One of the biggest issues that I have seen in the desi community is not encouraging kids to become skilled workers in North America. Parents work 2 jobs to get them through college. With all the tech innovations, some job won't replaced at least 50 years from now, like plumber, welder, iron worker, wood worker, lineman etc.
There is a special kind of breed who like to work with hands, instead of raking college debt on them, try a career plan with like a typical lineman makes 250,000 a year with union benefits, two months if vacation etc and with no college debt. So be straight with your kids and get them out of their misery
2 Likes
People don’t like working with their hands and are judged poorly, I see lots of Sikhs who embrace dignity of labor have done really well here
[quote=““Santiago TheShepherd””]
One of the biggest issues that I have seen in the desi community is not encouraging kids to become skilled workers in North America. Parents work 2 jobs to get them through college. With all the tech innovations, some job won’t replaced at least 50 years from now, like plumber, welder, iron worker, wood worker, lineman etc.
There is a special kind of breed who like to work with hands, instead of raking college debt on them, try a career plan with like a typical lineman makes 250,000 a year with union benefits, two months if vacation etc and with no college debt. So be straight with your kids and get them out of their misery
[/quote]
I see recent trend of encouraging kids to not go to school/college and learn some skills that they can get at any age pretty much. I think there is no replacement for a college degree.
Yes, the young generation should be highly encouraged to adopt technical college and go full blown technical. There is a joke i read about it, cant recall now.
Also one should remember that there are a big variety in technical department so one will always find his/her interest
[quote=““Eastern Dresses””]
I see recent trend of encouraging kids to not go to school/college and learn some skills that they can get at any age pretty much. I think there is no replacement for a college degree.
[/quote]
There’s nothing in the world that can replace good education but the fact that no one wants to be a welder, lineman or metal worker is not good. These skills are considered demeaning. I work with a manager who has a degree in Civil engineer and is a certified welder. He is an amazing human being,r modest and very respectful towards guys in skilled trade. Hands on work teaches a person a lot and there’s no replacement for that, as well.
A ground man makes 160,000 a year. A lineman in the bay bay makes 200,000 a gear easily and apart from that skilled trades teaches you a lot. Most important of whom is the respect for hard work.
[quote=““Santiago TheShepherd””]
A ground man makes 160,000 a year. A lineman in the bay bay makes 200,000 a gear easily and apart from that skilled trades teaches you a lot. Most important of whom is the respect for hard work.
[/quote]
Not challenging skilled workers or how much they make. I just don’t agree with the idea of quitting the studies for whatever reasons.
[USER="124546"]Eastern Dresses[/USER] trades is education, everything in life is education, we are continuously studying in every thing we do. I have come across some of the dumbest PHDs in my life. How is a guy who can’t change a flat considered smarter than a guy who can rebuild an engine?
A medical college dropout cannot claim to be a doctor even if he knows about all the medicines and what not. That’s what it is.
Yes but a college dropout can own Microsoft
And what is the fascination with degrees, We have trades contractors who make millions a year and have better manners and more class than doctors
3 Likes
And also a doctor cannot claim to be a red seal electrician. People should not be judged on their degrees but only their actions. I don’t think degrees give you class.
2 Likes
Completion of degree is mandatory for a lot of professions and it is not mandatory for skill based work. Discouraging kids to get a degree is just lame.
World should be a peaceful place, there should be no discrimination, there should be no judgement etc etc but that’s not how world works.
2 Likes
[USER=“124546”]Eastern Dresses[/USER] and @Bobby1 …You Both are making Good arguments for and against 4 Year Degrees including the OP [USER=“205569”]Santiago TheShepherd[/USER] …I love this “TheSHepherd” :k:
I lived in Idaho where the Sheep Farmers have to go all the way to Bass/Basque Country of Spain for Shepherds to tend their Sheep in USA!..Not saying we should encourage our kids to become Shepherds even though it was the Profession of most Prophets!..
at the same time two High School Gradutes come to mind who made it Big because of their Superb Intellect…
#1 Steve Jobs ..Founded: Apple, NeXT, Pixar; Inventions: Macintosh, iPhone, iPod…who would have thought back in the 70’s that everyone in the World wants one of these products! 
#2 Bill Lear actually had only Eighth Grade Education..He held some 150 patents at his death. After completing eighth grade, Lear quit school to become a mechanic and at the age of 16 joined the navy, lying about his age. During World War I, Lear studied radio and after his discharge designed the first practicable auto radio…and Founder of the Aircraft Company called by is name: LEAR JET in Wichita Kansas!
Well said!
[USER="124546"]Eastern Dresses[/USER] yes people judge racist judge, elitist judge bigots judge so should we live our lives to appease the judgers or as per what is right for us
mostly desis judge for degrees, sometimes you pay crippling amount of student loan and the job does not pay that well
We always quote success stories which is a very very tiny percentage. Also correlating success to not having a degree is a bit of a stretch.
How many high school graduates success stories examples can you give from say 2019? Also what about all the failures that are not documented?
[quote=““Eastern Dresses””]
We always quote success stories which is a very very tiny percentage. Also correlating success to not having a degree is a bit of a stretch.
How many high school graduates success stories examples can you give from say 2019? Also what about all the failures that are not documented?
[/quote]
We are not talking about merely high school, the thread is about a degree vs trades such as electrician, plumber, pipe fitter, welder etc. These trades require 4 year apprenticeship plus education.Trades here make more money than psychologists, economists etc.
This narrative of skilled workers making tons of money keeps coming back often. Reality is, outside of some dense urban pockets and in emergencies such as getting power up and running after a hurricane, linesmen make pretty much lower middle class wages for a pretty dangerous job. Plenty of vacation days for sure, because there isnt much work normally.
https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/What-Is-the-Average-Lineman-Salary-by-State
Not 200K, more like 55K after 4 years of apprenticeship. Nothing wrong with that, but a college degree is a more robust pathway to stability and flexibility. North America’s desis are already a pretty educated bunch and can easily aspire for a lot better.
I'm not sure I understand the threading, how do i reply to your post, SID_NY?
With PGE, they are making 250,000 dollars considering they are only working 8-9 months. That’s just for a lineman. Foreman, General foreman, superintendent, general superintendent make more than that. I can attest to that.