of the medical field, it has to do with not understanding how someone can do a job that has to deal with so much sickness and being treated like shit by people with drug addiction, alcoholism and severe dementia on a daily basis. Being that I went to school to be an EMT, I'd say my understanding of what nurses do from a technical perspective is reasonably good. Working in medical wasn't for me though.

Yeah, some nurses have a pretty bad work environment. I won't say all nurses because I know some departments are pretty easy to work in with good hours and pay, but others are a nightmare. You couldn't pay me enough to work in the psych ward, for example. Creeps me the fuck out everytime I go in there and I'm not in there very long or very often.

Not a veteran, recent graduate so take my advice with grain of salt if you will.

Post-secondary education opens many windows of opportunities, but at the end of the day it is up to you to take advantage of it. There are many students who do not take advantage of the many resources available during their academic career, and when they graduate, they complain that their degree is useless in getting them a job.

I agree with what Vege said. University was the biggest turning point for my life. Prior to university, I was just an immature nerdy kid who played a lot of video games. 5 years at SFU taught me a lot about myself and completely changed me.

Personally, I think these are 2 of the greatest benefits in post-secondary:

1. Co-ops, work placements, internships: I think this is one of the greatest benefits of post-secondary education. Where else do you find entry level positions that are in your area of study at some of the largest and best companies in the city? Many of these companies re-hire their co-op students after they graduate for permanent positions, and even if not, the experience is extremely valuable and really helps you land your first job. Every single one of my friends who did a co-op or internship has been able to find a good job within 6 months of graduating.

Also, it gives you the opportunity to try out various career paths easily. A friend of mine studies accounting and has been wanting to be a CA/CPA ever since first year. About a year ago, he learned about MIS and business related positions within technology and decided to do an 8 month co-op in a tech consulting firm. Now, he's decided and on path to do a specialized accounting route that combines technology and accounting. Similarly, I thought I was going to be an accountant ever since high school. I landed an internship in a non-accounting position, fell in love with it and have been here since I've graduated.

2. Networking A former coworker of mine got his job through networking and meeting people at his university's alumni club. He was at a football night for the Vancouver chapter of his alumni group and one of the members found out he was unemployed. That person connected him with one of the hiring managers and within a week he was hired.



Many jobs now require some kind of post secondary education as a bare minimum. Another thing... you're going to hear success and failure stories from both parties. There are hugely successful people who never stepped foot in a college/university, but there are also many failures. Do what is right for you/your situation.

Anything specific is better than something generic, ie electrician/accountant/nurse > arts/chemistry/business degree.

Just because they have a hard time finding work doesn't mean it's useless. You need specific skills and training to be an accountant or you won't have a job very long.

As stated depends what you take.
+1 to arts and photography as a waste of time.

Im 20, I took bcit for a total of 8 months over two years, Im on my way to making 45$ an hour in under 5 years for mechanical systems.

70% of the people i graduated with are locked in school for 4-6 years. not working / hating life.
10% are like me.
20% are wrapping up 2/3 year programs and who knows where they will end up

Note. By the time that 70% gets out of school, I have already paid off my dept, have cash, cars, and am xxxK$ ahead of them.

In my experience,

Post secondary education is a way into the field that you wish to be in. It may not teach you everything you need to know, but it will give you the right contacts and let you have the name of an institution behind you.

There will always be a learning curve when starting a new career.

I think in all my education, BCIT had prepared me the most for the real world. Working with instructors who have actually done work in the field for YEARS. It's been great.

Could I have possibly got my job without a formal education.... MAYYYYYBE. But I don't think I would have had the right contacts in order to get it, and get as far as where I am right now.

And sorry I have to say it...

Revscene.net account = masterroshi????

post secondary provides you more doors, but it doesnt necessary help you open them

High school part two

all this talk about BCIT makes me feel a lot comfortable with my choice than going to UBC or SFU.

I feel nowadays universities are getting overrated and BCIT is being more comparable as they provide hands-on work. I know a couple of Eng. students from UBC and they dont have the confidence of installing LEDs into their car... or even hooking up wires.